The Daily News-Journal from Murfreesboro, Tennessee • 6

6A A Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro, Thursday, April 12, 2001 0 Workers put in 10-hour days but not paid for labor such Trade Force employees foil any other purpose than for undeij the Fair Labor Standard Act" A phone message left with ar SES official Wednesday after-j noon was not returned. Carol Merchant, director o( the Nashville office of the Laboi; Department's Wage and Hour; Division, said SES is being in4 vestigated as a result of the elec-S tricians not being paid. "We have an open investiga-j tion on that, and (we) are ho able to comment while an inves-J tigation is ongoing," Merchant said. 1 Merchant said her office ha not been able to confirm wha-happened to Trade Force, whose? corporate headquarters are iit Lithonia, Ga. Its local office wa in Nashville.

I who had worked more than 100 hours during the two weeks, were paid for their work Wednesday morning. "I received a phone call from SES Tuesday night, and I picked up my pay check (Wednesday) morning," said Haley, who took home $1,600 for the two-week period. "Everybody's getting paid." Haley, who said last week the tardy pay was causing difficult times for his family and those of other electricians, said he's once again proud of the work he did on the race track and intends to take his three daughters to see what their father helped build. "It's funny how being paid the money owed you sure changes a person's attitude," Haley said, adding that he was relieved the matter "had a good resolution for everyone involved. Before the electricians could get their pay checks, they first had to sign an agreement saying they would not sue SES in the future, Haley said.

The agreement said the federal Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division had sought payment from SES for the electricians hired by Trade Force. It also stated SES had agreed to pay the Trade Force employees wages "for the purposes of avoiding further litigation burdens, costs and expenses, and for the purpose of compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act" agreement also said SES "does not admit it has violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, nor does it admit it is the employer of work, SES hired the workers left behind by Trade Force. SES paid them for their work as SES employees. Smyrna electrician Mike Ha-ley, 45, said last week the workers were "jerked around," though, when it came to the fate of Trade Force. A "We were told it had been sold, that it had been seized by the IRS, that it was bankrupt, that it had taken off with the money basically anything to keep us there on the job until it was completed They even told us they were going to pay us with a check they stopped payment on that was supposed to go to Trade Force, but they finally told us we weren't going to get paid (for the work we did under Trade Force) at all." The unpaid electricians, some The electricians, some from Rutherford County, were hired by Trade Force the project's electrical subcontractor, to complete work at the track.

Among other things, they installed the lights in the light towers that loom more than 100 feet above the track and installed the facility's fire alarm. When their first pay checks were due after two weeks of work, though, Trade Force officials could not be found. After a few days, during which the electricians continued to By Bryan Brooks Staff writer Dozens of electricians whose work "ensured the Nashville Su-perspeedway opened on time, but who were not paid when the elec-, trical subcontractor who hired them disappeared, received pay checks Wednesday. The federal Labor Department also has become involved in the matter and is investigating the project's general electrical contractor, Nashville-based Specialty Electrical Services an official with the department's Nashville office said. Rape case bound Spy plane crew heads over to grana By Lisa Marchesoni Staff writer v- Evidence about two suspects who allegedly raped a 51 -year-old woman will be presented to the grand jury when the panel meets for its next session.

Defendants Albert Skinner 27, of 111 Joella Drive in Smyrna and Joseph Daniel Kline, 22, of 1 104 W. Lokey Ave. were charged with aggravated rape of the woman by Murfreesboro Police Detective Sam Campbell. Both defendants decided against a preliminary hearing Wednesday in General Sessions Courts sending their charges to the grand juiy. The investigation began when the woman told Officer Jacoby O'Gwynn she was watching television Aug.

20 at her home when Kline, whom she knew, and another man came to her home and talked about 15 minutes. Campbell talked to the woman, (Continued from page 1) said China had agreed to release the crew on "humanitarian grounds' China's deputy U.N. ambassador, Shen Guofang, told The Associated Press that his country would keep the spy plane, which has been held on Hainan since April 1, pending further investigation. He declined to offer a timetable for the plane's return. American officials assume Chinese experts have stripped the craft of its sophisticated surveillance equipment.

Crew members worked to delete top-secret codes and intelligence before the Chinese came aboard, the Pentagon has said. U.S. officials said there were no plans to end the practice of flying spy planes in international airspace near China. Chinese officials have denounced the surveillance flights as a violation of national sovereignty. "It must be pointed out that this case has not concluded yet," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin has been on a 12-day sorry the entering of China's airspace and the landing did not have verbal clearance." But, at the insistence of Secretary of State Colin Powell, the United States refused to say the American plane violated Chinese airspace. The U.S. letter expressed appreciation for "China's efforts to see to the well-being" of the crew. At the Pentagon, officials said arrangements were in place for the-24 Americans to stop briefly on Guam, where the plane was to refuel, before going on to Hawaii. "We're very pleased," said Shirley Crandall, stepmother of Navy Seaman Jeremy Crandall, Loves Park, 111.

