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

DATE: SUNDAY, January 1, 1995                   TAG: 9501030002
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

FACES & EVENTS OF '94

Endangered species

THEN: On Mother's Day, the two red wolves in the endangered-species breeding program run by the Mill Mountain Zoo and Explore Park gave birth to five pups.

NOW: The young 'uns are just fine. Now said to be "squabbling like teen-agers," the pups may be ready to be shipped out to other breeding programs around the country in 1995.

COUGAR CUB

Captive-born wild animal

THEN: A 6-month-old mountain lion, born at the Natural Bridge Zoo, was seized from a Blacksburg woman and wound up at the Wildlife Center of Virginia, which couldn't keep it or let it go. Staffers thought they might have to euthanize it.

NOW: "We named him Virg, just because he came from Virginia," said Lee Cruise, a handler at Bear Country USA in South Dakota, which adopted the cat in March. Virg is doing great and will be allowed to mingle with the other cougars at the facility next spring.

ED HONAKER

Roanoker freed from prison because of DNA evidence

THEN: Four days shy of his 10th anniversary in prison, Edward Honaker was freed by Gov. George Allen. The morning of Oct. 21, after four months of deliberations, Allen pardoned Honaker, exonerating him of a rape charge. DNA testing led to his release.

NOW: Honaker works as a welder and maintenance worker at Corrugated Container Corp. in Roanoke. He returns each night to his new home of Martinsville. "It's wonderful, utterly wonderful," he said. "My Christmas came at 10:28 a.m. October 21."

42 and 56 WELLS AVE. N.E.

Old Gainsboro houses moved in May.

THEN: Rather than tear them down, Roanoke spent $130,000 moving the two 19th-century homes to widen Wells and make a Hotel Roanoke parking lot. It was a city gesture to historic Gainsboro, a neighborhood hard-hit by demolition.

NOW: They're one street over, at 12 and 18 Gilmer Ave. N.E. The Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority expects to put out bids soon on renovations. The houses will be sold to low- to moderate-income families.

TRUDY'S ANTIQUES

Gainsboro shop operated by Trudy Parker

THEN: At 12 Wells Ave. N.E., in the former ABC store across from the Hotel Roanoke.

NOW: At 2205 Williamson Rd., in a former motorcycle shop. Trudy's Antiques was torn down for the Wells Avenue widening and the hotel restoration. The state paid to store, then move, her inventory. Parker went through depression, watching three nearby Wells residents die after worrying about having to sell their property. "Then I snapped out of it," she said. "I'm doing OK."

BOB and MARY BUCKLEY

Owners of Java the Hutt

THEN: In June, the Buckleys opened a drive-through coffee shop in a 48-square-foot former photo booth at Towers Shopping Center. Mary opened at 6:45 each morning and worked alone except for weekend relief from her husband.

NOW: Mary has hired three part-time employees and had to raise coffee prices only a nickel after the bean freeze. "Things are going great. We're hanging in there," she said. "I know everybody who comes through here."

KOGI

Labrador retriever

THEN: A year ago on New Year's Eve, Roanoker Rich Formato learned his Lab, Kogi, missing for two weeks, was in Maryland, where he had been taken by the woman who found him. Formato had canceled his own holiday trip to Texas to plaster the area with "Missing" posters and look for Kogi. He also promised a $500 reward, which he paid.

NOW: "Kogi is still with me," Formato said. "He's well and happy and on a short leash." Formato said he got cards from well-wishers for months afterward.

RICHARD BURROW

Engineer

THEN: In July, the longtime Explore Park engineer supervised the opening of the living-history park in Roanoke County. But in September he was informed his position was being eliminated in a round of budget cuts. His last day was Oct. 31.

NOW: Still looking for work. "No job is really hot," Burrow says. "This is a tough time of year to find a job, other than in retail sales." However, he says, "I'm reasonably optimistic I can have a job by January or February."

BAYES WILSON

Former Roanoke County school superintendent

THEN: In June, Wilson retired after 38 years with the county school system, including 14 as superintendent. Wilson said then that he hoped to spend more time with his grandchildren.

NOW: He is enjoying more time with his grandchildren. And he has taken up two new hobbies - fly fishing and golf. He has taken a hunting and camping trip to Western states. He also is working for the Roanoke County Education Foundation to raise private funds for county schools.

JAMES "JAY" TURNER

Chief executive officer and chairman of J.M. Turner & Co.

