The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

The News Journal, Wilmington, Del. Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999 B3 ftlOTKtBIi j' rrT Conn ict seen in farm preservation rules Police Report to limit any home-building to one acre for every 20 acres preserved, with a maximum of 10 developed acres. Farmers can only build Change law, state official tells planners at a hearing in NCCo By DENNIS THOMPSON JR. Staff reporter New Castle County land-use laws are driving farmers away from the Delaware program for preserving agricultural land, state officials told the county's planning board during a public hearing.

Program director Michael Mc-Grath urged the board to endorse an ordinance proposed by County Councilman J. Christopher Roberts, D-Odessa, that would make it easier for farmers in the vaguely defined hardship conditions. County officials believe the ordinance will allow unnecessary home building in the southernmost part of New Castle County, a region they hope to keep free from, future development. Tucker also noted Tuesday night that most of the land in the program is only protected for 10 years. After that farmers can choose to drop out of the program.

us County officials want to steer future south county development toward the region that stretches from the Chesapeake Delaware Canal to the area around Middle-town, Odessa and Townsend. Cops: Car caused 1-76 wreck Milford man was driver in Pa. crash I- L-L "I don't know of any farmer who would convert productive farmland to housing for his family if he didn't have to," McGrath said. No farmers spoke out for the ordinance during the Tuesday night public hearing. County land-use officials oppose Roberts' ordinance, which would make the county's land-use laws regarding pre served farmland identical to state regulations.

The county requires five-acre lots for any development on agricultural land. The state program provides tax breaks to participants who agree i A The Henrietta Marie was discovered off the coast of Key West in 1972 by the late Mel Fisher. The ship sank in a storm in July 1700, shortly after unloading a cargo of Africans in Jamaica. The National Association of Black Scuba Divers placed a memorial plaque at the shipwreck in 1993. McCray said June Porter, a fellow alumni of Delaware State University, learned about the traveling trunk and arranged for a stipend from the university to bring it here.

It also will be on view at the William Henry Middle School in Dover, the University of Delaware's Center for Black Culture and other locations. Porter said the dates haven't been set. Porter, a board member of the university's Arts CenterGallery, also visited the Henrietta Marie's main exhibit at the Cape Fear Museum in North Carolina. "It's very impressive." The larger exhibit including cannon, pewter dinnerware and about 80 sets of shackles will be on display at Cape Fear through April 17. 000ZT- The News JoumalROBERT CRAK3 Fifth-graders Kathryn Presley and Jose Lopez demonstrate the use of a scale and a compass to classmates recently in teacher Anita McCray's class at Austin D.

Baltz Elementary School In Elsmere. Traveling exhibit illustrates slavery By staff reporters Terri Sanginiti and Esteban Parra Kent County SEX OFFENDER ARRESTED: A wanted sex offender was arrested in Greenwood Monday night by members of the Kent County Governor's Task horce. btate police charged Enc F. Edge, 24, of Greenwood, with violation of pro nation on a previous unlawful sexual in tercourse conviction, attempted rape, second-degree assault, unlawful impriS' onment, third-degree unlawful sexual contact, failure to register as a sex of' fender and an outstanding Court of Com' mon Pleas capias. He was committed to Delaware Correctional Center, near Smyrna, in lieu of $46,500 secured bail Authorities were tipped off to Edge's whereabouts and found him at a home on Del.

16 east of U.S. 13 about 9:30 p.m. Edge was arrested as he tried to escape out a back door. Also arrested was Rango H. Millaway, 22, of Green wood, wanted on an unrelated matter.

JANITOR STRUCK, ROBBED: A Dover school janitor was knocked urv conscious and robbed Wednesday morning before classes started. Dover police said the man, whom they would not identify, was treated in Kent General Hospital and released. Police said the janitor was inside Fairview Elementary School, 800 Walker Road, about 6:20 a.m. when he was struck on the head and knocked unconscious. The thief took the janitor's wallet and fled.

ROBBERY SUSPECT: Police arrested a 26-year-old Dover man in connection with a robbery last month. James A. McKinney, 200 block of Gunning Bedford Road, is accused of assaulting and robbing a pizza delivery worker in the 400 block of Kent Ave. Jan. 20.

McKin ney was charged with first-degree robbery. Police said he was being held at Delaware Correctional Center in lieu of $12,300 secured bail. Accused guilty in killing of transvestite By TERRY SPENCER Staff reporter A 19-year-old New Castle man pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter tor the 199 stab bing of a transvestite following a sexual encounter. Ronald Taltoan, who was fac ing a first-degree INEYt murder trial this A CTT month, will receive a bhhhhb 10-year sentence for killing Robert Jones, 30, of New Castle. According to prosecutor Stephen M.

Walther and defense attorney Edmund M. Hillis, the evidence suggests Taltoan killed Jones while under extreme emotional distress Delaware's definition of manslaughter. To convict Taltoan of first-degree murder, prosecutors would nave needed to prove he intentionally killed Jones. Taltoan, who had no previous criminal record, was walking on Oct. 15, 1997, when Jones offered him a ride, a police investigation showed.

