Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 14

B2 Mwilwlwmi Ntf-Hreld Friday July II 1996 Metro State tv mi used pricey lawyers i Committee the cost in questions state funds Staff photo Tho new soeoer fields In Shalby County ara raady for Olympic teams Olympic christening private lawyers at the suggestion of i Ethics Commission Director Mac McArthur did suggest to the attorney gen- eral that there would need to be out- 1 side attorneys McArthur said yesterday Sessions is the Republican nominee for the UB Senate Mat being va- cated by the retirement of Democrat 1 Howell Heflin He is matched against state Sen Roger Bedford of Russellville in the Nov 5 general election Bedford la a member of the Contract Review Committee In what McArthur uid wu the longest Ethics Commission meeting on record the panel heard testimony from more than a dozen witnesses Including Sessions before reaching the conclusion just before midnight Wednesday that there wu not enough evidence to refer the cbm to a prosecutor wu a strained reading of the statute from the beginning and I' think the commission uw Session said ticing" uid Mike Thedford recre- atk development planner for Shelby County He said the practices will not be open to the public The safety of the athletes is the major concern he Mid The Shelby County sheriffs of- flee will provide security for the Olympic athletes but the number of officers guarding the site has not been determined still discussing that and I think set a firm number said Chief Deputy Tom Smi- therman He said the office knew for the last week the new fields would be used for Olympic prac- tices but the specifics frequently changed Thedford said he was not sur- prised to learn about the Olympic practices in Shelby County He uid he wu told to have a field ready for the Olympics when he accepted his Job a month ago Then it was just a matter of finding out who would practice there he said Yesterday Thedford supervised the paving of a road leading to the fields and other preparations A gate was placed at the entry way and Thedford checked to make sure the locks were secure Workers began clearing the 58-acre plot in January Thedford uid He uid sod wu laid for the practice fields almost four weeks ago The new complex eventually will have five full-size soccer fields and By Bill Poovey Associated Ptcm MONTGOMERY Alabama Attorney General Jeff Sessions hired nine private lawyers four charging the state $160 an hour each to defend him and three state investiga- tors against allegations of mishandling evidence The hirings prompted questions yesterday by the Legislature's Contract Review Committee think the cost raised the concern of the said Rep John Knight D-Montgomery Gov Fob James last year set an $85-an-hour standard rate for state agencies to pay private lawyers James allowed for exceptions in cases approved by the office Sessions said he received permission from the state Finance Department to hire the nine lawyers at the rates he committed to pay them He uid the money is coming from a fund created to pay for the defense of state officials win are sued The state Ethics Commission voted 5-0 late Wednesday to dismiss a complaint that accused Sessions and his investigators of mishandling the corporate secrets of a Birmingham turf supply company The records were seized in a fraud investigation Sessions uid two of the lawyers being paid by the state represented him and the three investigators at the commission meeting non two lawyers David Byrne Jr of Montgomery and Willie Huntley Jr of Mobile are each charging the state $125 an hour A lawsuit stemming from the ume case is pending in federal court against Sessions and the investigates Edward McFadden John Mulligan and Larry Miller Sessions uid the other seven lawyers being paid by the state are helping with that can The four charging $160 hour are Thomas Brown Terry Price David Proctor and A1 Vreeland all of Birmingham Three of associates Elizabeth Huberts James A Harris HI and Clyde 0 Westbrook III also have been hired Ms Huberts and Harris are being paid $135 hour Westbrook is being paid $110 hour Sessions uid he considered the allegations to be baseless and hired one smaller field Thedford uid Two fields currently are ready for the Olympic teams to use for practices Goals will be put in place Saturday he uid Logan Roberts maintenance operations manager for the fields uid his weeks of preparation could be destroyed by the trampling feet 1 of Olympic athletes depends on how heavy they practice on it but not going to be strenuous a football Roberts uid 1996 Fields is owned by the Midstate Soccer League and Shelby County Thedford uid Once open to the public the facility will be used by the Midstate Soccer League a youth soccer organization Emergency Management Agency Central Alabama Fire Chiefs Association and statewide fire chiefs' group all have developed mutual aid and contingency plans if necessary Wilks uid gone over our plans with our Wilks uid had four tabletop exercises where we've worked through these (plans) to get used to working with other agencies" With an event like the Olympics it has given many a chance to work together when they might have been competitors Joe uid event like the Olympics allows folks to transcend normal politics of hospital he said something about an event like this that allows people to be at their By David Griaer Ps-Hardd Reporter 'A new set of soccer