Closing arguments today in caretaker murder trial TRACE CHRISTENSON

The Enquirer

A jury should begin deliberating this afternoon on the fate of Sharon Zachary, an Emmett Township woman facing a murder charge she has denied.

Zachary, 32, is charged with mur-der, felony murder, and armed rob-bery in the April 1996 beating death of Robert Rogers, 80. She faces up to life in prison if convicted.

The jury should get the case this af-ternoon. Closing arguments by Assistant Calhoun County Prosecutor David Wallace and Defense Attorney John Hofman, along with jury instruc-tions from Circuit Judge Stephen Miller, were scheduled for this morn-

ing. Hofman con-

cluded his case Thursday with-out calling Zachary to the witness stand.

Wallace fin-ished by calling two rebuttal wit-nesses:

Ward Fields testified he was not at home at the time a mail carrier testified earlier this week that he saw Fields in his yard on the day Rogers was murdered. The carrier had testi-fied he delivered mail on South Raymond Road about 1:20 p.m. and

Sharon Zachary

saw Fields at his home about the same time he saw an elderly man in the yard at Rogers home.

But Fields said he was working at the time in Kalamazoo and added that mail usually was not delivered until af-ter 3 p.m. anyway.

Wallace wanted to show that the carrier could not have seen Rogers alive. The prosecution believes Rogers was killed by Zachary earlier in the day inside his house. Witnesses have given Zachary alibis during the middle of the day.

Kim Cowgill testified she believed Zachary could be violent Hofman has called several character witnesses to say that his client was kind and car-ing. But Cowgill filed a complaint^with

SPORTS HIT THE STREETS

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DOUG AliEN/THE ENQUIRER Danny Mapes, right, puts a shot past Jason Gonzalez during an intense game of street hockey on Thursday. A recycling bin served as a goal.

in labor fight

County looks for aid to help maintain river

Fatal crash in '45 actually was state's worst

LOCAL COMMUNITY CAIINDAR THIS WEEKEND Michigan Air National

Guard's HOth Fighter Wing will celebrate its 50th anniversary with activities Saturday and Sunday at the base. Open house and tours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

The fifth annual Albion Black Family Reunion includes the Family Day Festival, set for 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday in Holland Park.

The 24th annual Delton Area Founders Weekend takes place today and Saturday. Events include a parade at 1 p.m. Saturday, arts and crafts, horseshoe pitching tournament and antique tractor display. For more information, call the Founders Weekend hotline at 616-623-2020.

An old-fashioned postcards and nostalgia show will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Fort Custer American Legion Hall, 1125 E. Columbia. Admission is $2.

Abbott's Magic Get-Together continues through the weekend in Colon. Magic shows are scheduled for 8 p.m. today, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday in the high school auditorium. Tickets range from $10-$ 15 for adults. For information and tickets, call 616-432-3357.

Binder Park Zoo will cele-brate Reptile Weekend with activi-ties Saturday and Sunday. Many reptiles and amphibians will be on display in the Conservation Hall for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more in-formation, call 979-1351.

PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Calhoun County Family

Independence Agency Board, Noon, Calhoun County Medical Care Facility.

Historic District Commission M eting, 4 p.m.. City Hall, Room 3 0 1 .

Albion City Council, 7 p.m., Cuty Hall.

Augusta Village Council, 7 p.i.n.. Village Hall.

Bellevue Township, 7 p.m., . ' Village Hall.

Harper Creek Community Schools, 7 p.m.. Harper Creek High School.

Homer Village Council, 7 p.m., Municipal Building.

Marshall City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall.

Tekonsha Board of Education, 7 p.m., Tekonsha Middle School.

Tekonsha Township Board, 7 p.m. Township Hall.

Bronson Board of Education, 7:30 p.m.. High School.

Galesburg City Council, 7:30 p.m.. City Hall.

Gull Lake Community Schools, 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Hastings Planning Commission, 7:30 p.m.. City Hall.

SPECIAL INTERESTS Interaction of Kalamazoo

Inc. (for single adults), 7:30 p.m. today. Peoples Church, 1758 N. 10th St., Kalamazoo.

Michigan Singles . International Ltd. dance, 8 p.m.

today to 2 a.m. Saturday, PJ's, 310 S. Mechanic St., Jackson, and 8 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday, Mason Hills Golf Club, Tomlinson Road, Mason. Admission $6.

I SENIOR CITIZENS Blood-pressure check, 9 to

11 a.m. Monday, Battle Creek Health System Wellness Clinic, Burnham Brook Center.

