Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501170082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PORTSMOUTH - A man riding a bicycle and wielding a hatchet struck a woman several times in the head as he rode by her in a shopping center parking lot.
Tammie L. Wainwright, 34, of Portsmouth, was in critical condition Saturday in the intensive care unit at Maryview Medical Center.
Police arrested Michael Coker, 36, also of Portsmouth, on tips from witnesses Friday and charged him with malicious wounding. He was being held Saturday in the Portsmouth City Jail.
Authorities said they knew of no motive for the attack Friday morning at Towne Point Square in the Churchland neighborhood. Sgt. Allen Harvey said police do not believe Coker knew Wainwright.
``At this point we can't establish what really happened or why,'' Harvey said.
Police said Wainwright was on her way to a Food Lion grocery store just before 9 a.m. when she was attacked. As she lay bleeding, the cyclist rode away.
- Associated Press
90% of pensioners responding like offer
RICHMOND - About half of the federal retirees whose pensions were illegally taxed by the state have responded to Virginia's offer, and more than 90 percent of them have accepted it.
In order to settle the long-running dispute out of court, the state has offered the pensioners about $351 million during the next five years. If pensioners with claims exceeding $20 million reject it and continue the court fight, however, the deal is void unless reauthorized by the General Assembly.
The state Department of Taxation said Friday that 80,579 of the 168,583 pensioners eligible for the settlement so far have responded. Of them, 76,329 have agreed to accept the offer. The value of their claims is more than $198 million. The rough value of all eligible pensioners' claims is about $459 million.
- Associated Press
Boy fires handgun on school bus
FAIRFAX - A 13-year-old boy brandished a handgun on a school bus last week and fired it once, according to Fairfax County police and school officials. No one was injured although nearly 20 students were on the bus.
The driver heard the noise, but did not realize it was a weapon firing and continued on her run, officials said. The bullet lodged in one of the vehicle's seats.
Administrators at Sidney Lanier Middle School in Fairfax, where the teen-ager is in the eighth grade, learned of the incident Thursday from students. After interviewing the 13-year-old and others who were on the bus, police charged him Friday with four weapons violations, including possession of a firearm on school property and shooting a weapon from an occupied vehicle. Both are felony charges.
- Associated Press
by CNB