Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 28, 1993 TAG: 9306280016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Roanoke Regional Airport has a new $250,000 firefighting vehicle.
The vehicle, operated by one firefighter, can provide a quicker response because it can spray foam directly on a fire.
With the new equipment, there will be no need for a second firefighter to ride on the vehicle, jump off, pull the hose around and spray the fire. The driver of the new vehicle can start spraying the foam as he approaches the fire.
It will reduce response time by 30 to 45 seconds, which can be crucial in an emergency, said John Katon, the airport's operations director.
The new vehicle also has a large, dry-chemical extinguisher that can be used to put out a fire in a small plane without filling it with foam.
The vehicle will be kept at the city's Fire Station No. 10 at the airport.
Federal funds paid 90 percent of the new vehicle's cost. The state and the airport each paid 5 percent.
On the loose
For now, Guns N' Roses' roadies don't have to worry about the long arm of Roanoke law stretching too far for them.
An Appomattox woman said she was partially stripped and fondled by two roadies for the band during a "meet-and-greet" session following the band's mid-April concert here. She swore out assault-and battery-warrants.
\ Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said he won't push for extradition anytime soon, mainly because authorities have had difficulties contacting the 19-year-old woman. Detectives have talked to her on the telephone, but she has canceled several appointments for face-to-face meetings.
Caldwell said he cannot make a decision on extradition without meeting the woman to determine the strength of the case.
If the suspects decided to fight extradition, it could cost thousands of dollars to bring them to Roanoke.
Costly relationship
\ Joel Schlanger has sealed the long-distance romance that cost him his $88,000-a-year job as Roanoke's finance director.
Schlanger and Chelly K. Brown were married June 4 at High Street Baptist Church. The private ceremony was performed by former Mayor Noel Taylor.
Last fall, Schlanger was forced to resign after misleading City Council about the nature of more than $1,000 in long-distance calls charged to his city-issued AT&T card.
Schlanger placed most of the calls to a Rochester, N.Y., travel agency where Brown worked as a bookkeeper. Phone records showed that the pair often chatted three or four times a day. One call lasted nearly five hours.
Their honeymoon plans are private, according to a wedding announcement from their children.
Free food
The Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank expects to distribute 50,000 more pounds of food annually now that the organization has a brand-new refrigerated truck.
The 22-foot vehicle was purchased with $52,000 in donations from two private foundations, said Pam Irvine, director of the food bank. The foundations requested anonymity.
"This is the first truck we've ever owned," said Irvine. The food bank has relied on a small van and rental vehicles to distribute food to nonprofit agencies feeding the hungry in Southwest Virginia.
A used truck once was donated to the agency but it caught on fire and was sidelined, said Irvine.
The food bank is a project of Total Action Against Poverty. The food bank distributes 2.4 million pounds of food a year to food pantries, homeless shelters, day-care centers and other agencies caring for those in poverty.
Changing names
\ Team Club, USA, formerly Teen Club, USA, formerly February's Restaurant, on Williamson Road in Hollins thinks its most recent name change will be more attractive to older teenagers.
"We thought the 18- and 19-year-olds would like it better if was a `team' club instead of a `teen' club," manager Donna Grice said.
No word yet on whether the new marketing strategy is paying off. The club is an alcohol-free hangout for 13- to 20-year-olds - "neat dress required."
And Mental Health Services of the Roanoke Valley has also changed its name.
The new name, Blue Ridge Community Services, is designed to reflect assistance in communities beyond the borders of the Roanoke Valley, said John Sabean, director of resource development.
The agency provides help for those with mental illnesses, mental retardation and drug and alcohol problems.
In addition to serving Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem, the agency extends into Botetourt County and Craig County.
by CNB