COMMUNITY CALENDAR THIS WEEKEND

m Blues, Brews and Barbe-

cpes features blue music, food and Battle Creek's own microbrew dur-ing an outdoor show Saturday be-hind Arcadia Brewing Co. in the Jackson Street parking lot Gates

m at 6 p.m. and music starts at 7 u Admission is $5.

World Championship Wrestling will rumble its way into fjellogg Arena at 7:30 p.m. Sat-urflay. Tickets are $20, $15 and $10 (if r vice charge may apply). 'jQckets are available at Kellogg ^rena, Hudson's and all Ticket-f a s t e r outlets. For more informa-tion, call 616-965-3308 or to charge

phone, call 616-963-8080. -* Kingman Museum offers a weekend full of exploratory activi-tfes, including the films Kingdom of Animals: Simple to Complicated, and Kingdom of Plant. The films show at 11,1:30. and 3 p.m. on Sat-urday and 1:30 and 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the museum is $2.50 for children 3-12 and seniors, and

for adults. It costs an extra $1 for the planetarium show. For more in-formation, call 965-5117. I Binder Park Zoo is holding a.

"Patty for Bats" program tonight. You can participate in mist-netting, see bats up close, and play "bat games." Advance registration is re-quired. Cost is $8 for adult mem-bers, $7 for child members, $13.50 for adult non-members, and $10 for child non-members. This includes tonight's program and Saturday ad-mission to the zoo. Registration is not required for "bat" programs at .12:15 p.m., 1,2 and 3 p.m. Saturday. For more information and to regis-ter, call 979-1351.

SELF-HELP GROUPS Overcomers (Victory

Through Christ), 7 p.m. today. First United Methodist Church, 114 E. Michigan Ave. Call 965-1148.

HEALTH I^akeview Square mall walk,

6:30 to 9 a.m. weekdays. Blood pressure screening offered from 7 to 8:30 a.m.

Calhoun County Health De-partment, free or low-cost pelvic and breast exams, including mam-mograms, free for women over 40 with a limited income, 191 College Street. To make an appointment, call 966-1234.

SPECIAL INTERESTS Interaction of Kalamazoo

Inc. (for single adults), 7:30 p.m. today. People's Church, 1758 N. 10th St., Kalamazoo.

Michigan Singles Interna-tional Ltd. dance, 8 p.m. today to 2 a.m. Saturday, PJ's, 310 S. Me-chanic St., Jackson, and 8 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday, Mason Hills Golf Club, Tomlinson Road, Mason. Admission $6.

First Friday Singles Dance, 9 p.m. today. Kindred Spirits Banquet Hall, Lake Street west of Sprinkle Road, Kalamazoo, $5.

Amateur Radio Club of Battle Creek 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Russ's Restaurant 963-4574.

SENIOR CITIZENS Blood-pressure ch^ck, 9 to

II a.m. Monday. Burnham Brook Center.

Health screening, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Michigan National Bank, Marshall.

Senior meals, dining senior-style lunches served by Elder Services Department of the Com-munity Action Agency are avail-able 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday in Springview Towers, Bed-ford Manor, Franklin Center, Washington Heights United Meth-odist Church and Mercy Pavilion Lakeview Center; 11:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Springfield Senior Fellowship Center at the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, 765 Upton Ave. Make reservations the previous open day at 963-1212.

TO SUBMIT INFORMATION Please send items to Commu-

nity Calendar, 155 W. Van Buren St., Battle Creek 49017-3093. Or fax to 964-0299. Please include your name and phone number.

SETTING IT STRAIGHT The Battle Creek Enquirer cor-

rects errors of fact. To report an er-ror, call 966-0674.

H0WT0REACHUS Have a story tip or idea? Here's how

to reach us 24 hours a day: Reader hotfine: 966-0681

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E-mail: enquirer@mail.tds.net

LOCAL FRIDAY, A U G . 1 , 1 9 9 7 BVTTLE CREEK ENQUIRER 3A

FOCUS: OUR ECONOMY SIs^ Vt-: '

Residents rush to gas station before tax hike Motorists debate whether increase will improve roads

Q U E A H H A B E R N The Enquirer

Many motorists hit Battle Creek-area gas pumps Thursday in a rush to fill up with cheaper gas.

