Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993 TAG: 9302250011
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
TAXPAYERS PAID PART OF THE TAB FOR CLINTON INAUGURAL
Q: How much of the $30 million that the inaugural events cost will be paid by taxpayers, and who put up the rest of the money? J.L. Stull, RoanokeA: Taxpayers covered the cost of Secret Service protection for Bill Clinton and Al Gore, and private sources paid the rest, according to the Inaugural Committee.
The committee didn't have an itemized expense for the agents' time, but a spokeswoman called it "really standard protection," apparently meaning it cost the same for Democrats as Republicans.
The total inaugural bill is expected to come in $1 million or so under the figure you mentioned.
Private funds came from contributions by supporters; licensing for souvenir T-shirts, mugs and the like; and tickets to the events.
One expense that's still not totaled: refunds to people attending a ball that was closed by Washington's fire marshal because of overcrowding.
What's pretrial diversion?
Q: I would like to know what federal pretrial diversion means. L.W., Roanoke
A: People who have never been in trouble with the law sometimes get a break under pretrial diversion, which you haven't seen mentioned much in newspapers.
Here's a semiofficial description: Accused persons may be considered for pretrial diversion if they're cooperative, accept responsibility for their actions, pay restitution if needed, have no criminal record, be likely to avoid future involvement and have no substance abuse or mental health problems.
The diversion lasts 12 to 18 months and is supervised by a federal pretrial officer, just like probation. Failure to keep the terms sends participants to trial on the original charge. Successful completion lets the charge be dropped.
Pretrial diversion is used in Western Virginia federal courts in about 20 cases per year out of 430 criminal indictments, or a little under 5 percent. The procedure gets even less mention in the news media.
A counterfeiting charge against former Radford school official Virginia East brought this program into the public eye recently. This newspaper had last mentioned pretrial diversion in 1991.
Parkway ice melts slowly
Q: Why is the Blue Ridge Parkway south from U.S. 220 toward Bent Mountain closed so much? The gates have been locked several times recently when there was no bad weather. T.B., Roanoke
A: Parkway rangers say fair weather in Roanoke doesn't mean conditions are warm and sunny above milepost 127. That's where the layer of colder air usually begins, they've observed.
Snow and ice simply are not plowed off this stretch of the parkway and haven't been for several years because of budget cuts.
Readers' turn
Half a dozen ginger-ale drinkers wanted to let me know Monday's item about Virginia Etna Water Co. failed to mention its best-known product: their favorite soft drink.
Virginia Etna Ginger Ale outsold the national brands in this valley, they said. "I drank many of them and was sorry to see it go," said H.C. Hamblin, a one-time bricklayer from Cloverdale.
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.