Senior meals, dining senior-style lunches served by Elder Services Department of the Community Action Agency are available 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday in Springview Towers, Bedford Manor, Franklin Center, Washington Heights United Methodist Church and Mercy Pavilion Lakeview Center; 11:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Springfield Senior Fellowship Center at the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, 765 Upton Ave. Make reservations the previous open day at 963-1212.

! TO SUBMIT INFORMATION Please send items to

Community Calendar, 155 W. Van Buren St., Battle Creek 49017-

\ 3093. Or fax to 964-0299. /

SETTING IT STRAIGHT ; The Battle Creek Enquirer cor-

rects errors of fact. To report an er-ror, call 966-0674. / i

iHOW TO REACH US Have a story tip or Idea? Here's how

to reach us 24 hours a day: Reader hotline: 966-0681

; Fox: 964-0299 Great Lakes Free-Net: Leave a

message in the Battle Creek Enquirer conference area.

E-mail: enquirer@mail.tds.net

FRIDAY, AUG. 8 , 1 9 9 7

Vie Enquirer

The pickup-dump truck crash July 29 near Albion, claiming 11 lives, was not Michigan's deadliest vehicle crash, as has been widely reported.

A train-truck crash on Oct 31,1945, near Blissfield, claimed the lives of 16 German prisoners of war and an American military guard.

Associated Press stories on this year's tragic crash attributed its worst-ever status to the Michigan Department of State Police. But offi-cials in the department's Office of

NEIGHBORS PLUS

Kristina Wyn with the trophy she won at the World Horseshoe Tournament in Ontario.

Highway Safety Planning said Thursday that the crash was probably the deadliest in the past 30 years - the limit of their records and recollection.

The German prisoners, who were among a larger POW group housed at Fort Custer during World War II, were housed temporarily at a farm-worker camp at Blissfield in Lenawee County, according to a Battle Creek Enquirer story Nov. 1,1945.

TTiey were returning to the camp af-ter harvesting sugar beets when the truck in which they were riding was

EAST LEROY - Kristina Wyn of East Leroy recently placed second in the Junior Division of the World Horseshoe Tournament The event was held in Kit- r 1 chener, Ontario. STEVE

Kristina won SMITH 11 games and

Kristina, who will be a seventh- V grader at Athens Middle School this fall, is the m daughter of Rob- v j ert and Linda I 1 Wyn.

She also pitches in the Union City Horseshoe Club and has won and placed in several tournaments this year.

struck by a passenger train at a rural crossing one-half mile southeast of Blissfield.

.The POW victims were buried in the Fort Custer cemetery plot re-served for German prisoners of war. Relatives in Germany were notified of their deaths; seven of the prisoners were married and had children.

The truck driver, who was em-ployed by a sugar-beet company, was reported in serious condition, but no later stories could be found reporting whether he survived.

ON CAMPUS Amy L. Kile, a Harper Creek High

School graduate, has been honored for outstanding academic perfor-mance and placed on the spring-se-mester dean's list in the College of Arts and Science at Washington University in St Louis, Mo.Students must maintain at least a 3.5 grade-point average to be named to the list Kile, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kile, is majoring in English with a creative writing minor.

Jennifer Engelhardt, daughter of James and Marsha Engelhardt of Battle Creek, has been named to the spring-semester dean's list at the University of Notre Dame. Students must earn at least a 3.4 grade-point av-erage to be named to the list

Coloma Township police several years ago after Zachary threatened her on the telephone. The call came after Cowgill had an argument with Zachary's sister.

"I feel (Zachary) could be a violent person," Cowgill told Wallace.

She did admit to Hofman that Zachary may have apologized later for the threat

Wallace has tried to show the jury that Zachary killed Rogers in an argu-ment over money. She was buying a house next door to him and had been caring for him.

Rogers had given her money and made her sole beneficiary to his $750,000 estate.

But Wallace will argue today that

Trial t> B.C. Ford ex-owner is denying charges

E D DEANE The Enquirer

The former owner of Battle Creek Ford could face unfair labor practice charges in a trial before an adminis-trative law judge early next year.

William C. Schaub Jr., National Labor Relations Board regional direc-tor, said an NLRB investigation found evidence of unfair labor practices by Robert Mechling III, former owner of Battle Creek Ford. Mechling's attor-ney denies the charges.

The labor board's decision clears the way for the Jan. 14 trial at a loca-tion not yet decided. The board began investigating the charges in June.

