European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 09, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 9, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 3 invaders May have seen Noriega fleeing Washington up invading . Paratroop ers unknowingly May have witnessed Manuel Noriega fleeing a hotel As they dropped from the night sky onto an Airport Landing zone in Panama City last month a published report said sunday. The Washington Post reported that military officials believe a half dressed Noriega made a mad dash from the hotel to a waiting getaway car As hundreds of .troops landed at to cumin Airport in the Early morn ing hours of dec. 20. They at least two paratroopers saw the headlights of the car As it turned and went the other  said an unnamed member of Congress who was briefed on the . Invasion called operation just cause during a visit to Panama City. Panama last week. A Noriega confidante and mistress told officials that the strongman had gone to the hotel to meet a prostitute. The newspaper reported that for the next four days.. Forces found and lost Noriega s track several times with the dictator slipping in and out of Safe houses throughout Panama City before seeking Sanctuary at the Vatican embassy. Even at that Point the top representative of the papal Nuncia Ture said he unsuccessfully tried to con tact a . General to tip him to Noriega s whereabouts before the embassy officials picked up the most wanted dictator at a local snack bar. Monsignor Jose Sebastian Laboa the Vatican representative in Panama City said he was not eager to provide Refuge to Noriega and intended to give . Troops enough warning to capture the deposed dictator before embassy personnel met him. But Laboa said he was unable to reach a. Gen Marc Cisneros commander of . Army South. One High ranking . Military official questioned whether such an attempt was made. The Noriega scramble showed said one . Offi Cial that he did t believe an invasion was possible despite watching television reports of Large . Troop movements. He just did t take it seriously until he saw the parachutes in the  said the official. Noriega arrived at the embassy on dec. 24. Staying there for 11 Days before surrendering to . Officials. He i awaiting trial in Miami on Federal drug trafficking charges. M military officials said they lost Noriega on the afternoon before the invasion when he failed to take As expected a Light from Colon. Panama to Panama City. Special military forces using stealth helicopters and night vision equipment covered at least seven of no Riega s known residences and operation outlets. Three of the ills were watched during the invasion while the other four were attacked. Some intelligence gaps reflected the failure of the military to tap resources of the Cia. Whose agents had collected information about the military capability of the panamanian defense forces the source of inva Sion resistance congressional sources said. Military officials were surprised by the strength and firepower of resistance. The Navy s sea air land special forces met heavy fire during an attack on Paolilla Airfield where three seals died. The seals did t expect armoured  one congressional source told the Post. The Post reported that there is no mechanism for Cia Pentagon intelligence sharing. When the military asked. Why the hell did t we have the intelligence according to one congressional source the Cia replied. Because they probably did t ask about  Bolan of treks All Over world for seeds of future Beltsville. My. A As a boy growing up on a Minnesota Dairy farm. Calvin Sperling combed the Countryside collecting bits of plants and Trees. Today he travels the Globe for the . Government searching for hundreds of rare and threatened plants that scientists say could help feed the planet and save Farmers billions of dollars. The Plant explorer and botanist for the agriculture department leads the government s efforts to find seeds of endangered species that May someday be used to produce better crops. Sperling hunted for wild lentils and chickpeas in Turkey last Spring. He has explored forests in the Interior of the so Viet Union for wild apples gone to Israel to collect wild wheat and searched South american Jungles for potato varieties. I be always had an interest in what was Over the next Hill you might  Sperling explained. The future of agriculture could depend on what he finds. With whole species of plants facing possible extinction scientists need seeds or germ plasm from existing sometime wild varieties of plants to Breed the har Dier higher yielding crops Farmers need. Sperling s expeditions provide the raw material for  said Donald Falk. Director of Harvard University s Center for Plant conservation. Biotechnology is the future of global agriculture he said. Global agriculture is the future of being Able to feed 10billion  on Jan. I. Fortune Magazine named Sperling one of the year s 25 most fascinating business  in his starched shirt and silk lie. The 32-year-old hardly looks like a botanist Globe Huppin i Calvin Sperling at his office in Bill silkmd., outside Washington. Who spends weeks crawling through Brush and Jungles in some of the world s most Remote regions. But Sperling has had an insatiable curiosity about wild plants since he was 12. He studied botany at North Dakota state University later earning advanced de Grees in biology at Harvard University. He joined the agriculture department As a research assistant three years ago an was Given a permanent position last year As the Only Plant explorer in the us a s germ plasm services  s Job is to locate seeds and de Termine what should be added to the government s already extensive collection. More than 250.000 seed samples Are kept in cold storage at the National seed storage Laboratory in fort Collins  samples Are stored at an additional to locations around the United slates. A lot of what we do is literally Hank ing. We re saving things that we May need  Sperling said. Wended to preserve As much diversity As we can so it s  seeds arrive at fort Collins from not Only Sperling s expeditions but also other scientists Farmers seed Compa Nies foreign countries and gardeners. Among the billions of seeds in the collection Are soybeans from China Rice from Japan and Corn from  proper temperatures seeds can sur Vive 100 years or  scientists try to obtain seeds through exchanges with foreign governments. Sperling is responsible Lor finding the  May go himself As he did on his trip to the soviet Union last year for wild Apple seeds and cuttings that could Lea to hardier varieties of the fruit. Or Sper Ling May provide Money and technical assistance to University researchers. He spends a Quarter of the year in the Field the rest deciding what should be collected  list of priorities runs from wild cranberries and grapes in the United states to wild wheat in North Africa an Alfalfa in Southwest Asia. Cranberries for example arc one of the few crops native to America but scientists have never fully surveyed the Var ious wild varieties for their useful genetic traits. Sperling said. Man plotted to kill woman with aids shot police say St. Charles. To. A a Man allegedly planned to kill his former girl Friend by injecting her with the aids virus officials said. Charles Crews. 55. Of Springfield was being held on $100.000 Bond in the St. Charles county jail accused of conspiring to murder a 36-year-old woman who recently moved to St. Louis from Spring Field. He was accused of offering to pay a Springfield Man si.000 to murder the woman by injecting her with the deadly virus which the accomplice claimed to have Access to through contacts at a med ical Center. The hired Man changed his mind and told the former Girlfriend in october said detective David Asher of the Springfield police department. Crews was arrested wednesday after he followed the woman Home from work and threatened her and her Sisler Asher said. It s a bizarre situation and we fell it was necessary to proceed with charges Asher said. The plot was reported to police in october but officials delayed arresting Crews until he made further physical Contact with her Asher said. Crews allegedly planned the murder since july when the woman ended her relationship with him Asher said. Air bogs to be Standard in front seats of Ford cars Detroit a Ford motor co. Will Nike front seat air bags Stan Dard on its cars by the mid-1990s, the company s vice chairman said. Cur remly. Ford offers the safely devices and manual seat belts As Stan Dard on the Driver s Side of about 1 million or half of its Ford. Lincoln and Mercury cars. Passenger Side air bags Are offered in some lincolns. All of our tests have shown that when the passenger is properly Posi lined with the Active Bell plus the use of the air bag provides the great est Protection in the event of an Acci Dent vice chairman Harold Poling said sunday  corp. Offers Driver Side air bags on All us North american made cars. General motors corp. Has them Standard on Aboul 500.000 cars or about 15 percent. Pm has plans to More than double that number in the 1991 Model year. The Federal government required that cars made after sept. I 1989, be equipped with either a Driver Side air bag and manual scat belts for front Seal riders or automatic scat belts. By 1993, automakers must Supply passive restraint systems such As air bags or automatic belts for front sea riders