Bush gets close look at relief efforts

MONEY & LIFE 1C
FEATURES 1E
Scientist turns
research into
Big 3 career
YOUR GUIDE TO MUSIC,
ART, THEATER THIS FALL
Monday, September 12, 2005
detnews.com
Conductor
Thomas
Wilkins
Metro Edition
“I’m very proud of how hard we played and how physical this game was.”
Tax
plan
Lions start with roar
targets
Web sales
STEVE MARIUCCI, Lions coach
BOB WOJNOWSKI
Detroit defense started
job, Harrington finished
against Green Bay’s
typically potent offense.
ETROIT — They muddled
around, batting away chances, bogging down in a sloppy
game. And then the Lions, this latest
batch of new-hope Lions, did the oddest thing.
They stopped messing around
and firmly, gleefully, put their annoying nemesis out of its misery.
Yes, those were the Lions who
rose up and grabbed a game that
was teetering, throttling Brett Favre
and Green Bay 17-3 Sunday in the
season opener at Ford Field.
Tedious but victorious, halting
but hammering, the Lions made big
plays on defense all day, and just
enough plays on offense. There was
a huge roar at the beginning, when
the Lions scored early, and several
more at the end, when Joey Harrington clinched it with a 3-yard touchdown pass to rookie Mike Williams.
In between? Well, it was more an
officiating clinic than any kind of
classic, as the Packers went from
once-fabled to constantly flubbing,
penalized a shocking 14 times.
But this is progress, folks. The
Packers had beaten Detroit eight of
the past nine meetings and had won
the last three division titles. Look at
it this way: There were tons of mis-
Mich., losing out on
$300M this year, joins
17 other states to make
it easier to collect cash.
D
Please see Wojo, Page 8A
By Charlie Cain
and Mark Hornbeck
Detroit News Lansing Bureau
This could be the beginning of
the end of toll-free cruising on the
information superhighway.
Starting Oct. 1, Michigan and
17 other states are joining in their
most determined effort yet to persuade online and mail-order retailers to collect state and local
sales taxes. The Streamlined Sales
Tax Project provides computer
software and other items to make
it easier for out-of-state retailers
to calculate and collect the tax.
The states can’t force retailers
outside of their boundaries to do
that.
But many firms have signed on
to the project in the face of mounting pressure from Congress to
pass a law making such collections mandatory.
Michigan figures to net $8 million to $12 million in the first year
Tax losses grow
Lost state tax revenue due to Internet
or direct mail purchases on which no
taxes are paid:
$350 million
$328M
300
$246M
250
200
$194M
150
ESTIMATE
100
50
0
’01
’02
’03
’04
’05
’06
’07
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau data assembled by
the Tax Analysis Division, Michigan Department of
Treasury
The Detroit News
of the voluntary program and increasing amounts as the effort
gathers momentum.
State law requires Michigan
residents to pay the 6 percent
sales tax on items they buy over
the Internet or from catalog retailers in other states.
Please see Taxes, Page 7A
Daniel Mears / The Detroit News
Lions tackle Shaun Rogers celebrates after sacking Packers quarterback Brett Favre in the second half.
The Lions made big plays on defense all day, and just enough plays on offense.
DEFENSE DOMINATES
ATTACKING EARLY
Lions hold offensive powerhouse to one field goal. 1D
Parker: While season just started, opener was crucial. 1D
Bush gets close look at relief efforts
Associated Press
Susan Walsh / Associated Press
President Bush meets New York City firefighters at a base camp in the
outskirts of New Orleans. Bush arrived Sunday, his third trip to the area.
NEW ORLEANS — President
Bush got his first exposure today to
the leadership of the federal government’s new hurricane relief
chief, nodding in apparent satisfaction at what he saw.
Bush, on a two-day visit to hurricane-affected areas, started the day
with a briefing on the federal response effort aboard the USS Iwo
Jima, a command center for military operations. The slideshow presentation, which covered the latest
relief and recovery efforts in three
states, was conducted by Coast
Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who
replaced embattled FEMA Director Michael Brown as federal hurricane commander last Friday.
Later today, Bush was getting a
lengthy look at New Orleans’ damaged and flooded neighborhoods
from a convoy of military trucks.
Later, he was to tour hard-hit surrounding parishes by helicopter,
touching down to meet with local
leaders, and then was traveling to
Gulfport, Miss. It was Bush’s first
up-close look in the two weeks
since Katrina smashed into the
Gulf Coast and drowned this storied city.
The Big Easy will rise again. 4A
Talks fail; N’west says
it will replace workers
By Joel J. Smith
The Detroit News
Northwest Airlines will begin
permanently replacing all its 4,430
striking mechanics and aircraft
cleaners on Tuesday as last-minute
negotiations to reach a settlement
fell apart over the weekend.
Leaders of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said Sunday they will continue picketing,
hopeful Northwest will realize the
replacement workers can’t handle
the job and come back to the bargaining table with a better offer.
Northwest said that’s not likely
to happen.
If striking workers don’t reclaim their jobs by Tuesday, Northwest will move ahead without
them. After that, they could come
TURBULENCE AT
NORTHWEST
back only if there was an opening,
something Northwest said could
take months or years.
Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s
largest carrier, Northwest will begin hiring permanent replacement
workers Tuesday, selecting from
the pool of 1,200 licensed mechanics temporarily hired to fill in for
the strikers and any current mechanics who choose to cross the
picket line to reclaim their job.
