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December 04, 1977 - Image 1

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Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1977-12-04

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STERILIZATION
See Editorial Page

L

Sir ilgp

1 aug

BOMBS AWAY
High--35
Low-23
See Today for details

I. LXXXVIII, No. 72

Ann Arbor, Michigan-Sunday, December 4, 1977

Ten Cents

fight Pages Plys Supplement

nspec tc
By RICHARD BERKE
Overcrowded and overpriced hous-
g in Ann Arbor has: bred constant
nflict between landlords and ten-
ts and the city Building and Safety
epartment is caught in the middle.
Landlords complain that inspec-,
rs are hard-nosed and try to catch
em for every possible violation,
ile tenants sometimes blame them
r poor housing conditions. They say
e department should be more
gorous in inspecting.
WITH THE STAFF size as it is
w, not much more can be done to
tisfy the conflicting public wants,
cording to Jack Donaldson, acting
rector of the department. He said
ordinance calls for his seven in-
ectors to inspect each of the city's
,000 rental units every two years.
lfilling that regulation, Donaldson
id, would be physically impossible.
"With the shortage of inspectors as
is now, we can't possibly get to
ery building within the legal time
ame," Donaldson said, "especially
hen we have to reinspect the same
uilding two or three times to see if
he owner has made the ordered
epairs." Donaldson estimated that
he optimum number of inspectors
vould be 15.
Last year the department installed
computer system in an attempt to
peed up the inspection procedure.
he computer is programmed with
icts abo t each rental dwelling in
ie city and lists them in the priority
rder they should be inspected.
DONALDSON SAID this elimin-
tes some of the guesswork- in

rs face 'double trouble'

deciding when to inspect a house and
gives inspectors more time to actual-
ly inspect.
In the last fiscal year, 7,200 units
were inspected, compared to 3,100
the year before. Donaldson said the
computer is primarily responsible
for the increase.
Another factor slowing down the
inspection process is appointment
scheduling, according to Chief In-'
spector William Yadlosky.
"PEOPLE DON'T want them...
they keep you off and keep it off," he
said. "We could do a much better job
if we weren't burdened with making
appointments." He estimated he

spends one-third of his time setting
up appointments.
Donaldson said requests by his
department to increase the number
of inspectors have been denied by
City Council, which has other plans
for city money.
"It might be appropriate if the
ordinance calling for inspections
every two years is adjusted slightly
to make it more reasonable as to
what inspectors can physically do,"
he suggested.
ALTHOUGH he admits his depart-
ment is understaffed, Donaldson said
his inspectors are all "conscientious
and check out every single viola-
tion."

But Tom Harrison, a local property
owner, said inspectors are too thor-
ough and called them "nitpickers."
"A few of the inspectors are unrea-
sonable . . . they have individual
biases. They over-enforce the law
just to make life miserable for us,"
he claimed.
HARRISON ACCUSED some in-
spectors of purposely beingtough on
landlords, forcing them to sell their
property to the inspectors at low
prices.
"Some property owners can't af-
ford to make the needed repairs after
an inspection, so the inspector offers
to buy it from them very cheaply.
See INSPECTORS, Page 8

An nsectonat 221 N.

Ashley

Daily housing reporter Richard ,Berke recently
toured at 221 N. Ashley with William. Yadlosky, the
city's chief housing inspector. The house, inhabited by
twelve low-income, elderly residents, was six years over-
due for inspection and the subject of many tenant com-
plaints. Yadlonsky said the house was "not typical, but
there are enough situations which are similar in the city
to make it a good example. " Here is Berke's account.
*~ * * * * *
We followed Bessie Pappas, who owns the house with her
husband Pete, through a passageway in the rear of the house
and into the cellar, where Yadlosky began his inspection.
Armed with a yellow legal pad, he scoured each corridor and
room for violations of the city and state housing codes.
"Broken window in bathroom, broken toilet, no running
water, inaccessible cleanout door in chimney" were his first
notations.
PAPPAS LOOKED ON uneasily as Yadosky recorded

violations which could cost her and her husband thousands
of dollars to correct.
Randolph Patrick, an elderly man who lives in the cellar
with his deaf son, approached the inspector and tried to point
out needed repairs, despite the displeasure of the landlady.
"Why don't you move the car," Pappas advised Patrick.
'It's blocking the driveway.
"BUT I WANT to talk to the boy (Yadlosky) first,"
Patrick said.
"Why don't you go," she replied.
Patrick stayed through the inspection of the cellar. He
was there to hear Yadlosky tell the landlady that renting
out a cellar is in violation of the housing code. Patrick and his
son will have to move out by the end of the year.
"IT'S HARD TO GET a place to live having to take care
of my son," moaned Patrick, who pays $100 a month rent.
"I've never made any major complaints (about the cellar's
condition)."
See AN, Page 8

