Wednesday
One hundred four years of editorialfreedom August 2, 1995
ummer
Neekly
esidents lash out over teen's shooting
James Elworth Stewart was killed in a shooting that shootout. Witnesses reported that as
ily Staff Reporter took place shortly before I1 p.m. on Sat- many as 50 rounds were fired in the
Ann Arbor residents and police met urday at the intersection of Hemlock and shooting. Another victim was shot in the
a standing-room-only forum last night Plainview in the Arbor Oak neighbor- leg while fleeing the area.
address concerns about community hood of southeastern Ann Arbor. But a different story emerged from
olence in the wake of a Saturday night The Washtenaw County Prosecutor's yesterday's citizens' meeting. Many neigh-
ooting that left one Ann Arbor teen- Office issued arrest warrants yesterday for borhood residents disputed the police ver-
per dead and wounded a second person. four of the suspects in the shooting. sion of events and criticized the way in
The citizens' meeting was held in the Police have named Emilio Solomon which authorities dealt with the situation.
ym of Bryant Elementary School in Vasquez, 20, Joseph Edward Olive, 22, "Our children were ambushed that
Stheastern Ann Arbor. Eight represen- Deondre Byrd, 20, and William Chuck night," said Georgina Walker, who lives
ves of the Ann Arbor Police Depart- Taylor, 21, as suspects. One of the sus- on Hemlock and witnessed the incident.
tent were present, including Chief of pec ts has been arrested, but A APD "1 heard two pap, and I thought, like ev-
alice Carl Ent. Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid would not specify which one, eryone else, 'firecrackers.' The next thing
Sheldon was also in attendance. AAPD is blaming Stewart's death on I knew, I heard continuous gunfire. I saw.t
The meeting was scheduled as part of gang-related violence. our children running for their lives "
effort to coordinate and improve com- "It all points to gang activity, and we Walker asserted that, contrary to the
unity and police efforts to reduce crime firmly believe she was an innocent vic- police version of events, Stewart was not
i the Arbor Oak-Stonybrook Park area. tim," Sgt. Phil Scheel told The Ann Ar- caught in a crossfire. She said that the
hese efforts have taken on a new ur- bor News in Monday's paper. fire that killed Stewart came from one
ency after the Saturday night shooting A statement from AAPD indicated direction, behind some fences over JONATHAN LURIE/Di.y
th of Tamara Stewart, a 16-year-old that Stewart was most likely an innocent which the shooters climbed. Ann Arbor Police Chief Carl Ent returns to his seat after Verlie Stewart, the
n Arbor resident. bystander caught in the crossfire of a SEE SHOoTING PAGE 8 victim's father, refused his symbolic handshake Tuesday night.
N V
J l fd V l ll, 1V.
roups
ally for
elease of
nmate
y James Miller
aily Staff Reporter
With death row inmate Mumia Abu-
amal's execution less than three weeks
way, the protests and marches that have
wept over the nation this summer are now
led by a sense of urgency.
Accusing the government of "racism,"
e Free Mumia Committee staged a rally
n the Diag on Friday. About 50 people
gathered to call for the release of the in-
mate who has been on death row in Penn-
sylvania since 1982.
Abu-Jamal was convicted for the mur-
der of Philadelphia policeman Dan
Faulkner. He is scheduled to be executed
on August 17.
The rally moved from the Diag into
middle of State Street with members
ing signs and chanting, proclaiming
Abu-Jamal's innocence.
Sam Copi, an LSA senior and member
of the Free Mumia Committee, said that
although the execution is slated to be held
in Pennsylvania, protesting in Ann Arbor
might have an impact.
"Raising awareness here is important.
We need to educate the public every-
where," Copi said.
Fliers distributed by the Free Mumia
SEE RAiLY, PAGE 2
Activists work to
shut down nearby
nuclear reactor
By Scott Bishop
Daily Staff Reporter
As the 50th anniversary of nuclear
power's most infamous day approaches,
local environmental advocates are educat-
ing, organizing and trying to shut down the
Ferm II nuclear power plant less than 40
miles southeast of Ann Arbor.
Greenpeace and the Fermi II Action
Project are coalescing to protest contin-
ued operation of the Fermi II nuclear
power plant.
Events, including a three-day confer-
ence at the University, began on July 28
and culminate August 6, the date of the
1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, with
a demonstration near the Fermi II site.
Marie Mason of the Fermi II Action
f > , f g Project alleged that the plant was unsafe,
uneconomical and said that the operation
should be terminated. "The Fermi II
nuclear plant needs to be shut down and
decommissioned permanently," she said.
Cory Conn of Greenpeace said the
protest aims to protect the health and
safety of people throughout the Great
Lakes region. "We are basically trying to
protect the Great Lakes from contamina-
tion, at root. Not only for us, but for our
J -ONATHAN L55ta. grandchildren," he said.
Paul Lefrak leads demonstrators down State Street to protest the pending Detroit Edison spokesman Lew
execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal in Philadelphia. Layton termed safety concerns about the
plant overblown. "Fermi His operated ac-
cording to federal regulations. We meet
all federal requirements. ... Fermi II
would not be operating if it were not safe.
Detroit Edison is committed to operating
Fermi B safely," he said.
Advocates for shutting down Fermi
II cite three serious hazards in operating
the plant: chronic low-dose release of ra-
dionuclides, damaged turbine blades that
could cause a catastrophic accident, and
cracked reactor shrouds that might pre-
vent containment of radiation in the
event of an accident.
Tracy Easthope of Ann Arbor's Ecol-
ogy Center said that a power plant like
Fermi II releases small amounts of radio-
nuclides into the environment in everyday
operation. Radionuclides, like toxic
chemicals, build cumulatively in the envi-
ronment and can endanger human health.
"The reason why we're presenting
(at the conference) is because radionu-
clides share a lot of characteristics of
toxics. For instance, many of them don't
degrade in the environment for a long
time. Also they can build up in the food
chain," Easthope said.
Paul Gunter fromNuclear Information
Resource Services in Washington con-
firmed Easthope's analysis and empha-
SEE FERMI, PAGE 2
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