Negotiations ended at 1:15 a.m.
Sunday after Northwest refused to
budge on an improved severance
Please see Northwest, Page 6A
Mercedes’ image rides on new flagship
on the car’s performance.
“What’s at stake for them is the
Ever since its introduction 40 leadership in the luxury class,” said
years ago, Mercedes-Benz’s flag- Philipp Rosengarten, Frankfurtship S-Class luxury sedan has epi- based analyst for automotive foretomized the German carmaker’s casting firm Global Insight. New risupremacy in automotive comfort, vals are crowding the large luxury
sedan segment which was once
safety and prestige.
Now as Mercedes prepares to Mercedes’ domain, while doubts
roll out the newest version at the about quality have weakened the
Frankfurt Auto Show this week, its brand.
Three years ago, when Daimlerreputation hinges more than ever
FRANKFURT AUTO SHOW
By Christine Tierney
The Detroit News
TUESDAY’S WEATHER
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Low, 66
Weather, 6B
Chrysler AG’s luxury carmaker
launched the stalwart E-Class midsize sedan, executives asserted that
they had worked out the bugs.
Behind the scenes, however, engineers were still tweaking electronic systems as production of the
E-Class was getting under way. The
result was dismal: Irate consumers
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savaged the car in quality surveys.
This time around, Mercedes has
multiplied the precautions, putting the new sedan through a rigorous regimen that borrows tips
from Toyota Motor Corp.
Pre-production S-Class cars
Mercedes-Benz
Please see Mercedes, Page 12A
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INSIDE
The S-Class aims to overcome its predecessor’s reliability problems.
••••
Bridge...............8E
Calendar ..........4E
Classified..........1F
Comics .........8-9E
Crossword ......9E
EDITORIALS: OUR OPINION
Deaths .............5B
Editorials........10A
Features ...........1E
Horoscope.......8E
Lottery .............2A
Metro ................1B
Money & Life ...1C
Movies..............2E
Newsmakers...5E
Next!................10E
Obituary...........5B
Opinions..........11A
Sports ..............1D
TV......................5E
Weather...........6B
A new poll finding that teachers
are giving up on some students
shows again that the education
system isn’t working. 10A
FEATURES 1E
SPORTS 1D
Check out coolest
CDs, hottest
concerts this fall
New Wings
coach lays
down the law
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
detnews.com
Metro Edition
Ford to cut 1,100 CAW jobs
Canadian union trades
higher wages for reduced
work force, sets pattern
for GM, Chrysler talks.
automakers, struck a tentative labor deal with Ford Motor Co. on
Monday that will mean significant
job cuts and the smallest wage
gains in 20 years.
The CAW made it a priority to
By Jeff Plungis
hang on to wages and benefits in reDetroit News Washington Bureau
turn for a smaller Ford work force by
The Canadian Auto Workers agreeing to modest hourly raises
union, acknowledging a dismal and pension increases for retirees.
North American market for Detroit
CAW and Ford negotiators
Greektown
Casino will
stay put
ZETSCHE IN CHARGE
New Mercedes boss pushes sales
and top quality ratings. 1C
worked throughout the day Monday
to fill in the final details of the pact,
which is expected to serve as a template for talks later this month with
DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler
Group and General Motors Corp.
Ford will be able to eliminate
about 1,100 Canadian jobs over the
three-year deal. Most of those job
cuts will take place in Windsor,
where Ford operates two engine factories, a casting plant and two aluminum plants.
In return for the reduced work
force, the CAW received small wage
increases: 1.4 percent, or 38 cents
“This is not the
richest agreement
we’ve ever
negotiated, but it is
responsible
bargaining.”
Please see Union, Page 6A
BUZZ HARGROVE
CAW president
HURRICANE KATRINA AFTERMATH
Car dealers pick up pieces
Instead of $450 million
complex, it opts for $200 million
plan with a 400-room hotel.
By Nick Bunkley
The Detroit News
DETROIT — Greektown Casino, scrapping
plans for an all-new downtown casino-hotel
complex, plans to announce today it will expand
at its current site. It will build a 15-story hotel
and 3,500-space parking garage along Monroe
Street.
The $200 million project is expected to be
finished by January 2008, according to plans being presented to the Michigan Gaming Control
Board today. If the proposal is approved by the
board and Detroit City Council, construction
could begin in February.
The proposal calls for a 400-room hotel to be
built on the parking lot of the Annunciation
Greek Orthodox Cathedral at Monroe and Interstate 375. An apartment building and city-owned parking garage on the north side of Monroe
would be demolished and replaced by a blocklong garage for casino patrons. Elevated, moving walkways would connect the hotel, garage
and casino.
The casino is ditching its plan for a new $450
million complex at Gratiot and I-375, but officials
say the expansion meets or exceeds all of the city’s
requirements for permanent casinos.
The gaming floor would grow from 75,000 to
100,000 square feet, and a 1,200-1,500-seat theater would be added to the casino building. The hotel would contain 25,000 square feet of convention space, half the amount Greektown Casino
had originally planned.
Photos by Todd McInturf / The Detroit News
Dealership owner Otis Favre’s 1992 Viper, which had less than 600 miles on it, was damaged when the floodwaters busted down a concrete block wall in his body
shop. Favre said all of the vehicles on his Slidell, La., lot — about 300 new and used — were destroyed by the hurricane.
