Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 18, 1993 TAG: 9301180008
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
IT'S REALLY LAWSONS' MOUNTAIN
Q: Who owns Buffalo Mountain in Floyd County, and the tower on it? Is it part of any park system or under any government jurisdiction? T.J., HillsvilleA: Buffalo Mountain, the county's best-known landmark and namesake of the high school's teams, is privately owned.
Virginia's Department of Conservation and Recreation would like to change that, though.
We voters agreed in November to offer $2.16 million for 2,500 acres of this bison-hump peak on the Blue Ridge near Willis. It was in one of those three bond issues we approved.
The state has said it wants the Buffalo to be a "natural area" with hiking trails, scenic overlooks and picnic sites. It is home to more than a dozen rare plants, animals and communities of endangered species, including the Yonahlossee salamander and a rare wild root.
These plans came as a surprise last October to Jack Lawson, whose family has owned the mountain for years. He said the state told him of its intentions the day before they became public knowledge.
Passage of the bond issue was the only go-ahead the state needed, but it won't talk about negotiations until a sale is completed, said Gary Wall of the Conservation and Recreation Department. The power of eminent domain won't be used.
The state Department of Forestry owned the tower until three years ago, after planes became the means for spotting forest fires. Vandalism led to the tower's being deeded to the Lawsons.
Catch in the prescription
Q: For several years I've been able to buy medicine 100 pills at time. Recently my pharmacist tells me Blue Cross and Blue Shield has said I could have only 68 pills. In reality this amounts to a 30 percent increase in the cost of medicine with my employer health plan's prescription card. Why did they cut back? D.G., Salem
A: There are a couple of possible reasons.
These changes mean extra trips to the drugstore and extra co-payments with the prescription card. A patient typically pays about $10 each time a prescription's filled, regardless of the medicine's full cost. Blue Cross picks up the rest.
A Blue Cross spokesman said one reason for the change is to control costs when patients take some of a prescription and begin feeling better, then throw away the rest.
The number of pills allowed in your case, 68, indicates you're affected by a federal standard for the maximum daily dose of your medicine, the Blue Cross folks said. Sixty-eight would be the most pills any patient could safely take, and if more were issued the claim could not be processed.
If this is happening in your case, the pharmacist can get special approval by calling your doctor and making another call to the provider-help desk of your company's claims processing vendor, the Blue Cross people said.
Firetruck clearance
Q: What is that silver-colored thing above traffic lights in Roanoke? It must be some kind of sensor. C.D., Roanoke
A: These camera-like gadgets are on about half the city's traffic lights. They let approaching firetrucks change the light to green with a radio signal on emergency runs.
There's no such control available for other emergency vehicles because they're smaller and can stop a lot easier than firetrucks.
Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.