The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 27

Sunday News Journal, Wilmington, Del. Nov. 7, 1999 Section FOCUS: Civic group plans a Y2K bug-stomping session with experts discussing home computers, banking, power delivery B3 Police report Obituaries B3 B4 Have a news tip for Local? Call 324-2774 or e-mail njnewsnewsjoumaLcom For questions about coverage in this section, call the CityState editor Jean Buchanan at 324-2882 or Public Editor John Sweeney at 324-2906 iMliamfllllin HMiiiBiiiHt-rfHMi8'ii iftmnfiriirtfciiiffir in iimmr i ftjjjfrnilftmwritf Wi'jfiiirltilrirrVi-niMn'rilllt fcinlr 1 iTTWrlifirt riff I'Trifii fjl' UrVmit Min lirtiTjaiWi 'fa'-fa Jnr. "mm IBtaTi if -lijrMrWiWA iW'mfflitfatfS irnffilifflfi HB. -fflfflffiflmffl1.

Jnufaitt iU nfru Ttffii tliM.liiMfl: Hlfri it i fruf iWiteW I Blues affiliation hits snag over severance deals parently disagree over which firm should pay the bulk of the severance packages. Donna Lee Williams, Delaware's insurance commissioner, believes CareFirst should pick up some of the tab because the severance is triggered by the "change in control" of the company that would ensue from the deal. proving any Blue Cross proposal in which Maryland assets are used to pay for Delaware severance pack-; ages." Hearings on the transact tion were held in Delaware late last month and will be held in Baltimore next Regulators will take months before deciding. ware executives. Owings Mills-based Care-First the holding company created by the affiliation of the Blue Cross plans in Maryland and Washington, announced in December plans to affiliate with the Delaware firm.

But the insurance commissioners of the two states ap which has been partly accrued because it's a nonprofit and has had various tax benefits," said EL. Peter Stone, a lawyer for the Delaware Insurance Department. "The insurance commissioner is interested in making sure the surplus isn't depleted." But Maryland's Larsen said, "I don't anticipate ap The cost of the previously negotiated severance packages could run as high as $15 million. CareFirst says the actual amount will be lower because only two or three executives are likely to leave. Maryland Insurance Commissioner Steven B.

Larsen says Delaware's board of directors forged the agree ments with their executives, so the bills should be paid from Delaware's reserves. The deal requires approval by insurance commissioners in both states. The two companies have combined revenues of $4.4 billion. "This is a nonprofit health-care organization with an $89 million surplus Associated Press Plans for an affiliation between the Maryland Blue Cross Blue Shield company and its sister in Delaware have hit several snags, including an apparent dispute over which company should pay most of the cost of severance packages for outgoing Dela jj no ei Widener University School of Law will dedicate its newly renovated Law Building at 4601 Concord Pike at 3 p.m. today.

An open house will begin at 2 p.m. ft 4 0.1 p.l': -irt 4-rsr- ff -ill "III Ifffiw i el The News JoumalGARY EMEIGH Team Carbo captain Robert Carbo of Raleigh, N.C., pulls the firing mechanism on a bicycle-chain-powered catapult Saturday at the 14th annual World Championship Punkin Chunk northeast of Millsboro. His pumpkin flew 1,1 19 feet. Unofficial crowd estimates for the first day of the two-day contest topped 15,000. By STEPHEN SOBEK Staff reporter The buildings that house Widener University School of Law's Wilmington campus were once home to Brandy-wine College.

Until recently, a bench and a jury box in one of the old classrooms served as Widener's practice courtroom. But now students can practice their opening statements and closing arguments in a brand-new, wood-paneled courtroom, complete with modem hookups for their laptops at all of the room's 185 The Ruby R. Vale Moot Courtroom is the centerpiece of the campus's newly renovated and expanded Law Building. The results of the $6.9 million makeover will be dedicated today. The room "seemed to have the kind of dignity and gravity that you would want associated with important legal issues," associate professor Lawrence Hamermesh said of the new courtroom, "as opposed to being in a room that seemed to be designed much more for junior college." Once the school's law library, the Law Building now has an additional 48,000 square feet of classroom and office space, plus an atrium at its main entrance.

Renovations were paid for with $5 million set aside in the school's capital budget over six years and $95,000 7 'umpkins sail in Susse A from a donation campaign waged over the last two years. The additional space includes smaller classrooms for specialty classes with fewer than 10 students that had been held in large lecture halls seating hundreds. Delaware Volunteer Legal Services also will get new of-; fice space. The school also hopes to install a wireless network for laptop users. The need for a technology upgrade was one of the main reasons for the project, said Richard Przywara, assistant dean for alumni and develop-; ment.

"Fifteen years ago, you went into the library and did a lot of research," Przywara said. "Now, a lot of it is online. We have to be able to provide both experiences for kids." About 40,000 square feet ol the original building also was renovated. One of the new lecture halls is named for professor Joseph deFuria, who died last year of cancer. Reach Stephen Sobek at 324-2435 or ssobekwilmingt.gannett.com 15,000 spectators attend first day of Punkin Chunk competition i Km at "It's very therapeutic for me," said Robert Carbo, a psychologist for the North Carolina state prison system.