Big Three struggle to revive 230 showrooms
NEW ORLEANS VULNERABLE
By Brett Clanton
The Detroit News
Please see Casino, Page 6A
this hurricane-ravaged suburb of
New Orleans as he walked the muddy grounds of his business Friday.
PREPARED FOR WORST
Among the casualties of HurriMetro officials ready for disaster. 5A
cane Katrina are dozens of new car
dealerships just like Favre’s.
CLAIMS COULD TOP $40B
Hurricane may be world’s costliest. 3C
The storm damaged about 230
Big Three dealerships across the
500-gallon gas tank — from where, Gulf Coast region, with the autonobody knows — squatted on a row makers reporting that nearly 50
of new SUVs.
stores were all but wiped out.
“I’ve never seen anything like it
It may be weeks before the extent
in my whole life,” said Favre, owner
of Lakeview Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Please see Katrina, Page 8A
Miles of levees washed away. 5A
SLIDELL, La. — When floodwaters rushed into his house and
rose 4 feet within 30 minutes, Otis
Favre knew his auto dealership
across town was in trouble. But he
wasn’t prepared for what he saw upon arriving — by boat — at the lot
last Tuesday morning.
Cars were stacked on top of cars.
The showroom was filled with water like an aquarium. Filing cabinets floated on the front lawn. And a
Chrysler exec Joe Eberhardt, right, gives
encouragement to dealership owner Otis Favre.
Justices should play limited role, Roberts says
By Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press
A 15-story hotel, with half the convention space
originally planned, and a 3,500-space parking
garage would be built on Monroe Street.
Roberts
WEDNESDAY’S WEATHER
High, 82
Low, 58
Weather, 6B
WASHINGTON — Supreme
Court nominee John Roberts said
Monday that justices are servants of
the law, playing a limited government role, as the Senate opened confirmation hearings on President
Bush’s choice to be the nation’s 17th
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chief justice.
“A certain humility should characterize the judicial role,” the 50year-old Roberts told the Judiciary
Committee, speaking without
notes. “Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way
around.”
The appellate judge likened ju-
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132nd year, No.22 © The Detroit News Printed in the USA
INSIDE
WHO’S NEXT?
Roberts answered questions
from senators today during confirmation hearings.
Today, the Supreme Court nomirists to baseball umpires, saying nee declined to discuss his views on
that “they make sure everybody the landmark 1973 ruling on aborplays by the rules, but it is a limited tion but said the concept of legal
role. Nobody ever went to a ball- precedent is a “very important congame to see the umpire.”
sideration.”
Many focus on Bush’s choice to fill
seat of swing vote O’Connor. 4A
••••
Bridge...............6E
Calendar ..........4E
Classified..........1F
Comics..........6-7E
Crossword.......7E
EDITORIALS: OUR OPINIONS
Deaths .............5B
Editorials........10A
Features ...........1E
Health ...............1G
Horoscope.......6E
Lottery .............2A
Metro ................1B
Movies..............2E
Newsmakers...5E
Obituary ..........6B
Opinions..........11A
Parenting........10E
Sports...............1D
TV......................5E
Weather...........6B
Republicans join Dems in the
anti-trash crusade, but landfills
produce jobs and revenue, two
things the state needs. 10A
FEATURES 3E
Put on your game
face: Poker
column debuts
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
detnews.com
Metro Edition
NWA teeters on bankruptcy
DEFAULT: AILING AIRLINE SKIPS
$42 MILLION IN DEBT PAYMENTS
STOCK: SHARES LOSE HALF THE
VALUE AS INVESTORS BAIL OUT
the filing and reports of an imminent bankruptcy filing.
Northwest Airlines Corp. said
Northwest’s 14-member board
Tuesday it has failed to make $42 of directors will meet today in Minmillion in debt payments in recent neapolis to decide whether Northdays, a warning sign that the air- west will seek Chapter 11 protecline may be hoarding cash in prep- tion or continue trying to restrucaration for a bankruptcy filing as ture the carrier outside of bankearly as this week.
ruptcy court, said the pilot’s union,
Northwest’s stock cratered which has a board seat.
Tuesday — falling almost 53 perNorthwest spokesman Kurt
cent to an all-time low — on news of Ebenhoch said Detroit Metro Air-
port’s largest carrier “has made no
decision” on a bankruptcy filing.
Delta Air Lines is also on the
brink of bankruptcy and could file
Chapter 11 this week. Bankruptcy
filings by the two giant carriers
would mark the biggest blow yet to
a U.S. airline industry that has been
bludgeoned by legacy costs, fuel
prices and cutthroat competition.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
By Joel J. Smith
The Detroit News
DECISION: CARRIER’S BOARD
SETS CRITICAL MEETING TODAY
late Tuesday, Northwest revealed it
had missed a $23 million aircraft financing payment and a semimonthly $19 million payment to
Mesaba Aviation Inc., which operates one of Northwest’s regional
commuter operations.
Northwest also said in the filing
that it is required to make a $65 million pension payment Thursday,
Northwest stock plunges
Please see Northwest, Page 6A
Source: Bloomberg News
Tuesday stock price:
$3.50
3.00
2.50
$3.30
$3.25
2.00
$1.57
1.50
$1.42
1.00
Open 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00
The Detroit News
Ford looks
abroad for
half of parts
WINGS, FANS KISS AND MAKE UP
Move to low-cost
countries in 5 years will
mean more changes for
U.S., European workers.
ord Motor Co.’s new boss for
North America, the 44-yearold Mark Fields, didn’t get
to where he is as quickly as he has
because he pulls his punches.