Jones, whom Taltoan did not know, was dressed as and acted like a woman. They drove to the parking lot of Rose Hill Community Center in New Castle, where Jones performed a sex act on Taltoan. Then Jones told Taltoan "I'm a dude." Taltoan tried to get out of the car, but the passenger door did not open from the inside. He pulled a knife and stabbed Jones to death. "The kid flipped out," Walther said.

Taltoan pushed Jones from the car and tried to drive away, but crashed. He then fled on foot, and was arrested two weeks later in Elkton, Md. He will be formally sentenced in April. Lotteries DELAWARE Play 3 Day Play 3 Night Play 4 Day Plnv 4 Niaht Daily Number 4-8-5 Big 4 8-2-5-3 Cash 5 05-07-08-11-39 SuperS 01-16-19-20-37-68 For a recording of numbers drawn, call: Delaware (600) 338-6200 (302) 736-1436 (out of Maryland (900) 680-5555. (Calls cost 45 cents per minute) New Jersey 976-2020 (N J.

only) Pennsylvania (900) 903-9999 (Calls cost 50 cents per minute) 4-5-5 7-2-0 75-1 1-1-9-1 Run for the Monev Race 01-07-12 Winners Circle 0-0-0-3-3-0-9 Lotto (drawn Feb.2) 09-16-18-21-23-35 MARYLAND Pick 3 Day Pick 3 Night Pick 4 Day Pick 4 Night Cash in Hand 1-2-8 6-7-5 5-9-2-6 9-5-6-9 06-07- 17-18-20-28-30 The Big Game (drawn Feb. 2)06-14-23-31-33 homes for relatives, not for sale, under the state pro- v. eram. These two sets of re-quirements overlap, forcing farmers in the program to come up with at least 100 acres of pre served farmland to free up the five acres that the county requires for one house. In questions directed to McGrath, county Land Use Manager Shawn Tucker noted that the program does allow those family members to sell their homes under i rf r.f Baltz Elementary fifth-grader DeniseTolbert writes with a quill pen to learn how people wrote at the turn of the 18th century.

March 23, several dates were incorrect. The correct schedule: Feb. 23: Morris Early Childhood Center. Feb. 25: Milford High School.

March 4: Lulu M. Ross Elementary School. March 9: Milford Middle School. March 10: Benjamin Banneker Elementary School. All meetings are at 7 p.m.

Call 422-1600 for more information. Rabies vaccinations offered at SPCA clinic MILIiSBORO The Delaware SPCA will conduct a rabies clinic from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Millsboro Fire Station on South State Street. Rabies vaccinations are required for all dogs and cats more than 6 months old. All animals must be leashed or in a carrier and under control at all times.

The fee is $4 per animal. This year the state has instituted different fee structures for dog licenses, depending on whether the animal is neutered. The license is for up to tbree years. Fees are $3, $6 and $9 for sterilized state program to build an additional home on their land for a son, daughter or other family members. Both the county law and the state program limit such home building on farmland.

However, they conflict in a way that would prohibit some farmers from adding even one home to their land. At the hearing Tuesday, Mc-Grath said it will be hard to attract farmers into the state's nationally recognized preservation program if they are not allowed to break off a piece of land for their children. 1 HAWllAt I Artifacts from the Henrietta Marie traveling trunk are available for public viewing at the Austin D. Baltz Elementary School, 1500 Spruce Elsmere. Call Anita McCray at 992-5560 for information.

The artifacts, all reproductions except for the shackles, are rented to schools and groups by the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society in Key West, Fla. It is an ancillary exhibit to a much larger collection of authentic items from the ship that is touring the country through Aug. 22. Baltz teacher Anita McCray has been using the shackles, Venetian glass beads used in trade and other exhibit items as part of the social studies curriculum on European exploration. "It's not something that should be ignored as part of our history," said McCray of the slave trade.

"If we're looking for a global society, everybody should be able to know where everybody else is coming from." Do you have news about your community? In Kent County, mail it to P.O. Box 518, Dover, DE 19903-0518; call 734-7577 or fax it to 734-2587. In Sussex County, mail it to P.O. Box 550, Georgetown, Del. 19947, fax it to 856-3919 or send e-mail to: For more information call 856-7371.

Artist Ethel Leach's paintings to be shown DOVER Paintings by Ethel PB. Leach, Delaware's premier female artist of the first half of the 20th century, will be on display in three Delaware museums next month. "The Many Faces of Ethel RB. Leach" will open March 5 at the Delaware State Visitor Center, 406 Federal St. in Dover.

At 1:30 p.m. March 6, curator Dr. Jann Gilmore of Alexandria, will give a lecture on Leach's portraiture. Paintings by Leach will also be exhibited at the Historical Society of Delaware's History Center in m-' 'V- By EDWARD L. KENNEY Staff reporter Fifth-grader Desmond Stafford stared at the iron shackles on the desk.

