Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505260049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON AND RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roach, a member of the Henry County School Board, will seek the Republican nomination to run against incumbent Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville.
Roach is a former Democrat.
"The Democratic Party has left me," he said. "My basic values have not changed. I am a fiscal conservative and believe that government should stay out of our lives as much as possible."
Roach, 56, was born in Bassett. He attended Henry County public schools and later taught in them. He was also an elementary school principal in Henry County.
Roach was personnel director at Memorial Hospital in Martinsville from 1969 to 1980.
He has owned Larry Roach & Associates Insurance Services since 1981.
Roach and his wife, Judy, have three sons.
Armstrong's house district includes all of Henry County, a slice of Franklin County, part of Pittsylvania County and the city of Martinsville.
A circus in Bedford
Some people might accuse Mike Brown of turning the Bedford County sheriff's race into a circus, but nobody figured the Republican candidate would actually bring in a high-wire act.
Brown will be host for a free Memorial Day festival Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 10 p.m. at Saunders Marina on Smith Mountain Lake. Entertainment for the event will include magic shows, clowns and country music and will feature the Lemoines, an international high-wire act.
The Lemoines are a family of high-wire and trapeze artists who escaped from East Berlin shortly after World War II. They use no nets, and some ride motorcycles on the high wire.
The Janet Martin Band and country music band Stagecoach will also perform. Food will be provided by Bobby's BBQ.
Brown has raised more than $20,000 so far in his quest to become sheriff, making this the most expensive - and extravagant - sheriff's race in Bedford County history.
Other candidates who say they plan to run for sheriff include independents Doug Maynard, an investigator in the Bedford and Roanoke public defender's offices; Lt. Vernon Goode, who runs the county's jail annex in Moneta; Sgt. Dave Cooper, who supervises Bedford County road deputies; and Deputy Chuck Reid, a 12-year veteran who investigated the high-profile murders of Boonsboro couple Derek and Nancy Haysom.
Sheriff Carl Wells has yet to announce whether he will run, but insiders say he will retire.
Allen boosts Dudley
An appearance by Gov. George Allen has added significantly to the campaign coffers of Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount.
About 80 people - including state Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, and Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem - attended the fund-raiser for Dudley at the Comfort Inn in Rocky Mount on Tuesday night.
Carthan Currin, the county's GOP chairman and general manager of the hotel, said the event netted Dudley close to $10,000.
"Compared to two years ago, this is a great start," Currin said.
Dudley, a Rocky Mount banker, was an underdog in 1993. He upset Democrat Wes Naff, who had the backing of the county's powerful Democratic establishment - including former Rocky Mount mayor, the late Allen Woody; state Sen. Virgil Goode of Rocky Mount; and Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton.
Dudley is opposed this year by Democrat Claude Whitehead, a Pittsylvania County dentist and tobacco farmer.
About 80 Democrats attended a "Get to know Claude night" at the Longwood Restaurant in Franklin County on May 18.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB