Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 23, 1995 TAG: 9502230106
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HARRISONBURG - Students at a private educational facility in Rockingham County will be tested for Group A Streptococci bacteria, after a 5-year-old boy who attended the facility was diagnosed with the infection, a Virginia Department of Health official said.
The child was hospitalized late last week at Rockingham Memorial Hospital, said Suzanne Jenkins, assistant state epidemiologist.
The boy apparently is recovering from the Group A Strep, or GAS, infection, she said.
Jenkins would not identify the school where the testing would take place. She said it is not a public school, and that administrators and parents have been notified.
Eleven people have been diagnosed with GAS infections in the Shenandoah Valley over the past three months. Five have died.
- Associated Press
Kids chase down mugging suspect
NEWPORT NEWS - A man who mugged a 75-year-old woman turned around to see he was not alone as he sprinted away: On his heels was a pack of neighborhood children giving chase and gaining ground.
As Edna Moss lay on the sidewalk Sunday with a broken hip, the 15 or more kids, some as young as 7, followed the suspect for two blocks and eventually led police to the spot where he was hiding.
``It just happened out of nowhere,'' said 12-year-old Calvin Williams, one of several boys who chased the mugger and saw him duck behind an abandoned house. Calvin and several others were playing when they saw a man snatch Moss' purse and send her tumbling to the concrete.
Police charged Marcus Herbin, 29, with robbery and malicious wounding.
- Associated Press
Bridges planned, but no new tunnels
CAPE CHARLES - A companion will be built to the bridge portions of the 18-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel but not to the tunnels, officials say.
The addition and renovation of the link between the Virginia mainland and the Eastern Shore is expected to cost between $250 million and $300 million and take 3 1/2 years to build.
Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District officials considered building new tunnels as well, but declined to do that after projections placed the cost for both bridges and tunnels at $1.2 billion.
``We just can't get that kind of money,'' said Lorraine J. Smith, public relations director for the district, which was created by the state to build and operate the original bridge.
When completed, the project will carry U.S. 13 across the bay on parallel two-lane bridges. One bridge will carry two southbound lanes, the other two northbound lanes.
- Associated Press
Va. colleges losing out-of-state students
RICHMOND - The number of out-of-state residents attending Virginia's colleges and universities has dropped more than 25 percent since 1988, a study shows.
The likely reasons include the state's tuition increases for out-of-state students at public colleges, a smaller pool of college-age students and the end of a tuition break for military families, a state official said.
``I think it still shows that we are attractive, but there are some signs that the tuition policy is having an effect,'' said J. Michael Mullen, deputy director of the State Council of Higher Education, which conducted the study.
The number of students coming to Virginia public and private colleges from out of state decreased from 15,700 in 1988 to 11,100 in 1992.
In the early 1990s, the state permitted larger tuition increases than usual to compensate for budget cuts, and started charging out-of-state students the full cost of their educations.
Unlike some other states, Virginia has no cap on out-of-state students at its public colleges and universities.
- Associated Press
by CNB