Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 27, 1994 TAG: 9403280140
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Guests include authors Holly Lisle and Ellen Guon, gaming author Greg Rose, costumer Thomas Atkinson and others. There will be dealers' tables, gaming activities, a costume masquerade and a dance.
The Yeager Star Trek organization, with members in Virginia and West Virginia, will hold its monthly meeting at Technicon April 16.
Registration for the convention is $24 for general admission, $20 for students and $18 for those attending Virginia Tech. A one-day membership is $12 ($8 for Tech students). Further information is available by writing Technicon 11, P.O. Box 256, Blacksburg 24063 or by calling 951-7232.
Furniture store for town|
WYTHEVILLE - Wytheville's downtown business community will get a boost in May with the opening of a new furniture store.
The new Tomchin Furniture will be located in the long-vacant building on Main Street that previously housed Ball Brothers Furniture and, before that, Crest Department Store.
Tomchin has stores in Princeton and Mullins, W.Va. Sara Tomchin, the company's president, said the expansion to Virginia is a logical move for the company started by her grandfather in 1912.
Renovations are already under way. Tomchin could not say yet how many people would be hired at the new store
E&H president speaks April 19|
WYTHEVILLE - Emory & Henry College President Thomas Morris will be the main speaker for the 48th annual dinner meeting of the Wytheville-Wythe-Bland Chamber of Commerce at 6:30 p.m. April 19 at the Wytheville Community Center.
Tickets are $15 and can be bought at the chamber office at 150 E. Monroe St. starting Wednesday.
Morris is also a political commentator and writer. He taught 21 years at the University of Richmond before becoming president of Emory & Henry. A Galax native, he is the author or co-author of several books on Virginia government and politics.
He has been a political analyst for television, radio and print media for the past 12 years.
Ager Park playground WYTHEVILLE - A group of citizens has gotten permission from Wythe County officials to fund and build a playground for children at Ager Recreation Park.
It would be similar to one built in Blacksburg, and would use the same New York-based architect, said Wythe County Recreation Director Steven Bobbitt.
The Recreation Commission approved the venture Feb. 28, and the Board of Supervisors endorsed it Tuesday.
The citizens group hopes to raise $60,000 for the project. Bobbitt said a similar effort in Blacksburg raised about $70,000. The supervisors viewed photos of the Blacksburg facility.
The county's commitment would be to provide space at the park for the playground and maintain it after it is built. It would be the only playground in the county besides those at various schools, Bobbitt said. If the $60,000 goal is not met, the project would be scaled back.
Black board member sought|
WYTHEVILLE - The president of the Wythe County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wants a black representative on the county School Board, at least in an advisory capacity.
William Kyle told the board earlier this month that there was a lack of representation in school administration for blacks and low-income people.
Kyle has also appeared before the county Board of Supervisors, seeking more black representation on county agencies in general.
10 for Wythe's most-wanted list|
WYTHEVILLE - Six men and four women have been placed on the Wythe County Sheriff's Office's most-wanted list.
Agencies such as the FBI have published most-wanted lists to target fugitives, but this is the first time a county in Southwest Virginia has published its own.
Making the first list are Michael Shane Suits of Marion, wanted for violation of probation; James E. ``Dirty Red'' Porter, Wytheville, distribution of an imitation controlled substance; John F. Woodle Jr., Wythe County, 10 bad check charges; Paris L. Crockett, Wythe County, three felony bad check warrants and seven misdemeanors; John Olen Cross, Max Meadows, assault and battery, escape and reckless driving;
Also: Chris Atkinson, Marion and Max Meadows addresses; Faith Ann Briggs, Max Meadows, and Chantel C. Dunn, Wythe County, all for bad check charges; Jonia Daneese Sanford, driving while suspended and revocation of participation in the Community Diversion Incentive program; and Lisa Carolyn Crouse, Wytheville, wanted on a capias issued by the court.
Anyone with information on any of these people can call the Sheriff's Office at 223-6000.
Lloyd again appointed to council|
RURAL RETREAT - Rural Retreat Town Council has now voted twice to appoint Jim Lloyd to a council vacancy.
Lloyd was elected 4-1 to fill the seat vacated by Calvin Hilton, who resigned for health reasons with two and a half years left on his term.
Last month, council voted to appoint Lloyd to the position but did so by secret ballot, which is not legal under state law.
Mayor Doug Humphreys said the first voting was done that way to avoid any embarrassment to the three contenders for the appointment. The secret ballots were counted by Town Manager Ray Matney who announced Lloyd as the winner, before the vote was declared invalid.
Qualification questioned
RURAL RETREAT - A candidate challenging the mayor of this Wythe County town for re-election had his qualifications questioned.
But Jack Weaver's candidacy to run against Mayor Doug Humphrey has been ruled as valid by Wythe County Registrar Elizabeth Cook.
Weaver had listed a second residence within the town as his home of record. His other home is outside the town limits.
Cook said Weaver still qualifies as a resident. She said state law requires that all candidates be residents, at the time they file, of the towns in which they are seeking election.
Rest area to be expanded|
RURAL RETREAT - Plans are under way to expand a crowded rest area on Interstate 81 in Wythe County, but it will be a while before they result in any construction.
State Secretary of Transportation Robert Martinez said, in a letter to the county Board of Supervisors, that the Rural Retreat rest area has insufficient parking space and rest room facilities for current demands.
He said the planned expansion would increase the number of vehicle accommodations from 13 cars and seven trucks to 89 cars, 78 trucks, nine campers and four buses.
There are times when existing traffic at the rest area backs up all the way to Interstate 81, he said.
Greiner reappointed|
WYTHEVILLE - Richard Greiner of Wytheville has been reappointed to the Wytheville Community College Educational Foundation Board for a full three-year term.
He was appointed to the board in 1992 to complete an unexpired term.
A graduate of Rural Retreat High School, Greiner earned a bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech and master's, both in chemistry, from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. He worked in the chemical industry for 39 years before retiring and moving back to Wythe County.
He served on the college's Local Board from 1983 to 1991, and was its vice chairman for two years. He was chairman of the Wytheville Complete Count Committee for the 1980 Census, and treasurer of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Wytheville for six years.
by CNB