ROANOKE TIMES

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 28, 1994                   TAG: 9412280089
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


IN VIRGINIA

Autopsy: Miscarriage killed infant

NORFOLK - A woman will not be charged in the death of a newborn found in a trash bag, after an autopsy showed the infant died in a miscarriage, police said.

The autopsy results were announced Tuesday by Norfolk police spokesman Larry Hill.

Police found the body of the infant early Sunday after alerted by doctors at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital that a 26-year-old woman had come to the emergency room, hemorrhaging.

Doctors determined that the woman recently had given birth. Had the autopsy shown that the baby was born alive and later died of neglect, the mother could have been charged with murder.

The baby is believed to have been born about two or three months premature, police said.

The gender was uncertain because of the infant's condition. The woman's name was withheld because she was not charged.

- Associated Press

Tests delay effort to douse gas flame

APPALACHIA - Methane testing at buildings near an explosion site Tuesday delayed efforts to douse a gas flame in the middle of Appalachia's business district.

The state Department of Emergency Services tested the buildings after a crack in a foundation near the water well that exploded was emitting high levels of methane.

``We found some methane, but nothing above safe levels,'' Fire Chief Robert Anderson said Tuesday. ``We'll go ahead tomorrow with the plan we had for today.''

Workers from a company that drills natural-gas wells and experts in dealing with gas fires will douse the fire, then cap and seal the well.

The Sunday morning blast destroyed a garage and an apartment building next door and left 14 people homeless. No one was injured.

Colorless and odorless methane apparently seeped through the capped well from a coal seam and into the garage.

- Associated Press

Battlefield owner sells to save site

HARRISONBURG - The owner of a tract where a little-known but significant Civil War battle was fought says he's taken steps to preserve the battlefield forever.

Peter Svenson sold an easement to the Washington-based Civil War Trust on 40 acres near Harrisonburg where the Battle of Cross Keys took place in 1862. The easement is a deed restriction that essentially will ban development of the land.

Five thousand Confederates fought off 11,000 Union soldiers trying to capture the Shenandoah Valley during the one-day battle.

``It was the only way I thought I could preserve this place if I have to sell it,'' said Svenson, who wrote a book on the battle.

- Associated Press

Keywords:
FATALITY



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