The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

A i 1 is: First Union will serve holding companies Business, B5 UD offers player a fresh start Sports, CI i 'V wiiii ladic aim time Life Leisure, D1 996, The News Journal Co. A Gannett newspaper 118th year, No. 136 New Castle County stores, HUy 50c all other stores FINAL EDITION WEDNESDAY Aug. 7, 1996 News umal Toe 1 aramedic fends paid to director's firm training" expenses, though the records do not specify what work was performed. Oates-Graham, 53, of Wilmington, acknowledged in an interview that state funds tion received an undetermined amount of money her office collected from 200 people who paid to attend the state-run paramedic training conference held in Dover last October.

Oates-Graham said she also deposited into the ac- count money paid by businesses that advertised in brochures distributed at the conference. The company's records were seized with other documents in an investigation into the financial practices of the Delaware Office of Paramedic Administration. See PARAMEDICS -A4 Concepts and Innovations, she said, profited or made personal use of the money. "Nobody was paid a salary," she said, though the firm used some funds to buy "tokens of appreciation" given to dozens of people, including her family and friends, who helped organize an annual paramedic conference. Public records identify Fitzpatrick as the representative of Concepts and Innovations and give her home as the firm's business address, but she denied any involvement in the business.

She said she had no knowledge of its business dealings and was unaware that money had been deposited into a business bank account until investigators inquired about the transactions. Robino refused to answer questions about his role in the business when a call was placed to his office on Tuesday. A worker in his office said Robino "has nothing to say." In addition to the $11,400 in state funds deposited into a Concepts and Innovations account, Oates-Graham said the corpora Paramedic Administration director Oates-Graham and her aide and bookkeeper, Steven L. Robino. There is no evidence "Concepts and Innovations Inc." served any religious purpose, and state investigators are trying to determine if Oates-Graham, Robino, or paramedic instructor Mary Kate Fitzpatrick profited from the money steered to the business.

The checks to the private business, paid from funds set aside for a paramedic training program based at Kent General Hospital in Dover, were identified as "paramedic By ROBERT MOORE Dover Bureau reporter DOVER Thousands of dollars in taxpayer money intended for paramedic training was paid to a private, "religious" corporation controlled by state paramedic phief Ruth Oates-Graham and her top aide, records obtained by The News Journal show. checks totaling $11,400 were deposited into the bank account of the "religious nonprofit" corporation created by a paramedic instructor and run by 1 ifi Ruth Oates-Graham were transferred to the firm's account, but said she had done nothing improper. None of the principals in rD 11 1 MB Scientists say Mars held life Boxwood Road plant gets the job, ending months of speculation By EVE TAHMINCIOGLU Staff reporter After months of speculation, General Motors Corp. finally made it official Tuesday Saturn is coming to Delaware. Production of a larger Saturn will begin at GM's Boxwood Road plant near Newport sometime before the end of the decade.

The work force initially will maintain the current level I ill I 1 lllTMIIIHiilinl vCr i 7 I J. "-L, i I J' If A I 4 4 I I Ih r' II 7 Ml I' I i I 1 I 1 fiMI iMfiai i of 2,600, said Jim Farmer, a spokesman for Saturn Corp. in Troy, Mich. The plant will shut down on Friday when the final Chevrolet Corsica, now being built at the plant, rolls off the line. Beretta production at Boxwood Road ended last week.

Renovations for production of the Malibu Del. got Saturn at very nice A3 Ripples won't be great at first A3 Chronology: the plant's A3 Editorial A8 By PAUL RECER Associated Press WASHINGTON Researchers testing a meteorite from Mars claim to have found evidence that primitive life once lived on the red planet. Other scientists, however, scoffed Tuesday and said stronger evidence is needed. Scientists from NASA and three universities report in a paper to be published next week that chemical and microscopic tests of a rock from Mars detected organic compounds deposited in such a way that they could have come only from biological activity. They also report seeing shapes that "resemble some forms of fossilized filamentous bacteria," although much smaller.

When studying these factors, the researchers report, "we conclude that they are evidence for primitive life on early Mars." Carl Sagan, a leading authority on the search for extraterrestrial life, called the findings "evocative and very exciting." But he said the chemical compounds reported in the paper "are not evidence of life." Other scientists said that the organic compounds found by the researchers could have been formed without life and one stated flatly: "I don't believe it." The study is to be published next week in the journal Science. Draft copies were released by the journal Tuesday after the contents were leaked. Past or present existence of life on Mars has been considered a possibility ever since studies by spacecraft landers showed that water was once present on the planet surface. The researchers say in the The News JoumalGINGER WALL "Take a picture of this happy autoworker," said Jim Gordon who works In the body shop at GM's Boxwood Road plant. Gordon and co-workers had just gotten word Tuesday that the plant would be building a Saturn model, ensuring obs into the next century.

For workers, teamwork is key concept A look at the Saturn Innovate which will begin Jan. 1 will then gear up, Farmer said. Assembly of the new Saturn will start as soon as Malibu production ends in 1999. With the new Saturn a car line widely known for its advertisements touting a no-hassle, personal buying experience comes a new lease on life for the 50-year-old Boxwood Road facility. It was slated to close in 1999 and would have put hundreds of employees out of work and cut off some $15 million in annual revenue for Delaware businesses related to the plant.

