The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 2

1st EDITION The News-Journal papers Wilmington, Del. Wednesday, July 9, 1986 o) SECTION Weather, B2 Obituaries, B3 Record, B3 Business, B6 Colonial accepts I iment lam children would be bused more than others in the district. "I felt the proposal was fair, I thought it was good," Wilbur said. "It followed the criteria the board set down." "In my opinion, the vote to open King is in place, and I felt the sooner a decision is made for the pupil assignment plan, rather than have meeting after meeting, the sooner a decision is made the better," she added after the meeting. Minnich said he sat through the last See COLONIAL B2 had already held public hearings and discussions.

Wilbur told Beatson she didn't want to "pit one community against another." Dill had suggested at an earlier meeting that it would be less disruptive to assign to King students who live between Basin Road and Delaware 273, rather than her children and others who live east of Basin Road. One administrator responded that King would be overcrowded in a few years if that were done. Parents from west of Basin Road argued the change would mean their members have insisted that the neighborhood is safe. The board voted 4-3 on June 23 to reject the plan. Tuesday's vote for acceptance was 5-2.

In the interim, board member Kathleen H. Wilbur changed her mind and the term of Earl J. Reed who opposed the plan, ended June 30. Reed's successor, Robert H. Minnich, voted in favor.

The second vote was swift. When opponents in the audience criticized the absence of discussion, Wilbur and board member Herman J. Wooley replied that the board was very sad," said Margaret Dills of Penn Acres. "No attempt was made for a new proposal. When one failed, I thought there should have been an attempt for a new one," said Karen Beatson of Leedom Estates.

She and Dills were so upset their voices shook. Parents whose children will be assigned to King have argued that other options should have been presented and that northeast Wilmington, where King is located, is not safe for school children. Community activists and Colonial board By SANDY DENNISON Staff reporter Reversing a two-week-old decision, the Colonial Board of Education has accepted a recommended student assignment plan for Martin Luther King Elementary School. Infuriated by the turnabout and its speed many parents who had vociferously opposed sending their children to King stalked out of Tuesday night's meeting. Some returned at the end to confront the board.

"I think the way you handled it tonight Grade requirements to continue for Christina been set up" uniformly in all the schools. The three high schools in the district are Glasgow, Newark and Christiana. George E. Evans argued against the plan, saying it needed more study. "How can we go ahead and terminate a student's rights to participate fully in school?" Former board president Carole A.

Boyd disagreed. "It is our responsibility to make certain we give our students every opportunity to succeed in the curriculum," she said. "The extra-curricular activities are just that extra." The final plan will give the board another year to install and evaluate an acceptable tutoring program, said Dr. James W. Kent, board president.

Also Tuesday: Charles E. Hockersmith of Newark took over Alfred I. Daniel's seat. Hockersmith defeated Daniel in May's election, leaving the seven-person board with two black members. The board had a black majority from 1981 to 1983.

Dona B. Price of New Castle replaced Phillip Darby, who resigned in March. Price will serve for one year, completing Darby's term. Price defeated Suzanne S. Burnette in May.

Two years ago, the board adopted a plan to be installed over a four-year period. Ultimately, all high school students would be required to have a 2.0 grade average, on a 4.0 scale, to play sports or join clubs or organizations outside of the regular curriculum. Board member Cynthia E. Oates opposed the original plan. "I will continue to dissent until I see evidence of the tutoring that every student is supposed to receive if they request it," she said.

The policy calls for each high school to establish a tutoring program. School board officials agree that quality tutoring has not By CYNTHIA SMITH, Staff reporter The Christina Board of Education has voted to maintain current grade requirements for participation in extracurricular activities, although a previous plan called for stricter standards starting in the fall. High school students still will have to earn a 1.75 grade point average just below a to be eligible for activities, the school board decided after nearly an hour of haggling Tuesday night. The only change is that ninth, 10th and 11th graders will have to make the grade. Last year, only ninth and 10th graders were affected.

