The Star-Democrat from Easton, Maryland • Page 8

Page 8A Thm Star-Democrat Friday, February 26, 1993 Regional review Byron considered for Navy post By JlM PAYNE Capital News Service WASHINGTON Former Rep. Beverly B. Byron is a top contender for secretary of the Navy, a women's group said Wednesday. Byron, who represented Western Maryland in Congress from 1979 until last month, would be the first woman to lead a branch of the military. In an interview Tuesday, Byron declined to say she was seeking the position, but her son, Goodloe Byron, confirmed that she was interested in the post.

The former congresswoman said she has talked to Defense Secretary Les Aspin about the job of Navy secretary, but added that no offer has been made. "The administration feels very strongly that one or two women should be selected" for top Pentagon positions. Byron said, "I've always felt I have the capabilities, background and talents for the job." She said "a month ago I wouldn't have hesitated" to accept the position, but since then has focused on her appointment to a special commission to look into military base closings. "This would be a special opportunity to put her experience to work," said Goodloe Byron, "She's a strong supporter of the Navy, particularly in personnel issues which are where all the big decisions are being made now." Byron was chairwoman of the House Armed Services military personnel and compensation subcommittee and a long-time colleague of Aspin, who was chairman of the Armed Services Committee before becoming defense secretary under President Clinton. Last year, she joined with Aspin in leading the investigation into the Navy's Tallhook sexual harassment incident.

"Mrs. Byron is very well aware of the issues facing the Navy and the military in general," said Carolyn Becraft, a member of the defense task force for the Coalition for Women's Appointments. "She is viewed as a friend of the Navy;" That expertise, combined with President Clinton's desire to include more women in top positions throughout the administration, has made Byron a top contender, according to' Adrianne Coins, chairwoman of the task force. "Beverly Byron's name has been mentioned all along, quite regularly and quite steadily," she said. The Democrat received an endorsement from an unlikely source her successor, Republican Rep.

Roscoe G. Bartlett, and a handful of top GOP lawmakers. Bartlett and seven other Republicans, including House Minority Leader Robert Michel of Illinois, House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Rep Floyd Spence of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, wrote Clinton recommending Byron for the Navy job. The lawmakers commended Byron's record on military matters in Congress, saying she would make "an exemplary secretary of the Navy." "I thought Republicans recommending her would carry more weight," Bartlett said. "We needed to make a statement after that Tallhook thing, and with her experience on the Armed Services Committee, she has proven herself.

She should get good bipartisan support on naval issues." Other candidates reported to be under consideration for the Navy job include former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus and Washington attorney John Holum, who helped draft options for Clinton for lifting the bans on homosexuals in the military. In addition to the Navy position, other women are being considered for top Pentagon posts. Sheila Widnall, an aeronautical engineer and associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is under consideration for the Air Force job. Antonia Chayes, a former Air Force undersecretary, is said to be under review for Army secretary.

"The competition is intense for both men and women," Becraft said. "There are no lightweights." JOUAKN JAH TIU.MAM., "-'XV I Regional rubblefill proposed By MARCIE ALVARADO Staff Writer Photo by Roxane Doster Watts A man's touch With a little nudge here and a big push there, the women of the Talbot County Garden Club persuadednheir husbands to make and enter their own flower arrangements in a Men's Freestyle Flower Show held Tuesday at the club. Those who entered are, from left to right: Bill Roesen, George Schutte, Mort Read, Aire! Mason and Bud Wieland. Agricultural support office workers worry about future 'Climbing Jacob's Ladder' This 1844 lithograph of evangelist Juliann Jane Tillman is on view in "Climbing Jacob's Ladder," the Smithsonian exhibition chronicling African-American churches from 1740 to 1877. Climbing Jacob's Ladder" continues at the Historical Society of Talbot County through Sunday, Feb.

28. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Information may be obtained by calling 822-0773. Vienna man sentenced CAMBRIDGE A 40-year-old Vienna man convicted of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine was sentenced to 27 years and nine months in jail, according to a release from the Dorchester County Narcotics Task Force. Following a joint investigation of the task force and the Drug Enforcement Administration, Ronald Eugene "Fox" Waller was convicted in December 1992 by a jury in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore. A jury also found Waller, who was described by the judge as a drug kingpin, guilty of possession of more than 50 grams of crack cocaine.

Also implicated in the investigation was Vienna resident Burton Davis, 40, who was sentenced to 12 years and seven months for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. The convictions stemmed from a search of Waller's Vienna house in September 1991 when police found more than 92.8 grams of cocaine and 6.3 grams of marijuana, police said. Burka named to board EASTON Judge Alfred Burka, a retired judge of the Superior Court of Washington, D.C., was recently named to the board of directors of the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage in Easton. Burka 's three-year term begins this month. Burka started working with the Heritage in 1988 when he wanted to improve the wildlife habitat potential on his farm, Jacobus Creek Farm in Worton.

Since then, Burka's dedication to wildlife conservation has been proven in several ways including installation of Wood Duck nesting boxes, bluebird nesting boxes and an osprey platform on his farm. Burka has led a distinguished career in public service. He received a law degree from Georgetown University in addition to serving in Korea for which he received a Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge. He also served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C.

before becoming an Assistant State's Attorney in Montgomery County. In addition, Burka, who served on the Somerset Town Council and now serves on the Kent County Planning Board, has been a lecturer at Washington, D.C. area law schools and various state judicial conferences. The environmental organization's mission is to create and restore habitat on private and public lands so that the environment will be healthy and productive for both man and wildlife. Funds for furniture donated EASTON Members of the Talbot County Board of Education unanimously approved an $1,800 donation from the Samuel T.

