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

DATE: TUESDAY, November 29, 1994                   TAG: 9411290105
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHAT PRICE DEBT AND TO WHOM?

A: We hear much about the national debt, but some of us wonder: to whom is the country in debt? If the debt were paid off tomorrow, who would receive the cash? What interest rate are we paying?

Several readers

A: About $25 billion of debt is auctioned off each Monday by the U.S. Treasury. We call the items in that sale by such names as T-bills and government bonds.

The buyers, who would receive the cash if the government could pay off the debt, are:

Foreign institutions (18 percent); state and local governments (17 percent); the Federal Reserve Bank (9.8 percent); commercial banks (9.6 percent); individuals (9.4 percent); private pension funds (9 percent).

Also holding shares are insurance companies, corporations, mutual funds and money market funds.

The current interest rate is a shade above 6 percent.

Busy intersection

Q: The intersection at Plantation Road and Old Hollins Road is dangerous and hard to get across, and a huge catalog order center is about to open on Old Hollins Road. What's being done to handle the traffic that will come out of this center?

M.M., Daleville

A: Both roads will be widened and a traffic light installed. The work should begin in the spring and completion is expected by end of summer.

In the meantime, traffic guards will be assigned to the intersection from 6 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. starting in January. That's when trucks begin visiting the new Hanover Direct distribution center.

The Virginia Department of Transportation had these plans Monday:

Plantation Road, now two lanes at this point, will be widened to five lanes-four of them northbound-out of Roanoke. One lane will be for left turns, one for right turns and two will be straight through.

Plantation will have four lanes on the north side of the intersection. One lane will be for through traffic and one lane for left turns onto Old Hollins.

The widening of Old Hollins east of Plantation will provide four lanes. Traffic heading west toward the intersection will have a right-turn lane; the other lane will offer left-turn and straight-through options.

Further in the future, the transportation department plans to widen Old Hollins Road for 1.6 miles north of Plantation. That project is to be advertised for bids in mid-1996.

Lost in paradise

Q: Can you find out who won the election in Hawaii? A Republican won the primary election and disappeared; he hadn't been seen since he won.|

|A.I., Roanoke A: People in Hawaii were a bit surprised at how well Republican Robert Garner did in the U.S. House race.

Garner got 30,000 votes despite dropping out of sight after winning the GOP primary in September. Democrat Patsy Mink won in a walk with 96,000 votes.

At last report, Garner was still lying low; not even the Republican Party chairman had heard from him. Friends said he was on a boat somewhere.|

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