Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 6, 1993 TAG: 9309060015
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Appalachian Power Co. has had a record-breaking summer.
Three times in July, and again last Tuesday - when the temperature in Roanoke reached 96 - Apco set new summertime records for electricity production.
That means many customers probably will be getting higher electric bills - the price they pay for running their air conditioners longer.
Still, Apco says customers need not worry that the company will be pushed beyond its limits. Its highest peaks are traditionally set during the winter; the all-time peak demand was measured Dec. 22, 1989.
\ Good sports
Virginians' favorite sport?
Roller skating, if you put stock in the statistics of the National Sporting Goods Association.
Saltwater fishing was second in Virginia, working out at a fitness club ranked third, table tennis was fourth and horseback riding was the fifth most popular physical pastime.
Favorite sports in neighboring states, according to the association:
Hunting, in Tennessee and West Virginia.
Saltwater fishing, in North Carolina and in Maryland.
Freshwater fishing, in Kentucky.
\ Just say "No" - twice
Two Roanoke County School Board members, concerned over a move to ditch the process by which they were appointed, are beginning to think bumper sticker.
Barbara "Bootie" Chewning and Charlsie Pafford have come up with a slogan that sums up their feelings on both questions that will be on the ballot this fall - one asking county voters if they want an elected School Board, the other asking if they want the Board of Supervisors to appoint the School Board.
Currently, a judicially appointed committee names the School Board, and that process will continue if voters reject both ballot questions.
Nobody knows what will happen if voters pass both options, but Chewning and Pafford would like to avoid that confusion - and save their seats.
Hence their slogan: "If you want our advice, vote no twice."
\ Beats being No. 52
It was one of those "good news-bad news" kind of things.
Roanoke County School Superintendent Bayes Wilson recently received word that Cave Spring Junior High School - in need of air conditioning and some renovations - had made it onto the state's "priority list" for Literary Loan funding.
Even better, the county was eligible to borrow $2.5 million with an interest rate of just 3 percent.
Just one catch, Wilson told the School Board: Cave Spring is No. 51 on that list.
And the 50 projects ahead of it are asking for a total of $91.8 million.
Wilson said the state typically releases about $60 million each year in Literary Loans.
"So this means, at best, we would get this money in about two years," he said. "At the earliest."
\ Did Nadia start this way?
Erin Shirley doesn't miss a single opportunity to practice for her dream.
Which is why you might find the 6-year-old turning cartwheels in the produce section of the Kroger at Lakeside Plaza.
Each time her grandmother, Eula Elkins, turned her back one recent day, Erin's brown eyes darted back and forth to see if anyone would catch her. Then over she went, topsy-turvy, blonde hair flying, sneakers in the air.
When her grandmother turned around, Erin would just smile and follow along - until Eula turned her back again.
Don't make the mistake of asking Erin if she wants to be a cheerleader someday. A person who turns cartwheels in Kroger would surely have loftier ambitions than that.
Someday, she hopes to be a gymnast. Someday, she wants to compete in the Olympics.
Erin says she's been practicing for "a long time."
The next big obstacle she must surmount?
She starts first grade at South Salem Elementary School this week.
by CNB