LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 7, 1996 - 5
State rep.
to leave
office after
.14 years
LANSING (AP) - It's not because
Democrats are in the minority and it's
not to beat the wave of lawmakers soon
tr be drummed out of jobs by term
limits.
It's simply because she's exhausted.
"I'm just tired," said Rep. Maxine
Berman, who announced yesterday she
ill not run for re-election this fall after
yen terms in the state House. "It was
;agonizing decision."
The Southfield Democrat said she
doesn't hive the foggiest notion" what
: She will do next, but is certain of one
thing she will not do: return to teaching.
This change, Berman said, was made so
she could take on new challenges.
"It was apersonal decision," she said.
"It's got nothing to do with politics. It's
*ot nothing to do with term limits."
Michigan's term limits take effect in
4998. State representatives are allowed
a maximum of six years and state sena-
tors eight, while U.S. House members
are limited to three terms and U.S. sena-
tors to two terms.
Berman, 49, said she is not leaving
the Legislature in which she has served
4for 14 years without feelings of nostal-
,gia for friends and for issues she has
doggedly pursued.
Berman has been known for her ac-
tivism on Democratic issues, particu-
larly her outspoken opposition to laws
requiring Michigan woman to wait 24
hours and be given information before
4getting an abortion.
LAlbion Coil.
accused of
raist policy
HOMER (AP) - The publisher of
a weekly newspaper in this commu-
nity southwest of Albion said he will
stop using any news releases from
*lbion College as long as it practices
what he calls "discrimination and rac-
ism."
Mike Warner, who is owner and pub-
lisher of the Homer Index, said he has
told Albion College to takehis name off
its mailing list.
Warner was responding to Albion
College's 20-percent tuition reduc-
tion for black students. The college
-began giving black students who at-
*nd the school $4,000 off of tuition
through its Diversity Awards in 1993
because black students had been his-
torically underrepresented at the
school.
"In my opinion, the Diversity Award
represents everything that is wrong with
race relations today," he wrote in a
column.
"The program is having the exact
opposite of what the college probably
itended," he said. "It isn't bringing the
ces closer together, it is driving a
wedge between them."
Warner said that he has no argu-
ment with the college helping low-
income minority students. But the
Diversity Award has no income crite-
ria. It is automatically given every
year to every black student who at-
tends the school.
"I think a better way to handle the
tuation is put the money in a big pot
d make it available to all disadvan-
taged students," he said.
While Albion College officials have
said they are taking a second look at
the way the award is handled, they
'also have said it does not discriminate
against any other students who have
access to other grants and scholar-
ships.
"We think (his boycott of Albion
College news) is an unfortunate deci-
n on his part," said Sarah Briggs,
Albion's director of communications.
"He's denying his readers the right to
learn about events and activities at the
college."
Gotabright
idea ffr
U' alums start
specialty beer
distributorship
AP PHOTO
A cold walk in the park
Cindy Summerfield of Birmingham carries her daughter, Paige, 2, as they walk past ice sculptures In Birmingham's
Shain Park yesterday.
Ivevstigation continues i
Huron Valley gwd's death
Beer-by-mail business
serves customers all
over the world
By Carissa Van Heest
For the Daily
As students in Ann Arbor, Robert
Wolfe and Ryan Rosett acquired a taste
for microbrewed beer.
After graduation, the pair decided to
do more than just drink beers. They
started a small company called Cactus
Creek, based in Troy, Mich., to sell
them. Now, they ship the specialty brews
all around the country.
Wolfe and Rosett, 1992 graduates,
became aware last year of the growing
popularity of specialty beer-by-mail
companies and decided to try their hand
at it.
"We couldn't believe these places
existed and we didn't know it," Wolfe
said. "Currently there has been a big
surge in microbrewed beers. People are
sick of drinking supermarket beer."
After researching the field, Wolfe
and Rosett opened Cactus Creek in
October. They ship out two six-packs of
microbrewed beer per month to each of
their members, who pay $15.95 a month
for the service. Wolfe and Rossett said
they ship beer not available in their
members' locals.
"If someone lives in Idaho, we are not
going to send them a microbrew from
Idaho," Wolfe said.
With each order, the entrepreneurs
send out Brews Letter, which describes
each beer's origin and gives some gen-
eral background information aboht the
company, said Eric Greenwald; man-
ager of Cactus Creek. -
"People are able to learn about great
brewing traditions," Greenwald said.
Their inventory changes each month,
usually carrying two to six different
microbrews.
Cactus Creek advertises by word of
mouth, radio ads, fliers, and with pro-
motions at beer festivals, Greenwald
said.
Customers are required to fax a copy
of their driver's license as proof that
they are 21 years old.
Cactus Creek's clientele consists of
people from all over the country, but
most of their customers are from Michi-
gan.
Jason McDonnell, a salesclerk from
Keego Harbor, Mich., said he has been
a customer right from the start.