Gov. Carper said Tuesday was the happiest day of his administration a far cry the moment in 1992 when GM made its decision to shutter the Boxwood Road plant because the auto giant was suffering from over all grateful for this decision," said Carper during a press conference. He gave credit for GM's decision to keep the Boxwood Road plant open to the workers who increased their productivity and the quality of the cars made at the facility. Carper said GM's decision to keep Boxwood Road open is good news for the state's economy because it keeps well-paying manufacturing jobs in the state. In addition, he said, for every GM job in Delaware two more jobs are created in the community because of the multiplier effect.

GM decided to build the new Saturn in Delaware giving few details on exactly how the new model will look because of two factors: the work force, which is considered one of GM's most productive, and the available space, said Linda McGill, a GM spokeswoman. Signs that the Saturn was coming to Delaware have been piling up for months with companies setting up shop in the state to supply the new car production. See SATURN A3 "We believe that all people want to be involved in decisions that affect them, care about their job and each other, take pride in themselves and in their contributions, and want to share in the success of their efforts." Whether Boxwood Road workers are ready for this level of management-worker cooperation remains to be seen. Many say they are. "It's a whole new concept and we're ready for it," said Dean Voshell, who has worked at GM's Boxwood Road plant for 15 years.

GM officials said the transition will come gradually. "We Want them to understand our culture and we want to understand theirs," said Saturn spokesman Jim Farmer. See LABOR A3 By EVE TAHMINCIOGLU Staff reporter To hear the television ads tell it, General Motor Saturn unit is "a different kind of car company." Employees at the Boxwood Road plant will soon find out what it's like to be a different kind of worker. GM announced yesterday that the 2,600 workers at Boxwood Road will build the next generation of Saturns. The GM plant has been a traditional assembly line operation for half a century, where workers do do one task day in and day out and offer little input as to how the cars are actually made.

At Saturn's Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, teamwork is emphasized above all else. The Saturn philosophy is posted all over the Spring Hill plant: Target buyers: 43-year-old female professional; college graduate with a median household income of $60,000. Owns an import or has owned one in the past. The car Features: Mid-size, four-door sedan. Will be bigger than the SL1 sedan and station wagon.

Will have plastic door panels, fenders and bumpers similar to current Saturn models. Passenger-side air bags planned. EngineTransmission: 2.2-liter, in-line, four-cylinder engine with a five-speed manual standard; four-speed automatic available. A 3.0-liter, V-6 may be standard on the most expensive version. Competition: Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Ford Taurus.

Price: Base around fully equipped, around $22,000. Source: Saturn, USA Today research. paper that a rock from space recovered in Antarctica con- tains organic compounds that could only have been deposited by biological activity. The new findings center on a meteorite called Allan Hills 84001, the oldest of 12 pieces of rock that earlier studies confirmed as originating from Mars. MEE Kid's wish: 'Don't want to get shot' 7 HifiH i nw HIGH LOW raj 89 67 Details on B2 'Night Out' offers break from violence Business B5 Movies D4 Classified C5 Obituaries B2 Comics D5 People D2 ,4 ML-.

400, Police Chief Samuel D. Pratcher wondered why the adults stayed home. "There are a lot of youngsters here, but we need more parent involvement," Pratcher said. Still, the event served its purpose, Pratcher said. "This draws attention to the need for us to come together to fight crime," he said.

Some of the teens said they were more than willing to fight crime in their neighborhoods. Ephious Davis, 17, grew up on the Westside and will attend Lincoln University. The former Wilmington High senior class president was one of three speakers at the event. Davis, who earned a partial college scholarship, said he will always be active in his city: "I owe somethina to the community so I will alwayj come back and help." "I don't want to get shot," she said. "Maybe this can help people to stop shooting each other." Organizers at Rodney Square manned tables laden with pamphlets about AIDS, alcohol abuse and how to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Young children clutched balloons while teen-agers rocked to music from a Latin band. The event was a break for children who live in a city with 65 shootings and 13 homicides so far this year. "The shootings definitely affect younger kids. Half of them are afraid to go to the park; they would rather play in the streets near their homes," said Hollis A. Gaines, head of the Westside Neighborhood Coalition.

"We are here to let these kids know they are not alone." Locking over the crowd of about Crossword D4 Public diary B4 OearAbby D4 Scoreboard C2 Editorial A8 Sports C1 Letters A8 Television D6 'if By BEVERLY JAMES Staff reporter A normally timid Shakeshia Morales squeezed between a mob of children to fill out a form asking what programs they'd like to see in Wilmington. Shakeshia. who favors more tutoring, said she felt safe in Rodney Square Tuesday: It was National Night Out. The event calls for community activism to end violence. For Shakeshia, 10, the message was soothing.

The fifth-grader said she is weary of the gunfire she hears nightlj'm tne Riverside community. 33 The News JoumalBRIAN BRANCH-PRICE Suelee Morales, 8, Salone Mills, 9, andTynetta Wllmore, 8, pick up literature on drugs, alcohol arwfolDS at National Night Out on Rodney Square Tuesday. "40901.