Giving Birth to A Scandal

As mayor of Detroit, Coleman Young copes mainly with tedious municipal problems. But last January the monotony was interrupted: a paternity suit named the 71-year-old Young as father of Joel Loving, 6, born in 1982 to Annivory Calvert, 34. She claimed Young was her exclusive lover from 1981 to 1987. Twice divorced and unmarried, Young handled the allegation deftly. True, he was needled with jokes like the bumper sticker that said HONK IF YOU'RE MAYOR YOUNG'S SON. Still, after three blood tests indicated paternity, Young vowed to live up to his responsibilities. So the story faded.

Now it has bounced back to the front pages with a new twist -- a charge by Calvert and a friend, city employee Michael Thomas, 32, that a special secret police unit had been digging into Calvert's private life. After Thomas claimed that a police inspector questioned him about Calvert's love life, he was transferred to a new assignment -- at the sewer plant. Says Thomas: "That's where they find body parts." Calvert, who left Detroit to become head of the department of public works in Fontana, Calif., in January, filed her formal complaint with the Wayne County prosecutor's office, which announced it would investigate the alleged misuse of police.

Detroit police admit investigating Calvert, but only about an alleged insurance scheme that Thomas tipped them to. Mayor Young says he knows nothing whatsoever about any police prying into Calvert's personal affairs.