By 2010, he told industry analysts Tuesday during a private presentation at the Frankfurt Motor
Show, 50 percent of Ford’s parts in
Europe will come from low-cost
countries — twice what it’s buying
today, according to a report by
Merrill Lynch’s John Casesa.
“Fields outlined a logical longterm strategy to commonize product development, engineering
and component sourcing processes,” Casesa wrote. “Every auto
company in the world is doing
this with a vengeance and Ford
absolutely must do the same just
to maintain its current competitive position.”
F
Photos by David Guralnick / The Detroit News
“There’s not as many people as in years past,” says Paulette Donnelly of Grand Rapids, waiting for the Wings in Traverse City. “But the ones
that are here, they’re as passionate as ever. I know I am. We all missed our hockey.”
Players woo back the faithful
By Ted Kulfan
ZETTERBERG NURSES HIP
The Detroit News
Forward scores two goals
in scrimmage, may sit today. 1D
TRAVERSE CITY — Mid-September in Hockeytown North
means one thing: The Wings are in
town!
The Red Wings, a bit rusty from
roughly 18 months of inactivity, finally hit the ice as a team Tuesday.
A boisterous crowd of 1,500 at Centre ICE Arena was in midseason
form, though.
“It’s like a cult thing,” said Pete
Correia, the Wings’ training camp
coordinator. “People here love the
Red Wings.”
Businesses, too. Hotel marquees and storefront windows
throughout the city bear “Welcome
Wings” messages.
Wings players, especially veterans such as Kris Draper, say they
appreciate the support.
This is the eighth weeklong
camp the Wings have conducted in
Traverse City.
And, Draper said, they know not
man, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas
Lidstrom and Chris Chelios were
predictably loud, and even many of
the Grand Rapids Griffins, the
Wings’ minor league affiliate two
hours south of Traverse City, were
hounded for autographs and pictures.
“A lot of people have been waiting for these guys to get back to
playing,” said Chris Neubecker of
West Branch. “We’re just so glad
hockey is back.”
Attendance was down Tuesday
by approximately 300 fans from
Chris Thomas of Traverse City tries to get a shot of the Red Wings
previous years, according to Corduring practice. Attendance was down by about 300 from past
reia.
years, due to the lockout, higher gas prices and school start times.
“There’s not as many people as
said.
in years past,” noted Paulette Donto take the fans for granted.
If the volume from Tuesday’s nelly of Grand Rapids.
“We realize we put a black mark
“But the ones that are here,
on the sport, we realize that, and morning session is any indication,
we’re going to do everything we can fans are willing to forgive.
Roars for favorites Steve Yzer- Please see Wings, Page 14A
to get them (fans) back,” Draper
THURSDAY’S WEATHER
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Low, 54
Weather, 8B
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INSIDE
FRANKFURT AUTO SHOW
Tierney: Bernhard aims to turn
VW around in three years. 1C
The bottom line: The Fields
era atop Ford’s North and South
American operations, beginning
Oct. 1, probably means more
wrenching change for Ford employees awaiting details of yet another restructuring promised by
CEO Bill Ford Jr.
And it means yet more bad
news for American, Canadian and
European parts workers, if not necessarily for suppliers already migrating their businesses overseas.
Put aside all the business jarPlease see Howes, Page 14A
At least 152 die
in Iraq attacks
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A dozen explosions ripped through
the Iraqi capital in rapid succession today, killing at least 152
people and wounding 542 in a series of attacks that began with a
suicide car bombing that targeted laborers assembled to find
work for the day.
Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility.
The one-day death toll was
believed to be the worst in the
capital since major combat ended in May 2003, and Al-Jazeera
said Al-Qaida in Iraq linked the
attacks to the recent rout of militants from the city of Tal Afar by
U.S. and Iraqi forces.
••••
Bridge...............6E
Business ..........1C
Class Index ......1G
Comics..........6-7E
Crossword.......7E
DANIEL HOWES
Before dawn today, 17 men were
executed in a village north of Baghdad, which pushed the death toll in
all violence in and around the capital to 169.
Today’s worst bombing killed at
least 88 people and wounded 227
in the heavily Shiite neighborhood
of Kazimiyah where the day laborers had gathered shortly after
dawn.
The carnage was the worst single day of bloodshed since March 2,
2004, when coordinated blasts
from suicide bombers, mortars
and planted explosives hit Shiite
Muslim shrines in Karbala and in
Baghdad, killing at least 181 and
wounding 573.
EDITORIALS: OUR OPINION
Deaths .............5B
Drive..................1F
Editorials........12A
Features ...........1E
Horoscope.......6E
In The News ....2A
Lottery .............2A
Metro ................1B
Movies..............2E
Newsmakers...5E
Opinions .........13A
Sports...............1D
TV......................5E
Weather...........8B
The budget compromise between
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and GOP
legislative leaders still spends
too much money. 12A
FEATURES 1E
Curtain rises
on Metro’s
theater scene
Thursday, September 15, 2005
detnews.com
Metro Edition
The impact of bankruptcy
On employees:
On passengers:
Layoffs are
coming and
pensions
are in limbo;
wage and
benefit cuts
are likely.