Hemsley Elks Lodge No. 974 Wednesday night. The money was donated to furnish a classroom at the Easton Middle School. A plaque recognizing the contribution will be posted outside of the classroom designated to receive new furniture. "This Elks Lodge has been very generous to the school system and they have been very community-minded," said School Board President G.

Allen Whiteley at the school board meeting. "This is our fourth donation like this and we are very gratified the citizens in this community care." The school board has been accepting similar donations in an effort to replace 30-year-old furniture in the schools. Previous contributors of classroom furniture include: the Moton High School Alumni Association for the Mo-ton Building of the Easton Elementary School; the Easton High School Alumni Association for the high school; and the Moose Lodge 1520 for the Moton Building of the Easton Elementary School. Salisbury," Parsons said. "We are very much in the lives of the farmers, a lot of which is not always known." Gilchrest told the directors that he will keep them abreast of the decisions of Secretary of Agriculture Michael Espy.

County farmers participated in last year. Farmers sign a 10-year contract and are paid to set aside a number of acres for trees or other purposes. However, she and Parson believe the conservation plan will not be continued. Parsons said it will be a great loss to the farmer if the ASCS offices are closed. "There are seven offices within 100 miles on the Mid-Shore from Cecil to EASTON To solve current and future waste disposal problems, the County should unite with its neighbors to construct a regional rubblefill, waste management experts told the Talbot County Council this week.

George Perdikakis, director of Maryland Environmental Services, and his staff presented preliminary information about a new county rubblefill to the council Tuesday. Maryland Environmental Services, a quasi-government agency, was contracted to find a rubblefill plan for Talbot County. Perdikakis told the council members that a regional facility, used by four Mid-Shore counties, would be the best solution to the rubblefill problem. Rubble currently is dumped in the county landfill, but engineers say the faculty only can accommodate another five months of deposits. To finance the project and its maintenance, the county should collect a tipping fee from users, according to project manager Vanessa Jones.

Perdikakis said the county could borrow money to finance the project, then pay off the debt with user fees. "You won't have to use county funds for this project. The tipping fees will offset the cpst of construction, operation, closure and post-closure monitoring," Perdikakis said. Jones said the county also could hire an independent contractor to construct and monitor the rubblefill. She added, however, that the county would not be able to monitor the rubble going into a private facility.

When choosing a rubblefill site, Jones suggested, the council should involve citizens in the selection process. The project manager also advised the council to keep abreast of all landfill proposals from the Maryland Department of the Environment. The MDE is considering new regulations for fill liner requirements and leachate controls that will have to be incorporated into any rubblefill proposal, Jones told the council. Perdikakis said the project still is in the early planning stage, but a multi-county facility will be the most economical plan. "I think a regional facility is really the way to go," Perdikakis said.

"What we need to do is sit down together in a work session and talk about this more." The council members said they need to review the MSE information they received this week, but they said the suggestion of joining with other counties to construct a rubblefill is a good one. "Anytime you can save money and fix the problem at the same time, I'm all for it," council member Thomas G. Duncan said. Council President Clinton S. Bradley said that even if a multi-county facility is not feasible, Talbot should consider sharing a rubblefill with one other county.

AWNINGS I lr By DANA CARN Staff Writer CHESTERTOWN The proposed closures of several agricultural support offices are on hold for now, but directors told Congressman Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md-lst, they still are concerned about their future. The directors of the Caroline and Kent County Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Services met with Gilchrest Monday to "let you become aware of (their) existence." "We're quite concerned about the proposal to cut our services and we want to know where you stand," said Sheridan M. White of Kent County. Three federal offices targeted to close Cecil, Caroline and Worcester as well as a proposal to combine the Princess Anne and Salisbury offices have been put on hold, according to George Parsons of Caroline County. However the offices have been' hit with a hiring freeze and are understaffed at the beginning of their busiest season, the wheat and feed grain program which begins March 1, White said.

The program subsidizes corn planting to control the market and because planting corn is so expensive, according to the office. The farmer has to "set aside" a percentage of his acreage based on the national level of corn and will be given payment based on the corn grown minus 15 percent. The program is awarding 1992 payments and will begin giving advanced payments in next month for supplies and other start up costs, White said.l Parsons said Caroline County is not in the program because nearly 60 percent of the farmers are part-time growers. White said the department also provides cost share assistance in a conservation program that 146 Kent Add summer living space and cut your air-conditioning costs SttflfllR Retractable Awning Available from: Awn Shore Awnings 820-7553 MHIC40186ARAH0 GENE Nifty, Nifty, Look Who's 50 Here's Moping for 50 Love, Trish Education Your Child Won't Outgrow! 4 Correction In a voting boundary map in Wednesday edition the area around Stony Ridge, south of Dutchman's, Lane, was shown in Ward 2.f he area is actually in Ward 3, according to Easton's new-voting boundaries. nuns IM QMS SViRaiRS 35 KjyVioi KES1 I Hi If I i i Open House Tiiesday, March 2, t993 at 9 AM For more Information call: 822-1 935 open 111 Wed.

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