Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407080050
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It would be aimed at man-made noise, especially that which comes from high-powered speakers in automobiles of young rock music fans.
Residents in some areas have complained about a lack of sleep because of blaring boomboxes late into the night. One resident told the county board of supervisors that some young rock fans have removed the back seats of their cars to fill the space with high-powered loudspeakers.
Because of the complaints, the supervisors have asked County Attorney James Cornwell to draft an ordinance.
The Town of New Castle, Craig's county seat, already has an anti-noise ordinance, and some think this has pushed the problem into county areas surrounding the town.
In discussing the possibility of an ordinance, Supervisor Chairman Zane Jones wondered how an anti-noise ordinance would affect noise caused by tractors and other loud farm machinery.
One resident suggested that exemptions be built into the ordinance.
National board honors director of Salem VA
John M. Presley, director of the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was recently recognized by the American College of Physician Executives.
Presley was honored at the ceremony for the innovations and changes implemented since 1992, when negative publicity threatened to damage the VA's reputation.
Presley improved employee morale by changing policy, increasing communication with other hospitals and giving speeches to various clubs and churches.
Credit card payment of court fines OK in Craig
NEW CASTLE - Payment of court fines with credit cards does not seem like a particularly good idea to members of the Craig County Board of Supervisors, but they reluctantly have agreedto the concept.
Because of a new law by the General Assembly, the supervisors may be required to spend about $650 for equipment to connect the county's general district court to a statewide computer system to record payment of fines with credit cards.
The proposal was laid before the supervisors recently in a memorandum from the Virginia Supreme Court administrative office.
The use of credit cards and personal checks to pay court fines and other fees was authorized by the latest session of the General Assembly. The new law went into effect July 1.
Zane Jones, chairman of the supervisors, said he has doubts about credit cards in general because he believes they induce people to spend themselves into ruinous debt.
Jones speculated that this program might cause people to have disdain for the law because it would be easy to pay fines.
"It is a lot harder to pull cash from your pocket," he said.
New Castle gets bigger higher property values
NEW CASTLE - A budget that is $920 higher but with a lower real estate tax rate has been adopted by the town of New Castle for the fiscal year 1994-95.
Mayor Thomas Zimmerman said the budget is much the same as the one for the current fiscal year.
The major differences, he said, is that the total is higher - $34,200 compared to the current $33,280 - and the real estate tax rate is 4 cents for each $100 of assessed value, or one cent lower than in the current year.
The town's other tax rates remain the same, Zimmerman said. Those are 13 cents for each $100 of assessed value of personal property and 50 cents per $100 of merchants capital.
The higher budget total is caused by a general higher cost of doing business.
New Castle is benefiting along with Craig County on higher property values that came about this year through a once-every-six years general reassessment.
Property values, which rose an average of 36 percent throughout the county, including New Castle, allowed the county to reduce its real estate tax rate from 70 cents to 58 cents for each $100 of value.
The new fiscal year began July 1.
New Castle is the county seat of Craig. It is a part of the county, and residents pay county taxes along with town taxes.
by CNB