Wednesday • April 15, 1998 ine-detecting dolphins participate in exercises *)RPUS CHRISTI (AP) — The J.S. |Navy is getting some help from nine detecting dolphins as part of large fleet exercise in the Gulf of /lexic o this week. y The five dolphins are trained to Mtheir natural sonar to find nines that could otherwise go un- etec ted. It is their first time work- ggin the Coastal Bend, pfln specific situations, nothing ompetes with a dolphin,” said Tom zza, public affairs officer for |>pace and Naval Warfare Sys- 3ms Center in San Diego, Calif. Jgnal interference might keep [Navy’s sonar from detecting ome shallow-water mines, but the olshins have an uncanny ability to find them, LaPuzza said. “The purpose of the animal sys tems is to protect lives of sailors and marines,” LaPuzza said. The dolphins are worth about $1 million, considering the cost of training each dolphin receives, said Lt. Jon Young, the marine mammal officer for the dolphins. Each dolphin serves for up to 25 years, after completing about five years of training. The dolphins are “actual opera tional systems,” but haven’t yet been needed in a real-life mission such as when soldiers are coming ashore, LaPuzza said. Mine-detecting dolphins will be used in an actual operation in July when they’re taken to the Baltic Sea north of Lithuania to find old ord- “The purpose of the animal system is to protect lives of sailors and marines.” Tom LaPuzza Public affairs officer for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center nance in the water, he said. To go mine hunting, the dol phins jump from their pens to a mat on a smaller boat, then ride to the area where mines might be located. When the dolphin slips into the water, its handler moves into an in flatable boat, which is less likely to trip a mine. Once a dolphin detects a mine, it swims back to the boat and hits one of two paddles to let the handler know it found something. The dolphins are also trained to drop a marker on a bottom mine and attach a buoy to a moored mine. The Navy’s Marine Mammal Program uses 15 dolphins in the mine countermeasure program. LaPuzza said his center has about 75 dolphins, some of which are trained as underwater guards to detect divers. The Navy’s Marine Mammal Program has come under fire from animal rights groups. Lisa Lange, spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, described the Navy dol phins as “prisoners of war" con fined to pens and separated from family groups. “These close social ties are cut when an animal is either captured for the Navy program, or when they are bred and separated from their mothers,” she said. “We are cur rently enjoying a time of peace. That should be extended to the animal kingdom as well.” rand jury recommends udy of unethical practices pACO(AP) —A McLennan County grand jury I recommended an independent review of lhai it called “unethical practices and proce- lures” at the sheriff’s department. ^■ut county officials say they IR little power to investigate the Uherill s operating procedures and Rheriff says nothing is in need if changing or investigation. ■he grand jury’s investigation ■ised on alleged impropri- ities within the McLennan pinty Sheriff’s Department “All this comes down to is we had a couple of people who violated our trust.” ■ resulted in a misdemeanor ndictment against Sgt. Martha Jack Harwell Sheriff |arren Norman, a 17-year de- ■tment veteran and former supervisor of the minty jail kitchen. Hdany of the allegations investigated by the ■id jury surfaced after Sgt. Rita Norred was ar- ested in September and charged with stealing noiney from the jail. Her case remains pending. RNorman was indicted for improperly accept- Ijingfdfts from a vendor who sells food to the coun- t^ityforuse at the county jail, in® Along with the indictment, the grand jury is sued a recommendation to 54th State District ludge George Allen that an independent study onducted into unspecified county policies and procedures. “The grand jury throughout the testimony found numerous evidence of unethical practices and procedures due primarily to a lack of written mnnmannmnnmnnnm policies,” the letter said. Allen, the judge who im paneled the grand jury told the Waco Tribune-Herald that he sent copies of the let ter to Sheriff Jack Harwell, County Judge Jim Lewis, members of the commis sioners’ court and County Auditor Steve Moore. But Lewis and commis sioners Ray Meadows, Lester Gibson and Wendall Crunk said it is hard to know what areas the grand jury thinks need to be investigated because its letter was vague and the jury’s 20 hours of testimony and delib erations were conducted in secret. Grand jury members take an oath of confi dentiality and cannot discuss their sessions. Lewis and the commissioners also said their responsibilities over the sheriff’s department are strictly budgetary. “The proper procedures are