European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Washington a president Bush has decided to Stop production of the air forces controversial b-2 stealth bomber at 20 planes a senior administration official said wednesday. Bush is expected to announce his decision As part of a package of major Pentagon budget cuts in the state of the Union address on Jan. 28. Originally the air Force proposed building 132 of the aircraft a number later slashed by defense Secretary Dick Cheney to 75 planes As relations improved with the soviet Union. The aircraft with an estimated Price of $850 million per plane is the most expensive Ever. Producing even fewer aircraft Likely will drive the Cost of each plane higher. If accepted by Congress the move would allow five More planes to be built and is expected to Garner some $25 billion in savings Over the Long term the official said. The Bat winged bomber was designed to fool the most sophisticated soviet radar systems but it lost support in Congress with the demise of the cold War and dissolution of the soviet Union. Besides that some critics question whether the plane is actually All that radioactive spill not dangerous Watkins argues by Cox news service Augusta a. A . Energy Secretary James Watkins made an unscheduled trip Here wednesday to allay Public fears Over a spill of radioactive tritium from South Carolinas Savannah River site nuclear Plant. A there never was any danger to the Public a he said at an Early morning news conference. But Georgia environmental officials continued to maintain that the leak was serious and that they had dealt with it accordingly. Because of health fears drinking water plants some industries and Oyster Beds on the Georgia and South Carolina coasts were closed following the leak. All the facilities were expected to reopen by thursday As radiation Levels returned to Normal. Watkins called the closures unnecessary and said state officials had a misused Quot Federal standards on tritium in drinking water to cause undue alarm. Quot we would not have done anything differently a said James Setser a radiation expert with the state department of natural resources. The 150 Gallons of highly radioactive Cooling water containing the tritium flowed from one of the k reactors heat exchangers into the Savannah River shortly before Christmas Day then flowed 150 Miles to the coast. The reactor was being restarted after being Idle for nearly four years for safety reasons and after undergoing More than $1.5 billion in improvements. The heat exchanger in which the leak occurred is a Boxcar size facility filled with thousands of tubes that contain heavy water to Cool the reactor. The tubes Are cooled with River water. Watkins acknowledged the spill indicates that serious management deficiencies still plague the sri and that the spill will delay restarting the reactor indefinitely. He ordered More frequent samplings and on site analyses of Cooling water at the reactor. New equipment is being installed to detect leaks and three of the k reactors heat exchangers including the one that leaked will be  awarded $5 billion Kansas City to. A jurors on wednesday ordered a Man convicted of sexually torturing and killing six men to pay $5 billion to the Mother of one of the victims. Betty Ann haste sued Robert Berdella for wrongful death in 1989, shortly after he admitted capturing and killing her son Todd Stoops and five others Between 1984 and 1987. Berdella serving a life term in prison told authorities Stoops died in 1986 after being tied to Berdellans bed for nearly two weeks injected with powerful sedatives Given electric shocks and repeatedly sexually assaulted. Court appointed trustee Frank Murphy controls Berdellans estate. Murphy who is now the county administrator testified that Berdella has about $8,000 in the Bank and $55,000 in a Trust  units closing fort Sheridan 111. Up a recruiting brigade and five recruiting battalions across the United states will be closed within the next year the . Army recruiting come said wednesday. The decision was based on projections of a smaller army and a shrinking National defense budget officials said. The . Army fourth recruiting brigade Headquarters at fort Sheridan will be closed along with battalion Headquarters in Richmond a. Cincinnati Detroit Newburgh . And san Francisco As part of a continuing program to restructure the recruiting organization. The recruiting command closed eight of its 55 battalions last year. Stealthy a or would continue to be As new generations of radar come along. The b-2 failed a stealth test last july. The air Force by the los Angeles times Beverly Hills Calif. ., the Georgia based alternative Rock band received seven grammy nominations wednesday in a Field otherwise dominated in key categories by mainstream pop. ., whose nominations included Best single record and Best song was followed in the number of nominations by Canadian pop Rock Singer Bryan Adams who was named in six categories and Bonnie Raitt who was nominated in five. The National Academy of recording arts amp sciences announced the nominations. The voting members of the 7,000-member organization determine the nominees in 78 categories in 28 areas based on recordings released Between oct. 1, 1990, and sept. 30, 1991. Winners will be announced feb. 25 at a ceremony at new Yorkus radio cite music Hall. In the race for Best album of the year  out of time is pitted against Natalie coleus unforgettable Amy Grants heart in motion Bonnie Raitto a Luck of the draw and Paul Simon a the rhythm of the saints. A Victory for . In the 34th annual awards would be the first pure Rock Victory in the prestigious category since u2�?Ts the Joshua tree in 1987. Similarly Competition for  losing my religion in the record of the year category Are Grant s baby baby Adams everything i do i do it for you Raitto a something to talk about and coleus unforgettable. Two Surprise absences in the album race Are two of last years biggest Selling records Michael Bolton a time love and tenderness and country Star Garth five More planes to be built. The Bush administration asked Congress to approve spending $3.2 billion to build four new b-2s in 1992. But the defense spending Bill passed in november said that Only one new plane could be built and the conditions attached to approval of that one plane were so extensive that production in 1992 is highly unlikely. So far Congress has authorized the air Force to build 15 of the aircraft. Ten of them Are in various stages of production by the Northrop corp. In California. Sen. John Seymour r-Calif., urged Bush on wednesday to carefully consider any cuts in the production of the b-2, which accounts for 37,000 jobs in California. The b-2 program generates $1.2 billion a year for the states a troubled Economy a Seymour wrote Bush. Bush a Pentagon budget also is expected to include major reductions in manpower As Well As other major weapons systems including the Navy a sea Wolf submarine officials say. Brooks roping the wind. Song of the year nominees Are baby baby written by Grant and Keith Thomas everything i do i do it for you Adams Robert John a a Mutt Lange and Michael Kamen losing my religion Bill Berry Peter Buck Mike Mills and Michael Stipe unforgettable Irving Gordon and walking in Memphis Marc Cohn. The contenders for Best new artist Are Boyz ii men cd music factory Marc Cohn color me add and Seal. ., whose out of time album regained the band some of the critical respect it had lost with its previous record Green was also nominated for Best pop performance by a duo or group Best Rock performance by a duo or group Best alternative album and Best Short form video. Michael Kamen received five nominations All tied to songwriting and arranging for the soundtrack of Robin Hood Prince of thieves. Cole whose album of songs recorded by her father Nat King Cole was one of the Surprise Success stories of the year received four nominations As did Grant and jazz musician Dave Grusin. Brooks who spearheaded country music a commercial resurgence during 1991, was named in Only two categories male country vocal performance for his room the wind album and Short form video for the Thunder Rolls a video that became embroiled in controversy for its depiction of Domestic violence. Michael Jackson and u2, two previous grammy winners Are not eligible for this years awards with their current albums dangerous and Achung baby respectively because they were released after the sept. 30 deadline. Page 4 a the stars and stripes Friday january 10, 1992 Bush expected to slash b-2 order has not yet said it has figured out How to fix the problem or estimated How much the change would Cost. But it is doubtful whether Congress will allow even a musician dizzy Gillespie blows out a Candle at the grammy nominations wednesday in new York. With Gillespie Are George Simon left of the National Academy of recording arts and sciences and new York mayor David Din Lens.  Tops grammy nominations