CMYK

NN 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 A B C D E F Metro final Saturday, February 12, 2005 50 cents

UNDER THE INFLUENCE | PART 3 OF 3 No Red Wings. But there’s still hockey. In Plymouth, a team that State beer, includes an attorney, a car salesman and a schoolteacher plays the game for wine dealings nothing. It’s time to adopt a different kind of hockey team. Meet the Rhinos… done secretly

Wholesalers’ private A SPECIAL REPORT meetings violated the Inside: Northwest Airlines is one of the world’s biggest air carriers. But it was no match law, experts say for the power of the Michigan Your new By JENNIFER DIXON Beer & Wine Wholesalers FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Association. 8A On the Web: Read the first Last fall, Michigan’s beer and two installments at www.freep.com wine distributors had some urgent Letters: Readers write. 12A business to discuss with the state’s heroes of Liquor Control Commission, the agency that regulates their indus- try. secretly with the commission. But rather than explore the is- Records obtained by the Free sues in a public forum, the Michi- Press under the state’s Freedom of gan Beer & Wine Wholesalers As- Information Act show that a com- sociation arranged a private meet- mission quorum — at least three of Hockeytown ing on Oct. 6 to discuss their con- its five members — has met behind cerns about how the commission closed doors with the wholesalers By SHAWN WINDSOR might act on a variety of policies or their chief lobbyist four times WHY WE’RE FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER and regulations. since November 2003. They dis- ADOPTING The next day, Dennis Hybarger, cussed what the commission was THE RHINOS he goalie stops nearly every puck the association’s vice president, doing on policy matters, the re- This is Hockeytown, shot high on the glove side. He can thanked the commissioners, writ- cords show. where Red Wings walk also sell you a car. ing: “While every matter wasn’t fi- Legal experts said the private on hard water. But not The first line defenseman, the nalized, we were very happy with sessions violate the state’s Open this season, with the ageless wonder, plants himself like a the open and considered discus- Meetings Act. NHL lockout at Day 150. whiteT pine, using his size 14 skates to block sions that took place.” Commission Chairwoman Nida Still, we need our hock- pucks. He has used his off-ice legal skills to help Last October’s meeting wasn’t ey fix. That’s why the some teammates divorce. the first time the wholesalers met Please see WHOLESALE, Page 8A Free Press has adopted the American Transmis- Another defenseman can crank a bullet slap sions Rhinos, 15 guys shot, but when the games are done, and the Records show who play on one of the boys head out for beers, he keeps them in line. that Liquor hundreds of recreational He’s a sheriff’s deputy. Control hockey league teams in Joe Louis Arena has been too empty for Commissioner metro Detroit. more than four months now, and it’s hard to Patrick For the next six imagine the Detroit Red Wings flying down the Gagliardi, weeks, reporter Shawn ice until at least next season — in fact, NHL of- right, Windsor and photogra- ficials say this weekend is the last chance to sal- attended more pher Rashaun Rucker will follow the Plymouth- vage the season. than one based Rhinos as they But hockey flourishes in places where the private seek the title in their lights are softer and contracts are not an issue. meeting with eight-team league. Hundreds of recreation league teams fill doz- beer and wine You’ll see stats, stand- ens of ice rinks daily in southeastern Michigan. wholesalers. ings, injury updates and They are sponsored by repair shops, bars, res- Photos by HUGH GRANNUM/Detroit Free Press player profiles. Hey, we taurants and auto dealerships. They play in Liquor remember how to cover hour-long slots that stretch past midnight, commission hockey! blade to ice, stick to puck, some slowly, some Chairwoman WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) swiftly, all for the indescribable pleasure of Nida Samona, is joining the fun, too, so watch for reports on the gliding on frozen water. left, defended news. The American Transmissions Rhinos are the private just such a team. (The Rhinos no longer have a meetings, WHO’S TO BLAME? formal sponsor because their founder retired, saying We want your opinion on but they still play with jerseys bearing the com- regulators the NHL lockout. 1B pany logo.) Most of the players have been were merely hearing the Please see RHINOS, Page 4A Cards by RASHAUN RUCKER and JOHN FLEMING/Detroit Free Press opinions of wholesalers.

ARTHUR MILLER | 1915-2005 Compuware’s IBM battle Playwright enriched nation’s identity heads for a trial Tuesday By MARTIN F. KOHN it won’t endure,” Miller told the His most recent play, “Finish- FREE PRESS THEATER CRITIC Michigan Quarterly Review for ing the Picture,” had its premiere By JEWEL GOPWANI The trial is to start Tuesday in FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER the special issue devoted to him in last year at Chicago’s Goodman U.S. District Court in Detroit be- Arthur Miller wrote his first 1998. “If you can explain it in two Theatre. The story of a troubled fore Judge George Steeh. plays as a University of Michigan sentences, then it has the appear- movie and its glamorous, famous- After millions of dollars spent in A six-member jury is to decide if undergraduate and went on to be ance of a rigid formula and falls ly difficult star, it appeared to be legal fees and three years of pains- IBM stole information about Com- acclaimed as America’s greatest apart.” based on Miller’s experiences taking litigation, a festering battle puware’s software, sold it as its playwright. Miller, who died of “Death of a Salesman” and with the 1961 movie “The Misfits,” between Compuware Corp. and own products, infringed on Com- heart failure Thursday night at “The Crucible,” the most-praised which he wrote and which starred technology giant IBM Corp. is puware’s copyrights and undercut age 89, would probably object to of Miller’s two dozen plays — both his second wife, Marilyn Monroe. coming to a federal courtroom in Compuware’s prices. The trial is the preceding sentence, however: of which drew their inspiration Miller’s major plays “are re- Detroit next week. expected to last about six weeks. He hated the glib synopsis, the ea- from Miller’s critical view of markable works. This is a long life Absent a last-minute settle- At issue is the software that KATHLEEN WAYT/Detroit Free Press sy summation, especially when it America — were written more in the theater — and outside the ment, the Detroit computer soft- large companies and government Arthur Miller speaks at his came to his plays. than 50 years ago, but Miller re- theater,” said Enoch Brater, a ware and services company will agencies use for their mainframe alma mater, the University of “I think that if it is easy to un- mained a vigorous writer into his take on Big Blue, the company that computers that IBM makes. The Michigan, on Feb. 16, 2004. derstand why a play has endured, late 80s. Please see MILLER, Page 11A helped define the way people use computers. Please see SOFTWARE, Page 4A

Kids’ puzzles ...... 19A IN SUNDAY’S FREE PRESS BREEZY, MILD Features...... 1D Local News ...... 3A Some sun in afternoon. Gardening...... 5E Lottery ...... 2A Abby...... 2D Homestyle...... 1E Business ...... 13A Jerry Hodak’s forecast, 18A Names & Faces ...... 2A Bridge ...... 6D Movies...... 5D Classified ...... 1C HEALING THE HURT Obituaries ...... 10A Calendar...... 4D Trash or Treasure ...... 6E Comics ...... 18A, 19A Sports ...... 1B Comics ...... 6-7D TV listings ...... 2D Crossword ...... 18A Bloomfield Hills doctor pushes 42 Weather ...... 18A HIGH Crossword ...... 7D Corrections ...... 2A Divine Design ...... 14E Editorials ...... 12A Volume 174, Number 281 effort to ease suffering in his 131st year, No. 174 Editorials...... 8D Horoscope ...... 19A © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc. 21 © The Detroit News Printed in the U.S.A. Jumble ...... 6C Printed in the United States quake-torn Sri Lanka homeland. LOW Faith...... 5D