Cheaper, at least, compared to to-day.

A 4-cent-per-gallon increase - the first in 13 years - took effect today. It is expected to raise $200 million annually to pay for fixing the state's pothole-filled roads.

The tax is creating a mix of re-sponses, from outrage to no-big-deal shrugs.

For those who rushed to top off their tanks, it was no big thrill.

"I hate it!" said Erin Hammer, 20, from Battle Creek. "Most of the cars pretty much suck gas anyway. They drink gas like it's water."

Tim Huntington, 18, a Battle Creek Central senior, doubts roads will improve. He says his car's CD player will skip just as many times as it would without the increase.

"Every time the tax gets raised, it never seems like the money goes to what it's suppose to," he said.

Deb Denney, owner of Deb's One Stop in Athens, said business was booming Thursday as she watched people pull in for the last chance to stock up on reduced gas.

"It's been busier," she said. "We've got people saying that Tm coming back with my next vehicle.'"

Some people, though, believe dri-vers should stop complaining over a few extra pennies.

"Hey, either you pay it or you walk. And you know (you're) going to pay it," said Joyce Davis, who has been a cashier at Pennfield's Shell Food Mart for 10 years.

"I can't figure out the holler," said Garret Vandermeer, 83, of Battle Creek. "If they don't fix the roads, it's going to get worse and worse. You got to fix the roads."

t h e only thing unfair, said Jim Hazel Jr., owner of Union 76 in Emmett Township, is that diesel prices are not increasing along with unleaded fuel.

"The user is the one that should be paying the fee," he said. "I think if (semis are) going to use it, they should be paying just like the rest."

I

KEVIN HARE/THE ENQUIRER Darik Anderson fills his Chevrolet Camaro Z28 at the Pennfield Shell Food Mart on Capital Avenue N.E. He and other drivers made iAa point to fill up with gas before the 4-cent gas tax increase went into effect at midnight Thursday.

ABOUT THE GAS TAX WHAT: A 4-cent-per-gallon tax in-

crease went into effect today. The tax will raise about $200 million to f ix Michigan roads.

BACKGROUND: Gov. John Engler signed the tax increase on July 25, putting the tax at 19 cents a gallon.

IMPACT: The higher tax will cost the average family $25 more a year for

gasoline. But the higher tax will be partly offset by income tax cuts taking effect in 1998. Those are a deduction o f up to $600 for kids under 13, a college tuition credit of up to $375 and a $200 increase in the personal exemption. The increase in the personal exemption is expeded to save a family of four roughly $56 in in-come taxes, the governor said.

Prosecution set l

to wrap up case Rogers warned about selling property to caretaker, lawyer says

TRACE CHRISTENSON The Enquirer

A lawyer who represented Robert Rogers warned him about selling property to Sharon Zachary.

"I told Mr. Rogers I didn't think the purchasers were credit worthy," Nicholas Batch testified Thursday.

Rogers had come to Batch in 1995 to complete a deal to sell Zachary and her husband a house near his own on South Raymond Road in Emmett Township.

Although Batch said he could not remember the price of the house, he believed it was too expensive for Zachary.

But Rogers said he wanted to sell the property to the woman, who now is on trial for his murder.

Batch was one of the witnesses called by Assistant Calhoun County Prosecutor David Wallace as he nears the end of his case. Wallace is ex-pected to call his final three witnesses today - including a former cellmate who is expected to testify that Zachary confessed to committing the murder.

Zachary, 31, is charged with mur-der, felony murder and armed rob-bery in the April 26, 1996 death of Rogers, 80. His body was found in the living room of his home at 1015 S. Raymond Road. An autopsy showed he had been beaten 25 to 30 times on the back head with an iron pipe.

She was arrested in December. Wallace has attempted to show that

Zachary was spending Rogers' money after he gave her power of attorney and named her sole beneficiary of his $750,000 estate.

Zachary has denied she had a role in his murder. Defense Attorney John Hofman has pointed at Rogers' es-tranged son, Donald, and several other people as possible suspects. Hofman has questioned several police investigators about prior robberies and burglaries reported by Rogers.

