European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday August 1, 1991 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7 City will put it somewhere Laredo Texas apr its been Long maligned As the a abridge to  but the newest Span linking Texas and Mexico is expected to put the desolate Region North of this Border City on the financial map. With a possible free Trade agreement with Mexico in the works Laredo is looking for a big payoff when Solidarity Bridge opens. Tolls from the Bridge and increased commercial traffic Between the two nations will Spur economic development officials say. A a but for now the Bridge stands alone in the desert. The nearest commercial development is a convenience store off the Highway. Still supporters believe the communities of Colombia Mexico and Dolores Texas which flank the Bridge will find themselves Riding a financial Boon. Laredo City spokesman Robert Morales said commercial and Industrial developments Are planned around Quot the Bridge and that should bring in More tax  a a a a it a definitely going to be a Boon for the City once that development gets under Way a Morales said. Solidarity Bridge was to be dedicated wednesday by gov. Ann Richards and mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari in separate ceremonies on their respective sides of the Border. Two lanes wry open that Day with temporary toll Booths and inspection stations. The Bridge wont be operating at full capacity for months. The Day the Region becomes the thriving Border Community foreseen Here is farther Down the Road. The sides of the narrow two Lanc Road linking Solidarity with Laredo Are dotted with signs that Promise future development. A e but its Only visitors Are the construction porkers who crawl across the unfinished shells of buildings that one Day will be inspection stations processing rooms and toll plazas. Travellers crossing the Bridge in either direction will find themselves in a wide expanse of near wilderness. Several Miles from any appreciable development. On the mexican Side the Road wanders by Colombia a town of 500 residents before disappearing into the desert. A in Texas Laredo is 20 Miles away accessible Only by a winding farm to Market Road that a notorious for accidents and where traffic often piles up behind slow moving trucks. The City eventually will expand the Road. Meantime the hundreds of tractor trailers that Are expected to lumber across the Border daily have to creep along Road 1472. \ a we know that there a going to be overwhelming traffic but we just done to know How much a said Audrey v a s v. Quot. 4 s v s oses w Quot Quot construction workers arc the Only sign of life on Solidarity Bridge which links  of Mexico and Texas. Adams assistant District director for inspection and control for . Customs service. All of those trucks and the attendant business will eventually Roll through downtown Laredo a if City officials can keep a group of landowners from diverting traffic from their town. A last week Camino Colombia inc. Began lobbying the department of highways and Public transportation to authorize a $34 million private toll Road that would link the Solidarity Bridge to interstate 35, about 20 Miles nor Turof Laredo. The Grot officials. Broached the plan without consulting City a we look at it As detrimental to the City a economic welfare a City spokesman Morales said. A we look at it As a Complete bypass. That Means we re going to be losing that Dollar that would have stopped Here a either to eat to shop or As a  the state is considering it however and Camino Colombia insists the project is not just in the Best interests of the City but essential to the Bridges Success. A if we build our Road the Bridge at Colombia will probably be the largest moneymaking Bridge just in tolls alone Over any other Bridge on the Texas Border a said Carlos y. Benavides 111, president of Camino Colombia. A without any toll Road that Bridge will go  not so say opponents. And officials already Are anticipating a rapid expansion in the Region. A the Impact is expected to be Felt immediately but to a great extent when the free Trade agreement comes into play a said Miguel Conchas an official with the Laredo chamber of Commerce. A Over the last 12 months the property value has skyrocketed. The growth is  agrees on $484 million for super Collider Washington a congressional bar gainers have agreed to spend $484 million on the super Collider next year an amount lawmakers said is enough to keep construction of the $8.25 billion atom smasher on schedule. Tuesdays decision by a House Senate conference committee is $50 million less than president Bush had sought for the giant particle accelerator being built in Texas. But it is a Compromise Between the $434 million approved by the House and the $509 million set aside by the Senate. Bush had sought $534 million in spending for fiscal 1992, which be gins oct. 1. The Compromise included in a water development and Energy appropriations Bill must now be approved by the House and Senate and then sent to the president. The Collider is being built South of Dallas. Sex Annapolis officer gets 40 months in prison for accepting by the Washington Post Baltimore a a former High rank ing . Naval Academy officer was sentenced to 40 months in prison tuesday for accepting $34,000 Worth of air conditioners and other goods from a builder seeking contracts at the Academy. A you totally violated your Trust a . District judge John r. Hargrove told retired Navy capt. James e. Weston 47, who was the Academy a Public works offi. Cer from 1985 to 1989. A it was pure and simple greed. You thought you could get some things for  Weston who was also fined $7,500, said he is a deeply sorry about his Deal Ings with Annapolis builder Carroll r. Dunton. But he insisted he never intended to give Dunton a preferential  free on Bond Weston was ordered by Hargrove to report to prison by sept. 9. Defense attorney William m. Ferris said he will Appeal the conviction. Weston was in charge of maintaining the 338-acre Academy and its 200 buildings. He had Broad authority to steer contracts to Dunton and other builders. In a key contract according to prosecutor Jane f. Barrett Dunton was awarded $961,333 to install a new heating and ventilating system in Rickover Hall a Large classroom building even though his bid was 55 percent higher than the government estimate. Weston who now lives in Henderson nev., was convicted May 3 of accepting illegal gratuities including Cash air conditioners a Washer dryer a Lawn Mower a Generator and other household goods from Dunton. He also was convicted of conspiracy and hiding subpoenaed documents from Fri investigators. Dunton 65, and former Weston subordinate Eugene e. Hook 67, of la Vale my pleaded guilty in the Case after agreeing to cooperate with investigators. They received Brief jail sentences. A. Lawsuit alleging sperm mix up settled by new Day new York a Julia Skolnick whose lawsuit Over an alleged sperm Bank mix up helped Spur tougher regulations has settled the Case against her Fertility doctor and a sperm Bajuk. Id ant laboratories the lab that stored the semen of Skolnicki a husband a cancer patient who has since died paid a settlement of $100,000 about two weeks ago with no admission of guilt said i Dante a attorney John Wright. Or. Hugh Mel Nick who runs advanced Fertility services. Recently settled for an undisclosed sum also without admitting liability said his attorney Robert Whittaker. Wright said he believed the Melnick settlement to be around $300,000. Skolnick and her husband Fred stored his Frozen Serpent at id ant before beginning chemotherapy treatments for cancer. She charged in her lawsuit that she was artificially inseminated with the wrong semen Sample in 1986. In december 1986, Skolnick gave birth to a biracial daughter who genetic tests showed was not her husbands child