Volume 116 >> Issue 60 : Tuesday, November 19, 1996

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News Briefs II

Lockheed Martin to Eliminate 1,600 Jobs and Close 8 Facilities

Lockheed Martin Corp., the nation's largest defense contractor, announced Monday that it will shut down eight facilities and eliminate approximately 1,600 jobs in an effort to streamline operations that once belonged to about a half dozen different companies.

The company, which has about 190,000 employees worldwide, said the actions were expected to produce savings that will help it compete for defense contracting dollars in a time of shrinking budgets for military spending.

Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Norman R. Augustine said Monday's actions, coupled with steps already taken, would produce annual savings of $2.6 billion by 1999. The actions will "expand opportunities for our employees and enhance shareholder value," he said.

Lockheed Martin was created out of a merger of Lockheed Corp. and Martin Marietta Corp., and includes major operations that were acquired earlier this year from the space agency and defense contractor Loral Corp.

It also includes divisions that were acquired by Lockheed, Martin Marietta, and Loral from other defense contractors, including General Electric Co., General Dynamics Corp., Ford Aerospace Corp., and IBM Federal Systems Co.

Unabomber Defense Bid to See FBI Notes and Logbooks Rejected

Unabomber suspect Theodore J. Kaczynski's attorneys were turned down Monday in their bid to force prosecutors to hand over notes and logbooks made by FBI agents during the search of their client's Montana shack and surrounding property.

In a pretrial hearing, Federal Magistrate Gregory G. Hollows tentatively rejected the request, saying the FBI logbooks are "not sufficiently material" to the proceedings. Hollows indicated he would issue a final ruling by the end of the week.

Kaczynski, 54, faces murder-by-bombing charges in the wake of his arrest last April at his remote cabin. As part of the pretrial maneuvering, Kaczynski's legal team and federal prosecutors have been negotiating what documents the government should share with defense lawyers.

One sticking point has been the handwritten logbooks of the search, which spell out the comings and goings of authorities at Kaczynski's home and detail exactly who was in custody of evidence.

In a legal brief, Kaczynski's lawyers, Judy Clarke and Quin Denvir , emphasized the importance of the logs, saying "this information goes not only to the validity of the execution of the (search) warrant, but also to the chain of custody of the evidence seized."

Without the records, Clarke said during a 15-minute hearing "we don't have ingress and egress information." Clarke also complained she couldn't "believe the government doesn't want to give us this. The government made some public statement earlier about the strength of their case. I don't understand their reluctance."