His brother, Paul, designs graphics for the Los Angeles Times. That's not to say the mechanically challenged can't have fun. Mike Pomeroy, 32, of Laurel, prefers to keep it simple. "Last year, we only spent $1.99 on parts. This year, it's closer to $20," said Pomeroy, a computer technician.

"The whole idea is that it's cheaper to have a rig in here than to pay admission. And here, we get better seats." His machine, called Pumpkin Upchuckin, is a guided slingshot. It honors the early days he attended the event as a spectator, the days he had a couple of beers too many. Outside the pit area, thousands of people made their way down the area's two-lane roads to watch the first round of competition and to stay for the tailgate that followed. Unofficial crowd estimates for the first day topped 15,000.

"I'm here to drink my beers By PATRICIA V. RIVERA Sussex Bureau reporter Paul Carbo traveled thousands of miles from his home in Southern California to a farm in Sussex County for the moment he could perch, pedaling furiously, atop a homemade catapult that would sling a pumpkin hundreds of feet afield. "It's out there," yelled his brother, Robert Carbo of Raleigh, N.C., following the gourd with his eyes until it landed 1 ,119 feet away. Long gone are the days that only locals practiced this arcane Delaware sport. On Saturday, folks dragged 62 contraptions from all over the nation to a soybean field northeast of Millsboro for the 14th annual World Championship Punkin Chunk.

Today, they will continue competing in categories that include human-powered, centrifugal, catapult and air cannon. And for those who have always thought that this was a redneck gathering of sorts, think again. Some have described it as an Olympics for the handyman. Battleship returns home this week i. w-H The News JoumalGARY EMEIGH T.I.

McGrath of Comus, drives in search of the right caliber ammunition for his Chunkin Up team. and have fun," said Joe Nelson, 26, of Dover. "Pumpkins don't do much for me." Organizers also billed this as the world's largest tailgate, with live bands keeping crowds out into the late hours. Don Jefferson of Milton, president of the Punkin' Chunkin' Association, was pleased with the outcome. See CHUNK B2 If; gv Ml i Special to The News JoumalDEE MARVIN Melissa Wilson, 13, of Severna Park, climbs up 27 feet on the rigging of the Free Delivery pumpkin launcher to make repairs Saturday at the annual event.

The crowning glory of the First State Guard fly overhead. At 2:30 p.m., the ship will; reach the Philadelphia Naval, Yard, where a welcoming cen emony is planned. In the more than 50 years the Iowa-class battleship was away, it became one of the most decorated in the Navy, earning 16 battle stars. Nine of those stars came from! World War II battles. The old sailor! no longer can move under its own power.

Its engines were stilled after it was decomimV sioned in 1991. It moves only thanks to a tugboat pushing it on its way. The nearly two-month journey from a Navy yard in Washington state south through the Panama; Canal and up the coast hasi been difficult and lonely. Last weekend, near the tug Sea Victory devel-i oped mechanical problems and Big was handed off to another tug, the The ship, once manned by more than 3,000 sailors, is, empty on this final journey. The New Jersey is the sec-! ond ironclad to carry that name.

It is one of the largest-battleships built, at more! than 880 feet long and 108 feet wide. The ship was a plafr form for 20 five-inch guns and nine 16-inch guns and later was equipped to fire Sparrow' See WARSHIP B4 By SEAN O'SULLIVAN Staff reporter The dreadnought New Jersey, commissioned as BB-62 in Philadelphia exactly a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, is returning home to the naval shipyard where it was born before heading to its final resting place, somewhere in its namesake state. That final berth, where it will become a floating museum, WILMINGTON hasnot immmmmmmmm been though the two front-runners are Camden and Bayonne. Delaware residents can catch a glimpse of the warship as it takes its last cruise along the Delaware River on Tuesday and Wednesday. Called the "Big the ship should reach the Cape Henlo-pen Sea Buoy between noon and 3 p.m.

Tuesday. It will pass Delaware City between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and the Delaware Memorial Bridge between 10 and 11 a.m. that day. As it makes its way under the bridge, the New Jersey Army National Guard will provide a 19-gun salute as F-16 fighter planes from the New Jerspy Air National i LEFT: Carrie Aiken of Wilmington is crowned Miss Delaware Teen USA 2000 by Ashley Coleman, Miss Teen USA 1999, the first national pageant winner from Delaware.

RIGHT: Jennifer Behm of Wilmington is crowned Miss Delaware USA 2000 by Jackie Pilla, Miss Delaware USA 1999. The pageant was held Saturday night at the Mitchell Hall Theater at the University of Delaware. Aiken and Behm will represent Delaware at national pageants next year. 1 i If y.4 .4 Special to The News JoumalMONIQUE BRUNSBERG.