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

DATE: TUESDAY, May 10, 1994                   TAG: 9405100141
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FEDERAL FLAGS FLYING LOW FOR 30 DAYS

Q: There's a lot of confusion about the flag's flying at half-staff for President Nixon. At the Grandin Road post office the other day it was flying high; at the Memorial Bridge it was at half-staff.|

|M.L., Roanoke A: Confusion reigns.

A hospital called the main post office last week to ask how it should fly the flag, which puzzled the postal employee, who has absolutely nothing to do with supervising hospitals.

The Transportation Museum in Roanoke is flying its flag at half-staff. "We don't know if we're a state or federal building, so we're doing it out of respect, just in case," an employee said.

Maybe the mix-up occurs because flags usually fly at half-staff until after the funeral.

President Clinton's half-staff order covers "all buildings, grounds and naval vessels of the United States" for 30 days. Businesses can follow suit if they wish, apparently.

The post office has instructed its stations that the flag should be returned to full staff on May 23.|

Teen pregnancy costs|

Q: With the recent press about teen pregnancies, I wonder exactly what benefits a 17-year-old girl with a baby receives?|

|T.R., Roanoke A: Every teen mother's case is different, but assume the following costs are typical: prenatal care, $300 plus lab work; delivery, $4,000; Aid to Families with Dependent Children, $230 per month; Women, Infants and Children $22 per month.

Food stamps and public housing are not analyzed for teen clients, but many young mothers receive these benefits.

Toss in assorted Social Services and school programs, and the accountable cost in Roanoke city tops $2.5 million a year.|

Lightning on the rise|

Q: I've heard that lightning rises from the ground instead of coming down from a cloud. Is that correct?|

|D.B., Roanoke A: It's a chicken-and-egg question, but here's how UVa climatologist Chip Knappenberger summarized it.

Lightning is created when a cloud develops a negative attitude and the ground responds with a positive charge.

The cloud's negative electrical differential sends out "feelers" toward the ground, inducing a charge to rise up from the Earth. A high spot such as a tree may be the channel of response.

The positive charge that rises from the ground supplies most of the energy in the average lightning bolt. The cloud, though, originates the activity.

Lightning also can arc from cloud to cloud.|

Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.

by CNB