THEN: Left the Roanoke School Board in June after nine years, including three as chairman. He served on the board when Frank Tota was superintendent. He did not seek reappointment, saying nine years was long enough to serve.

NOW: Turner still is keenly interested in education, serving on the Virginia Chamber of Commerce's education committee, and soon will become chairman of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce's education committee. He remains active in several community service agencies, including the New Century Council. Turner's company is one of the general contractors on the Hotel Roanoke project.

NOEL TAYLOR

Former Roanoke mayor

THEN: Taylor left the mayor's post in 1992 after 17 years in the job, the longest tenure in the city's history. Taylor decided not to seek re-election after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

NOW: Taylor's health remains good, although he had the flu recently. His cancer has not spread. He still has a busy schedule as pastor of High Street Baptist Church but is cutting back on preaching at revivals outside the city. Taylor, 70, said he may retire in 1995 from High Street Baptist, where he has been the minister for 34 years.

JAMES HARVEY

Former Roanoke councilman

THEN: Harvey left City Council on June 30, having lost a bid for re-election after 12 years on the governing body. He was defeated by Linda Wyatt. Harvey had surgery for lung cancer during his last year on council.

NOW: Harvey visits his doctors every two months, and they tell him he appears to be free of cancer. He said he feels fine. Harvey plans to move to Florida, probably in 1995. He still owns some rental property in Roanoke.

HOWARD MUSSER

Former Roanoke councilman

THEN: Musser was a council member for 12 years and served as a vice mayor for three terms. He ran for commissioner of revenue in 1993, but he suffered a stroke and was unable to campaign. Musser was partially paralyzed by the stroke and decided not to run for re-election to council.

NOW: Musser, a retired financial supervisor for the General Electric Co., continues to recover. He spends some time at his house on Smith Mountain Lake.

DON SHEPHERD

Environmental engineer

THEN: Fired in August after 15 years as head of the Department of Environmental Quality's air-pollution control office in Roanoke because of a dispute with his boss over a permit.

NOW: Heading an air-pollution team with Draper Aden Associates, a Blacksburg environmental-consulting firm with more than 100 employees and locations in Richmond and Nashville.

DARRELL R. MANN

Cross-country jogger

THEN: In early May, Mann, a 51-year-old grandfather laid off from the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, set out from Delaware on a cross-country run to carry a message of good health and hope to others. He completed his trek in late August, approximately 45 pounds lighter and declaring, "The country's full of good people."

NOW: Mann works for a Beckley, W.Va., construction outfit. "For a long time, my legs just wouldn't function," he said. His weight now up to 190, Mann - who turned 52 in October - works out daily and is running again. He plans to rejog the trip in reverse in 1995 in two or three stages, ending up at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. He's received lots of Christmas cards from folks he met on his mega-jog. "It kinda makes me want to go back and meet a few more of 'em," he said.

WARREN and FLORENCE LOCKETT

Retired Roanoke couple

THEN: After 23 years in the same South Roanoke apartment complex, the Locketts learned in October they were being evicted. South Roanoke Apartment Village refused to renew the lease on the Locketts' two-bedroom apartment, saying the couple's heavy smoking bothered neighbors and made the apartment filthy.

NOW: The Locketts moved into a new home at Pebble Creek apartments in late November. "So far, so good," said Florence Lockett. "Everyone here has been very, very nice to us."

LEN and VANESSA FAGAN

Floyd County parents-to-be

THEN: Confined to their unheated home during the Feb. 13 ice storm, the Fagans were one of many Roanoke Valley couples to conceive a child last winter. Vanessa was due to give birth to her first child on Oct. 30.

NOW: The Fagans are the delighted parents of a healthy 2-month-old boy. After a little assistance from Christiansburg paramedics, Vanessa made it to Roanoke Memorial Hospital on Oct. 28, where she gave birth to Wyatt Haynes Fagan. Wyatt was born at 7:11 p.m. after a seven-hour labor. He weighed just under 9 pounds and was 21 inches long. "It's wonderful. He's such a precious little baby," Vanessa said. "He's made us two very happy parents."

RUBY BOONE and DAVID SHOUP

Animal control seized their 23 dogs

THEN: In May, Roanoke County animal-control officers found them living with 15 dogs in their trailer and 3 inches of feces on the floor. Eight more dogs were outside in pens caked with mud and filth. Neighbors were afraid that Boone, 88, and Shoup, 74, couldn't live on their own any more and that without the dogs they loved, their health would deteriorate more rapidly.

