Maximum Payment of $25,000 Is Just a Light Reward

John Ledoux’s National Guard buddies in Vermont call him “the $6-million man.” Ledoux built an infrared light tester for $8.75 to replace a $4,500 device previously used by the military, for a savings of more than $6 million a year. But Ledoux’s financial reward is much smaller. The part-time sergeant in the Vermont Army National Guard and full-time civilian employee of an Army National Guard base in Burlington, Vt., received a $10,000 incentive prize from the government more than a year ago. Now he also has received a check for $25,000 from the federal Office of Personnel Management. “I feel like it’s been put off for so long it’s lost its glow,” he said. The award is the maximum allowed by law and the largest given to a federal employee, officials said. Only 20 such awards have been granted. It took Ledoux, 33, only a couple of days in 1986 to build the hand-held device, used to test infrared lights on helicopters, out of a phototransistor, a light-emitting diode, a switch and a nine-volt battery that he bought at an electronics store.

--Actress Kathleen Turner was honored by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., as 1989 Woman of the Year. Turner was given the brass “Pudding Pot” award after a festive parade through Harvard Square. “I am happy,” said Turner, who clutched a bouquet of red roses. “It’s a cliche, but it’s true.” The undergraduate theatrical group has presented the award annually since 1951. Past recipients include Meryl Streep, Lucille Ball and Joan Rivers.

--Buckingham Palace has joined the drive to reduce the amount of lead in the air. Many of Queen Elizabeth’s cars, including five Rolls-Royces, will be converted to run on lead-free gasoline, the palace announced. The decision followed the queen’s appearance at a charity event in London in which 100 children released 10,000 balloons carrying the words, “I Love Lead-Free,” reflecting public concern over the effects on health of lead in gas fumes. Of 22 million cars on British roads, only about 2 million have been converted to lead-free fuel. The queen, who took a course in basic auto mechanics during World War II, chatted with two mechanics working on her claret-colored 1977 Jubilee Rolls. She asked how the conversion would affect the car’s performance and looked to see “what was what,” mechanic David Wright said.