European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday july 12, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 7 buying 24 by the los Angeles times in an apparent outgrowth of the persian Gulf War a key Senate subcommittee has unexpectedly voted to restart production of the Al 17a stealth fighter. The Price of Stock in Lockheed corp., which built the f-117a, climbed sharply wednesday after a Senate armed services committee panel voted to buy 24 of the fighters which went out of production in 1990. Although the f-117a won plaudits for its performance in the War and was due for new engines the Senate action was the first indication that Lockheed could win a new production order. But one expert close to the decision questioned whether the f-117a vote was a political Man Euver by the Senate armed services chairman sen. Sam Nunn d-ga., to gain backing for the controversial b-2, a stealth bomber. If so he said Nunn May be planning to bargain away an f-117a order to gain support Tor the b-2 in the House which has voted to kill that program. The panel voted behind closed doors tuesday to end purchases of general dynamics f-16 two years earlier than the air Force had planned. The panel also voted to apply the estimated $4 billion in savings toward production of new Al 17a aircraft according to Senate sources. A Lockheed source said Senate staffers contacted the Calabasas  firm two to three months ago asking for information about what would be necessary to restart production. The Lockheed source said the request undoubtedly had Nunns support. The vote was taken by the armed services subcommittee on readiness sustainability and support chaired priest s acquittal for defacement has billboard owners stewing Chicago apr billboard owners say they fear for their signs following the acquittal of a priest who defaced ads for alcohol and cigarettes. A jury last week acquitted the Rev. Michael Pfleger of criminal destruction of property for painting Over such billboards in his poor Chicago neighbourhood. One juror called Pfleger a act a a moral  Ronald w. Waggener executive director of the eight Sheet outdoor advertising association in Blue Springs mo., said the verdict a opens the door for an awful lot of very dangerous  a a Here a a priest who should be setting an example for his congregation and has become a vigilante a said Craig heard president of Gateway outdoor advertising co. In Somerset . On tuesday Gateway one of the nations larger billboard operators sued in an attempt to keep the roman Catholic priest from damaging More of its signs. Billboard defacement has surfaced in other parts of the country As activists resort to breaking the Law to counter what they say Are threats to minority communities. In Texas Dallas county commissioner John Wiley Price was convicted last year of whitewashing alcohol and tobacco billboards in mostly Black neighbourhoods. He was placed on six months probation. A in new York the Rev. Calvin Butts has defaced billboards in Harlem and has indicated he is willing to go to jail. Benjamin Hooks executive director of the National association for the advancement of coloured people said the a act Hasni to taken a position on pfc Ger a actions. But he added a a in a prefer to Call it not defacing but cleaning  Pfleger said he defaced three billboards near his Church last summer after several companies ignored requests to remove the splashy ads he Calls �?o24-hourpushers.�?� although Pfleger has promised not to deface More billboards he said such actions around the country have drawn attention to the a a saturation of poor minority neighbourhoods with alcohol and cigarette ads. A this is about children a life and death and the future of the Community a he said. Billboard operators a have got to develop some moral  a Chicago lung association Survey done in the past year found that the predominantly minority wards in the City averaged three times As Many tobacco billboards and five times As Many alcohol billboards As predominantly White wards. Recent studies by the american lung association the National cancer Institute and the Center for science in the Public interest found that the lung cancer rate Rose four times faster among Blacks than Whites in the past 30 years and that Black men have a 70 percent higher death rate from cirrhosis of the liver than Whites. The Industry acknowledges that the 5-by-l 1-foot signs the Rev. Michael Pfleger Points to a Chicago billboard similar to ones he has targeted. A known As eight Sheet boards a Are concentrated in inner City neighbourhoods. But like alcohol and tobacco companies billboard operators deny targeting children. For at least a year the Industry a two major Trade associations have asked members not to Post alcohol or tobacco ads within 500 feet of schools and playgrounds. Waggener of the advertising association said