The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 3

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 1994 PAGE 3A WK3M TO CALL: EDITORS: Judith McLean, 989-6255 Michael Eckert, 989-6257 River District Bureau: 810-765-4081 LocalState TIMES HERALD Michigan 66 It is frustrating. People just can't believe that we don't have more control over something like this. Man faces charges from drug-related fire "oiSHPEMING An Upper Peninsula man was charged with endangering lives because of a fire that broke out while police said he was concocting an illegal drug. Police say Armando Ruiz of Ishpeming was producing methcathinone, also called "cat," when the fire began in December 1992 in Negaunee. Fourteen people were injured.

Teen struck, killed trying to beat train business," said Township Clerk Marilyn Tate. Opponents to the park say they will take their protests to the Department of Natural Resources. "It appears the township has little to say on the project. As long as there is a wetlands issue, however, (developers) can't go ahead with the project," said opponent Jim Buckley, who lives on Campbell Road directly across from the park site. Township trustees Wednesday formally approved the park's connection to the township's sewer system, essentially finishing their role in the park's approval process.

Township officials said they're helpless, and that there is nothing they can do to stop the park. "It is frustrating. People just can't believe that we don't have more control over something like this. But for our purposes it is just as well that we move on to other By RICK BARRETT Times Herald FORT GRATIOT There's little they can do to stop a proposed mobile home park at Krafft and Campbell roads, township trustees said Wednesday. Construction of the 289-unit Brandymore Pines park on 60 acres is scheduled to begin this summer.

Developers are working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to obtain permits. fl FERNDALE A 13-year-old boy who tried to beat an approaching train at a railroad crossing was struck and killed, police said Wednesday. The gates were down and the flashers were warning of a coming train. But John Heledga of erkley yelled to his 12-year-old Qriend, "Let's try to beat it," and dashed off toward the crossing. Suspect apprehended in restaurant shooting ROMULUS A Detroit man sought in a fatal shooting was in custody today, but the suspected gdnman remained at large, police said.

Both men are linked to the Saturday slaying of Elwin A. Lillie, 54, of Evart. He was headed to Detroit Metropolitan Airport to pick UP his mother when he was slain outside a McDonald's restaurant. A 25-year-old man suspected of driving the getaway car was arrested in Detroit, police said. Plan to move salmon sounds fishy to mayor ROGERS CITY Local officials vow to fight plans to move two-thirds of the salmon planted in the Swan River to other communities along Lake Huron.

"We will fight tooth and nail to keep the fish here," Mayor Gary Chappell says. "To say they should take them Driver enters plea to fatality Ex-prosecutor's son faces sentence after 1993 crash By ROBERTA STEVENSON Times Herald The son of a former St. Clair County prosecutor will be sentenced later this month on charges he caused a June 1993 accident. which a Lakeport woman was killed. Robert J.

Nickerson 19, Of Fort Gratiot pleaded no-contest 'to charges of negligent homicide in the June 29 death of Sharon Lee Hill, 45. He will be sentenced April 21 by St. Clair County Circuit Judge James T. Corden. Judge Corden accepted Mr.

Nickerson's plea in March at a hearing in Macomb County. Eric J. Kaiser, a Macomb County assistant prosecutor, is handling the case. Mr. Kaiser could not be reached for comment this morning.

St. Clair County Prosecutor El-wood L. Brown disqualified his office to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Mr. Nickerson is the son of former county prosecutor Robert J.

Nickerson. A no-contest plea means Mr. Nickerson will not fight the charges against him but it is not an admission of guilt. He may, however, be sentenced as if he had been found guilty of the charge. Sentencing options range from probation to a maximum of two years in prison.

Witnesses told police Mrs. Hill's car rolled over on M-25 north of Burtch Road after she swerved onto the shoulder to avoid a southbound car that had pulled into her lane in an attempt to pass a third vehicle. Mr. Nickerson was the driver of the on-coming car. Mrs.

Hill was thrown from her car as it rolled over. Her son, Matthew H. Hill, a sixth-grader at Fort Gratiot Middle School, suffered minor injuries. Terry McMillan cancels lecture Author Terry McMillan has canceled her April 28 appearance at the St. Clair County Community College's Minority Lecture Series.

No reason was given for the cancellation and no replacement has been named. Ms. McMillan, a native of Port Huron, is the author of Waiting to Exhale and Mama. I I II MMIMMM Sisters Tamlka and Dominique Brooks plan their trip to Florida with the mother, Deborah, during lunch at the Elias Brothers restaurant recently. With them are Make A Wish coordinator Marcla Snover, left, and their grandmother Marilyn Nichols.

The Make A Wish Foundation helps children facing life-threatening diseases. Tamika and Dominique have cystic fibrosis. Sisieirs head for Disney World Make-A-Wish Foundation grants dream vacation to 2 ailing girls MARILYN TATE Fort Gratiot Township clerk 2 By TONY PITTS. Times Herald ized a great deal, Mrs. Brooks said.

"They've been in and out of the hospital almost every other week," she said. But they haven't let it dampen their enthusiasm. They have been excited about their trip ever since learning about it six weeks ago. "I was excited, too," their mother said. Dominique and Tamika are the second and third Port Huron area children to have their wishes granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a volunteer organization started in 1984.

Make-A-Wish requires recommendations from a doctor or other health care professional. A volunteer then researches the request and makes a final recommendation to the foundation board. The Brooks sisters were recommended by the staff at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. I I 2. By ROBERTA STEVENSON Times Herald Dominique Brooks and her sister, Tamika, are as excited as any children about their trip this weekend to Walt Disney World.