NOW: Twenty of the dogs were adopted, but one died of kidney failure, according to the Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "That was a terrific response from the valley," said SPCA Executive Director Al Alexander. The elderly couple still are living on their own, with help from neighbors. As ordered by a judge, they don't have any more pets. "They are cleaner without the dogs," said a neighbor. "They seem to be doing pretty good."

KATHI PRICE

Exotic dancer

THEN: A dancer at the controversial nightclub Girls, Girls, Girls, Price was the first person convicted under a Roanoke ordinance regulating nude and exotic dancing. Her crime: dancing too close to a table full of revelers when her bikini slipped, leading to the infamous "wayward wedgie" case and all its First Amendment repercussions.

NOW: Off the dance floor, but not for legal reasons. Earlier this month, Price gave birth to her first child, a son. But she will return. "She'll be coming back once she gets off maternity leave," the manager of Girls, Girls, Girls said.

VACANT BUILDINGS

315 Harrison St. N.W., 1126 Gilmer Ave. N.W., 308 12th St. N.W.

THEN: A story in June told how three properties in Northwest Roanoke had stood empty for three years since the federal government seized them from a convicted drug dealer who violated a bond agreement. Neighbors and community leaders were upset that the government had allowed the properties - two homes and a concrete building - to deteriorate. The U.S. marshal's office didn't want the properties any more either, but couldn't get rid of them because there were several thousand dollars worth of liens on the properties.

NOW: The buildings still sit vacant, but it looks like better days may be ahead. Last month all of the creditors against the properties agreed that they could be sold lien-free. A public auction is scheduled at 2 p.m. Jan. 12 in the Poff Federal Building.

FLOWER DISPUTE

Melody Caldwell's grave

THEN: After Sherry Smith's brain-damaged daughter died in a fire that started in the motor of the hospital bed to which she was confined, Smith decorated Melody's grave at Evergreen Burial Park with flowers - lots of flowers. In early November, cemetery manager Don Wilson told Smith that the flowers had to go. After talking, Smith and Wilson reached a compromise that would mean removal of most of the flowers.

NOW: In December most of the flowers still were there. Smith said Wilson agreed to let the flowers stay until he could talk to the cemetery's board of directors. Wilson said he's still going to abide by the compromise, but not until after the holidays. Smith, meanwhile, savored the extra time by decorating the grave for Christmas. "It just makes me feel good to be able to do it," she said.

WHITEY TAYLOR

Owner of Franklin County Speedway

THEN: In July, Taylor proposed a "hatchet-burying" ceremony at the speedway to signal the end of stressed relations between himself and Franklin County Sheriff W.Q. Overton, who has visited the speedway several times over the years - not because he's a race fan.

NOW: A real hatchet was buried a week later on the infield of the track. There's a marker in the ground so the day never can be forgotten. "I got a Barney Fife look-alike to come up from Charlotte for the festivities," Taylor said. "But the real sheriff [Overton] wasn't there. He thinks I'm just trying to get more publicity." Then he laughed.

POWER SURGE

Salem houses zapped

THEN: In November, a city crew working on stringing power lines to the new Salem baseball stadium sent a massive power surge through seven Slemp Street homes behind the ball park, sizzling most of their appliances. The city's insurance company would pay only what the appliances were worth minus depreciation.

NOW: Homeowners filed claims with their own insurance companies and had to pay the deductibles to replace refrigerators, TVs, etc. Their insurance companies will try to get reimbursed by the city's carrier. Some homeowners still are angry that the city didn't do more, and electrical problems continue. Annie Braisted and her husband came home one day before Christmas to a foul smell coming from an outlet, with the whole wall hot to the touch. Their electrician said other problems could surface later. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see if anything else goes," she said.

ANNIE LEE

Robert E. Lee's daughter

THEN: Last spring, plans to remove poor Annie from her 132-year-old grave near Warrenton, N.C., where it had been vandalized, and reunite her with father in Lexington dismayed some North Carolinians. Annie finally was exhumed and redeposited in Washington and Lee University's Lee Chapel in late September.

NOW: Annie has settled in at the Lee family crypt. In any case, "I would say that she's resting quite well down there with the rest of her family," said university spokesman Brian Shaw. A memorial service for Annie, open to friends, family and the university community, was held there in October.

NANCY GALLI

Owner, Nancy's Fudge

THEN: Galli saw profits melt at her Patrick County fudge factory last winter when the highway department made her remove an 8-by-8-foot sign on U.S. 58 pointing the way. Officials said the sign was in violation of the Highway Beautification Act.