Promotion ceremony protested Frawley: Education key to passing test Firenghter puts damper on robbery By MICHAEL JACKSON Staff reporter Lt. James T. Wilmore had seen a lot of dark, black smoke in his 20 years as a city firefighter, so the wisps he spotted coming from an abandoned bag while he monitored a fire scene on Market Street weren't anything unusual. Except they were red. The instant he saw a man drop the smoking package on the front steps of the Mellon Bank branch at Third and Market streets, Wilmore said Tuesday, he knew it meant a possible bank robbery.

He moved quickly. "As I came around the corner of the bank, I ran up to him," Wilmore said later. "He was halfway up the block and he heard me running after him, and he turned around. I told him to come on back, and he did. He was a small guy." Timothy Fussell, 28, of Durham, N.C., was charged with first-degree robbery and was being held today at Gander Hill prison for lack of $10,000 secured bail.

Police credited Wilmore with the catch. Fussell allegedly entered the Mellon Bank office around noon on Monday and handed a teller a bag with a note demanding money. The teller returned the bag with an undetermined amount of money and a dye packet hidden inside. Fussell fled with the package under his coat, said Sgt. E.

Jennings, a police spokesman. When Fussell reached the outside steps, the dye packet exploded and began emitting a smoky red cloud. Fussell dropped the smoking money bag and walked west on Third Street toward Shipley Street, Jennings said. Wilmore, a 20-year veteran of the department, was on a fire watch at the scene of a blaze that damaged several stores in the 300 block of Market Street when he See FIREFIGHTER B2 'VUL it i In the region Relief from the heat Weather forecasters are promising a sleep-easy night tonight with temperatures in the 60s, and a better day Thursday with highs only in the low 80s, as sweaty Delawareans towel down from a three-day heat wave. Temperatures climbed through the 80s this morning under partly cloudy skies, with the welcome threat of evening thunderstorms to cool things off.

Burned stores leveled Workers quickly leveled two burned-out stores in the 300 block of N. Market on Tuesday. City officials said they placed a lien against the properties, owned by developer John E. Stawicki, in case he fails to pay the $16,000 demolition cost. 5th Amendment OK Superior Court Judge Richard S.

Gebelein said Tuesday he will continue to allow rape suspect Richard G. Snavely to maintain his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and not answer questions concerning the whereabouts of prosecution witnesses. MS chapter honored The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has given its Total Program Services Award to the Delaware chapter, based in Trolley Square. Delaware's program includes individual and family counseling, loans of equipment, swimming and other recreation. Highway contracts Contracts to resurface more than seven miles of deteriorated road shoulders along U.S.

13 below Tybouts Corner in southern New Castle County have been awarded to Tilcon Delaware Inc. of Dover and James Julian Inc. of Wilmington. Work should start this month, and take 30 working days. Trash plan invoked PHILADELPHIA Mayor W.

Wilson Goode invoked an emergency trash plan Tuesday as the largest of two municipal unions broke off talks in a week-long strike that has left tons of garbage in the streets. The city has designated 17 vacant lots as emergency trash transfer sites. Dover's water use DOVER City residents are being urged to follow a voluntary water conservation program because of demands on Dover's water supply system during the current heat wave. City residents used an all-time high of 8.6 million gallons of water on Monday. Bradfield witness held CHESTER, Pa.

A prosecution witness who helped convict former schoolteacher William Bradfield in the deaths of Susan Reinert and her two children has been accused of killing his girlfriend, according to Chester police. Proctor Nowell, 27, was charged Sunday with the murder of Monica Hines, 23. Levy Court insurance DOVER -Kent County Lety Court, which lost its public officials' liability insurance last week, has agreed to purchase two new policies. Commissioners agreed Tuesday to spend $28,140 for coverage through the Forum insurance firm of Illinois and National Union of New York. It could happen again REHOBOTH BEACH Del-mafva Power Light Co.

officials warned Sussex County Council on Tuesday that overloads which left 1,500 customers without electricity on Monday because of heavy use of fans and air conditioners will worsen if a new Rehoboth-area substation isn't built soon. Compiled by Phil Milford By S.M. KHALID and LORRAINE KIDD Staff reporters With 15 angry protesters marching outside, about 50 friends, relatives and colleagues stood in Mayor Daniel S. Frawley's office on Tuesday as three white Wilmington police officers were promoted to lieutenant. The marchers in front of the City-County Building were protesting the results of the police promotional examination, which did not rank any black or Hispanic officers for promotion.

