
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 18, 1990                   TAG: 9005180292
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Short

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS WARNED TO SCREEN MAIL

Federal officials have warned religious broadcasters and churches around the country to screen mail because of last month's explosion of a package addressed to evangelist Pat Robertson.

Cedric W. Lawrence Jr. of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Richmond said he sent letters to 185 religious broadcasters and groups, including such figures as the Revs. Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell.

On April 27, a bomb in a small package exploded in the CBN mailroom in Virginia Beach after it was identified as suspicious and a guard attempted to open it. Scott Scheeper, 33, was hit in the leg by several pieces of shrapnel and was hospitalized for several days.

On Jan. 30, a mail bomb exploded at the church of the Rev. John Osteen in Houston. Osteen's daughter was slightly injured.

Both packages were mailed from small towns in Bladen County, N.C., investigators said.

by CNB