NOW: "The sign is back up, right where it was," Galli said. County supervisors candy-coated the act by naming her factory a local tourist attraction. It is permissible to erect a sign pointing to such attractions. Galli said the sign went back up late in the fall. She also said business is booming.

LETTIE SUTPHIN

Floyd woman on oxygen tank, left with no power

THEN: In February, Victor and Vasie Simpkins were upset because they couldn't get power restored to their home deep in a hollow of Floyd County after the big ice storm. Vasie's mother, Lettie Sutphin, depended on an electric-powered oxygen tank to breathe and the Simpkinses were on a critical-care list with Apco, meaning they were to get top priority.

NOW: "We have a generator and hopefully that will help," said Vasie Simpkins. "And our son's cut us a lot of wood. Hopefully, [Apco] is prepared, too. They've cut some tree limbs near where our lines have gone down before." Lettie Sutphin no longer depends on an oxygen tank, but she suffered a heart attack in November and is recovering at home.

JOHN GALLAGHER

Seeking daughter's killer

THEN: In September, John Gallagher distributed more than 40 posters offering the Roanoke Police Crime Line reward for information leading to the arrest of his daughter's killer. Pamela Gallagher, 38, was strangled in her Laburnum Avenue apartment on June 25, 1993. After 15 months, police had been unable to turn up any substantial leads. Gallagher hoped the posters would jog someone's memory.

NOW: "We were expecting to hear something by now," John Gallagher said. "But unfortunately there's been no response." Roanoke Police Major J.L. Viar said the case still is being actively pursued, and that investigators plan to run Pamela Gallagher on the Crime Line broadcast soon. Gallagher said he and his family still yearn for some sense of closure. "But we're doing OK ... as well as can be expected."

BRYAN EMMERSON

Teacher who proposed during halftime

THEN: In October, Salem High School English teacher Bryan Emmerson sought assistance from several students - and a few thousand Spartan football fans - to propose to his girlfriend, Marie Rakow. During halftime, cheerleaders ran onto the field and displayed a "Will You Marry Me, Marie" sign as Emmerson bounced around with a giant crepe paper diamond ring.

NOW: "We're aiming for July 1 wedding," Emmerson said. "It'll be a fireworks weekend." For now, the happy couple are focusing on finding a job for Rakow, who graduated with a teaching degree from Virginia Tech in December.

And, they're still reminiscing about the romantic, if quite public, proposal. "A friend took some great shots of her. You can almost tell what's going on on the field by [Rakow's] stunned expression," Emmerson said.

COOKIE DOUGH

Blind dog who needed a home

THEN: In April, the Montgomery County Humane Society was trying to raise "reproductive awareness" in the valley with Cookie Dough, an Australian blue heeler born without eyes because of amateur, backyard breeding. The society also was seeking a home for Cookie Dough, who was being cared for by Virginia Tech students Jennifer Wellman and Maren Speakman.

NOW: "She was adopted by a very nice family from Roanoke who had read the article," said Humane Society volunteer Julie Ligon. "They fell in love with her." Sadly, Cookie Dough's problems did not end with blindness. She also was born with a congenital heart problem, had surgery in April and died Sept. 29.

BOB SLAUGHTER

Roanoker who walked with President Clinton on Omaha Beach

THEN: Slaughter was one of thousands of D-Day veterans who returned to Normandy last June to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Allied landings in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Slaughter and many other Western Virginians were part of the 29th Division's 116th Infantry Regiment.

NOW: Publicity surrounding the 50th anniversary events gave efforts to build a D-Day memorial in Western Virginia a much-needed boost, Slaughter said. The D-Day Memorial Foundation, which Slaughter now chairs, announced in November the memorial will be built in Bedford, which has offered land and financial support. Slaughter said he had received tons of letters and numerous phone calls from acquaintances since returning from France. He also has been busy with invitations from various groups to talk about his D-Day experiences.

YETZEL ZZYNA

The man who would be last - in the phone book

THEN: When the 1994-95 Roanoke-and-vicinity phone books came out in March, a new name was last in the phone book. While Yetzel Zzyna was listed last, there was a mistake in the listing. The number next to his name wasn't his.

NOW: As of mid-December, directory assistance still was listing Zzyna's number as the incorrect one that's in the phone book. So, nine months later, somewhere, Yetzel Zzyna still is wondering why his phone doesn't ring.

Keywords:
YEAR 1994