Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 21, 1995 TAG: 9502230010
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
LYNCHBURG - Authorities said a 14-year-old high school student faces two weapons charges after a gun went off in a book bag Monday, injuring another student.
School Superintendent James McCormick said the student brought a handgun to Heritage High School and the gun accidentally went off in the bag. The bullet grazed the foot of another student, causing a bruise, authorities said. The injured student was taken to a hospital but was not seriously injured.
Police Cmdr. E.C. Wingfield said the 14-year-old has been charged with possession of a gun on school property and discharging a gun within a building. He was being held in a juvenile detention center until a hearing today.
The student who had the gun was suspended from school immediately. McCormick said the School Board will decide whether to extend the suspension for 180 days or permanently expel the student.
- Associated Press
Va. sea-mammal beachings double
VIRGINIA BEACH - Strandings and deaths of dolphins, whales and seals have nearly doubled over the past year in Virginia, which recorded more beachings of harbor porpoises than any other oceanfront state.
Overall, scientists logged 110 beachings in 1994, nearly double the 59 the previous year in Virginia. Of the 110, 47 were harbor porpoises - also more than any other coastal state, according to statistics released last week by the Virginia Marine Science Museum in Virginia Beach.
Forty-two bottlenose dolphins washed ashore in 1994, the largest number since an extensive wave of dolphin deaths struck the Atlantic coast in 1987.
``This, unfortunately, has been our busiest year by far,'' said Mark Swingle, state strandings coordinator and a biologist at the museum.
- Associated Press
Stabbing prompts prison lockdown
POWHATAN - Two buildings at the Powhatan Correctional Center were under lockdown Monday while guards searched for weapons after a weekend stabbing.
One inmate stabbed another with a homemade weapon Saturday in an open area in one of the buildings, Corrections Department spokesman Jim Jones said.
The inmate was taken to the Medical College of Virginia Hospital, where he remained on Monday, Jones said. The inmate's injuries were not life-threatening.
Jones declined to release names or other details of the incident, saying it still was under investigation.
The two buildings under lockdown house about 300 inmates. The prison has a total population of 697.
The majority of the facility was operating normally, he said.
- Associated Press
Abandoned baby thrives in foster care
HAMPTON - A newborn boy left inside a gym bag at Sentara Hampton General Hospital in July is living in a foster home and doing well, city officials said.
``He's happy, healthy and couldn't be in better shape,'' said Keith Sykes of the Hampton Department of Social Services.
The baby was 12 to 24 hours old when he was found July 6 inside the bag in a hospital stairwell. Hampton police still don't know who the baby's mother was, but they continue to investigate, said Sgt. Chuck Jordan.
Sykes guesses she was very likely ``a young woman in a panic situation'' who didn't deliver her baby in a hospital.
Sykes hopes the child will be legally available for adoption by summer. When a child is abandoned and nothing is known of the parents, state law requires that authorities must wait at least six months before starting proceedings to terminate parental rights.
- Associated Press
Bad-weather policy irks schoolteachers
MANASSAS - More than 30 Prince William County teachers have signed a petition calling for changes in the way school officials decide to delay or cancel classes in bad weather.
Clara Brown, a fifth-grade teacher at Parkside Elementary School, said she couldn't believe the county kept classes open last Wednesday, when most surrounding schools were closed.
Brown's car slid off Virginia 28 on her way to work that day. Now suffering from a fractured knee, a concussion and multiple bruises and cuts, she has become a symbol of change for teachers and parents.
Thirty-four Parkside instructors have signed a petition urging the Prince William Education Association to demand that the administration change its school-cancellation policy.
Association President Cindy Swecker said she will meet today with Superintendent Edward Kelly and present a formal letter recommending the changes.
- Associated Press
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.