Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 26, 1995 TAG: 9506260130
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY, TODD JACKSON and DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He beat the recent deadline to get on the fall ballot as an independent for what now becomes a four-way contest for Ed Kohinke's position.
Kohinke, a Republican who had planned to run for re-election, dropped out of the race after a falling-out with his party.
Crouse, 59, had hoped to run as the GOP nominee, but the Republicans chose Warren Brown Jr. as their candidate last month.
Two other candidates - Democrat Spike Harrison and independent Douglas Chandler Graham - also are vying for the seat.
Crouse, former president of Houston Motor Express, a family-owned trucking company that has a terminal in Montgomery County, said his campaign will focus on boosting government services for Catawba residents.
Crouse said he is confident he'll be able to garner votes, even without GOP backing.
``I didn't have to go very far to get the signatures I needed to run,'' he said. ``There's definitely a lot of support out there. We already have a large group of people working with us.''
Gaston reminder
Delegate Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County, has spent most of his time during the past few months fighting the proposed Lake Gaston pipeline - a pipeline that would carry Roanoke River basin water from the lake along the Virginia-North Carolina border to Virginia Beach.
He's had T-shirts printed up and started a petition drive that's netted almost 21,000 signatures as of June 22.
The pipeline is such a prominent issue in Armstrong's mind that it was the first thing he brought up when he returned a reporter's phone call Friday.
Armstrong took time out from his vacation to make the call.
``I'm at the beach - and that's Myrtle Beach, not Virginia Beach,'' he said. ``They've got plenty of water down here.''
Armstrong is facing Republican Larry Roach for the seat that covers the Ferrum section of Franklin County, Martinsville, most of Henry County and part of Pittsylvania County.
Democrats online
Virginia Democrats are now riding in the fast lane on the information highway.
The state Democratic Party has become the second Democratic Party unit in the country to set up its own ``home page'' on the World Wide Web section of the Internet, essentially an interactive bulletin board in cyberspace.
The computer address for the Democrats' home page is: http://www.webcom.com/~dpvaweb.
And that's not all: The state Democratic Party is also now accepting e-mail at dpvaaol.com.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB