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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 9, 1995                   TAG: 9503240004
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE                                 LENGTH: Short

POWER OUTAGES ARE NO LONGER THREAT TO CRAIG'S SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

Winter weather sometimes knocks out the power and that worries Sheriff B. B. McPherson.

McPherson said he has visions of people needing emergency help and not being able to get it because his department's radio system is down during a power outage.

"That's a bad situation," the sheriff told members of the Craig County Board of Supervisors Monday while requesting a generator.

He said the radio shuts down and there is no communications between the dispatcher and deputies in the field during a power outage.

"I'm afraid something bad is going to happen," he said.

To ease the situation the supervisors approved McPherson's request for a portable, 5,000-watt generator that runs by a gasoline engine. The generator costs $600.

In another action, the supervisors adopted a resolution that asks for continued, full federal funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission, which Craig has been affiliated with for the past 20 years.

by CNB