fields in Shelby County will be broken in by Olympic athletes from Mexico and Korea Olympic soccer team will use the called 1991 Fields for 11 practice sessions from July 14 to July 22 The Korean team plana to practice at the Bite twice on July 24 The new fields are tucked away in the wilderness along the Shelby County stretch of UJ 280 near County 41 Motorists cannot see the fields from the highway and county offi- dais want to keep it that way "We really want anyone going out there while prac- Village From page B1 Medical personnel also will be on hand at the soccer training sites in Birmingham Hoover and Fairfield said Joe Acker director of the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System In addition to Olympic Village Legion Field will be staffed with extra paramedics to handle crowds and problems caused by the heat uid Buddy Wilks director of emergency medical service for the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service There will be 18 fire and rescue workers inside the stadium and another four outside An extra rescue James' legal adviser Bill Gray presented a lengthy statement supporting the attorney general The complaint wu filed by Fletcher Yeilding the owner' of Tleco Inc of Birmingham company and two of Its executives were indicted in June on charges of defrauding some of its customers and suppliers including USX Corp Since then five current and former USX workers have been 1 Indicted on charges that they participated in a false billing scheme After investigators raided offices they turned over some of the documents to USX which then used them in a lawsuit accusing Tieco of paying kickbacks to the indicted -USX workers complaint uid that exchange violated a section of the ethics law that bars officials from disclosing confidential information any way that could result in financial for any person or busi- events will have emergency medicine training and that nurses at the village will be certified in advanced cardiac life support Paramedics also will be trained in advanced life support Although medical officials downplay the issue they say the chances of a terrorist attack or disaster such a plane crash have been factored into their coverage plans had sane classes on chemical and biological agents and worked with the FBI on explosives" Wilks uid Birmingham Fire and Rescue hu a disaster plan that if needed dovetails into a county wide plan developed by the Jefferson County Department of Public Health The lawyer Mark White uid the federal case contends Sessions anil the investigators violated the federal Civil Rights Act He uid it would if actions under search warrant and how they handled the property were illegal' Farmers import wasps as allies Legal questions put Vasser probe on hold charges Last week a propoul to award Heralee a contract for the Vasser probe wu defeated by the C3ty Council The council gave no reason for its decision Doug Weems the sole councilman to vote in favor of the propoul uid he believes local union officials called the other council members telling them to reject Henslee's contract Henslee uid he has been sue- cessful handling cases against unions and cited that as a reason union members may resent him no particular reason we rejected uid Councilman Dawson Partee try to distribute the city Henslee is already working on two cases with the city's civil service board Partee uid Partee denied that union officials swayed the vote "The decision being made by the council be affected by that" he uid Post-JJerald correspondent Dave Fits contributed to this report unit and additional engine company will be stationed at Station 14 which is the closest fire station to Legion Field Wilks uid The games will be staffed the ume during Alabama or Auburn football games Wilks uid The Birmingham Water Works hu agreed to set up stations or locations where hot fans can cool off with sprays of water hope we are prepared for the crowda and hot Wilks said they (fans) hydrate them-aelves and lay off the alcoholic beverages our Job will be a lot Joe who is also assistant medical director of Olympic medical services inside the village and outside uid doctors staffing the of cotton in Lawrence Morgan and Colbert counties traded traditional insecticide spraying this summer for biological control Employing old technology not usually used in Alabama the men imported the wups from California and released about 10 million into 250 acres of cotton two weeks ago As many five can fit on the head of a pin looks real good" Sterling uid egg counts didn't develop into worms and we uw little or no worm damage on the But the experts disagree on whether the practice really works William Mur who teaches at Auburn University is optimistic about the practice He uid it wu in keeping with a national and statewide trend toward organic pest management solutions But Barry Freeman an entomologist with the Tennessee Valley Substation is skeptical about the method Within three days the Birmingham laboratory it the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences tested the red substance in the food which Harden contends wu only on the container the food wu in and determined it to be human blood Ilooperuld The forensics lab could not deter mine where the blood came from Mrs Davis contended that she wu not the blood supplier but that a Harden employre cut her finger and bled into the meal A spoknwoman for Flags tar the