Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9411030037
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HAMPTON - Officials are equipping school buses with two-way radios and requiring younger pupils and special education students to wear identification badges to help drivers contact parents in case of emergencies.
The changes came after a 3-year-old mentally retarded boy was turned over to a stranger who mistook him for another child on the first day of school. Jonathan Patterson, a special education student who is unable to speak, was dropped off a block from his home. The stranger realized her mistake and walked Jonathan to his home later in the afternoon.
The identification badges will contain a student's name, address, telephone number, school name and school telephone number. A bus driver can use the information when calling transportation dispatchers if they are uncertain of where a student belongs.
- Associated Press
Nev. man gives scholarship to Surry
SURRY - A Nevada man who read a magazine article about the academic success of Surry County students despite poverty in their rural locality has pledged a $500 scholarship to a local high school graduate.
``I was moved because a county that had a majority of poor people, more than 50 percent of them black, had been able to turn around and produce people who had a chance to be really productive Americans,'' said Cecil E. Donaho Jr., a mechanical engineer from Mesquite, Nev.
Donaho has never been to Surry County and doesn't know any residents, but read about the county in the winter 1994 issue of Policy Review, a magazine published by the Heritage Foundation.
Donaho said he has never given money for a scholarship but hopes to make the one to Surry High School an annual gift.
- Associated Press
Driver cited after asphalt truck spills
CULPEPER - A truck driver was charged Wednesday with failing to set his parking brake after his tractor-trailer overturned on Virginia 3 and leaked liquid asphalt onto a field, state police said.
The tanker driven by James A. Mead, 63, of Fredericksburg, spilled about 1,500 gallons of the 5,500 gallons of asphalt it was carrying, said Mike LaCivita, director of the state Department of Emergency Services. Crews plan to let the asphalt set overnight, then scrape it up and reseed the field, LaCivita said.
- Associated Press
Hispanic brothels reported on increase
ARLINGTON - Police in Northern Virginia report a growing number of brothels operating in suburban apartments and town houses and catering to Hispanic men.
The brothels mostly employ Hispanic women from the New York City area, according to investigators in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland.
While almost every jurisdiction in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland has raided Hispanic brothels, Arlington has had one of the biggest concentrations. Police in the city have raided more than a dozen since January 1993.
- Associated Press
by CNB