European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 12, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 7 $6.5 billion lawsuit filed against Noriega to proceed Miami up a Manuel Antonio Noriega a criminal conviction clears the Way for a $6.5 billion civil Case accusing the deposed dictator of looting Panama a Treasury an attorney for the panamanian government said Friday. The suit filed oct. 23, 1990, has been on hold pending Resolution of the criminal Case. That Case ended thursday with Noriega a conviction on eight counts of racketeering conspiracy and importing and distributing cocaine. Once the verdict was in . District judge Edward Davis the Miami judge presiding Over the civil Case gave attorneys for Noriega and the panamanian government 10 Days to submit additional documents. A then the judge will make a decision As to what he wants to do a said Noriega attorney Stephen Zukoff. Noriega a attorneys have asked Davis to dismiss the Case on grounds that the United states has no jurisdiction Over events that allegedly occurred within Panama. A we done to understand Why the Republic of Panama Isnit using its own courts a Zukoff said. He has argued that Noriega is a prisoner of War and that under various International treaties he is immune Magnolia Springs Ala. A Spring is bringing signs of recovery to a 500-year-old Oak tree that Drew wide attention when someone tried to kill it with a Chain saw. New leaves Are covering the giant limbs As the tree enters its second Spring since a 4-Inch-wide Gash was Cut through the Baric All the Way around its 29-foot-Cir-Cumference base. New tissue was grafted on to Bridge the Gap so sap could flow. But the Healing process a aided by thousands of tourists and to shirt sales a is a slow one for the tree which is 65 feet tall and has a limb spread of 150 feet. A i would say there is a Chance the tree will survive a said forester Bill Goff of Auburn University who examined the tree about three months ago. However Goff said it could take years for the tree to recover. A for it to be Green now is really exciting Quot said Stan Revis of Crestview Fla., a forester who grafted the Trees wound. The tree stands in inspiration Oak Park located alongside Scenic . Highway 98, a major Beach route for tourists in coastal Alabama. Officials of Baldwin county took the site by condemnation a that a being challenged in court a and gave it its name. Stan Foote a retired Navy Captain who lives in nearby Fairhope helped organize supporters of the tree to raise finds for its Protection and to nurse it Back to health. Foote said pieces of smaller Trees were grafted onto from civil court procedures in his a Host  in the criminal Case . District judge William Hoeveler ruled that the United states did have jurisdiction because the cocaine was imported into the United states. A obviously judge Hoeveler Felt differently in the criminal Case but in the civil Case we have not abandoned that argument a Zukoff said. The suit alleges Noriega and his government associates looted at least $500 million from the panamanian Treasury. The initial complaint sought to recover $6.5 billion including billions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages. Tom Equels an attorney for the panamanian government said it was unclear now much Panama would actually seek to recover. A the amount Noriega and his cronies removed from the country illicitly has yet to be determined a Equels said. A in nature months hopefully Well get a much better picture of the Complete scope of Noriega a activities. A he said the criminal conviction had strengthen the panamanian governments position in the civil Case. The tree to provide the bark that carries water and nutrients Between roots and leaves. A sap is flowing through the Little Trees a Foote said. An irrigation system provides constant watering and the tree is partially enclosed by a greenhouse. A Chain link Fence has been erected for Security. Foote said the Park has had More than 60,000 visitors since the tree was Cut a some from As far away As  a a we be been receiving enough donations to keep the project going a Foote said. A souvenir store at the Park Sells a save the Oak to shirts. A log Cabin also is on the property and Foote Hopes it can be restored and used As a museum. The tree was attacked in october 1990 during a dispute Over ownership of the site which was privately owned although people had Long been using it As a picnic area. The owner of the land at the time Mildred Casey had been fighting county attempts to take acreage around the tree. She  comment about the attack. By the time the county completed condemnation proceedings Casey had sold the tree and 27 acres to Kenneth and Patricia Norman of Mobile. The normans launched a court Battle charging that the county a offer of $18,000 for the nearly three acres is less than the lands value. A trial has been set for May 4 in Baldwin county probate court. Foote said his group was not involved in the court fight. A your Only interest is in saving the tree a whoever owns  .girl suffers severe Burns while washing hair with Gas from wire reports Tulsa okla. A a girl who washed her hair with gasoline to rid herself of lice was badly burned when a Pilot Light in a water Heater set the gasoline on fire. Jamie Lewis 16, was listed in critical condition Friday with second and third degree bums Over As much As 90 percent of her body Tulsa fire capt. Jim White said. A classmate had recommended that Lewis who feared she had lice Wash her hair with kerosene. But Lewis used unleaded gasoline instead thursday night relatives told police. Lewis was undergoing facial grafts and May lose her fingers and a foot her family  ends charge Fargo . A a charge of reckless endangerment was dropped Friday against a woman accused of sniffing Spray paint while pregnant. The charge accusing Martina Greywind 28, of endangering her fetus was filed feb. 10. She got an abortion 12 Days later despite widely publicized efforts by abortion opponents to persuade her to carry the fetus to term. Assistant Cass county prosecutor Steve Dawson said that since Greywind had the abortion it was no longer Worth the time or expense to prosecute her. Greywind a Mother of six has been arrested 13 times Over the past year for sniffing paint and other volatile  cleared in shooting Hazard by. A a Man who shot his 4-year-old son in the face while Hunting was acquitted Friday of charges he injured the boy to collect social Security benefits. Frank Godsey said he shot his son Joseph because he mistook him for a groundhog. His lawyer Mark Barger said Godsey has an in of 52 and also  see Well enough to know he was aiming at his son. The boy now 7 and living in a Foster Home was blinded in one Eye and left legally Blind in the other by the oct. 24,1989, Shotgun blast. He testified at first that his Mother made his father tie him up and shoot him. But later he told jurors his father did no to mean to shoot him. Prosecutors charged Godsey of Haywood with first degree assault. They said he schemed with his wife Lena to shoot the boy to disable him so they could collect  s son pleads guilty Chicago a mayor Richard m. Daley a 16-year-old son pleaded guilty Friday to Misdemeanour charges stemming from a Brawl at his family a vacation Home in which another youth was seriously injured. Probate judge Stuart Meek or. In Berrien county mich., sentenced Patrick Daley to six months probation and ordered him to perform 50 hours of Public service work at grand Beach mich., for disturbing the peace and providing alcohol to minors. Although Daley did no to drink or furnish alcohol to anyone Meek said that under Michigan Law he was legally responsible because he was Host of a party where the trouble  aboard cruise ship Tampa Fla. A two Crew members aboard a cruise ship were diagnosed with tuberculosis and passengers May have been exposed prompting Federal officials to suggest health screenings for All cruise ship employees. The Federal centers for disease control want people applying to work on a cruise ship to be Given a skin test and Chest a Ray said William Kassler a cd epidemiologist. A Kitchen worker and a Busboy were taken off the ship Regent sea in March after they were found to have Active to. Manv More workers Are believed to have been exposed Kassler said. The cd will Contact some vacationers who took the Regent seats we Klong Caribbean cruises from sept. 1 through March 15 to determine whether they were exposed. A visitors peek inside a greenhouse protecting the base of the 65-foot-tall inspiration Oak in Magnolia Springs Ala. 500-year-old tree shows signs of surviving Chain saw attack