in place. All this comes down to is we had a couple of people who violated our trust,” Harwell said. Former chief of prison system pleads innocent HOUSTON (AP) —The former chief of the Texas prison system has plead ed innocent to charges he took thou sands of dollars in kickbacks to ap prove a contract for meat substitute fed to prisoners. James A. “Andy” Collins — who rose from prison guard to head of one the world’s largest penal systems — entered his plea Monday to federal bribery, money laundering, fraud and conspiracy charges. Collins was indicted in late March. He resigned in 1995 from his $120,000- a-year job in the wake of criticism. If convicted of all six counts, he could be sentenced to 70 years in prison and fined $2 million. Also named in the March 30 in dictment was Yank Barry, president and chief executive officer of Cana da-based VitaPro Foods Inc. Barry has not yet been extradited to face his charges. The indictment alleges that Collins accepted at least $20,000 from VitaPro to extend by five years the company’s $33.6 million contract with the prison system. Additionally, the indictment al leges that Collins directed three aides to sign the contract extension and that he and Barry conspired to con ceal the payments by establishing a dummy company. After he resigned, Collins went to work for VitaPro as a $l,000-a-day consultant, but the company fired him after state and federal investiga tors launched separate inquiries into the deal. Collins, 47, had been with the prison system 23 years when he submitted his resignation in September 1995. Within a month of leaving his state job, Collins transferred $12,000 to his personal bank account and $6,000 to pay an American Express credit card bill, the indictment alleges. At his arraignment Monday, Collins told the judge he is unemployed, but actively seeking work. Employment is a condition of his re lease pending trial. Earlier this month, Collins filed for personal bankruptcy a second time. An Austin bankruptcy attorney told the Austin American-Statesman that Collins owes $27,949 in federal income taxes. (legations of abuse cause patient removal from rehab facility \USTIN (AP) —The Texas Reha- Btation Commission has removed jr of six patients from a central jas rehabilitation center and will ot refer new patients to the facili- lifter allegations of abuse. The complaints against Raul hla, 33, of San Marcos, and Rafael Ban, 25, of Kingsbury, led to in- jtments earlier this month on a ital of seven counts of injury to a abled person, the Austin Ameri- -Statesman reported Tuesday. Lease against a third employee is iding, the newspaper reported. )avid Seaton is executive direc- [ofTangram Rehabilitation Net work, which owns the Hacienda fa cility near Seguin where the alleged abuses occurred between June 1996 and December 1997. He said the in cidents were isolated and that the employees accused of wrongdoing were fired immediately. “This was isolated, not a directive or a treatment technique,” Seaton said. Nevertheless, the Rehabilitation Commission removed four of its six clients in theTangram network. Two others chose to remain. TheTangram network houses 135 residents in eight facilities in Cald well, Hays and Guadalupe counties. Residents pay an average of $300 a day for services, Seaton said. A complaint history of the Ha- “This was isolated, not a directive or a treatment technique. David Seaton executive director Tangram Rehabilitation Network cienda facility showed a clean record for at least the past two years. The alleged abuses included hit ting one resident’s head against the floor and slapping another in the face. The arms of a third resident were shoved up behind his back. Such assaults normally are mis demeanors, but state law steps up the charges to felonies if the victims are people with disabilities. The Texas Department of Hu man Services, which licenses the fa cilities, has conducted its own in vestigation. But the agency cannot issue its report until a grand jury hears the case involving the third employee, said Guadalupe County District Attorney W.C. Kirkendall. “This is our twentieth year now, and we’ve never been investigated by the Department of Human Ser vices like this before,” Seaton said. Davila and Patlan are free on $10,000 bail. San Marcos attorney Paul Parash said Davila and Patlan plan to plead not guilty to all charges. “If one of these disabled people gets out of bounds, what are you go ing to do?” Parash asked. “From what I know, there’s only one six-hour course on how to control the pa tients. If you’re going to blame some one who might have twisted an arm back too far, that’s pretty rough." ALLSPACE SELF-STORAGE, INC, ■ ■ HEY AGS! Looking for a place to store your stuff for the summer? Call AllSpace Self-Storage at 821-2129 Receive $20 OFF with Student ID! 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