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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 21, 1995                   TAG: 9502210059
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AGAIN: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO

Q: If a law is passed to limit congressional terms, will years already served by a representative be grandfathered in and overlooked, or will they count against future service?

D.U., Wytheville

A: None of the several term-limit proposals is retroactive, says an aide to the Florida congressman who's steering them in the House of Representatives.

If a term limit is adopted, every representative will be eligible to seek re-election - up to six more times under the most popular version.

A 12-year limit had 144 supporters in the House a month ago. That's about half the 290 votes needed to approve this constitutional amendment.

There was a lull on term limits in Washington until late last week. The pressure for a vote in late March was renewed areby floor leader Bill McCollum, R-Fla., a term-limits advocate who's been in Congress since 1981.|

Where's the guard?

Q: At the first of the year, a traffic guard was supposed to begin directing traffic at the intersection of Hollins and Plantation roads. Some of us who work at companies in the area are wondering where he is.

C.E., Vinton

A: There was a delay in getting a traffic guard trained and qualified.

A private security outfit hired by the county started directing morning traffic two weeks ago, from 6:30-8 a.m. weekdays, said Tim Gubala, director of economic development for the county.

Monday, a guard began directing traffic in the afternoons from 4:45 to 5:45.

Several county officials said they had monitored the traffic and found it to be heavy throughout the day. The monitoring also made the need for an afternoon guard apparent, Gubala said.

The Virginia Department of Transportation expects to open bids on widening Plantation and Hollins roads Feb. 28.

Road work is expected to begin in early May and should be completed in 120 days, VDOT said.

That offers hope for a traffic light to replace the human guards by Labor Day.

Smoking update

I overlooked a provision of Roanoke County's smoking policy in an item last week.

The county policy says smoking is prohibited in ``indoor service lines and cashier areas.''

This makes the county's policy more specific than Virginia's statewide Indoor Clean Air Act regarding cashier areas.

Vinton also has its own local version of the Indoor Clean Air Act.

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