Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 13, 1994 TAG: 9405130127
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
RICHMOND - A Cana couple claimed half of a $22.5 million Lotto jackpot Thursday.
Gary W. Fleming Sr., 47, and his wife Carolyn, 44, picked up a check for $383,562, after taxes, at Virginia Lottery headquarters. It is the first of 20 annual payments the Flemings will receive.
``I still can hardly believe it's real,'' said Fleming, who works at Proctor-Silex in Mount Airy, N.C.
``I was reading the Galax newspaper Wednesday at my mother's house and saw a story about nobody claiming the jackpot yet,'' Fleming said. ``They said the ticket was from Cana, and when I read those numbers, they looked awful familiar.''
Carolyn Fleming, a department store sales clerk, said she and her husband have not made any plans for the money, although ``we do know we want to help our children and our families.''
A family member gave the Flemings the ticket, which was purchased at On The Way Food Store in Cana. Gary Fleming Jr., their 24-year-old son, said his parents don't play Lotto very often.
Joyce Harlow of Waynesboro won the other half of Saturday night's Lotto jackpot.
The winning numbers were 4, 11, 12, 23, 43 and 44.
- Associated Press
Analyst: Boot camps different for women
RICHMOND - Some female inmates do not respond well to the harsh regimen of a prison boot camp because they often are abuse victims, according to a state worker helping Virginia set up such a camp for women.
Larry Gunther, a research analyst with the Department of Corrections, said the National Institute of Justice and staff from women's boot camps in other states told him many women who enter boot camps have been abused.
``It's been emotional neglect, it's been physical abuse; and when they get into a boot camp and they have a drill instructor yelling in their face, it doesn't have the salutary effect that it has on males,'' Gunther said.
But Fred Finkbeiner, chief deputy secretary of public safety, told the corrections board Wednesday that Gov. George Allen wants the court-ordered program to be as close to the male boot camp as possible.
- Associated Press
Pepper spray used to rob clothing store
SPOTSYLVANIA - Four young men sprayed three department store employees with pepper spray before fleeing with a load of stolen clothes, Spotsylvania County authorities say.
Sgt. Donald Doggett of the Sheriff's Office said the men, who appeared to be in their 20s, took an undetermined amount of clothing to a counter shortly before noon Wednesday. When the clerk asked how they wanted to pay for the items, one of the men sprayed the clerk in the face.
The suspects raced toward a rear entrance of the Hecht's store with at least three employees in pursuit. Two of the employees also were sprayed, and the thieves escaped.
Doggett said the spray used in the robbery is similar to what police use to subdue unruly suspects and is available to the public.
He said the suspects probably won't be able to use the stolen clothes, which have ink-filled tags attached that can only be removed at the store. He said the ink would ruin the clothes if someone else tried to remove the tags.
``We plan to give them some clothes that they will be able to wear - prison blues,'' Doggett said.
- Associated Press
Possible fire forces return to airport
LYNCHBURG - A possible engine fire forced a USAir commuter plane back to Lynchburg Regional Airport, where the plane landed normally and the 17 passengers were routed to other flights.
The deHavilland Dash 8 left the airport at 5:40 p.m. Wednesday as Piedmont Airlines Flight 3111 to Baltimore. Less than five minutes later, a light indicting there was an engine fire came on in the cockpit, said Mary Jo Capizzi, a USAir spokeswoman.
The pilots flew back to Lynchburg. Once they were within range of the airport, the crew radioed the tower to say they had a problem with the left engine and shut it down.
The Lynchburg airport was shut down briefly while the plane landed.
It was the fourth emergency landing in two weeks for the Arlington-based airline. USAir spokeswoman Andrea Butler said the incidents are unrelated.
Butler said a ground crew inspected the Lynchburg plane after it landed and did not find a fire in the engine. She said the plane was back in service Thursday morning after the engine was replaced.
The engine was taken to Norfolk as part of an investigation by USAir and Piedmont, Butler said.
- Associated Press
Dillwyn town clerk pleads guilty to theft
BUCKINGHAM - A former town clerk and treasurer has pleaded guilty to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Dillwyn treasury over the last five years.
Deborah B. Herndon, 26, of Dillwyn pleaded guilty Wednesday in Buckingham County Circuit Court to five counts of grand larceny.
Commonwealth's Attorney E.M. Wright Jr. said Herndon embezzled $109,000 from the town since late 1989. However, defense attorney Denise Lunsford of Charlottesville said the sum is no more than $68,000.
Herndon faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each grand larceny charge at a July 7 sentencing.
- Associated Press
by CNB