Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402260155
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The court overturned Richmond Circuit Judge Robert Harris' ruling that the RF&P Corp. board of directors must comply with the state Freedom of Information Act.
However, the court affirmed Harris' ruling that Jacqueline Epps, former chairwoman of the VRS board, violated the law by failing to provide public notice of a meeting.
The high court upheld the award of more than $133,000 in legal fees and costs for George Little, who filed the lawsuit.
In other cases, the court affirmed the capital murder conviction of Calvin Eugene Swann, who shot a Danville man during a robbery, and overturned conditions that a special court said South Boston must meet to change from city to town status. - Associated Press
EPA says lead cleanup could be years away
PORTSMOUTH - Residents of a neighborhood contaminated by lead say racism plays a part in the slow federal cleanup of the site.
The Environmental Protection Agency said this week it will be three years or more before buildings at the old Abex foundry are torn down and lead-contaminated soil replaced.
It already has taken years to track down potentially responsible parties and negotiate cleanup agreements, EPA officials told residents at a hearing Thursday night.
The foundry is near a black neighborhood and the Washington Park public housing project.
"Don't you feel we're being discriminated against?" Helen Persons asked EPA officials. "We've asked our city for things - you may be able to help us with getting those."
"It's not safe to live there," she said. "We are somebody, too. Just because we are poor doesn't mean we don't deserve what's right."
The EPA representatives blamed the delay on red tape, a slow-moving bureaucratic process they said makes them feel frustrated, also.
The EPA says the site is not safe for permanent habitation until a $31.5 million cleanup plan is finished. - Associated Press
Caroline town wants to quadruple size
BOWLING GREEN - Officials have asked permission to nearly quadruple the size of Bowling Green.
The plan would increase the town's size from 413 acres to about 1,600 acres and take in several businesses.
Town Manager Ted Voorhees pitched his annexation plan to Caroline County officials Thursday.
Voorhees said the town needs the revenue that comes from commercial and residential development, but has no room to grow. Its finances also have suffered several setbacks recently, he said.
The county estimated in 1992 it would lose more than $81,000 in taxes every year if the town annexed that area.
Town officials asked for an agreement before May so the new boundaries can go into effect by Dec. 31. - Associated Press
Grand jury gets tattoo-sanding case
MANASSAS - A grand jury will get the case of a man accused of grinding one of his son's fingers to the bone in an attempt to remove a tattoo.
Timothy V. Shotwell, 38, of Lake Jackson, is charged with malicious wounding for allegedly using a grinder and sandpaper to remove a tattoo of the number 93 from one of his 14-year-old son's middle fingers.
A doctor who treated the teen-ager Nov. 28 told a Prince William County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge Thursday that he believed the boy's story that his father had tried to grind and sand away the tattoo, prosecutor Sandra Sylvester said.
Shotwell faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted. - Associated Press
Library trustees vote to stock gay paper
MANASSAS - A weekly gay newspaper that has aroused the opposition of some parents can be stocked among other free publications at Prince William County libraries, the library board has decided.
After a two-hour public hearing Thursday night, the county's library board of trustees withdrew for a private session, then emerged to vote without further discussion.
After the board's 8-2 vote to accept the paper, supporters applauded and critics called out, "Absolutely unbelievable," and, "Lawbreakers."
The newspaper's harshest critics say it promotes sodomy, which is illegal in Virginia.
The county's 10 libraries do not now stock the Washington Blade, and Blade Publisher Don Michaels said there are no immediate plans to include Prince William in the circulation area. - Associated Press
Avian cholera hits fowl in Chesapeake Bay
WILLIAMSBURG - In the last five days, the waterfowl killer avian cholera has spread throughout the southern two-thirds of the Chesapeake Bay.
By Friday, nearly 200 waterfowl had been collected and destroyed by state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials. And it's going to get worse - much worse, they say.
Game department officials insist that citizens and their pets should have absolutely no contact with birds they find. The bacteria spreads when body fluids from an infected animal escape. Humans are not at high risk, but they can contract the bacteria through secondary contact such as being licked by a dog. - Newport News Daily Press
Navy retiring cruiser USS Virginia today
NORFOLK - The USS Virginia is headed for the mothballs.
The state's naval namesake, a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser, will be deactivated today at Norfolk Naval Base after less than 18 years' service. The ship was due for refueling this year, but the Navy decided the expense of refueling and the need to shrink the fleet were reasons enough to take the ship out of active service.
It's an ignominious end for a ship with such a short, proud history. Virginia fired shots in anger during Operation Desert Storm and off the coast of Lebanon. It also snagged about 10,000 pounds of cocaine and 41,200 pounds of marijuana during counternarcotics operations in the Caribbean.
- Newport News Daily Press
by CNB