the policy was drafted partly in response to a wave of defacement that began in the late 1980s. A but we were not trying to Cut losses Quot he said. A we were just trying to do what we thought was right for the  by sen. Alan j. Dixon a  the theory is that if the air Felice is so enamoured of stealth aircraft and if the Al 17a works so Well Why not buy More of them Quot said Howard Rubel aerospace analyst at . Lawrence Grenfell. Quot you can make the argument that we have too Many f-l6s for the Force Structure that we  Lockheed shares closed at 44 up 1 Vuk in trading wednesday on the new York Stock Exchange. General dynamics Stock also closed higher at 42, up i. General dynamics which produces the f-16 in fort Worth Texas has taken Domestic and foreign orders Tor 3,587 of the aircraft. 80 1 of which have yet to be delivered. The single engine aircraft is the least costly fighter used by the military but it was eclipsed by the performance of the f-117ain the War. Grape officials say spider scare out of proportion los Angeles apr the Small number of Black widow spiders found in table grapes does not warrant an outbreak of Arachnophobia agriculture officials said wednesday. Nonetheless officials in the grape growing Coachella Valley Are offering Farmers a Quot spider inspection service Quot amid reports of a few poisonous spiders being found in East coast shipments. A this whole Issue Wasny to even spun up until this week Quot said Bruce j. Obbink president of the California table grape commission. A at this Point the major interest in the Issue is in the Northeast United slates nowhere  the spiders have in the past two weeks turned up in Maine Connecticut and Massachusetts among grapes shipped from the Coachella Valley where Harvest be gins in mid May. Two supermarket chains with stores in those states As Well As in new Hampshire new York Rhode Island and Vermont Nave subsequently stopped Selling the grapes. Black widows usually cause welts or stomach cramps to their victims but their bite can be fatal to children or particularly sensitive people. Seven million 22-Pound boxes of grapes have been shipped from the Valley this year said David Marguleas of Sun world International a grower shipper and marketeer of Coachella Valley grapes. A a the finding of several spiders albeit of great concern to Many people really should t prevent people from feeling comfortable and Good about eating table grapes Quot Marguleas said. Shoppers have expressed mixed reactions. A people Are hysterical. Every six months there is something new Quot said Bob Calderon 61, shopping in downtown los Angeles. A i absolutely done to worry about eating  but Rosa Martinez also shopping in downtown was concerned. A i buy grapes once a week and in be never seen a spider but next week i will look More carefully a she said. County agricultural commissioner Jim Wallace said he has offered growers a spider inspection service for next year. Obbink said the number of spiders has become a a Little More pronounced Over the past three years As growers have reduced their use of pesticides increasing the number of insects that the Black widows feed on. F i judge makes anti homosexual remarks at trial Beaumont Texas a a Federal judge presiding Over a civil rights trial involving overcrowding at a county jail called homosexual inmates a a Bunch of  . District judge Sam b. Hall or. Made that and other remarks about homosexuals tuesday while questioning a witness testifying about segregating Gay inmates from other prisoners in the jail. Hall a former congressman who became a Federal judge in 1985, later said he does no to like homosexuals. He was presiding Over a trial of a lawsuit filed by David Todd Mayes 19, a former Jefferson county jail inmate who alleged that his right to due process was violated because he awaited trial in an overcrowded jail. Mayes now serving prison time on drug convictions said he was placed in a county cell where inmates engaged in homosexual activity. Sheriffs it. John Cassio testified that jail officials can segregate inmates according to their sexual preferences Only if they request it. Hall then asked Cassio whether an inmate would be placed with a fall that other Bunch of queers in that tank a Hall before a jury of seven later referred to homosexuals As a their  asked after court recessed whether he believed it was appropriate to make the comments about homosexuals Hall said Quot i done to like  he added that he will instruct the jury to disregard All statements he made a routine admonishment Federal judges give to jurors in any  would not comment further. Mayest court appointed attorney David Starnes also declined to comment. The state commission on judicial conduct censured a state District judge Jack Hampton of Dallas in 1989 for saying he gave a lighter sentence to a convicted killer because the victims were