The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 13

The News Journal, Wilmington, Del. P.M. UPDATE For a 4:30 p.m. update of today's news, go to: Wednesday, July 31 2002 Section Police report B3 Obituaries B4, B5 Record-breaking attendance confirmed for state fair B3 ummmi News tips for Local: newsdeskdelawareonline.com or CityState editor Jean Buchanan, 324-2882 BLaSDD1S Inland Bays' comprehensive plan updated 3F EEEE id Draft creates environmental protection zones in sensitive sites plan and this one, there's minimal changes. "Ninety percent of the county is going to stay with the same rules we had in 1997," Jones said.

But some of the rules could change for properties, particularly in eastern Sussex, which has been experiencing intense development pressure in the past 10 years. The environmentally sensitive district, encompassing about 20,000 acres around the Inland Bays, would keep existing zon-ings but allow developers to cluster housing on farmland without seeking a address residents' concerns about rampant rezonings, and it would reduce unnecessary commercial development that critics say creates more traffic and congestion. Bruce Richards, executive director of the Center for the Inland Bays, hailed the recommendation as a good first step toward curbing excessive development, protecting open space and improving water quality. "It can only make the bays that much better," Richards said. "When you have more open space, less impervious surfaces, See SUSSEX B2 ate a whole new plan.

This is just a revision of a plan." Sussex, like other Delaware county and municipal governments, is required to revise its comprehensive plan every five years to account for new trends" or problems from land use and transportation to historic preservation and economic development. County officials said the original plan was a good foundation that simply needed to be expanded upon. "We're tweaking now," said Council President Fin-ley B. Jones D-Green-wood. "If you look at the '97 p.m.

Oct. 1 at the same location. Copies of the plan can be obtained through Planning Zoning at 855-7878, or by Friday on the county Web site, www.sussexcounty.net. With the protection zone, developers would be allowed up to four units to the acre, with a gross density of two units to the acre when open space is factored in. No commercial space would be required.

Stickels said that would The first of two public hearings for the comprehensive plan update will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 29 at the CHEER Center, 5 Sand Hill Road, Georgetown. The second will be at 6 change to a higher-density zoning. Developers who want to cluster housing in an agricultural zone now must seek residential planned community rezoning, and those projects often include commercial space.

comprehensive plan in five years. It sets the pace for growth in Sussex in the coming years. While the recommendation for creating an environmentally sensitive district is a significant change, county officials say there is little else in the plan that is a surprise. "There aren't a whole lot of changes," said Robert L. Stickels, county administrator.

"The difference here is that in 1997, we had to cre- By CHIP GUY Sussex Bureau reporter A draft of Sussex County's updated comprehensive plan recommends a protection zone be placed around the environmentally sensitive Inland Bays. It also recommends rules for development to limit sprawl and congestion and improve water quality The 69-page document released this week is the county's first update of the if 'Old Shaky' coming home 44th US. marshal for Del. sworn in 4 I HFBM 4 By TERM SANGINITI Staff reporter With the sweep of President Bush's pen, retired state trooper David W. Thomas was commissioned Monday as the 44th U.S.

marshal for the district of Delaware. Thomas, 42, was sworn in by federal Chief Judge Sue L. Robinson at a pri State environment chief testifies at Senate hearing Kg 7 Nicholas A. DI Pasquale, secretary, state Department of Natural Resources and Control. p.

U.S.MR FORCE vate ceremony Tuesday at the federal courthouse. His appointment is four years. Thomas now is responsible for provid -r J' mi 1 TUT I II II MUM i IV II in II fa David W. Thomas 11 By ERIN KELLY Gannett News Service WASHINGTON Delaware's top environment official urged a Senate panel Tuesday to strengthen criminal laws to make it easier to hold corporate leaders personally responsible for violating clean air, clean water and hazardous waste laws. Fines are not enough to stop corporate polluters, who often find it cheaper to pay the penalty than to stop fouling the air or water, said Nicholas A.

Di Pasquale, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Corporate executives need to face jail time, which they rarely do now, he said. "A plant manager or corporate officer who knows he or she could be held personally liable and jailed in the event of a violation will be much more likely to ensure that maintenance and repairs are performed and conditions are corrected," Di Pasquale told a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Di Pasquale was invited to testify by Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime Special to the News JournalUNDA LAIRD Bill Hardie (left) and Harry Heist, Air Force retirees, show off models of C-124 planes.

While on active duty, both men flew in the big planes. Dover's Air Mobility Command Museum will soon get a full-size version. Dover air museum will get C-124 Globemaster and Drugs. Di Pasquale, who was appointed to his post in 1999 by former Gov. Tom Carper, announced last week that he was resigning, effective Sept.

20, to work on environmental issues at the regional and national level. Biden agreed with Di Pasquale that national environmental laws should be given more teeth. "We need to send polluters a loud, clear message: If you break the law and pollute the environment, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Biden said. "And we will put you in jail for your crimes." Ray Clatworthy, a Dover Republican who is running against Biden for the Senate this year, said, "Any corporate leader who breaks the law should be held accountable." See POLLUTE B2 Victims testify in buggy crash Camden man accused of hitting family ing courtroom security for federal judges, attorneys, jurors and federal witnesses. He also oversees fugitive investigations, housing of pre-sentenced federal prisoners and management of seized and forfeited property in the state, Drew Wade, U.S.

Marshal Service spokesman, said. Thomas, one of 95 marshals nationwide, is the state's first black to hold the position, officials said. He succeeds Clinton appointee Timothy Patrick Mullaney whose term expired in spring. US. Rep.