Flights continue to all
destinations; frequent-flier
miles still good.
On striking
mechanics:
Strike takes
a hit; hiring
of 1,080
replacement
workers
goes on.
On shareholders:
They might lose
everything in
Chapter 11.
NWA: WHAT NEXT?
BANKRUPT AIRLINE VOWS TO EMERGE STRONGER
By Joel J. Smith
The Detroit News
DANIEL HOWES
Airlines’
fate foretells
future of
car industry
bankrupt Northwest Airlines will keep flying — for
now — but that’s not
what’s important for Detroit
about the airline’s move into the
protective arms of a federal
judge.
What matters is what the
bankruptcies of Northwest and
rival Delta Airlines, the third and
fourth of America’s seven major
carriers to file Chapter 11, may
augur for Detroit’s old-line automakers and their largest suppliers.
Could this be a glimpse of the
future?
The same forces that have
now pushed a majority of the nation’s Big Seven airlines into
bankruptcy could push at least
one major auto supplier, Delphi
Corp., into bankruptcy before
mid-October — high fixed costs,
negative net pricing for the products they sell, rising labor costs,
deteriorating balance sheets and
labor-management deal-making
that refused to recognize by its
actions the intensifying competition surrounding it.
It’s hard to overstate the significance to American labor and
industry of what we’re witnessing. One after another, onceproud airlines, symbols of postwar America’s prosperity and
technological achievement, are
walking into federal court and
saying, “Help, we can no longer
compete the way we’re structured, we can’t work it out ourselves
and we need your help.”
If Big Airlines, groaning under a largely self-inflicted accu-
A
Please see Howes, Page 9A
Why Northwest failed
The carrier is saddled with the industry’s highest labor costs ...
... its cash assets dwindled as fuel
expenses soared ...
Cash assets
Fuel expenses
2005 first-quarter labor costs in cents to fly one passenger one mile:
Northwest
4.6¢
Southwest
2.6¢
4.3¢ America West
Continental
2.6¢
$3.0 billion
$12 billion
2.5
4.3¢
ATA
2.4¢
2.4¢
Delta
4¢
Frontier
United
3.9¢
Jet Blue
2.2¢
1.5
Air Tran
3.1¢
Sources: Northwest Airlines
1.8¢
The Detroit News
Assets
available
6
1.0
3
0.5
0
US Airways
Total
obligations
9
2.0
American
... and huge pension obligations
became overwhelming.
Pension obligations
’00
’01
’02
’03
’04
’05*
’00
’01
’02
’03
’04
0
’05**
2000 2001
2002 2003 2004
*As of September 14; **Through June The Detroit News
New York Times
Photos by John T. Greilick / The Detroit News
Northwest Airlines, reeling
from bloated labor costs and skyhigh fuel prices, filed for bankruptcy protection for the first time in its
79-year history, vowing to emerge a
smaller, stronger company.
In the darkest day yet for the
once-glamorous U.S. airline industry, Northwest and Delta Air Lines
— the nation’s fourth- and thirdlargest airlines, respectively — filed
Chapter 11 on Wednesday after the
financial markets closed.
Northwest — which battled for
months to stay solvent in the midst
of staggering challenges — still has
a tough road ahead.
Northwest CEO Doug Steenland
promised customers would see little change, but investors, employees and vendors face a difficult and
uncertain future. Under court supervision, Detroit Metro Airport’s
dominant carrier will trim flights,
lay off workers, redouble efforts to
win labor concessions and return
planes in a bid to stop losses that
were mounting at $4 million a day.
“Without doubt, Northwest will
emerge as a strong competitor with
a solid future once our reorganization has been completed,” Steenland said after the carrier filed in
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
The 14-member Northwest
board of directors unanimously approved the Chapter 11 filing
Wednesday afternoon after airline
executives detailed a litany of insurmountable headwinds — soaring jet fuel prices, brutal competition from discount rivals, the industry’s highest labor costs and
staggering pension obligations.
Please see Northwest, Page 8A
You can still fly, but choices might be limited
By Brian J. O’Connor
The Detroit News
With Northwest Airlines and
Delta Air Lines slipping into
bankruptcy reorganization, airtravel questions hang in the air,
stacked up like flights trying to
land on Christmas Eve. Among
them:
Are my tickets still good?
Q.
A.
Yes. “Tomorrow, the sun will
come up, the airlines will
FRIDAY’S WEATHER
High, 76
Low, 54
Weather, 8B
continue to fly and all tickets will business.
Will I lose my frequent-flier
be good,” says Terry Tripler, airline
miles?
analyst with CheapSeats.com.
Will my flight be canceled?
Despite reports to the contrary, Northwest assured
Probably not, but North- travelers the WorldPerks program
west does plan to trim its will continue.
schedule, so some flights may be
The miles are in jeopardy only
rescheduled.
if Northwest goes out of business
The idea in Chapter 11 is that entirely. That means broke, kaput,
the airline is trying to regroup fi- totally zotzed. Think tumblenancially so it can get back on its weeds blowing through the termifeet, not to get ready to go out of nal.
Q.
A.
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INSIDE
“These are customer loyalty
programs so airlines try to maintain them, especially during a reorganization, so they can maintain the ridership of the customers,” explains David Stempler,
president of the Air Travelers Association.
