Saturday, October 16, 2004

BARRIE BARBER

THE SAGINAW NEWS

Undeterred by rain, a small band of protesters hoisted placards Friday showing a skull and crossbones and the word dioxin to protest Saginaw County putting Dow Chemical Co.'s name on the side of the county-owned Event Center.

"We're definitely not against the Event Center," said Jack O. Schmidt, one of four protesters at Michigan and Court across from the County Governmental Center. "We are against Dow's name on it."

Schmidt and Earl Jesse, longtime Saginaw City Council critics, said the chemical giant should spend its money to clean up dioxin in the Tittabawassee River and elsewhere instead of signing a 10-year, $2.5 million, naming-rights contract on a taxpayer-owned building.

County Board of Commissioners Chairman Todd M. Hare said the dioxin controversy in the courts is "a completely separate issue" than renaming the facility.

"The bottom line is we are trying to make this facility live on its own," the Saginaw Democrat said. "We don't want to have a tax subsidy. This is one way to help get to that goal."

Dow spokeswoman Terry M. Johnson said the contract shows the company's commitment to mid-Michigan. v

© 2004 Saginaw News.

For additional articles like this one, go to the Tittabawasse River Watch web site www.trwnews.net for complete coverage of the Tittabawassee River Dow Chemical dioxin contamination saga. . The Newspaper / Media page of our site contains an extensive archive of media articles dating back to January 2002. The source organization's web site link is listed to the right of the article, visit often for other news in our area. The Newspaper / Media page may be accessed by scrolling down to the bottom of the CONTENTS section and clicking on the Newspaper/Media link.