Doily Photo by ALAN BILINSKY
CITY CHIEF housing inspector William Yadlosky begins his inspection at 221
N. Ashley by following Randolph Patrick into his cellar residence. Patrick and
his son will have to move out before the year's end because cellar apartments
are illegal under city housing code.

HANGINGS SPARK RIOT

IBermuda

calls f
From Wire Service Reports
HAMILTON, Bermuda - Troops
and police opened fire with rubber
bullets on rioting black youths in the
back streets of Hamilton yesterday
as the governor called for British
troops to help stem three days of
protests over the executions of two
black men convicted of murder.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister
James Callaghan said in London that
the troops, probably a company of
about 100 men, would leave "very
likely Sunday morning." A Defense
Ministry source said they would be
flown to Bermuda from Britain. The
flying time is seven hours.
Officials said the disturbances,
previously confined to nighttime
hours, erupted anew yesterday after-
noon with bands of roaming youths
attacking drivers of cars and motor-
cycles on the streets of this Atlantic
resort island.
NO SERIOUS injuries were report-
ed in the attacks, which followed
several dozen reports of firebomb-
ings at numerous locations through-
out the island Friday night.
Thousands of tourists were on the
popular resort island, but many of
them kept to their hotels even in
daylight hours because of the rioting.
A dusk-to-dawn curfew was in effect.
Black youths began rioting Thurs-
day night after the hangings of black
extremists Erskine Burrows, 33, and
Larry Tacklyn, 25. Burrows was
convicted of murdering Gov. Sir
Richard Sharples and four other
persons in 1972-1973 and Tacklyn of
two of the 1973 killings.

or

British

ON FRIDAY night, police used
tear gas to disperse demonstrators in
Hamilton's black slums, and authori-
ties said several dozen youths made
fire-bomb attacks on a Hamilton
liquor warehouse as well as 12
commercial buildings and a house
elsewhere on the island.
About 20 black youths were arrest-
ed, some of them carrying citizens
band radios, police reported. They
said that led them to believe the fire
bombings were coordinated.

OFFICIALS SAID 'the 230-man
Bermuda Regiment, a part-time
force equivalent to the National
Guard aided baton-wielding police
trying to contain the bands of youths
who were engaged in hit and run
attacks in the capital.
The spokesperson said Prime Min-
ister James Callaghan, Foreign Sec-
retary David Owen and Defense
Secretary Fred Mulley reached the
decision at 10 Downing St., where
they had gathered to fete visiting Is-

roops
raeli Prime Minister Menahem Be-
gin.
Police said Friday the bodies of two
tourists and a Bermudan employe were
found in the debris of the top floor of the
six-story Southampton Princess Hotel,
which was swept by fire late Thursday
night. Authorities declined to , say
whether there may have been a connec-
tion between it, and Thursday night's
rioting.
Police said they have arrested
about 30 persons for curfew viola-
tions.

Pacific Northwest digs

out afte
SEATTLE (AP) - Rampaging
major rivers in western Washington
that killed at least four persons
receded yesterday as highway crews
worked around the clock to patch
roads and thousands of homeowners
began sifting mud from their belong-
ings.
The flooding struck hardest in
Snohomish County, north of Seattle,
and in Cowlitz County and the Grays
Harbor areas on the coast.
AMONG THE dead were a Fort
Lewis soldier missing after falling
into a swollen creek near the fort, an
Ariel man swept into the Lewis
River, a Portland man whose vehicle

r masstrv
was buried by a slide and an elderly
woman whose home fell into a river
at Aberdeen.
Authorities said the woman, 71-
year-old Blanche Jones, died in bed
when her house was lifted from its
foundations and carried about 50
feet. A neighbor of the victim, Robert
Buck, said he was awakened about
6:30 a.m. by "a horrible noise,
cracking like thunder."
He said the roof of his house ripped
open as another house plowed over it
during a mudslide. He was rescued
by another neighbor in a rowboat.
ALMOST 5% inches of rain fell in
Aberdeen in the 24 hours ending at 8