Until now, even when airlines
have experienced a complete financial crash, fliers often have
Please see Questions, Page 7A
••••
Bridge...............6E
Business ..........1C
Classified..........1F
Comics..........6-7E
Crossword.......7E
MORE INSIDE
PENSIONS AT RISK
Northwest may turn plan over
to government, taxpayers. 6A
WORKERS UP IN THE AIR
Layoffs, cost cuts promised,
but details remain sketchy. 7A
DELTA FILES CHAPTER 11
The airline’s bankruptcy is
ninth-largest in U.S. history. 9A
EDITORIALS: OUR OPINIONS
Deaths .............5B
Eats & Drinks ..1G
Editorials........16A
Features ...........1E
Horoscope.......6E
Lottery .............2A
Metro ................1B
Movies..............2E
Newsmakers...5E
Obituary...........5B
Opinions .........17A
Sports...............1D
Stocks..............5C
TV......................5E
Weather...........8B
A state term limit reform plan
for the 2006 ballot should prompt
debate on going to a part-time
Legislature. 16A
OPINION 11A
James Hoffa
speaks out in
Labor Voices
Friday, September 16, 2005
detnews.com
Mayor’s race: Nasty! Ugly!
Kilpatrick-Hendrix debate
sets stage for wild election
By Judy Lin
and David Josar
INSIDE
The Detroit News
FURIOUS
Incumbent Kwame Kilpatrick
and challenger Freman Hendrix
traded accusations of incompetence
and dishonesty Thursday in a brawling debate that signals a hot and intensely personal run-up to the Nov. 8
mayoral election in Detroit.
But what drew the lowest, loudest “ooh” from a packed noontime
session of the Detroit Economic
Club was when Kilpatrick ended the
debate by saying that no one in his
family, himself included, has ever
gotten into trouble with the law.
Then he added: “I just wonder if Mr.
Hendrix can say the same thing.”
Hendrix appeared stunned by
the implication and didn’t at first respond directly. But after the debate,
he told reporters no one in his family ever has been arrested.
“This sounds to me like the ploy
of a desperate man who is down in
the polls struggling in his campaign,
and I have no idea what he’s talking
about,” said Hendrix.
Political experts said it was no
surprise that the two candidates at-
Patterson:
Oakland exec
slams mayor for
deriding Oakland
teens. 9A
LAST BLOW
Beckmann: Kilpatrick’s final jab at
Hendrix fails to get a response. 11A
Editorial: Debate juxtaposes
maturity with cheap shots. 10A
tacked each other’s leadership and
management skills. But Kilpatrick’s
decision to suggest there were criminal arrests in Hendrix’s family without providing evidence could backfire.
“No one has a perfect family, but
we love our relatives and most of
them do the right thing,” said Eric
Foster of Urban Consulting in Detroit. “That’s not a road that’s needed in this case.”
Please see Debate, Page 9A
Just one day into bankruptcy,
Northwest Airlines wasted no time
slashing flights and cutting hundreds of jobs.
The financially struggling airline notified its 5,500 pilots Thursday that it will cut flying hours 13
percent over the next eight months,
a step that translates into 400 pilot
layoffs, the first as early as Nov. 1.
It was Northwest’s first major
move to reinvent itself as a leaner,
more profitable airline and signaled that more cost-saving actions are sure to follow. The airline
has scheduled a meeting today
with its flight attendants union to
AIRLINES ARE WARNED
Feds tell Delta, Northwest they still
have to pay for pensions. 1C
discuss future staffing levels.
The action came the same day
Northwest made its first appearance in bankruptcy court, where
the carrier has sought refuge from
creditors while it reorganizes in a
bid to survive amid some of the
toughest conditions the U.S. airline
industry has ever faced.
In an e-mail Thursday, Northwest’s Air Line Pilots Association
told members that Northwest will
lay off 70 pilots on Nov. 1, another
150 on Jan. 1 and the final 150 in
April 2006.
“These (layoffs) are driven by reduced flying levels and are not the
result of any changes to our conPlease see Northwest, Page 9A
SATURDAY’S WEATHER
High, 74
Low, 54
Weather, 8B
50¢
Both lawyers,
Lana Stempien,
35, and Charles
“Chuck”
Rutherford Jr.,
34, shared a
home in Grosse
Pointe Farms.
10. 4:30-5 p.m.
Aug. 24:
Lana’s body
found.
Hur
Huron
on
Beach Rogers
City
5. 1:30 p.m.
Aug. 11: Call
family, expect to
be at Mackinac
Island in 2 hours.
SIDE BY SIDE
Northwest plans to
ax 400 pilot jobs
The Detroit News
6. 1:36 a.m.
Aug. 12: Police
believe GPS system
is activated.
9. Aug. 13:
Coast Guard
calls off search;
state police pick
up investigation.
Marquette
Marquet
Mar
quettte
Island
Mackinac
Island
Morris Richardson II / The Detroit News
By Joel J. Smith
8. 11:10-20 a.m.
Aug. 12:
U.S. Coast Guard
finds Lana’s boat.
St. Ignace
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, left, painted Freman Hendrix as the No. 2
man in a team that failed to address the city’s numerous problems.
Hendrix attacked the incumbent as young and inexperienced.
Bankrupt airline to cut
positions by November;
will meet with flight
attendants union today.
7. 9:10 a.m.
