Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 21, 1994 TAG: 9406240039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Richard Foster and Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"This grant will improve the quality of life for many of our citizens in the Moneta area, as well as provide an overall economic development boost for the Smith Mountain Lake area," said Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, who announced the grant.
The grant was awarded through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development's Virginia Community Development Grant Program, which aids low- and middle-income residents in rural areas. Thirty-six homes will be renovated with the grants, including 11 that will receive indoor plumbing for the first time.
-Richard Foster\ Planned Parenthood opens in Leesburg
LEESBURG - Planned Parenthood has opened an office in Leesburg in an effort to build support in communities where the organization believes Christian conservatives have dominated the debate on abortion, sex education and birth control for teen-agers.
The group plans to use organization-building strategies outlined in the 300-page manual of the Christian Coalition, a political group started by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.
Planned Parenthood officials said they selected Loudoun County because they saw it as an area where the anti-abortion movement, although growing, could be stemmed.
|- Associated Press
Indefinite sentence
for mother killer
HARRISONBURG - A girl convicted for her role in the slaying of her mother will serve an indeterminate term in the state's juvenile detention system.
Stephanie Fries, who turns 13 this month, was convicted on April 27 as an accessory to second-degree murder.
Rockingham County Circuit Judge Dennis L. Hupp sentenced her Monday in a closed hearing, after testimony from a clinical psychologist and arguments from Commonwealth's Attorney Douglas T. Stark and defense attorney Danita Alt.
The girl's mother, Marilyn Stearn Fries, was killed in the family's home south of Linville last September.
Her 14-year-old sister, Camellia Fries, and 15-year-old boyfriend, Shawn Roadcap, were convicted by a Circuit Court jury April 15 of first-degree murder.
Camellia Fries received the same sentence as her sister. However, the Virginia Court of Appeals has agreed to hear a claim by Camellia Fries' attorney that trying the two defendants together denied his client a fair trial.
|- Associated Press
James River ferry
taken out of service
JAMESTOWN - The state has decommissioned the aging ferry Jamestown, a 177-foot vessel that has carried commuters and tourists across the James River between Surry County and Jamestown since 1974.
The Virginia Department of Transportation said Monday that the 52-year-old boat was taken out of service May 25 because it needed repairs totaling about $2.5 million. It also needed a new engine, which would cost an additional $2.5 million.
The Jamestown, which has a capacity of 44 vehicles, will be replaced by a new ferry next year. The Pocahontas, due for completion in September 1995, will have a capacity of 70 vehicles.
The three other vessels of the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry Service - the Surry, Williamsburg and Virginia - will run the regular ferry schedule.
|- Associated Press
``We have monitored these problems for several years to make sure the boat was safe for our passengers,'' Nash said. VDOT and the Coast Guard ``finally determined that the decks and wiring might not hold out for the next year,'' he said.
``It simply proves what we've always said: Their organization is not grassroots,'' said Wanda Franz, president of the National Right to Life Committee. ``We were formed from the bottom up,'' she said, while Planned Parenthood is trying to ``push their ideology down the throats of the American people.''
The first order of business, Ms. Davis said, will be to create a ``phone tree'' of supporters who can be mobilized quickly to express their opinion on pending legislative matters. The next step will be to assign volunteers to such tasks as calling radio talk shows and getting letters published in local newspapers.
``It's a wake-up call to the silent majority to not let the minority become the only voice in the county,'' said Barbara Lloyd, volunteer coordinator.
by CNB