Arab leaders may band against

e floods
a.m. Friday.
Water flooded the streets in much
of the downtown. The water stopped
rising just an inch or tWo below many
doorways. About 18 inches of water
remained in many streets for several
hours.
One man was trapped on his back,
with water up to his ears. Rescue
workers held his head above water
until others could free him with a
crowbar and chainsaw, Fire Chief
Orian DeBay said.
ALTHOUGH officials kept watch
on dikes holding back brown, debris-
filled streams running over banks,
skies were clear over much of the
state and showers only were predict-
ed through the weekend.
One trouble spot was at Ebby
Island, east of Everett, where high
flood waters combined with a high
tide to breach dikes, said Bob
Hamlin, Snohomish County emer-
gency coordinator. He said crews
could probably prevent a collapse of
the dikes.
Gov. Dixy Lee Ray and Rep. Lloyd
Meeds toured the affected areas, as
sandbaggers continued bolstering
dikes. Ray declared the flooded
areas a disaster Friday, and federal,
state and local officials were to tour
the areas Sunday to come up with a
dollar estimate of damage before
appealing to the federal government
for assistance.
IN SNOHOMISH County, the Sno-
homish River peaked below the
33-foot level predicted, and the flood
residents had steeled themselves for
apparently was blunted.
Snohomish County officials had
said the flooding could be worse than
that of 1975. when fairmers lost 2.000

Daily Photo by BRAD BENJAMIN
ANN ARBOR FIREMAN Charles Moseby clutches a frightened kitten which
he rescued early yesterday morning from a blaze at the Huron House Tourist
Home, adjacent to the Medical Center.
Blaze guts Huron
House tourist home

Sadat's Mideast
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP)-Hard-line Arab leaders moved
yesterday to form a "resistance front" against Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat and try to block his peacemaking
efforts with Israel.
In Cairo, the semi-official newspaper Al Ahram said today
that Sadat has recalled Egypt's ambassadors to the Soviet
Union and four Arab countries taking part in the Tripoli
summit conference-Algeria, Iraq, South Yemen and Syria.
It said the ambassadors had been summoned to Cairo for
urgent consultations.
THE NEWSPAPER said the ambassador to Moscow was
recalled because "it was very clear that the leaders now
gathering in Tripoli are implementing a policy laid down for
them by Moscow."
Al Ahram claimed the Soviet Union had masterminded
the Tripoli conference in an effort to split the Arab world
and consolidate Moscow's "shaky presence" in the Middle
W._+

peace initiative
"In each paragraph, Khadafy insists on this proposal,"
said Zohari Mohsen, head of the Syrian-sponsored Saiqa
guerrilla group, in describing the closed-door proceedings
which were expected to end today.
But President Hafez Assad of Syria was reported resist-
ing such a drastic step, partly out of concern for the poverty
of Egypt's 40 million inhabitants. Syria is the only nation
here directly involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Assad
is evidently opposed to any step that would preclude a nego-
tiated peace or lead to an irreparable break with Egypt, his
ally in the October 1973 war.
THE SYRIAN president urged his caution on Khadafy,
suggesting a broader front to pressure Sadat and, it was
hoped, overshadow the influence of conservative Arab states
such as Saudi Arabia, conference sources said.
"The question is not to take spectacular steps to retaliate
against Sadat, but to prevent what he is trying to do," said

By DIANE ROBINSON
Fire broke out early yesterday
morning in the Huron House for
Tourists on Huron Street in Ann
Arbor.
Five trucks from the Ann Arbor
Fire Department arrived on the
scene at 2:14 a.m. to battle
considerable smoke and heat. The

NO INJURIES have been re-
ported, but one person was taken
to the hospital in a private car.
Final reports from the fire
department concerning the extent
of damage, injuries and possible
cause of fire will be available
Monday.
AX - - --. .... f . . :4.a a c~r

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