Aug. 12:
Lana’s parents
call; they have
not heard
from her.
They were young, full of life and
off to Mackinac. Now only a boat,
a body and questions remain.
Presque
Isle
Alpena
Alpena
4. 12:37 p.m.
Aug. 11:
Stop for gas.
Oscoda
Lana Stempien,
an experienced
boater, was
trained to never
leave her boat.
3. 7-7:30 p.m.
Aug. 10:
Stop for night,
meet with
unidentified
couple.
MYSTERY ON
LAKE HURON
By Dorothy Bourdet
The Detroit News
The strange shape on a rocky shoal along Lake
Huron caught Beverly Wheaton’s eye.
Lake
Using a telescope, Wheaton spotted the body of
Huron
a blond woman in her 30s, about 50 to 100 yards
Saginaw
offshore.
Bay
Wheaton’s discovery only compounded the
mystery surrounding Lana Stempien, 35, and
Harbor
her boyfriend, Charles “Chuck” Rutherford Jr.,
Beach
34. The two lawyers, who shared a home in
Grosse Pointe Farms, had been heading to
2. Aug. 10
Mackinac Island on Aug. 11 when they disapStop for gas.
peared from her cabin cruiser, Sea’s Life.
There are plenty of clues, but they don’t
seem to add up.
The abandoned boat was found adrift the
Port
day after it was expected in Mackinac —
Huron
idling, its radio playing, running lights off,
life preservers and cell phones still on board.
John L. Russell / Special to The Detroit News
Police say someone had turned on the GPS
Sea’s Life was found drifting, engine idling,
system in the middle of the night, 10 hours
radio on and running lights off. Police believe
after anyone had heard from the couple.
someone turned on the GPS system in the
When Stempien was found, she was
darkness, hours after the pair’s last call.
wearing nothing but a necklace, an Omega
Lake
watch and a ring.
Detroit
St. Clair
There are plenty of theories, too. Maybe it
Belle
was a tragic accident. But some friends and
ONTARIO
River
family members suggest foul play — that
others were involved.
1. Approximately
Police won’t speculate as to why Ruther10 a.m. Aug. 10:
ford’s body has not been found. They’re treatTrip begins.
ing the case as a missing person investigation.
Lake Erie
Sources: Family, Michigan State Police, U.S. Coast Guard
Aaron Hightower / The Detroit News
Please see Mystery, Page 8A
Bush aims to rebuild city, his image
At the lowest point in
his presidency, he spells
out aid details and takes
responsibility again.
By Dan Balz
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The main
text of President Bush’s nationally
televised address Thursday night
was the rebuilding of New Orleans
and the Gulf Coast, but the clear
subtext was the reAnalysis
building of a presidency that is now
at its lowest point ever, confronted
by huge and simultaneous challenges at home and abroad — and
facing a country divided along
30¢ home delivery
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24/7 at
detnews.com.
132nd year, No.25 © The Detroit News Printed in the USA
partisan and racial lines.
Hurricane Katrina struck at the
core of Bush’s presidency by undermining the central assertion of
his re-election campaign, that he
was a strong and decisive leader
who could keep the country safe in
a crisis. Never again will he or his
advisers be able to point to his often-praised performance after the
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, without
being reminded of the fumbling
and slow-off-the-mark response of
his administration after the hurricane and the flooding in New Orleans.
His response to these criticisms
Thursday night was a speech
President Bush
addresses the
nation from
Jackson
Square in New
Orleans. He
announced a
reconstruction
plan to help
rebuild the Gulf
Coast area
damaged by
Hurricane
Katrina.
Susan Walsh / Associated Press
Please see Katrina aid, Page 5A
INSIDE
••••
Bridge...............4E
Business ..........1C
Class Index......7G
Comics .........4-5E
Crossword ......5E
EDITORIALS: OUR OPINIONS
Deaths .............5B
Editorials........10A
Features ...........1E
Homefinder......1G
Horoscope.......4E
Lottery .............2A
Metro ................1B
Movies ..............7F
Obituaries .......5B
Opinions..........11A
Sports...............1D
Stocks..............4C
TV......................2E
Weather...........8B
Weekend...........1F
Action must be taken now to head
off traffic gridlock in Oakland
County, which is the state’s
economic powerhouse. 10A
ROY WILLIAMS
POSTER IN CLASSIFIED
‘Burnout: Revenge’
is smashup fun
JOEY HARRINGTON MEDALLION, PAGE 8A
GAME ON! 10K
INSIDE: USA WEEKEND
COLOR COMICS
Metro Edition
CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2005
TVBOOK
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
CROSSWORD
ABCDEF
WOJO:
C OMP LE T E G A ME CO V ERAGE , S P O RT S 1 C
Whew!
870,000 PEOPLE
Number of Michigan
residents with asthma
Spartans
finish Irish
$460 MILLION
Annual health care
costs for the state
MSU wins blowout
turned comeback
turned OT thriller. 1C
Dale G. Young / The Detroit News
10.1 DAYS
Work days lost each
year, per adult
GASPING
FOR AIR
More UAW
workers
bankrupt
Autoworkers who used Bankruptcies soar
Number of personal and business
to thrive on overtime
bankruptcies in Michigan:
now find it tough to
46,925
50,000
45,000
keep up their lifestyles.