Rogers moved into the Zachary house weeks before his death be-cause he was afraid of being as-saulted.

Batch said he once learned that Rogers was sleeping in his car be-cause he was afraid of robbers enter-ing the house.

Batch said he saw Rogers a half dozen times in 1995 with bruises from assaults. 'A PECULIAR GENTLEMAN,

Batch, a college professor and

lawyer whei deals primarily in real es-tate, confirmed testimony of others by describing RogeVs as a man who usu-ally carried large sums of money -$3,000 to $5,000 - in a wad stuffed in his pocket.

"He was something of a peculiar gentleman," Batch said, describing him as skinflinty and a curmudgeon who was very secretive.

"He used to look at you from the side and talked softly but was very ar-ticulate," Batch said. "He would not speak until he was ready tp say a com-plete thought."

During questioning by Hofman, Batch described Rogers as sometimes confused oyer the status of his finan-cial dealings.

Batch sakl Rogers once asked lo send a letter threatening suit for non-payment of a debt - only to discover that he was carrying a check for the payment in his pocket.

Batch disagreed with Hofman that Rogers was benevolent.'

"I did not observe that conduct," Batch said. "He might have deferred action but was not benevolent.

"I would suggest he was not wise in picking other than deadbeat people to sell property to," Batch said.

Batch said he handled some of Rogers' affairs for four to five years, and that Rogers often dropped in the office without an appointment.

But when Batch sent a bill in late 1995 for several transactions, it appar-ently angered Rogers.

"I sent him a $300 bill and I never saw him again," Batch said. "He stopped coming around." SUSPECT INTERVIEWED

In other testimony, Lt. Danny McCandlish of the Emmett Township Public Safety Department, Said he in-terviewed Zachary twice in the first three days after Rogers' murder.

In the tape recorded interviews, Zachary said she saw Rogers about 10 a.m. the morning of his death at her house before she left for several hours with a friend.

Zachary describes Rogers as part of her family. After discussing previous assaults reported by Rogers asked, "If it is the same people who robbed him, why would they kill him?"

Several days after the murder, McCandlish said lie found a set of keys to the Rogers house near a pond, close to t h^ spot where divers fouifd the pipe believed to be the murder weapon.

McCandlish said investigators did not find any evidence suggesting an-other suspect.

I

Ionia prosecutor decides not to retry Kevorkian Associated Press

IONIA - Fearing another court-room spectacle, the Ionia County prosecutor today said he will not pur-sue a new assisted-suicide trial against Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

Kevorkian's first legal challenge outside the Detroit area quickly ended in a mistrial June 12 after de-fense attorney Geoffrey Fieger deliv-ered a wild opening statement

Prosecutor Ray Voet mentioned Fieger's "disgraceful conduct" among the reasons why he will drop the case in this western Michigan county, 35 miles east of Grand Rapids.

"I cannot foresee any way of pre-venting Mr. Fieger from just re-enact-

NEIGHBORS PLUS

ing his egregious misconduct in a sec-ond trial once he felt things were not going his way," Voet said.

'To attempt a retrial with little chance of success would simply serve the purposes of Fieger and Kevorkian in providing them with a national fo-rum for their crusade for death on de-mand," the prosecutor said.

Kevorkian, 69, was accused of as-sisting the suicide^of multiple-sclero-sis patient Loretta Peabody and practicing medicine without a license.

Fieger, reached at home this morn-ing by the Associated Press, said he hadn't expected Voet to try to^put Kevorkian on trial again.

"I think what's best for the

Peabodys, that's what he's consider-ing now," Fieger said. He declined fur-ther comment.

Voet contended the reared patholo-gist helped inject a heart-stopping drug into Peabody, 54, in the bed-room of her Ionia home on Aug. 30, 1996.

After a jury was chosen in a movie theater June 10, the trial moved across the street to the courthouse. Voet's brief opening remarks to jurors the next day were nothing like the in-flammatory statement that followed from Fieger.

Fieger questioned the legitimacy of Michigan's ban on assisted suicide, accused the prosecutor of a "witch

hunt" in bringing the case to trial, and also accused Voet's partner of cover-ing up a murder.