company that owns the Columbiana Harden franchise disputed that complete Investigation wu conducted Immediately Including one-on-one Interviews with all em-ployeu present and working the date of the uid Debbie Atkina By Ryan Oliver tat-Hcrald Reporter The investigation of a Gadsden detective's claim that he marly uved a drowning baby last month has come to a temporary halt Billy Vasser was placed on paid leave June 14 after his claimed rescue attempt wu questioned a possible hoax The probe od the cbm by the Gadsden Police Departments internal affairs diviaioA has stalled the department seeks a lawyer to assist with legal questions That lawyer will also act prosecutor if any charges are filed against Vasser uid Lt Randy Phillips Attorney Kent Henslee who said he hu handled cases for the city for 30 years had been assisting the department without pay at the re-disagreea quest of City Attorney Roger Kirby He had met several times with Gad-guarantees sden police and said he wu advising the department on their rights as employers and Vasser's rights as an employee Henslee would not say whether police planned to file Annciatfd PfWM MOULTON About 10 million tiny wasps from California are doing battle with the bad bugs that want to eat Steve Sterling's cotton crop Sterling along with partner Mark Yeager imparted the almost microscopic parasites from the West Coast to determine whether they could stop puts from destroying their plants a job traditionally reserved for pesticides are trying to help Mother Nature do her uid Sterling The wasps called trlchogramma ara too tiny to sting humans But they gobble up the eggs of costly beet army worms boll worms and tobacco bud worms before they can hatch and start eating cotton The partners' Red Land Farms spent almost three times more than usual last year an pesticides only to bn cotton yields cut In half by Insects So the men who grow 2300 acres Blood From page B1 Mark Yeager explains how the trlchogramma wasp protects eotton plants from harmful peats as Steve Staffing puts wasp eggs Into a plant on the Red Land farm in Moulton The tiny wasps prevent bad bugs' and worms' eggs from hatching hu been a real minor player for years and I expect it to be that way for years to come unleu there is some sort of breakthrough" he uid Ed Davis a California agricultural consultant who hu been growing cotton without pesticides for 12 years Davis who releases wasps and green iacewings onto his crop beneficial insects will work you put on the correct amount of the product it works every time because it is Mother Nature1' Spann From page B1 Spann hu worked for Channel 6 since 1989 His current annual ul-ary according to the copy of his contract filed with the complaint is $110500 plus $3000 per year for clothing hair and makeup In local news WBRC has been towering over its competition in the ratings but the switch to Fox hu brought about big question marks for the sta(ion To fill in some of the holes left by Fox WBRC hu planned to go from 35 hours of locally produced news programming each weekday to 65 hours more than one-fourth of the broadcast day spokeswoman for Spartanburg SC-bued Flagstar no evidence whatsoever that the blood on this container for this take-out order came from anyone at Jurors disagreed awarding Mrs Davis $100000 In compenutory damages and $150000 in punitive damages But in this cbm the company is not simply accepting the punishment are very diuppointed by the verdict and will appeal this Ms Atkins uid quality and ufety of our products is the top priority at Flagstar which also owns Denny's restaurants operates nearly 600 Hardees mainly in the Southeast However there hu been something of a drain an the Channel 6 newsroom several employees have signed with the new station in town Alabama ABC 33-40 owned by Allbritton Communications Inc Reportedly Allbritton hu lured a number of people from 6 and other stations by offering higher ularies and state-of-the-art facilities Most notably Channel 6 anchor Brenda Ladun signed with the new station and has been an employee there since July 1 WBRC however hu uid Ms La-dun is still under contract to them It hu been reported that Spann's 'suit is linked with a desire to go to work for Allbritton 1 have any agreement with James Spann" said Nancy O'Connor Allbritton's personnel director from the ratings infor- -matlon seen If he prevails in this -court action every station would be Interested in hiring Spann's attorney Edwin Hardin Jr who declined to comment on the complaint uid only that lt would be for James to negoti- ate with any other station long as he Is under this Spann's complaint also seeks to be released from the clause of his con- tract that would prevent him from working for any of WBRCs competitors on-air for one year after leaving the station Spann who wu on the air yester- day will not make any public comments on the suit Hardin uid this cbm really wu involving mental anguish her fears and traumu of contracting various trans-mlttable Including AIDS had to submit to certain testing to make sure she wu not positive for any of theu diseases That took quite a long Hooper uid Mrs Davis alleged in her suit that shahad eaten moat of the food before noticing a foreign red substance in what remained of it Hooper uid she called Harden twice that day and testimony wu she get much assistance And not knowing what to do a friend of hers called a lawyer for her" rtf.