SUNDAY April 28,1996 1996, Battle Creek Enquirer

$1.50

WEATHER

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Tonight: Cloudy with rain likely, low in the mid-40s.

Monday: Rain likely, high in the mid-50s/8D

MARCH OF DIMES FUND-RAISER r

JIM SANCHEZ/THE ENQUIRER Connie and Gordon Stine participate in Battle Creek's WalkAmerica fund-raiser on Saturday for March of Dimes. Please see story on page IB.

NEWSLINE UPDATE Log details futile tries to reach crash

WASHINGTON - A raging storm, misinformation and Croatian road-blocks led to a frustrating series of futile attempts by the U.S. military to find and reach the wreckage of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's plane. By the time Americans got there - a half day late - the bodies had already been counted, accord-ing to a document obtained by Hie Associated Press.

Croatian police had taken such control of the search-and-rescue that they kept the U.S. commander waiting at a roadblock for an hour, said the U.S. military log of the crash that killed 35 people, includ-ing 33 Americans.

POLITICS Cooperation urged for balanced budget

WASHINGTON - President Clin-ton told congressional Republicans Saturday that if they torpedo a bal-anced budget to create a campaign issue this fall voters "will see through that with their eyes closed."

In a sharply worded radio ad-dress, the President intensified pressure on the CiOP majorities that control the House and Senate and, by implication, his rival for the pres-idency, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole.

"We're within inches of agree-ment, and nothing - not politics, not partisanship, not presidential cam-paigns - nothing should be allowed to stop us," Clinton said.

DEATHS .Curtis / Boughton Charles A. Brown Betty B. Cox Frances L Dean Maxine I. Eddy Alden C. Fruin Susan L. Harrison Ethel B. Huber Betty J. Johnston

' Charles C. Mead Jr. - Henry Pitchford Jr.

; Freddie Mae Powell Myrtle H. Randall

; -Robert C. Rogers Naomi Scott

-Donald L Thurston Sr. ON 2B: Obituaries

INSIDE Ann Landers 7C Business 7B Classified 4-8E Horoscopes 8D lifestyle .1C Local 1-2B Nation 3A Opinion 6A Sports 1-7D

SPORTS: Cats rock Rockford in twinbill/lD

LIFESTYLE: Annual tour features vintage homes/ 1C

SPECIAL REPORT: POPUUTION GROWTH IN SOUTHCENTRAL MICHIGAN

The numbers gain BARRY COUNTY: The fast-growing area is attracting new residents who want to get out of the city.

Enquirer analysis shows growth in different ways

L i z W Y A T T Vie Enquirer

The populations in Calhoun, Barry and Branch counties have been on the rise the past six years, placing new demands for services and planning on each county.

"(The growth is) fine. It's one of those things that goes on whether you like it or not," said Meredith Gilbert, 74, a Barry County resi-dent.

The three southcentral counties are growing in different ways, ac-cording to the Enquirer's computer analysis of population numbers.

To the north, the Barry County population increased 5 percent from 1990 to 1995, exceeding the state's 3 percent rate of growth. The county showed the highest growth rate in the area.

Officials and residents say the county is attracting people who work in one of the four surrounding metropolitan areas - Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Lans-ing.

The number of 65-and-older resi-dents grew 10 percent which popu-lation experts partly attribute to the population growing older as well as older people moving into Barry County.

New jobs, such as the thou-sands created by Fort Custer Indus-trial Park, have helped Calhoun County make a population come-back in the 1990s, officials say.

The county population reached more than 140,000 in 1995, marking the first time the county has topped that number since the 1980s.

County population grew about 3 percent over the past six years. That puts Calhoun County's growth rate over the past six years 53rd out of Michigan's 83 counties. It's parallel with the state's growth rate over that period.

In addition, the county's 6S-and-older population grew 4 percent from 1990 to 1995, placing new de-mands for services on senior agen-cies.

To the south. Branch County is showing steady, albeit sluggish, growth. County population grew slightly less than 3 percent in the '90s.

That rate is typical since Branch County borders Indiana, allowing residents to move between the states depending upon economic conditions, population experts say. Local officials, however, say they ex-pect recent industrial growth in the Cold water area to help Branch

CALHOUN COUNTY: After strug gling in the '80s, the economy is helping to bring people back.

BRANCH COUNTY: Officials hope to end the run to the (Indiana) border that has tempered growth.

TOTAL POPULATION GROWTH Below grophk shows the increase in total population of Barry, Branch, and Calhoun counties over the past six years.

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

227,994

229,526 Battle Creek

231,165

232,802

234,164

36,070

^ ^ ^ ^

(POPULATION) SOURCE: U.S. Census Estimates

County's population expand in the future.

Local leaders already are begin-ning to prepare and plan for future population growth.