"I originally ordered a subscription
for myself, and then I got one for my
dad," McDonnell said. "Now Ibuy it
for gifts. I don't have time to go out and
buy gifts, so this is perfect."
Wolfe attributes much of Cactus
Creek's success to the freshness and
uniqueness of the microbrews they
ship.
"In general, most people drink what
I call supermarket or stadium beers;
people don't know about ales," Wolfe
said. "People have never tasted fresh
microbrewed beer."
McDonnell raved about Cactus
Creek's service.
"I recommend it to everyone," he
said.
YPSILANTI (AP) - Prisoners at
Huron Valley Men's Facility remained
locked in their cells yesterday while
investigators sought the killerofa prison
employee.
Tammy Sperle, 33, of Milan was
found unconscious Monday on the
floor of the prison store where she
worked. She was pronounced dead at
3:01 p.m. at Saline Community Hos-
pital.
Sperle had been beaten and had a
shoestring wrapped around her neck.
"We are determined to find out who
was responsible for Tammy Sperle's
death and why," state Corrections Di-
rector Kenneth McGinnis said. "Our
thoughts and prayers are with her fam-
ily, friends and co-workers as they try
We are
determined to find
out who was
responsible"
- Kenneth McGinnis
Corrections director
to deal with their grief."
The prison was arranging counseling
for Sperle's co-workers. Funeral ar-
rangements were incomplete yesterday.
The Washtenaw County medical ex-
aminer was conducting an autopsy yes-
terday, and results are expected today.
Four inmates who had access to the
area where Sperle worked were the
focus ofstate police investigators. Cor-
rections spokesperson Warren Will-
iams said the lock-down would con-
tinue until today or tomorow.
Huron Valley is a close-security
prison housing 457 inmates. The De-
partment of Corrections said the last
prison employee killed on the job was
Jack Budd, who died in 1987 at the
State Prison of Southern Michigan at
Jackson.
Sperle, a mother of two teen-agers,
had worked at the Huron Valley facil-
ity since June 1994. She joined the
Corrections Department in 1991 as a
storekeeper at the Adrian Temporary
Facility.
20 years later, Oakland County
killings still an unsolved mystery
FERNDALE (AP) - Two decades
ago, someone started abducting chil-
dren off the streets of Oakland County
cities and killing them.
But despite one of Michigan's most
intensive police investigations, the
identity of the person who claimed
four lives and terrorized millions has
never been determined.
"I want this case
Schumacher, who took over the case
last year when he was assigned to the
Northville post.
Advances in technology such as
DNA analysis will be put to work to
try to solve the killings, he said.
The first killing occurred in Feb-
ruary 1976. Mark Stebbins, 12, was
abducted while walking near his
home in
to be solved. It
needs closure des-
perately for the
parents, for the
families and
friends, and for
me," former
Franklin police
Chief Jerry Tobias
told The Oakland
Press for a story
yesterday. "I think
about this case ev-
ery day."
At its peak,
nearly 300 detec-
tives from dozens
I want this case
to be solved. It
needs closure
desperately for, the
familes and frends,
and for me."
- Jerry Tobias
former Franklin police Chief
Ferndale on
Feb. 15, and his
body was found
four days later
in Oak Park.
On Dec. 22,
1976, Jill
Robinson, 12,
disappeared af-
ter leaving her
Royal Oak
home. Her body
was found along
Interstate 75 in
Troy on Dec.
26.
compare them to the victim's hair. If
they are not hers or from an animal,
investigators may seek to exhume the
former Michigan man's body to test
his hair, Schumacher said.
In 1989, the man's widow returned
to Michigan, and his relatives began
to discuss the possibility that he had
been the child killer.
They gave police a cross with the
name Kristine on the back that had
been with his belongings.
"I have no doubt that the cross is
Kristine Mihelich's," Berkley police
Sgt. Ray Anger said. "I don't think
(he) acted alone. Maybe he wasn't the
kidnapper, but I have to believe he
was involved somehow."
Schumacher said he is calling a
meeting of former task force mem-
bers next week to see if they have any
new ideas.
"We owe these victims everything
we can do to solve this case," said
Schumacher. "But I don't know if it's
solvable."
of police agen-
cies were working to catch Oakland
County's child killer. They reviewed
more than 15,000 tips but never
made a case.
One man who was the subject of
four tips and who may have had
personal items belonging to the vic-
tims left Michigan with his family
in 1980 and died the next year in a
car crash.
"It's been 20 years, but I look at
those crime scene photos and these
were babies who were kidnapped,'
said state police Lt. Charles
On Jan. 2, 1977, Kristine Mihelich,
10, was abducted near her home in
Berkley. Her body was found in
Franklin on Jan. 21.
And on March 16, 1977, Timothy
King, 11, was abducted from a store
parking lot near his Birmingham
home. His body was found in Livonia
on March 22.
In reviewing the case, Schumacher
and state police Sgt. Richard Percy
found that two hairs found in the
mouth of Kristine were never tested
to see if they were hers.
A state police crime lab now will
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