Mike Castle, R-Del, recommended Thomas, an 18-year state police veteran, for the job. The position pays $82,580 a year. When Castle was governor, Thomas was assigned to his executive detail from 1989 to 1993. He also was assigned to Lt. Gov.

Dale Wolf, who completed Castle's term of office after Castle was elected congressman. Thomas started his law enforcement career in 1981 with the University of Delaware police. He joined the state police in 1984 and worked as a highway trooper for more than six years before his assignment to the executive protection unit. From 1993 to 1998, he served as one of the department's public information officers. The last four years of his police career was spent in Legislative Hall as a liaison for the department.

He retired in June. State police Col. L. Aaron Chaffinch said Thomas will represent Delawareans in an exem- i "Although we're sad to see him leave us, this is an opportunity that only presents itself to a few people," Chaffinch said. Former U.S.

Marshal Bill Denney, also a retired state trooper, predicted Thomas would be busy with his new job. Denney, a Reagan appointee, served 13 years in the position before retiring in 1994. Thomas lives in Middle-town with his wife, Joanne, and his two sons, Jordan, 2, and Julian, 6 weeks. Reach Terrl Sanginiti at 324-2771 or tsanginitldelawareonline.com. Source: The Boeing Co.

By JAMES MERRIWEATHER Dover Bureau reporter It was affectionately known as "Old Shaky," and it came by the nickname honestly The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II was not pressurized, so flying above 10,000 feet required an on-board oxygen supply. The plane usually flew at 8,000 to 9,000 feet, which meant it plunged into thunderstorms rather than flying over them. "It had its idiosyncrasies," said retired Lt. Col. Harry E.

Heist, 68, who logged 7,000 hours in the C-124 as a navigator flying out of Dover Air Force Base. After years of trying, the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover has acquired a C-124 for its collection. Heist is heading a drive to raise enough money to have the plane dismantled in Nebraska, flown to Dover, then re-assembled and restored. "It's been at the top of our priority list since the museum opened in 1986," said Heist, the museum's archivist. The plane has been declared surplus by the Strategic Air and Space Museum near Ashland, Neb.

The Nebraska museum declared a C-133 Cargomaster surplus in 1999, and that plane was dedicated recently as the newest addition to the Dover museum's permanent collection. The C-124 based at DAFB from May 1954 to April 1969 represented the Air Force's entry into the heavy airlift business. The acquisition will complete the Air Mobility Command museum's collection of heavy airlifters that have been based there. The C-133, the C-141 Starlifter and the C-5 Galaxy are the others. The plane destined for Dover was the 27th off the assembly line among 449 produced for the Air Force between 1949 and 1955.

It was delivered by the Douglas Aircraft Co. on Jan. 31, 1951, and was which "splintered the buggy all to pieces." "I don't remember anything after the impact," Mast said. The 35-year-old rural Kenton resident suffered a neck fracture, and he said his injuries have left him unable to work full time. His wife, Elizabeth, suffered a broken leg and a deep cut across her forehead that required plastic surgery to repair.

Two of their four children, 8-year-old Loretta and 7-year-old sustained minor injuries. The horse was not injured. Deputy Attorney General Marie O. Graham told the jurors that the evidence will show Smith was drunk, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving with a suspended license that night. But defense attorney Lloyd Schmid said in his opening statement that there will be "credible evidence" to show that Smith was not behind the wheel.

See TRIAL B2 By J.L. MILLER Dover Bureau reporter Samuel J. Mast testified he saw oncoming headlights through the windshield of his horse-drawn buggy on Jan. 13 and knew his family was in grave danger. The Amish carpenter said he tugged at the reins and guided his horse into the ditch, trying desper-atelv to maneuver the black wooden buggy off the blacktop road west of Dover.

But the oncoming car, which prosecutors contend was driven by 42-year-old Ralph W. Smith of rural Camden, was too fast for Mast and his horse. The car slammed into the buggy, hurling the six occupants to the ground and landing Smith in Kent County Superior Court, where he is on trial for vehicular assault and drunken driving. Mast told a jury of seven men and five women Tuesday that he remembers being struck by the car, resisted intermittent efforts by the museum to buy it. Mike Leister, director of the Dover museum, said the owner changed his mind after an effort to convert it to a disco complete with a spiral staircase fell through when his money ran out.

Initially, the businessman wanted a $50,000 finder's fee to part with the partially gutted and altered plane. Then he offered to donate it if it were picked up within 30 days. When museum officials could not make plans fast enough, the owner used a backhoe to reduce the C-124 to scrap metal. "It was really quite sad," Leister said. The museum will contract with a private company, Worldwide Aircraft Recovery, to dismantle and reassemble the plane.

Leister said the transport would be incorporated into a C-5 loadmaster training exercise. Reach James Merriweather at 678-4273 or merriweatherdelawareonline.com. The cost of dismantling a C-124 aircraft in Nebraska and re-assembling it in Dover is estimated at a minimum of $100,000, not including transportation and renovation costs. Donations may be mailed to the C-124 Project, The Air Mobility -J MnrxM-w r- WUtlilliUliU IV4UOUUIII i uutiuuttuti, P.O. Box 02050, Dover Air Force Base, DE 19902-2050.

retired from active service in July 1969. The four-propeller plane, driven by four 28-cylinder engines, is the only model among nine C-124s still in existence. The models are the oldest ones in existence. Since they all previously were museum pieces, local museum officials had all but given up on ever getting one. Until recently, a Las Vegas businessman owned a C-124, but had.