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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 3, 1993                   TAG: 9306030255
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROANOKE COUNTY GOING CABLE

It will be called "Roanoke County Today."

Come June 27, the county will begin a monthly television show that will be similar to Roanoke City Manager Bob Herbert's show.

The new show will be part of the plan by Roanoke, Vinton and the county to develop a complete government-access channel that will cover their operations.

Roanoke has aired "City Manager's Report" monthly for more than a decade. Each month focuses on a different issue.

The show is taped and shown initially on public television station WBRA. It is then aired at different times on the government-access channel, Channel 3 of the Cox Cable system.

The "Roanoke County Today" show will also be taped at WBRA. It will be aired initially at 3 p.m. June 27 and then shown on Channel 3.

Anne Marie Green, public information officer for the county, said the first show will focus on the Spring Hollow Reservoir and other new projects.

Green and County Administrator Elmer Hodge will host the show. Herbert and Public Information Officer Michelle Bono host the city's show.

Meanwhile, the taping of the meetings of the three governing bodies won't begin until fall, said Angela McPeak, manager of the access channel. Officials said earlier the taping would begin by summer.

The meetings will be taped and broadcast on Channel 3.

The sessions cannot be televised live until next year, when the cable system is upgraded and equipment is installed to permit live telecasts at 21 buildings in Roanoke, Vinton and the county, including the meeting rooms for the governing bodies.

Although the localities won't choose a site for a studio for the government-access channel until fall, they can tape and broadcast meetings before the studio opens.

The studio will be developed and equipped with a $480,000 grant that Cox Cable was required to provide to the three governments as part of a new franchise agreement. The two sites under consideration for the studio are the Jefferson Center and William Ruffner Middle School.