Although Voet objected several times. Judge Charles Miel never sternly reprimanded Fieger.

Voet feared the jury had been poi-soned by Fieger's speech, so he asked for a mistrial and Miel agreed.

Today, in a subtle slap at Miel, the prosecutor suggested the judge was never forceful during the aborted trial and probably wouldn't have sent Kevorkian to prison if he had been convicted.

'What would be the point" of con-victing Kevorkian if ultimately he merely received probation, and dead

bodies continued to pile up in Detroit-area motels?" Voet said.

The link between Peabody and Kevorkian was not known until a week afterl her death when police seized a videotape while breaking up a suspected suicide in an Oakland County motel room.

Moments before her death, the video shows Peabody asking Kevorkian to help her escape a miser-able disease, which attacks the central nervous system.

Kevorkian has admitted a role in at least 45 suicides since 1990. He has been acquitted of assisted-suicide charges in three trials' covering five deaths.

Lots of free goodies at Charity

STEVE SMITH

Officials of the Michigan Battle Cats and Community Integrated Recreation Inc. are hoping for lots of sunshine Sunday as they host the third annual Charity Softball Bash. The event originally was scheduled for July 21 but was rained out.

And there will be lots of free goodies for everyone who shows up for Sunday's game at Bailey Park's C.O. Brown Stadium. Everyone who at-tends the game will receive a free ticket to the Battle Cats' home game Wednesday, Aug. 6, against the Lansing Lug Nuts. In addition, free Tony Tiger baseballs and free collec-tor baseball cards ($10 value) will be given to the first 1,000 people through

L' * *1

Dave Rozema

the gates. Activities will

get under way at 1 p.m. Sunday with autograph-signing by former Detroit Tigers Dave Rozema and Rick Leach, as well as several members of the Michigan Battle Cats. The game, featuring Rozema, Leach, several Battle Cats and local community rep-resentatives, will start at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $3 for general admis-sion and $5 for box seats and will be available at the gate.

All proceeds from the Charity Softball Bash will go to support Community Integrated Recreation, a nonprofit organization which provides a variety of recreational and social op-portunities for persons with disabili-

ties and those without disabilities. For more information, call

Community Integrated Recreation at 968-8249.

ON VIEW AT MUSEUM

The special exhibit "Raptors to Rex: The Dinosaur Predators" continues at Kingman Museum of Natural History.

Other weekend activities at the mu-seum include the free films Kingdom of Animals: Simple to Complicated and Kingdom of Plants.

The films will be shown at 11 a.m., 1:30 and 3 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 and 3 p.m. Sunday.

The museum's current planetarium program, "Powers of 10," will be pre-sented at 2 and 4 p.m. daily

.Starting at a lakeside picnic in Chicago, the film transports viewers to the outer edges of the universe. Every 10 seconds, they view the start-

ing point from 10 times farther out, until our own galaxy is visible only as a speck of light The film then returns to earth and moves inward, into the hand of a sleeping ^ n i c k e r . The journey ends inside a proton of a car-bon atom inside a DNA molecule in-side a white blood cell.

Admission to the planetarium pro-gram is $1.

Museum officials also point out that starting approximately Aug. 6, the Earth will be visited by the Perseid meteor shower. This annual phenom-enon will reach its peak Monday, Aug. n.

During a typical shower, viewers have reported seeing up to 50 shoot-ing stars per hour. Best viewing is af-ter midnight- and away from city lights.

Groups or classes can schedule vis-its to Kingman Museum of Natural History during regular museum hours by calling 965-5117 to make

arrangements. Kingman Museum is a hands-on children's museum lo-cated in Leila Arboretum, just off West Michigan Avenue at 20th Street. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $2.50 for children ages 3-12 aijji $5 for adults. Museum members pay a reduced price. Children under age 3 are admitted free. The museum is a division of the Battle Creek Public Schools.

GIVE US A CALL Neiglbors Plus is a supplement to the

weekly Neighbors section, oublished every , Monday. If you have news tor Neighbors or Neighbors Plus, call Steve Smith at 966-0663 between 6:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, or fax the information to us at 964-0299

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