ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
Rescuers forced to evacuate
RICHMOND- The Richmond Ambulance Center couldn't have responded any faster to an emergency call Tuesday afternoon.
The call was made directly in front of the city ambulance operation's building on Sherwood Avenue, where an eight-inch natural gas pipeline ruptured.
``I actually called it in myself,'' Executive Director Jerry Overton said. ``We had an instantaneous [evacuation] response to our own building.''
Capt. Tom Shook with the Richmond Police Department said the pipeline ruptured about 3 p.m. and caused much initial concern because of two nearby medical facilities - the Children's Hospital and the Cerebral Palsy Center.
Overton said the ambulance service followed emergency contingency plans after the evacuation, temporarily using an ambulance as a mobile dispatch center, then resuming calls from city's Department of Emergency Communications.
Shook said the pipeline was shut off immediately. An hour after the rupture was detected, the ambulance center had resumed normal operations and utility crews were on the scene to repair the break.
- Associated Press
Bosher: Schools short of repair money
RICHMOND - The former state superintendent of public schools said Virginia school districts are being crushed by debt and are billions of dollars short of meeting the building repair needs of school buildings.
``Right now, the state sends us money for operational expenses. But face it, we have to use some of that to cover debt,'' William Bosher Jr. said Monday.
Bosher, who stepped down as state superintendent last summer, testified before the General Assembly's Commission on Educational Infrastructure.
Bosher's appeal is bolstered by a state study last summer that showed six out of 10 Virginia schools are so dilapidated that they pose safety problems for pupils and cause overcrowding.
Gov. George Allen's proposal last week to increase jurisdictions' power to borrow money for school construction won't be enough for financially troubled schools, Bosher said.
Bosher steered clear of criticizing Allen, who appointed him state superintendent in 1994, but estimated the statewide school maintenance and construction backlog at $6.3 billion. That's roughly the state's entire public education budget the next two years.
- Associated Press
6 teens charged in home invasions
WOODBRIDGE - Prince William County police have charged six people in connection with two home invasions.
Five of the suspects were caught Saturday, while a sixth was arrested Monday morning as he attended class at Woodbridge Senior High School, Prince William police spokeswoman Kim Chinn said.
Arrested Saturday were Kenneth Christopher Lim, 18, of Woodbridge; Alphonso LeBraun Wilson, 18, of Lake Ridge; and Bryce Eugene Buggs, 18, of Lake Ridge. Two juveniles, a 17-year-old Lake Ridge girl and a 17-year-old Woodbridge boy, also were arrested.
Police later picked up a 17-year-old Lake Ridge boy at school.
All six were charged with armed robbery, abduction and burglary with intent to commit armed robbery. All but the Woodbridge youth also were charged with grand larceny.
- Associated Press
Harrisonburg man guilty of murder
HARRISONBURG - A Harrisonburg man was convicted Monday of second-degree murder in the May 24 slaying of Ivan Cobos-Lujano.
The jury recommended that Bernabe Esparza-Torres, 36, serve a total of 23 years in prison, but formal sentencing was postponed while a pre-sentence report is prepared.
The jury deliberated more than three hours before concluding that Torres was guilty of murdering Lujano at the Spotswood Mobile Home Park in Harrisonburg, where both men lived.
Lujano, 24, died when Torres shot him twice with a .38-caliber pistol.
Torres admitted during testimony Friday that he shot Lujano, but he claimed the act was in self-defense as he was being beaten by Lujano.
Torres waited for police after the shooting and surrendered when they arrived.
- Associated Press
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