European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday january 26, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 7 . Hopes ditch will slow illegal entry san Diego Barrier project stirs juror san Diego area every month. However Many tens of thousands of immigrants also Cross illegally on foot both through the Flat area in otay Mesa and the rougher terrain to the West. The ditch project is not aimed a pedestrian crosses. We can t get All of them said an official at the Justice department Parent Agency of the immigration and naturalization service. Arnoldo Torres National political director for the league of United latin american citizens in Washington called the ditch plan shocking for it takes on ditches Aren t the Solu Tion. It s going to take a bilateral approach. To Stop illegal  Roberto Martinez desperate proportions and will have negative consequences symbolically As Well As substantively. Once again we appear to be obsessed with dealing with symptoms instead of trying to find solutions to the problems. The immigration and naturalization service has commissioned an environmental Impact study and is expected to announce the plan soon. Construction on the ditch will begin As soon As the study is satisfactorily completed a Bush administration official said. By the los Angeles times Washington the . Government concerned about illegal immigrants and drugs smuggled across the Border in trucks from Mexico is planning to dig a ditch 4 Miles Long 14 feet wide and 5 feet deep at the Border near san Diego to Stop vehicles from Cross ing into California. The ditch to be constructed of soil and Concrete and projected to be completed by fall would be next to the port of entry at otay Mesa sources said a Flat area where vehicles currently Are Able to Cross practically Atwill. Told about the plan advocates for immigrants expressed outrage but a Bush administration official de fended the plan As necessary to prevent illegal Cross Ings. The foolishness of this proposal does t Surpri seme. About the Only thing they Haven t suggested is mining the area said Roberto Martinez head of the san Diego office of the american friends service committee a group of social activists. Instead of trying to mend fences and relations with Mexico they re looking for ways to tear them Down ditches Are not the solution. It s going to take a bilateral approach to find solutions for the Sociol eco nomic problems in Mexico and the deteriorating relations Between Mexico and the United states to Stop illegal  however the ditch should be extremely effective in preventing vehicle traffic said one administration official noting that in addition to catching illegal immigrants Border agents expect to catch More drug smugglers As Well. Officials estimate that 300 to 400 vehicles Many driven by smugglers Cross the Border illegally in the crime figure Gotti enters innocent plea by the los Angeles times new York John Gotti the reputed Leader of the nation s most Power Ful organized crime family pleaded in Nocent tuesday to charges that he ordered the shooting of a Union Leader and was released on $100,000 bail. John Gotti is followed night and Darby the police. He gets to court before the building opens Gotti s lawyer Bruce Cutler told a judge who then rejected a prosecution request for incarceration before trial. Gotti was arrested by about 50 Law enforcement officers monday night while walking on a Manhattan Stree with his bodyguards. He was arraigned in Manhattan criminal court and sent to jail overnight without bail. The barrel chested reputed mafia Leader joked with detectives m the courtroom and after his arraignment about 50 defendants in a holding pen near the court cheered and clapped when he arrived. Gotti and two reputed associates of the Gambino organized crime family Are o Connor business agent of local 608 Tion site owned by friends of Gotti the accused of assault and conspiracy in or of the carpenters Union in retaliation restaurant s owner was conducting Reno Derma the unsuccessful murder of John for vandalism at a restaurant construe nations using non Union carpenters John Gotti right is flanked by his attorney Bruce Cutler at tuesday s arraignment. The plan was something of a Surprise to . Borde patrol officials in san Diego. The ditch said Armand Olvera assistant chief patrol agent in san Diego was one of three proposals being considered. The others Are a new Fence or another kind of Concrete Barrier said Olvera who described the ditch plan As preliminary. He noted that officials would probably need approval from the City of san Diego As Well As from the . Environmental Protection Agency. The International Boundary and water commis Sion a committee of . And mexican officials has been involved in the planning although it is not Clear what if any role the mexican government will have an administration source said. The terrain that separates Tijuana from san Diego accounts for More than one third of the 1.2 million illegal immigrants apprehended along the .-Mexicoborder last year. The area Gateway to the booming illegal alien Job Market in los Angeles is considered the single most popular crossing area along the 1,900 mile Border. The idea behind the ditch is to Stop vehicles an officials believe that few vehicles will be Able to Cross at Points beyond the ditch because that Hilly terrain Isles passable than the land near otay Mesa. Similar plans have failed. For example in the late 1970s a Chain link Fence known derisively As the Tortilla curtain was placed along several Miles of the Border in Elpaso at a Cost of More than $1 million. It did not take Long for illegal immigrants to Cut holes in it. But a Bush administration official noting the distinctions Between the Fence and the ditch said this is going to work to the extent that it will keep vehicles out. This is not intended to Stop people from crossing on foot. Unlike the Fence this is not something that can be easily damaged or  Kennedy Crew headed Home Washington a the John , the aircraft Carrier involved in a confrontation with libyan jets earlier this month has left the Mediterranean sea and is steaming Home the Pentagon said this week. The Kennedy has been replaced by a Bat the group led by the Carrier Theodore Roose velt said Pentagon spokesman Fred Hoffman. The Roosevelt is there and the Ken Nedy is out Hoffman said at a briefing. Navy officials said the Kennedy is expected to arrive Home at Norfolk va., feb. 2. The departure of the Kennedy and its Battle group Means the United states no longer has two aircraft carriers in the re Gion. The presence of two carriers earlier this month fuelled speculation the United states might be contemplating a bomb ing raid on a suspected chemical weapons Plant inside Libya. Navy and Pentagon officials insist Edall along however the two carriers were simply m the midst of a routine overlaps one relieved the other. On Jan. 4, two f-14 tomcat Jet fight ers from the Kennedy shot Down two libyan Mig-23 fighters after being approached in a hostile manner while on a routine patrol protecting the Carrier according to the Pentagon. Former doctor can keep $50,000 of settlement los Angeles a former army doctor Jef Frey Macdonald convicted of killing his wife and daughters May keep just $50,000 of the $325,000 settlement he won in a dispute Over a Book about the killings Superior court judge Edward Ross ruled. Ross deducted $92,000 from the remaining$275,000 to cover attorneys fees stemming from Mac Donald s suit against fatal vision author Joe Mcginniss. The rest of the Money was ordered placed in a Trust with the beneficiaries to be determined later. Attorneys for Macdonald s former Mother in Law Mildred Kassab had argued that state Law bars a convicted criminal from profiting from his crime and therefore Macdonald should not be allowed to keep the Money. She had said earlier that she wanted the Money to go toward a memorial or Charity in Honor of her slain daughter and granddaughters. Macdonald had sued Mcginniss claiming the author lied to gain his Confidence while writing a Book that concluded the former Green Beret doctor killed his wife and their daughters Ages 2 and 5, at their for Bragg n.c., apartment in 1970. Macdonald who claimed the slayings were the work of drugged hippies was convicted in 1979 and is serv ing three life sentences. Ill hold that Macdonald had a viable claim against Mcginniss Ross said. But the judge said Macdon Ald s argument that he needed the Money to care for needy relatives pay future Legal fees and fund an investigation into the slayings did not entitle him to the full settlement. However he said it would be impossible to recoup an estimated $90,000 Macdonald received earlier from the Book contract