Asthma afflicts 9%
of Mich. residents, up
15% from late 1980s
40,000
By Louis Aguilar
The Detroit News
By Gregg Krupa
DETROIT — Oscar Gray
achieved the good life during 28
years of hard work at Delphi Corp.
— a six-figure income, a nice
home in Holly and two vehicles.
But as Michigan’s auto industry tanked in recent years, the
forklift operator lost huge
amounts of overtime pay and
gradually sank into financial ruin.
Saddled with $469,000 in debt, he
declared bankruptcy last month.
Gray isn’t alone. Once the symbol of blue-collar prosperity,
Michigan autoworkers are going
bankrupt in alarming numbers as
vehicle production declines and
overtime pay dwindles.
The United Auto Workers’ le-
The Detroit News
K
ate Safford lives by obsessing about her disease.
To eliminate dust mites that
might trigger a life-threatening
asthma attack, Safford’s house
makes clean seem like a dirty
word.
She has spent $40,000 on special air filters,
buys expensive hypoallergenic sheets and covers for her pillows and mattresses, and has opted for hardwood floors instead of carpeting. Her
husband knows that a tap on his shoulder while
he is driving means he needs to close the car
vents to block exhaust from other vehicles.
“I look at the weather reports every day just
to see what kind of day it is going to be for me,”
said Safford, of Birmingham. “I am always think“Many
ing before I go outside: Do
people do I have my inhaler? Do I
have all of my meds? It
not take
keeps you from dying, actually.”
asthma
Nearly 870,000 people
seriously.” in Michigan have asthma
— about 9 percent of the
DR. MICHAEL
state’s population. That’s a
HARBUT
15 percent increase from
the late 1980s, according to
2003 figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the latest data available.
Michigan ranks fourth in the nation in the prevalence of asthma. Nearly half the cases are in
Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston
counties: about 290,000 adults and 100,000
children.
The cause of the disease is not known; doctors are exploring genetic links. But experts say
the condition is aggravated in Michigan by high
levels of soot and smog, the absence of bans on
smoking in public places and naturally occurring factors such as pollen. Critics say the lack of
a concerted approach to dealing with the disease is costing the state millions of dollars in expensive emergency room visits, lost productivity and absences from school.
Please see Asthma, Page 12A
$1.50
COUPONS
35,000
Eastern
Michigan
30,000
25,000 15,521
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04
Source: U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District
of Michigan
The Detroit News
gal department has handled the
bankruptcies of nearly 10,000 of
its members, retirees and their
families in Michigan since 2002,
according to Detroit News research of court records. UAW lawyers estimate that Chapter 7 and
Please see Bankruptcy, Page 10A
Will suburb bashing
work for Kilpatrick?
By Joel Kurth
and Judy Lin
The Detroit News
Photos by John T. Greilick / The Detroit News
Sharnay Duncan: The 4-year-old uses a mask for her
daily nebulizer treatment. Her mother, Shari Duncan,
45, of Detroit and her six children all have asthma. “I
usually have to choose between medication for my
kids or for me,” Shari Duncan says.
MORE INSIDE
BLACK, NEEDY
PATIENTS HIT HARD
Some lack adequate
care, live in areas with
poor air quality. 13A
MICHIGAN AIR
HOLDS HAZARDS
Health officials work
to lower exorbitant levels
of soot, smog. 13A
Neighbors of the former Rouge Steel plant in Dearborn sued to
force the new owners to clean its soot-producing operation.
$2 home
delivery
Recycled newsprint is
used to print The Detroit
News and Free Press.
As they have been for 40 years,
the politics of division — us versus
them, city versus suburbs, black
versus white — are once again
front and center in Detroit’s mayoral race.
Down in the polls, Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick sparked a controversy during last week’s debate
with challenger Freman Hendrix
by claiming use of some drugs is
more prevalent in Birmingham
and Bloomfield Hills schools than
in Detroit.
Suburban leaders and editorial writers howled. Political observers called it a desperate act.
Tellingly, though, those making
the most noise about Kilpatrick’s
remarks aren’t eligible to vote in
the election. And experts said Kilpatrick undoubtedly made the remarks quite deliberately — as a
main point of his re-election strat-
••
Business ..............1B
Class Index .........1M
Deaths................4D
Editorials ...........18A
Horoscope..........2M
Ideas .................17A
In The News ........2A
Lottery ................2A
Metro...................1D
Money & Life........4B
N.Y. Times
Crossword ..........19A
Obituaries............5D
Sports..................1C
Stocks .................5B
Weather ..............6D
132nd year, No. 27
© The Detroit News
Printed in the USA
Mitch Albom...........1J
Books....................4J
Crossword............7M
Ron Dzwonkowski...2J
Editorials ...............2J
Entertainment........1K
Game On!............10K
Horoscope ...TV Book
Morris Richardson II / The Detroit News
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, left,
and Freman Hendrix didn’t
mince words Thursday.
ARE WE AT WAR HERE?
Berman: Dueling over drug use
statistics is no way to lead. 1D
egy — to appeal to those who will
cast votes in the city Nov. 8.
“The mayor could care less
about what people outside of Detroit think about him now,” said
pollster Steve Mitchell of Mitchell
Please see Mayor, Page 6A
Jumble.................7M
Vol. 175,
Movie Guide..........9K
No. 137
Real Estate.......1F, 1H
© 2005
Sound Judgment....6K Detroit Free Press Inc.
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