Frawley cited the higher educational level of the new lieutenants as the likely reason they came out on top in the test. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant were sergeants Michael J. Alfree, Ronald L. Stoner and P. Kevin Smith, all 14-year veterans of the Wilmington Police Department and all holding bachelor's degrees in criminal justice.

State Rep. Al O. Plant who organized Tuesday afternoon's demonstration, vowed that larger protests over the promotions would be mounted in coming weeks. "There are a lot of white and black officers who are very displeased with the test results," said Plant, D-Wilmington Central. "I don't believe the mayor can withstand the type of political pressure that's coming down on him.

"In the meantime, he will be facing legal action. He's going to have one hell of a time getting re-elected in 1988." Frawley told the group in his office that the exam was a "valid" tool for promotions. Following the awarding of badges, Frawley told a news gathering that advanced education had given the officers an advantage in the testing. "There's no doubt about it," said Frawley. "The better-trained and better-educated you are, the better-prepared you are to perform your job.

We have been diligent and fair. We have a valid and job-related promotional system." Later, he announced that the test was under evaluation and that an educational program was being started to help officers. "Public Safety Director Alex J. Smalls will be designing a curriculum in cooperation with Del Tech for officers who want to further their education," Frawley said at a meeting with the Ministers Action Council of Delaware Inc. The classes will be voluntary.

Representatives of the news media were asked to leave because the ministers and Frawley said they would restrict the discussion. Afterward, Frawley said, "We promised we would take action on their concerns." The mayor also said the test would be restructured and tested for legal suitability. "We want the tests to be valid, job related, race neutral and that the See POLICE B2 Staff photo by Leo S. Matkms Wilmington Fire Department Lt. James T.

Wilmore Wilmington's WTGI is on the air City has its first commercial TV station in 28 years its appearance, acquire syndicated programming not available earlier, and refine its market research, Slape said. He said projections call fni fha etqtinn in L. By BILL HAYDEN Staff reporter Without fanfare, at exactly 2 minutes, 50 seconds before 9 this morning, Wilmington's first commercial television station in 28 years WTGI-TV (61) went on the air. The Rev. Elmer Lindale, pastor of the Assembly of God Church in Pennsville, N.

threw the master controlroom switch to start the prerecorded sign-on announcement and playing of the national anthem that preceded "Ag Day," a syndicated half-hour of farm news that was the station's first program. Lindale was one of the group that filed for the station's license with the Federal Communications Commission in 1980. He remains a prin-cipal in Delaware Valley Broadcasters the partnership that owns and operates the station. The start comes after a series of missed target dates stretching back to October a situation that led general manager Dan Slape to say in April that WTGI would "slink on the air" without any formal ceremony. Last week, Slape said he hoped to be on the air before next Monday.

The station had been ready to start operation last Monday, but a high-voltage transformer at its Harrison Township, N.J., transmitter site shorted out over the July 4 weekend. Today at WTGI's studios, Walnut and A streets, Slape said, "At long last, this is the beginning. Now, it's up to us to make good on the promise of giving Wilmington a television station it can be proud of." Running as an independent station without network affiliation, WTGI is offering a mix of reruns, syndicated programs, movies and afternoon children's shows. Although not yet carried by any area cable systems, the station puts out a strong over-the-air signal that extends to just north of Baltimore and to Hatboro, Pa. Carrying the on-air identification of Wilmington-Philadelphia and the look of a major market station, WTGI is trying to exceed local viewer expectations, Slape said.

The sales emphasis is local, but the station must compete for regional and national advertising with the seven commercial television stations in the Philadelphia market. The repeated delays in going on the air have allowed WTGI to polish oiauuu iu uecuuie prontaDie within 18 months. Much of its top syndicated programming including weeknight reruns of the "Dynasty" prime-time serial won't be seen until September, he said. In the interim, WTGI intends to carry out its promises of local public-affairs programming, he said Such shows will be appearing late Saturday and Sunday nights and Sunday mornings on the station. Weekday programming currently includes a movie at noon and prime-time reruns of hour adventure series, with a nationally syndicated newscast at 10 p.m.

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