"My heart is just pounding." Despite state-run media reports that indicated U.S,-Chinese negotiations were progressing, some Chinese reacted angrily. 4The matter isn't settled, so it's not right that they be allowed to go home," said a grocery store owner on Hainan who only gave his surname, Fu. "It's like coming to my doorstep and punching me. You can't just say sorry and walk away." County, has grown so much, and this shelter has been expanded on to all that we can, so that there simply isn't enough cages to hold the animals," Hill said. 'What it boils down to now is that we euthanize first thing in the morning to make room for more animals, and we euthanize again that afternoon," she said.

"Most animals don't even get a day up for adoption." Animal services began efforts to build a new facility two years ago. During that time several sites have come before the county commission, but it has been unable to reach a consensus on a site. List Despite their differences, the two countries are bound as never before by hundreds of billions of dollars in trade. China wants U.S. support to join the World Trade Organization this year and win its bid to host the 2008 Olympics.

Senior officials on both sides said they want to make sure the incident does no damage to long-term relations. In a letter delivered Wednesday afternoon to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Prueher twice used the 'words "very sorry." The letter appeared to be a compromise to satisfy China's, demand for a formal apology while accommodating Bush's refusal to offer one for what his government considered an accident. After the letter's release, the two sides offered different interpretations. "Please convey to the Chinese people and to the family of pilot Wang Wei that we are very sorry for their loss," said the letter, released by the White House in English.

It also says Washington is "very help each other out," she said. "I think being close to the (agricultural) center will be beneficial to us, and maybe some of our animals like the goats and potbellied pigs could be used in their 4-H program." McKenzie likewise said the agricultural center probably will try to work with animal services. "We probably will try to find a way to enhance bur efforts with having them close to us like that," he said. A new animal services facility is needed because the current one on Haley Road is outdated and overcrowded, officials say. 'The population of Rutherford Open Sat Shelter officials find Latin American tour through much of the crisis.

It wasn't immediately clear who else in the Chinese government was managing the situation, who had a say in deciding to release the crew, or to what extent the Chinese military was involved in the process. In addition, there were very few of the direct pronouncements from top officials that are typical in situations when China feels its sovereignty or dignity has been threatened. The Cold War-style dispute inflamed tensions over an expected U.S. decision this month on arms sales to Taiwan which China claims as its territory and over the detention in China of several U.S.-based scholars. Relations with China, always a balancing act, chilled further in 1999 when NATO planes bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during air strikes against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

American officials said it was an accident; China expressed doubt, and the United States apologized unconditionally. corner of the land, Hill said. "We were looking at five, but three acres are definitely more than what we have now, and it's still going to allow us to build the (kind of) shelter we're looking at," Hill said. Five acres were requested to allow for future growth that might be needed in more than a decade, Hill said, but future agricultural center plans necessitate the site be only three acres. Hill said if everything goes through, she looks forward to having the agricultural extension as a neighbor.

"We could possibly tie some educational programs to theirs and Sparks REALTY Astrology Pvrposts ONLt Is (Continued from page 1) and vice president for academic affairs, MTSU. James E. Hindman, president, Angelo State University. Sidney A. McPhee, executive vice chancellor, Tennessee Board of Regents.

Duane Stucky, vice president for finance and administration, MTSU. Price Will Surely Lure You. Tte Tnste Will REEL YOU Senior Citizens (Continued from page 1) mittee and the conservation board first The agricultural committee oversees the operation of the agricultural center, currently located in Old Fort Park, while the conservation board oversees the agricultural center property and facility. "It looks like we'll be moving on to the next step," county Animal Services Director Tracy Hill said, referring to the April 19 conservation board meeting. Instead of five acres as originally requested, though, animal services is now seeking three acres in the wooded southwest who reported the men left and re-j turned about 20 minutes later.

of the men grabbed her and Kline! allegedly threatened to kill her. "She said they threw her on couch and ripped her top openi causing all the buttons to be ton away," Campbell reported. Both men allegedly raped her; the detective reported. The woman waited until she? thought they left and dialed Before she completed the call, they took the telephone away from her. "She said that somehow she wasJ able to get out of the house and sheJ made another call to the police de-J partment," Campbell reported.

Kline and Skinner were apprehended and charged three days later. Skinner remains free on bond. Kline is serving a violation of probation sentence from a previous assault at the jail. Grand jurors were expected to consider the charges in May. Bruce Walker, dean of the college" of business, University of Missouri-Columbia.

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