According to population projec-tions from the Michigan Depart-

Jason R. Benni t t /Enqui rer

ment of Management and Budget Information Center, Barry County's population is expected to increase about 15 percent from 1995 to 2020, reaching 60,400 residents.

Calhoun County is projected to grow about 5 percent from 1995 to

KEVIN HARE/THE ENQUIRER Hariey Pelfrey, 64 , welcomes the growth around his Baltimore Township farm in Barry County. Others, though, worry that the farm land is disappearing.

FIRST OF THREE-PART SERIES Stoff Writer Liz Wyott did a computer

analysis of population numbers to determine growth in Barry, Branch and Calhoun coun-ties. The three-day series focuses on how population growth has affected each county.

TODAY: The population in southcentral Michigan has grown during the 1990s with Barry County leading the way.

MONDAY: Growth in the 65-and-older population is creating new demands.

TUESDAY: Projections show population growth will continue into the year 2020.

ON 5A BARRY COUNTY: Snugg led in t he

middle of four metropolitan areas, the county is attracting new residents.

CALHOUN COUNTY: A revived indus trial base has helped the county.

BRANCH COUNTY: Growth has been sluggish in the ] 990s, but change is on the way. ON 6A

The Enquirer's view

2020, reaching about 147,200 resi-dents.

And Branch County is expected to expand its population from 1995 to 2020 by about 13 percent, meaning about 48,200 residents would live in the county.

A GANNETT N E W S P A P E

Emmett man, 80, is found dead Police investigating death as homicide; victim was beaten

K H R I STINE ELLIOTT Tlir Enquirer

Police are investigating the death of an 80-year-old man who was found dead Friday afternoon in his Raymond Road home.

Robert C. Rogers was found dead shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, Emmett Township police said.

It appeared that he had been beaten, police said.

Emmett Township police are inves-tigating the case as a homicide. Offi-cer Lonnie McGlothen said.

The death marks the second time in two days that local senior citizens have been assaulted in their own homes.

Emmett Township police officers responded to a report of a possible burglary at the home Friday after a resident of the area noticed a broken sliding-glass door at the home and called police.

Police are asking the public for help in identifying the occupants of a red van that was seen in the area before, the broken glass door was reported.

"Someone who lives in the area saw the van in the area and didn't recog-nize it as from the area," said Mc-Glothen.

"We don't know if it's connected, but we'd like to question them.".

The Michigan State Police Crime Lab searched for evidence at the scene until about 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Police haven't determined if any-thing was taken from the home, Mc-Glothen said.

No other information was available Saturday from Emmett Township po-lice.

Anyone who may have information may call the Emmett Township De-partment of Public Safety at 968-9303.

In the other assault case. Battle Creek police are searching for sus-pects in the beating of an 87-year-old Battle Creek woman that occurred Thursday in her Spencer Street home.

The woman was kicked and beaten in the head and face and pushed down die basement stairs. Battle Creek po-lice said.

Her injuries were evaluated Friday, but a condition report was not avail-able from Battle Creek Health Sys-tem.

Police were called about 5 p.m. by a neighbor after the victim's 85-year-old husband, who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease, reported some-thing was wrong with his wife.

The victim was found in the base-ment.

Police said the victim's husband may have allowed two men to enter the house and she was attacked when she ordered them out.

WARMING UP THE KEYBOARD

JIM SANCHEZ/THE ENQUIRER

Actor-musician Dudley Moore practices Saturday afternoon for his sold-out concert Satur-day night at W.K. Kellogg Audi-torium with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. Moore, an acclaimed concert pianist, has toured the world as a jazz musician and has played with symphonies in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York, London, Vancouver and Miami. He has also performed in the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall. Look for a review of Moore's perfor-mance in Monday's Lifestyle section in The Enquirer,

Warnings grow as earth gets warmer

E L L E N H A L E Gannett News Service

SAN FRANCISCO - The killer heat wave that took the lives of hundreds in the Midwest last year was just a taste of how severely human health may be affected by global climate change, doctors warn.

Whether this summer proves as hot and fatal, rising temperatures and changing weather patterns likely will lead to a plague of new health prob-lems and diseases, said experts at the annual meeting of the American Col-lege of Physicians, the nation's largest group of general practitioners.

Not only will there be an increase in

the number of people who die from problems like heat stress associated directly with higher temperatures, but also many rare and new diseases will thrive in the warmer climate. In addi-tion, rising sea levels and warmer wa-ter temperatures will threaten water quality and public health, the experts said.

"Warming trends are going to in-crease the number and severity of out-breaks" of disease and health prob-lems, said Dr. John Balbus, professor of medicine at George Washington University in Washington. Balbus said a new approach to public health is "ur-

Please see CLIMATE, 4 A