They were used to bind Africans aboard the Henrietta Marie slave ship at the turn of the 18th century. PPT! PI AV "They kept JVIiilS VLA I them on the slaves SCHOOLS they couldn't go anywnere, Desmond said. "I couldn't imag ine myself being like that." Dominique Green, his classmate at the Austin D. Baltz Elementary School in Elsmere, also wonders what it was like to be a slave aboard the ship. "I think about what I would do," she said.

"It makes me feel upset, because of how they were treated and what they went through." Desmond and Dominique are spending part of Black History Month looking into the past through a traveling trunk of reproduction artifacts from the remains of the Henrietta Marie, one of the few slave ships ever By GENARO C. ARMAS Associated Press KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. A tractor-trailer driver was cut off by a car and rear-ended the vehicle, resulting in a fiery crash that killed two people on Interstate 76, police and a trucking company of- ficial said Wednesday. Robert Spadaccine, 48, of Mil-ford, was in the right-hand lane heading west Tuesday afternoon when a Volkswagen attempted to move in front of his truck to exit the busy highway, said Richard Reiser, executive vice president of Werner Enterprises. "The investigation is continuing, but it appears there was not enough room for Spadaccine to stop," Reiser said, causing the rig to slam into the car and burst into flames.

The impact of the collision pushed the Volkswagen into a Lincoln Continental in front of it, state police said. The Volkswagen was crushed beneath the truck's cab, and the investigation and cleanup after the accident forced the closure of a section of westbound 1-76, known as the Schuylkill Expressway, for nearly six hours. State police Lt. Dennis Hun-', sicker said two men were killed at the scene: the driver of the Lincoln, Jeffrey Shober, 42, of Haver town; and Louis Ottaviano, 31, of Limerick, who was driving the Volkswagen. Spadaccine was able to jump out of his rig in time and suffered minor injuries.

Two other people also suffered minor injuries. On Wednesday, state police and -investigators with Werner began reconstructing the accident scene, a process that could take up to a week, Hunsicker said. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Bruce Castor was also investigating. Reiser said he did not believe any charges would be filed. "They haven't made a final decision on it, but we're not anticipating it," Reiser said.

Hunsicker said it was drizzling at the time of the crash and the roadway was wet. Police have not determined if the weather was a factor. dogs and $6, $12 and $18 for unster-ilized dogs. Beanie Baby raffle at Coastal Library BETHANY BEACH South Coastal Library is holding a Valentine Beanie Baby Raffle of Valentino Bear and Pinkie Flamingo. Raffle tickets, $1 each or $5 for a book of six, are available at the library.

Proceeds will go toward the purchase of audio and book kits for the childr en's library. Winter carnival has games, sports stars SEAFORD The Western Sussex Boys and Girls Club will hold a Winter Carnival from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Friday at Mollis Park on Virginia Avenue as part of its annual Festival for Youth. The carnival will feature games at 50 cents each, refreshments, au- tograph session with Delino DeShields of Baltimore Orioles Lovett Purnell of the New Engl land Patriots and Mike Neill nf the Oakland Athletic! Around Kent Sussex Compiled from staff reports and submissions Wilmington and at the Rehoboth Art League Homestead Gallery in Henlopen Acres. Those exhibits also open March 5.

Leach, born in Wilmington, trained under Howard Pyle of the Brandywine tradition, as well as at the Arts Students League of New York and in Paris. She returned to her native Delaware to live in Frederica and Rehoboth Beach, and the Delaware State Portrait Commission engaged her to paint portraits of important state officials. These and other commissions fueled her professional career for five decades. Paintings for the exhibits will be borrowed from private and public collections stretching from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. The paintings will be shown through July 31.

Sussex County Corrected school board schedule MILFORD In a recent news item about the Milford school board's public meetings to discuss the upcoming referendum on Kent County Theater donors to receive gold pins DOVER The Friends of the Capitol Theater will present a gold pin to campaign donors who have given major support in transform ing the historic Capitol Theater into the Downstate Delaware Performing Arts Center. Friends of the Capitol Theater group is comprised of business, art and civic eaders dedicated to the project. The pin was designed by Rick Hill of Hill Design Group; Sayers Jewelers and Gemologists of Smyrna worked with Friends of the Capitol Theater to create and manufacture the keepsake. Barbara Brown and Roy Klein co-chair the capital campaign, which has received contributions totaling more than $3 million. Maior construction ot the theater is expected to begin later this year.

Individuals or businesses inter ested in contributing to the Down-state Delaware Performing Arts Center or who would like to re ceive a pir can call Jeffrey Ful-gham at 678-3583. Big Money Bail 13 NEW JERSEY Pick3 98 Pick 4 8-2-8-4 Cash 5 16-18-20-29-34 PENNSYLVANIA.