Thursday, June 9, 1977 ITHE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three
Wheelr testifies for Pos till
By LANI JORDAN
In a surprise move yesterday, Mayor Albert Wheeler took the
stand as a character witness in former sheriff Frederick Postill's
trial on charges of felonious assault.
Wheeler, who said he has known Postill for four years, testified
'postill has a reputation for truth and veracity."
THE FORMER sheriff is accused of choking Sheriff's Deputy
tastl Baysinger with a pair of handcuffs during a brawl at a wed-
ding reception in Chelsea last July.
"He has a reputation in terms of his position as sheriff,"
Wheeler continued, "of being fair, just and truthful."
Defense attorney Neal Bush attempted to link some earlier
disciplinary action against Baysinger by Postill and former jail
administrator Frank Donley, and Baysinger's dislike of several
postill programs instituted after the former sheriff's 1973 election
to the incident and Baysinger's subsequent legal action.
WHEN INVESTIGATIONS following the brawl did not turn up
sufficient. evidence to issue a felonious assault charge, Baysinger
had a civil warrant issued against Postill, and hired attorney Jack
GTrris.
Garris also represented Postill's former political opponent
t)utiglas Harvey. Harvey served ts Washtenaw County sheriff from
167 to 1973.
Postill, elected in 1973, was defeated for re-election last Novem-
5er by Thomas Minick.
Yesterday, the second day of testimony before Circuit Court
Judge Patrick Conlin, included conflicting accounts of the events
which led to and occurred during the incident.
Baysinger testified Postill had invited him to the parking lot
of the Chelsea Fairgrounds where the reception was held, to discuss
some problems at the jail, when the two got involved in a heated
debate
ACCORDING TO Baysinger, Postill and Donley initiated the
See TESTIMONY, Page 7
Group lays groundwork
to reunionize U clericals
By SUE WARNER
The clericals union at the University may rise from the dead
this summer.
When former United Auto Workers Local 2001, which repre-
sented University clericals, voted to decertify last summer, Mich-
igan law precluded the formation of any new union organization
for a full year. The clericals will he able to re-organize after
August 11.
LAST NIGHT, University clericals laid the groundwork for the
c-turrection of establishing bylaws for the Organizing Committee
t r Clericals (OCC).
The committee's job is self-explanatory: to organize a labor
utnion for clerical workers at the University.
"There's an excellent chance that we'll have a union by fall,"
stited OCC spokesperson Patty Schwartzman. "People are hot to
o: ytinize and OCC is moving ahead very rapidly."
According to Schwartzman, last summer's decertification was
iccomplished through the efforts of various groups of clericals
wht, "predicted that they'd do better without a union."
SCHWARTZMAN contended this opinion was proven false.
The current organizing drive includes former members of both
the Clericals for a Democratic Union (CDU) and Unity Caucus
factions, which were rivals for control in the now decertified
local 2001.
Schwartzman also denied the split between the two groups was
responsible for the decertification vote. "You can't pin the de-
See DISBANDED, Page 7
..h
Cinderella
SFrom the looks of this photograph, good fortune in the form of a fairy godmother hasn't
come the way of the title character in "Cinderella", currently appearing at the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theater. No, at this stage of yesterday's dress rehearsal, it iooked more like
Cindy's evil stepmother would win out.
Council OK's controversial
Parkway Meadows project
By GREGG KRUPA
City Council last night passed two resolutions
that will permit the construction of the contro-
versial Parkway Meadow-s housing development.
The 350 unit complex, 210 for elderly citizens
and 140 for families, will be constructed on a 38.3
acre parcel of land on Nixon Road north of Ply-
mouth Road.
THE PROPOSED development drew hostile re-
sponses from people presently residing in the
area. They felt the development would cause a
decline in property values, a rise in crime, crowd-
ecl conditions in area shopping centers and traffic
problems along Nixon Road.
At last night's meeting several Council mem-
bers assured the numerous residents who attended
the meeting that similar projects in the city had
not spurred increased critne problems or dechniutgt
property values.
"The Mill Creek hiusing development s seen
as a prototype for houising of this vuriety," said
Lou Senunas (R-Third Ward). "that development
affected neither a rise in crime nor a drop in
property values."
THE DEVELOPERS and the city reached agree-
ment Tuesday on several critical issues that had
stalled final approval on the Parkway Meadows.
Developers agreed to accept the cost of broaden-
ing Nixon Road, to include extensive recreational
facilities in the project, as well as several land-
scaping provisions:
Acting City Attorney Bruce Laidlaw commented
that Council had spent more time on this issue
than any other since his appointment.
-TODAY
Dope reprieve
Ann Arbor pot smokers needn't throw away any
of their precious weed, not yet any way. Accord-
ing to Mayor Al Wheeler, it will be a waek before
the city decides whether to prosecute marijuana
related arrests with the local $5 dollar ordinance
or the much more severe state penalties. The de-
cision has been forced upon local officials by a
State Court of Appeals ruling Tuesday, declaring
portions of Ypsilanti's $5 marijuana ordinance un-
constitutional. "I'm in favor of leniency for those
possessing small amounts of marijuana, and I think
our present law is a good one," said Wheeler. "But
we'll have to get an interpretation from our legal'
staff, check our options, and then come to a de-
cision through City Council or the City Administra-
tor regarding the Courts ruling."
Happenings
... start bright and early today with a workshop
for parents entitled Helping Special Children Grow.
It begins at 9 a.m. at 130 S. State ... al day long
you can sign up volunteer time for Drug Help coun-
seling service by calling 994-HELP ... at 7:15 p.m.,
the Christian Science Organization will meet in Rm.
4304 of the Union ... and at 7:30 p.m. in the Multi-
purpose Rm. of the UGLI, the Friends of Green-
peace will show the film Whales, Dolphins and Men.
A hole in the rules
Homeowners can't seem to resist asking state
highway crews to repair their driveway entrances
while they're working on an adjacent road. As a
result, New York state employes have strict in-
structions to refuse all such requests - politely,
but firmly. However when it comes to granting
favors to a 5-year-old girl, the rules get circum-
vented. A woman driving out of her driveway in
Niskayuna, N.Y. noticed that a large hole had been
filled in by a crew working near her home. When
she stopped to thank the workers and ask why only
her driveway had been repaired, they told her they
couldn't say no to "the kid," The woman asked
her little daughter if it was she who had asked the
men to fix the driveway, and the girl replied,
"Sure."
On the outside
The unseasonably cold weather will continue to-
day, but at least the skies will be sunny. Today's
high will be 64, with temperatures dropping to
near 40 tonight.