Page 2-Thursday, July 13, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Parking violators get the boot
By ELIZABETH SLOWIK
The Denver boot is a new trend in Ann
Arbor, but you won't see any local
fashion-plates sporting the new style.
The boot is only for cars listed in police
records as having 10 or more outstan-
ding parking tickets.
The boot, nicknamed after the city
where it was first used, is a 15-pound
metal contraption that clamps around
the rim and over the wheel of a front
tire and immobilizes the car. The owner
must pay up at the violations bureau
before a parking employee will remove
the device.
"WE'RE GOING to step up use of the
Denver boot to catch more of these
people who try to avoid paying tickets,"
promised Cy Hughes, manager of the
Ann Arbor parking system.
The boot has been used about 20 times
since Ann Arbor first purchased three
of them in 1976, said Mike Scott,
assistant manager of the city's parking
system. The devices were purchased
for $155 apiece.
The city has booted cars on and off
since the clamps were purchased, said
Scott, but faced problems like deter-
mining how long the boot should be left
on. He said that court cases related to
the devices have been decided in favor
of enforcement officials.
"THERE'LL BE many more
(bootings) when students come back,"
Scott promised. He said that many
students left town with a trail of unpaid
tickets behind them.
Although the city has 12 people en-
forcing parking laws, only one has the
honor of clamping offending autos.
When he spots a car he suspects of
having a number of unpaid tickets, he
verifies the debt at the violations
bureau. He then fills out an im-
mobilization form, which explains to
the car owner why his car was
shackled. The friendly message is then
Top state
LANSING (UPI) - The Michigan
Supreme Court yesterday denied Ann
Arbor attorney Warren Bracy's request
to consider its earlier refusal to order
his name placed on the ballot in the
Democratic U.S. Senate primary.
The high court also dismissed the
petition of Detroit attorney Harry
Payne, another Democratic senate
hopeful, to be included in the case. The
court ruled that question moot in light
of its decision in the Bracy matter.
BRACY HAS ARGUED that he needs
WHAT MAKES
BESSIE RUN?
NEW YORK (AP) - America's
physical fitness craze has finally
caught up with its four-legged
friends, according to a recent article
in Wallaces Farmer.
United States Dairy Association
(USDA) researchers have devised a
jogging program for flabby, heart
disease-prone dairy cattle confined
to inactive lives of eating, drinking,
resting, being milked and producing
one calf a year, the farm magazine
says.
left on the windshield. use the boot more often. In Jun
The boot has been used in Denver, were towed or booted.
Washington, D.C. and Boston, although Officials said use of the bo
Scott said he knows of no other owners save a $25 towing fe
Michigan city that boots cars. city saves on paperwork.
e, 62 cars
ot means
e and the
WHILE THE city won't stop towing
parking violaters, officials do expect to
"Most people," said Scott, "know
why their cars were immobilized. It's a
matter of time before they get caught."
court nixes Bracy bid
only 100 signatures in each of 20 coun-
ties to qualify for the ballot - not the
17,764 the Board of State Canvassers
said is required.
After being rejected by the high court
on June 28, Bracy took his case to U.S.
District Judge Wendell Miles who ruled
against him last week. Bracy then
asked the supreme court for recon-
sideration.
The high court, with all justices ex-
cept Charles Levin participating, rejec-
ted the motion for reconsideration
"because it does not appear to the court
that said order was entered
erroneously."
That ruling leaves six candiates in
the Democratic field for the August
primary. They are state Sens. John
Otterbacher of Grand Rapids and An-
thony Berezinski of Muskegon, state
Rep. Paul Rosenbaum of Battle Creek,
former Detroit Councilman Carl Levin,
newspaper publisher Philip Power and
former Congressman Richard Vander-
Veen of Grand Rapids.
Police still stymied in
search for Beverly Gold
By R. J. SMITH
The face still smiles out from all the
posterboards and kiosks and storefron-
ts in town. The caption has changed, but
it really doesn't have to be read. The
message is simple - Beverly Gold is
missing, and nobody seems to know
what happened to her.
'If we just had that
one call, anything could
happen.'
-Police detective.
Charles Ferguson
Ann Arbor police doggedly follow
down every lead: calls that she had
been seen days earlier in a Detroit
motel, reports of an automobile
frequently appearing in Gold's neigh-
A TRAFFIC SIGNAL
FOR THE BLIND
CARBONDLE, Ill. (AP) - Blind resi-
dents in this college town may be get-
ting a "sonic boon" to assist them in
crossing streets with a specially
designed traffic signal, reports
Southern Illinois University.
This seeing-eye traffic signal is a
squawk box 'which translates "Walk"
and "Don't Walk" commands into high-
pitched noises which tell the blind when
to cross and when to stay on the curb.
iHE MICHIGANDAILY
volumeLxxxvlII,No.42-5
Thursday, July 13, 1978
is edited and managed by students at the University
of Michigan. News phone 764-0562. Second class
postage is paid at Ann Arbnr, Michigan 48109.
Published daily Tuesday through Saurday mornisg
during the University year at 420 Maynard Street,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. Subscription rates: $12
september through April (2 semesters); $13 by mail
oauide AnnaArbor. ,
Summersession published through Saturday mor-
ning. Subscription rates: $6.50 in AnnArbor; '7.50 by
mail outside Ann Arbor.
borhood, calls that she might have been
the person someone saw hitchhiking on
countless highways in the southeastern
Michigan area.
AND SO FAR, it hasn't mattered. The
police are stymied.
It has been over three weeks now sin-
ce Gold disappeared.
"It's not really a very dynamic in-
vestigation at this time," said police
detective Charles Ferguson. Ferguson
reported that tips - as hopeless as they
may be - are falling off.
"If we just had that one call, anything
could happen," said Ferguson.
So until the call comes in, police track
down everything they receive, and do
loads of paperwork while waiting.
Hitchhiker
robs, beats
driver
By R. J. SMITH
A man was robbed, beaten and left
unconscious in Nichols Arboretum
yesterday, Ann Arbor police reported.
Terry Samons, 24, an Ypsilanti
resident, was driving his car north-
bound on US-23 near I-94 when he
picked up a hitchhiker.
The rider, described as a 6-foot-one-
inch white male, pulled out a handgun
and ordered Samons to drive to the Ar-
boretum. The hitchhiker then took
Samon's wallet, which contained about
$60 and identification, and clubbed
Samons over the head with his gun. Af-
ter dragging Samons into the Ar-
boretum, the assailant drove off in
Samon's car.
SAMONS, SAID he was unconscious
for about six hours. When he awoke, he
walked to University Hospital and was
treated in the emergency room for head
injuries.
The stolen automobile was described
as, a 1972 yellow Plymouth Satellite -
station wagon.
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