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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 12, 1995                   TAG: 9504120044
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-12   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST
DATELINE: RADFORD                                  LENGTH: Short

WELCOME SIGN RETURNED

Mystery solved, sort of. Last year, thieves made off with a large, wooden sign welcoming motorists on Tyler Avenue to Radford. A few weeks ago, city crews installed its replacement, which cost nearly $1,500.

But now, the old sign has resurfaced. Public Works Director Jim Hurt told City Council Monday he recovered the sign, unscathed, from the office of local lawyer Jimmy Turk Jr.

Apparently, the sign has been in the home of a Radford University student who knew it was stolen and got nervous about having it around. Turk, an adjunct professor of criminal justice at the school, said the student called him shortly after Turk lectured about receiving stolen property and aiding and abetting a crime.

Turk advised the student to turn over the sign to him before it was discovered, and he, in turn, called city officials.

"The person who did turn it over to me denied having stolen it," Turk said Tuesday.

Mayor Tom Starnes told Hurt to keep the sign as a spare. "We'll probably have to use it again," he said.

Two of the custom-made welcome signs, the one on Tyler Avenue and another on First Street, first were stolen in 1992. Both signs later were recovered, but one was too badly damaged to put back. The usable sign was reinstalled at Tyler Avenue, where it remained until it was ripped off again last year.

by CNB