Lincoln Towers Manager
Is Ticketed By Fire Dept.

LILA ORBACH

Special to The Jewish News

T

Al Kushner: Calling it a career.

Alvin Kushner Will Retire
From Community Council

Alvin M. Kushner, executive
director of the Jewish Community
Council of Metropolitan Detroit for
the last 141/2 years, has announced his
retirement. Kushner will leave his
position March 1, at the age of 62.
"I've worked more years than any
of my predecessors in this job, so I
figured I could leave," Kushner jok-
ingly told The Jewish News this
week. He said he began to consider
retirement at age 62 more than a year
and a half ago, well before his heart
attack of last May. And, he insists, the
heart attack had nothing to do with
his decision.
"I have had no subsequent pro-
blems and I have felt very well. I've
been functioning as if nothing ever
happened."
What is calling him now is a
chance to take it easy, catch up on his

reading, and possibly teach and
volunteer. Kushner fondly recalled
substitute teaching in Mt. Clemens
when he, his wife Ruth, and their
young family first came to Michigan
from New York City to operate a USO
club for the Jewish Welfare Board.
That was in 1957. Now he would like
to teach a college course on Jewish
concerns, black-Jewish relations, or
community organizations — "areas,
theoretically, where I am a maven.

In 1963, Kushner joined Detroit's
Jewish Community Council as an
assistant to executive director Walter
Klein. He left 3% years later to head
the Pittsburgh Jewish Federation's
Community Relations Commission
and returned to Detroit in 1973 to
succeed Klein.

Continued on Page 12

he manager of the Lincoln
Tower apartments was issued
a series of local and state cita-
tions this week for disconnecting the
building's fire alarm, locking the
stairwell doors and failing to have a
fire evacuation plan. His actions could
have led to a major disaster last Sun-
day, the Royal Oak Township Fire
Deparment reported, when a fire
flashed through an eighth floor apart-
ment, forcing the evacuation of
residents and causing several cases of
smoke inhalation.
At least one resident remains in
Providence Hospital in fair condition.
Merle Trepp, who manages the
ten-story, 480-unit highrise on Lin-
coln Blvd. near Greenfield, told
authorities he turned the alarm off to
avoid confusion. But fire fighters said
he made a dreadful mistake — risk-
ing the lives of the buildings 500
(mostly Jewish) residents, all of whom
are over 50 years of age and many
who were unaware there was even a
fire.
"Turning off the alarm is
definately a no-no," said Royal Oak
Township Fire Chief Tyrone Jarrett.
"It hampered our evacuation plans
and people weren't aware of the in-
herent danger. He had absolutely no
fire evacuation plan. If that's not cor-
rected, it could lead to a misde-
meanor?'
The origin of the blaze, which
began in apartment 804, is still under
investigation. "It was probably caus-
ed by a faulty electrical heater located
in the bathroom," said Chief Jarrett.
It took the nearly 50 Royal Oak
Township and Southfield fire fighters
less than 45 minutes to bring the fire
under control.

"It had the potential to be very
deadly," said Keith Kramer, a Royal
Oak Township fire fighter. "It was a
difficult fire to fight because it had to
be fought from the inside out. The
smoke and heat conditions at points
were called untenable but the guys
pushed through it and put the fire
out. It could have been a major
disaster?'
Now the clean-up begins. Several
of the windows on the eighth and
ninth floors have been boarded. Black
soot lines the outside of the northwest
wing of the building. Some floors suf-
fered serious water damage and many
of the ceilings and carpets will have
Continued on Page 12

Phone Rates
Are Dividing
W. Bloomfield

LILA ORBACH

Special to The Jewish News

L

ast week, Ilene Monast of West
Bloomfield dialed her doctor in
Southfield and was put on hold.
It turned into a costly phone call.
In fact, just about every time
Monast lets her fingers do the walk-
ing, it turns into a long distance call.
You see, Monast lives on the other
side. While her home is within the
West Bloomfield boundaries, it's
without the telephone exchange
system other West Bloomfield
residents enjoy. Her phone number
begins with 683, considered to be a
"Pontiac exchange" but located in the
eastern portion of West Bloomfield
Township, causing all calls to
Continued on Page 12

ROUND UP

No Recognition
From Vatican

Amsterdam (JTA) —
Vatican recognition of the
State of Israel cannot be ex-
pected soon, according to Car-
dinal Johannes Willerbrands,
president of the Vatican's
Commission for Religious
Relations with the Jews.
The Dutch-born Willer-
brands reportedly conveyed
that message to Dutch
Catholic bishops visiting
Rome last week.
Willerbrands had been ask-
ed about the prospects of
Catholic-Jewish dialogue. He

replied that a sharp distinc-
tion must be made between
religious and political
dialogue.
A religious dialogue must
take priority, but a political
dialogue is not expected soon,
nor is Vatican recognition of
Israel, the cardinal said. He
added that by no means do all
Jews in the world identify
with the State of Israel.

Moving Closer
On West Bank

Tel Aviv (JTA) — Labor Par-
ty hawks and reportedly King
Hussein of Jordan have

moved closer to agreement
that some form of territorial
compromise is necessary for
the West Bank, which Israel
captured from Jordan in the
Six-Day War.
Israeli Absorption and Im-
migration Minister Yaacov
Thur disclosed at a news con-
ference Jan. 4 that King Hus-
sein of Jordan has hinted he
is ready to concede Israeli
rule over some of the West
Bank as part of a peace
agreement.
The minister said the king's
attitude was reflected in the
"London Document," the
summary of talks held secret-
ly in London last year bet-

ween Hussein and Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres.
Thur is a supporter of the
relatively hawkish Defense
Minister Yitzhak Rabin of
Labor. An ideological ally,
Labor Central Committee
member Micha Goldman, has
proposed that the party sup-
port annexation and introduc-
tion of Israeli law in areas of
the West Bank that are in-
cluded in the Allon Plan.
The plan, formulated by the
late Yigal Allon, foreign
minister during the mid
1970s, calls for Israel to re-
tain portions of the West
Bank vital to its security
while withdrawing from

heavily Arab-populated
areas. The plan never was of-
ficially part of a Labor Party
election platform.

Kurds Poisoned
Amnesty Says

New York — Iraqi security
forces have poisoned at least
40 Kurds opposed to the
government, according to
Amnesty International.
Citing "reliable sources,"
the human rights organiza-
tion alleged that a common
rat poison was used. Amnes-
ty called on the Iraqi govern-
ment to investigate the
reports.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 5