Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 1, 1994 TAG: 9401010070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RICHMOND - Republican Mike Farris plans to form a political committee to fight education reforms and help conservatives get elected to the General Assembly and Congress.
Farris, who lost November's election for lieutenant governor, said the group will work nationally to block outcome-based education policies in public schools. Farris and other conservative Christians in Virginia led a successful effort to stop the reforms, which they said involve teaching attitudes rather than academics.
Conservative Christians "are here to be part of the team," Farris said. "We don't want to dominate, but we want to be dealt with."
Farris has hinted that he might oppose U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., for re-election in 1996. Farris said he lost in November in part because Warner refused to endorse him.
- Associated Press
Inmates won't begin New Year with strike
NORFOLK - Seven inmates of the Norfolk City Jail who vowed to begin the year with a hunger strike over conditions at the jail have called off the protest, Sheriff Robert McCabe said Friday.
"They decided to call it off to give my administration a chance to address some of their concerns," he said.
McCabe, who was elected in November and began his term at 12:01 a.m. today, said the inmates changed their minds after he met with them for about 45 minutes Thursday.
The inmates had said in a statement that they would refuse food beginning today until the jail met their demands for better housing, food and medical care. - Associated Press
Amtrak passengers cool it for 5 hours
MANASSAS - Amtrak passengers sat on an unheated train in freezing weather for more than five hours after the train's electrical power failed.
"It was terrible," said passenger Kathleen Hoffman, 50, of Madison, who was traveling from Philadelphia when the train stopped. "I was cold."
No one was injured Tuesday night when the southbound Crescent lost electricity for its heating, lighting and cooking systems, Clifford Black, an Amtrak spokesman, said Thursday. - Associated Press
Police arrest suspect in `handyman' robberies
McLEAN - A man suspected of robbing eight elderly women who hired him for yard work has been arrested, ending a month-long manhunt that involved three police departments.
James M. McLain, 32, was arrested Thursday at a fast-food restaurant in McLean after he was spotted by an off-duty Fairfax County police officer, police said.
Officer Wyatt Davis said he recognized a stolen car that McLain allegedly was driving Thursday on Interstate 66.
Davis said he followed McLain to a Roy Rogers restaurant, then stopped at a gas station to call in other officers to make the arrest.
Police said McLain is suspected in a series of robberies in which women who once hired him to do yard work were robbed of cash or forced to write personal checks.
- Associated Press
by CNB