are charged to t location
where the car' rated and it rated
wh re it i garaged, 01 on d._
If car i garaged in Bloomfield
Hill am h an accident anywhere
in the country the 10 . recorded in
Bloomfield Hill , he ide
VOL. XV NO 15 An Informed Pe()ple I�, A Fro«: February 28 - March 6. 1993
Jobs plan awaits federal funding
Urban projects top list
. By MATT STRATTON
S.tvIt:.
ance in rural <10 not
the city of Detroit, d c Stod­
dard, p ident of the Michigan Citi­
zens Lobby.
Stoddard contended that on rea-
n Detroit iden pay more for
lrsurarce i the way that 10 are
reported.
Wb n a person driv into Detroit
from the uburbs and h an accident
or other claim, the 10 is recorded in
Detroit by the insurance company
and results in increased rat , Stod- ,
dard aid.
For example, a person who owns
a Chevrolet, liv in Detroit and takes
public transportation to work will
pay more for insurance than a person
ho owns a Merced in from the
uburb to the arne job, Stoddard
said.
Other prisoners' righ groups are
also king for a fed ral investigation
of what t y believe was a homicide.
The hanging t onia Maximum
Correction Facility of p ncr Bric
H. Davidson, 31, ofDeuoit ruled
a suicide by Ita police investigators
pUc p cio details urround-
tog the death.
On Jan. 27, 1993 Davidson w
accused of raping a female guard at
B.C. Broo Facility in M kegon
Heights. He w t n transferred to
the Ionia facility "beca we wanted
to make sure he w safe from harm, "
Correction Department official aid.
On Jan. 31, 1993 Davidson was
foulll banging by a bedsheet from a
rear indow in hi Ionia cell with a
sockjammcd in hi mouth and toilet
paper packed in his DOle.
Although 0 vidson w Black
and the female 0 icer white, Michi­
gan Department of Corrections offi­
cia deny the hanging might be
retali ion.
-The Department hes no reason to
believe the death w anythi but a
.-QU�- ... ����.o .. _.��_�L
receor.
David on's mother, Maljorie
David on of Detroit, refute that
claim. SIie hes retained Southfield
attorney Geoffrey Fleger to file a $25
million federal civil righ lawsuit
galmt the Department of Correc­
tioDS.
Din's mother said her son
w troubled, but was not uicidal.
"WtM>ever did this sbould be brought
to justice," she said.
And The Beat Goes On!
THE DETROIT CHAPT R
NAACP filed law uit last year
against the tates largest auto insur­
ance company claiming thi zip cod
method of determining premiums
was discriminatcry. African Arneri­
cam are paying higher rat for the
arne coverage than uburban drivers
with comparable driving record the
uit charg .
But, Joe Olson, vice president and
general-coun I for Citizen In ur­
ance Company of America, di -
agreed with Stoddard on-how 10 es
are recorded.
'That' ab olutely faJ e." Olson
aid. "It's a lie that's been propagated
by r pr entativ of so-called con­
umcr activi t group and they
should know better because there i
no evidence to back up the claim. "
The M�son School Drummer B?ys performed the opening procession during Installation Ceremonies oJ
ExecutIve Officers of the Detroit Branch NAACP. Ceremonies were held February 14 at Greater Grace
Temple in Detroit.
Iy,
no
h
a
fr
By RON SEIGEL
M/ch .n CItizen -
By KRISllNA MARLOW
C.plt.' New. S.rvlc _
LA • IN -Michigan mo t pow rfullabor leader
prai ed the plans of Pre ident Bill Clinton and tate
legislate to create job by rebuilding the state'
infras tructur .
House Democrat announ ed an economic plan in
January to create 70000 job in Michigan through
infras tructure inves tment.
"Tho e dollars in infrastructure building ... are in-
tant turnaround dollars," aid Frank Gam on, pr i-
,dent of the Michigan AFL-CIO. "They create job
instantly. Those are the quick dollars that help com­
munities. That's why Clinton picked that as one of
the early places to put money, because it's dollars
pumped into the economy."
The plan-which depends partly on anticipated
federal transportation . venu w uld r build the
state' crumbling road. and bri es, modernize the
tate's, air and water ports, and d el p a high peed
Sa OBS,A5
- ,
and February w held up by th tate mg negative pubJi ity through
chool board. " anctioned bashing of HP ,and
"leaks of dubious mouvati n."
HPCC officials aid the re on
for the delay in getting the audit w
caused by contract problem wi th the
, auditing finn Deloltte Touuch .
At th January State Board of
Education meeting held in Lansing,
board staff members stated that part
ofthi aid - 2 million -w uld b
restored to the college when the audit
began.
Lloyd aid that th 11 g got a
L YD Y the State Board' new auditing finn - Plantc-Mo-
of Education has made conflicting ran- which began the audi t, but.the
demands impo ible to fulfill, creat- -
S tate Board staff members said
this was done, because of the failure
of the college to meet tate require­
ments of filing audi ts f r 1 91
• aOO 1991-92.
HIGHLAND PARK Thomas
Lloyd, Acting President of Highland
Parle Community College (HPCC),
said at the Feb. 23 meeting of the
Board that unless the State Board-of
'Education stop holding up some
state aid, the college will be unable
to operate after next month.
Many oommunity residents �
lieve that if HPCC is destroyed, thi
will deprive many studen� of educa­
tional . oppoituni ty and lead to the
deterioration of Highland Park.
Lloyd said that state aid allocated
for the college between November
Some charge that tat threats are
only window dr ing for an attempt
by Michigan Gov mor John Engler
to hut down th wh Ie college,
partly out of prejudic because it
serv BI k P pi and the poor.
S-eHPCC,A5
"They 0 . true and
continue to mi lead the media and the
public into bell ving the contrary be­
cause they can't defend ub di for
Detroit unl they claim that Detroit
residen are charged for non-resi­
dent losses," 0 on d.
In any urban rea the frequency
and severity of uto insuraece I
tends to be higher and rural of
the tate end up sub idizing 00 ts for
Detroit, 0 on aid.
"We are losing about $2.5 million
per year on the cars we insure in
Detroit," he aid. "We get the money
to pay the exec co ts over what we
take in premiums from Detroit by
chargln our c tom in the rest of
t. "
T1'�re i no other source go and
coil tie so 0 - c
troit ub idizes t rest of the tate is
false," 01 on aid.
Stoddard agreed that ps needed
to be placed on some lrsurarce com­
pany co ts, such unlimited medi­
caJ benefits, but would like to see
me increased accountability from
insurancc,compani in return.
TH IN URANCE INDUS­
TRY hould be more accountable for
t percentage of premiums paid iii
that actually go toward paying
claim , Stoddard said.
He aid 80 to 85 percent of premi­
ums hould go to claim p yrnents.and
be a uniformed figure J1 the stat
to prevent one area subsidizing an­
other.
See INSURANCE, AS
'Q.
What can we
do to help
our 'kids
core higher
on·theME P
test?
, '
"
ROSELLE COOPER: "Par­
ents need to take a more ac­
ti role preparing them for
school and studinq."