For the past six weeks, the Port Huron girls have been dreaming of frolicking in the Florida sun with Mickey and Goofy. They also have been preparing themselves physically, getting the intravenous treatments necessary to make their bodies strong enough to handle the trip. Dominique, 8, and Tamika, 11, have life-threatening cystic fibrosis. Their trip is sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan, which grants wishes for children ages 2V2 to 17 who have an illness that may prevent them from reaching their 18th birthday. Dominique's dream is to visit Disney World.

Tamika wants to ride the Big Red Boat at Disney World, a separate wish that is being scheduled, said Marcia Snover, a Make-A-Wish volunteer from Clinton Township who is handling the sisters' case. Tamika's original wish to meet actor Jean-Claude Van Damme also is being worked on, Mrs. Snover said. Dominique's dream begins Friday morning when a limousine, donated by Metro Limousine Service, arrives at the family's Port Huron home to transport them to Detroit Metro Airport. The girls' parents, Deborah and Ervin Brooks, will accompany them on the weeklong trip.

The family will stay in the Make-A-Wish sponsored Kid's Village at Disney World during their Women harassed on campus City and Iosco County officials have endorsed the proposal. Tawas i "City should develop its own fishery, Mayor Chappell said. Boy, 9, recovering from mauling by lion BWEST BRANCH A 9-year-old boy was recovering from bites and scratches suffered when he was I attacked by a lion, police said Wednesday. Matthew Schneider was attacked Saturday, moments after his father, Steve Schneider, stroked i Leo's fur without incident at the home of a friend who was keeping the African lion, police said. The child was treated for bites to his back and neck.

The lion was killed and checked for rabies. From Time Herald wire service MICHIGAN Safford's Eating House in the Rotunda Building on Griswold Street sought to L- cater to the businessmen of Detroit in 1 863. Dinner was served daily from noon until 3 p.m. and an advertisement promised: "Oysters received fresh daily (and) celebrated Albany Ale always on draught." Oysters cost 15 cents per dozen raw or stewed, and 20 cents per dozen fried. Source: Michigan Stati Gazetteer, 1M3-M CORRECTION The Times Herald strives for fair and accurate reporting, and we l' regret it any time an error is made.

It is the policy of this newspaper to correct substantive errors of fact. Please bring errors to the attention of Judith McLean of Michael Eckert at 985-7171. An Associated Press story Wednesday about a nuclear plant contract worker being fired for being found asleep on the job was incorrect. The story said the worker was overseeing the treatment of radioactive water that flooded the plant during a fire and turbine failure in December. The worker was actually overseeing a filtering system being used to purify water contained for use in the plant's reactor.

Women sue ex-CMU official stay. The Village is specially equipped and staffed to care for children with serious illnesses, Mrs. Snover said. At the park, they will receive royal treatment. "There's no waiting in lines, like other people," Mrs.

Snover said. "They go right on the rides." Dominique and Tamika have battled cystic fibrosis almost since birth. Tamika was diagnosed when she was 3 months old, Dominique when she was just 2 weeks old, their mother said. The girls attend Kimball Elementary School, where Tamika is in the fifth grade and Dominique is in third grade. Lately, they have been hospital separate ways." The lawsuit was filed this week in the circuit courts of Isabella and Ingham counties.

The women seek more than $2 million in damages. Two of the plaintiffs filed sex- ual harassment claims against with the university Af him firmative Action office. It was rejected as unsubstantiated. But the office found reason to believe that Mr. Morris violated the university's sexual harassment policy after he left a computer disk of pornographic stories on the second woman's desk.

He was ordered to complete a sexual harassment education program. that harassment fundamentally alters the way a woman faculty member views the institutional climate," Mr. Dey said. "Harassed women are much more likely to hold negative views of institutional norms toward respect for others, fairness toward women, and the manner in which the administration operates." f2. if 1 By TONY PITTS, Times Herald U-M study: 15 of female faculty say they're victims The Associated Press ANN ARBOR Fifteen percent of women faculty members at American colleges say they have been sexually harassed on the job, a researcher says.

The University of Michigan study is based on a sample of 30,000 faculty members of both sexes at 270 U.S. colleges and universities. The results show sexual harassment of women students is not the only such problem on campuses, said coauthor Eric L. Dey. "The number of female students who confront sexual harassment is startlingly large about 2 million a year," Mr.

Dey said. "But the challenges facing faculty women have been largely ignored." About 7 of all faculty said they had been harassed at their current institution, including about 15 of the women and about 3 of men. "Although the dynamics of harassment are complex, these results show that women faculty members face a continuing possibility of harassment throughout their aca- The Associated Press MOUNT PLEASANT Four women are suing Central Michigan University's former head of government relations, claiming he sexually harassed them in and out of the office. They accuse Greg Morris of coercing one of them to have intercourse, leaving pornographic material on the desk of another and persistently relating his sexual fantasies about them. Mr.

Morris denied the allegations. He left his job from CMU a month ago. University counsel Eileen Jennings said Mr. Morris and the university "reached a mutual agreement to go their demic careers," Mr. Dey said.

"The problem is not confined to those women at the lowest ranks." When asked whether "women faculty are treated fairly" at their institutions, 73 of the non-harassed women agreed, compared with 38 of the harassed women. "These findings clearly suggest The winds of April blow cold Cold north winds whip waves onto the shore of Lake Huron just north of the Blue Water Bridge as the freighter Frontenac begins its chilly traverse of the lake..