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

DATE: MONDAY, September 20, 1993                   TAG: 9309200026
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AND DON'T ASK THEM FOR BEER

First, the Blue Muse came and went - in six months.

Then, the Lone Star Cantina & Brewery gave it a try - and was gone in nine months.

Now there's another occupant on that ill-fated corner.

But this one will be gone in less than two months, guaranteed.

It's the Roanoke Democratic Party.

A hair-raising issue, for a good cause

When the Rev. Mark Radecke shaved his beard after 20 years last December, he got nearly as much comment from his Christ Lutheran parish as he did when the hymnal and service book were changed 15 years ago.

And, as he recently indicated in his church newsletter, the reaction was about as mixed. Removing his beard gave some members an identity crisis about their pastor, who has been around since the late 1970s.

This year Radecke is heading up the annual Roanoke Valley CROP fund-raising hike to combat hunger. He's decided to use it to settle the question of his beard.

He's suggesting that his church members pay $1 per vote for or against his letting his beard grow again. The money raised will go to CROP.

Radecke also reminded members that it's time to line up both walkers and sponsors for the Oct. 10 hike.

Puttin' on the dog

John Hoover and Thor the Rottweiler, the Roanoke County Police Department's K-9 team, were selected Best K-9 Patrol Team after the four-day North American Police Work Dog Association trials in Albany, N.Y.

There were 62 K-9 teams at this month's event. They underwent training for, and competition in, narcotics detection, cross-examination in mock court trials, airlifting, prison uprisings, tracking, obedience and handler commands.

In the dark over lighting system

Roanoke County Supervisor Bob Johnson is still irked about the $1 million lighting system to be installed at the Roanoke Regional Airport.

Johnson, chairman of the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission, said recently that "this whole thing is ridiculous. If you put $1 bills end to end along the runway, it wouldn't take a million dollars to do that."

The Federal Aviation Administration has required the new lights at all airports as a result of incidents in which planes have collided on the ground as they were leaving or entering the runways.

Johnson said in July that he could understand the need for the regulations at bigger airports, but Roanoke has only two runways. "I'm all for safety, but this seems to be a bit much. It seems to be misuse of funds," he said.

Federal and state funds will cover 95 percent of the cost for the new lights. They will be installed next year.

Send 'em on a wild leaf chase

The relatives are threatening to travel from the flatlands to visit you during the Blue Ridge's autumn foliage extravaganza, and you're not interested in hosting them any longer than you need to.

Call the U.S. Forest Service's Fall Color Hotline at (800) 354-4595 for weekly updates on where the peak colors are showing. Be patient if you call. One call serves the entire country, and you may have to hear about the aspen and cottonwood colors in Beaverhead (Montana) National Forest before you hear about Virginia.

Virginia Tech horticulturists are warning that the colors may show up earlier than usual this season because of the dry spell in July and August. Already, dogwood and sourwood trees are turning color in parts of Western Virginia.

A benefits plan is born

Congratulations to Elizabeth and Steve Wilson on the birth of their son, Peyton James Wilson, Sept. 12.

Elizabeth Wilson, manager of Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op on Grandin Road, was the test case for the store, which hopes to be a model for small businesses in providing employee benefits. In August, the co-op gave Wilson a six-month maternity leave, with six weeks paid at full salary. This was the nine-worker co-op's version of the federal family and medical leave plan that became mandatory on Aug. 5 for employers of 50 or more people.

Peyton James debuted at Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley, weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and measuring 20 inches long.

"His dad's tall, too," one of Wilson's co-workers noted.

Mom, dad and baby all are doing fine.