If the judge rules against Mechling, he could be ordered to make payments to employees who lost their jobs.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 46 filed the charges against Mechling last spring after he sold the dealership at 295 W. Dickman Road to Haggin Wimberly Inc. of Dowagiac.

The union accuses Mechling of vio-lating the contract rights of union workers at the dealership. Mechling told the union in May that he was ter-minating the collective bargaining contract of the union at the dealership.

LYNN A . WALBECK For Vie Enquirer

MARSHALL - Calhoun County commissioners gave approval Thurs-day to participate in a national pro-gram that could help maintain the Kalamazoo River.

The county board authorized board Chairman George Perrett to sign a letter inviting interested residents to participate in the American Heritage River Initiative.

The letter was drafted by a tri-county steering committee represent-ing Calhoun, Allegan and Kalamazoo counties. It is the next step in the ap-plication process for designation of the Kalamazoo River watershed as an American Heritage River.

Ten rivers nationwide will be se-lected in early 1998 as part of the American Heritage Rivers Initiative, which was introduced by President Clinton during his State of the Union address.

Rivers chosen for the designation will be eligible for technical assistance to pursue grant funding to help main tain the river's environment. The

Engelhardt has achieved All-American status in the high jump at Notre Dame. She is a 1996 graduate of Lakeview High School.

Chad A. Boynton of Union City re-cently received a bachelor of arts de-gree from Anderson University with a double major in criminal justice and pre-law. Boynton, the son of Ivan and Jan Boynton of Union City, graduated with dean's list honors. His wife, the former Tonya Guenther, also gradu-ated from Anderson University in 1995 with a degree in elementary ed-ucation. Both Boyntons are gradu-ates of Union City Community Schools.

Joshua Howard, the son of Michael and Linda Howard of Battle

CREEK ENQUIRER 3 A

Rogers was angered because she was spending his money and that she hit him in the head with a pipe during an argument He died from 25 to 30 blows to the head, a pathologist testified.

Zachary's thumbprint was found on Rogers belt and her shoeprint on glass broken from a rear sliding door in his house.

Hofman has argued that the finger-print could have been put on the belt any time since Zachary bought it for him and sometimes laid out his clothes.

And he has tried to show that Rogers was a frequent victim of bur-glary and robberies, and it was well known that he carried large amounts of cash.

A total of 37 mechanics, parts and service workers and some office per-sonnel who belong to the union lost their jobs when their contract was can-celed and the dealership was sold.

Schaub said the board believes Mechling:

Illegally terminated the collective bargaining agreement with the union.

Refused to release information to the union about the sale.

Bargained in bad faith by de-manding the charges be dropped.

Schaub said the NLRB also is re-viewing a union charge against Haggin Wimberly that it illegally re-fused to bargain with the union.

Mechling's attorney, Keith James of Detroit, said the charges against his client are unfounded.

'The bargaining in bad faith charges are factually wrong," James said. "As to refusing to release infor-mation, Mr. Mechling had every right to close his business, so that charge doesn't make any sense."

Schaub said the board hopes the union and Mechling can reach a set-tlement before the trial date.

James and union representative Wayne Eifler said they'd be willing to work with the board on a settlement, but neither is holding out much hope.

'We're still evaluating our options," James said.

"At this point, I'm not optimistic about not going to trial," Eifler said.

American Heritage Rivers Initiative does not provide direct financial fund-ing.

Any interested county resident is welcome to participate in the initia-tive, said Keeley I. Taylor, assistant county administrator. Persons inter-ested in more information on the American Heritage River Initiative can contact Taylor at 781-0973.

In other county business Thursday, the county board:

Gave the go-ahead for the pur-chasing department to prepare a con-tract with Correctional Foodservice Management. The agreement is ex-pected to save the county an esti-mated $1 million during the five-year contract by turning all areas of food preparation at the jail over to Correctional Foodservice.

Adopted a resolution of general support for the Habitat for Humanity's "House to House" project recently completed in Albion.

Authorized the county administra-tor to sign an $18,000 community-ori-ented policing grant with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Creek, recently received a bachelor of science degree from th^J Northwestern University College of Arts and Sciences. Howard, a 1993 graduate of Harper Creek High School, majored in mathematical methods in the social sciences and economics and was on the dean's list He will attend Harvard University's Graduate School of Education in the fall.

GIVE US A GULL Neighbors Plus is a supplement to the

weekly Neighbors section, published each Monday. If yoo have news tor Neighbors or Neighbors Plus, coll Steve Smith at 9664)663 between 6:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, or faxlhe information to 9644)299.

East Leroy girl is 2nd in world horseshoe event