Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507030044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
NORFOLK - Police arrested a Newport News man Friday and charged him with murdering an off-duty prison guard outside a hotel.
Kevin Antonio Howard, 20, is accused of killing Richard Harris, 29, in the parking lot of a Howard Johnson's hotel in Norfolk late Thursday.
According to police, Harris, his wife and two friends were leaving a comedy club in the hotel about 11 p.m. when they were approached by four men. An argument ensued, and Howard shot Harris, police said.
Harris, shot once in the upper abdomen, was pronounced dead at a hospital a half-hour later.
Howard was arrested about three hours later. He is charged with murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Harris worked at St. Brides Correctional Center in his hometown of Chesapeake. He recently had married another officer from the facility.
Police would not say whether Harris was armed when the shooting occurred.
- Associated Press
Obese ex-inmate's lawsuit dismissed
RICHMOND - A federal appeals court has ruled that a 460-pound former state inmate is not due any special rights because of his weight.
Anthony Torcasio had sued the Department of Corrections, contending that his ``morbid obesity'' qualified him for special rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act while a prisoner.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to a lower court Thursday with instructions to dismiss the lawsuit, ruling that it was not clearly established that the act applied to state prisons.
Torcasio, during his three years as a state prisoner, made numerous requests of the Corrections Department that he be given a larger cell, wider entrances to his cell and shower, and alternative recreation.
When officials denied his requests, he filed suit in 1992. He since has been paroled. A lower court judge previously had ruled that Torcasio should have been given special privileges.
- Associated Press
Civil War buffs have history licked
CHANCELLORSVILLE - Hundreds of Civil War buffs showed up at the National Park Service's Chancellorsville Visitor Center to get their first-day cancellations on 20 Civil War stamps.
The commemorative stamps were issued Thursday by the Postal Service.
Postal worker Ron Hott was there at 10 a.m. when the Chancellorsville site opened, and he never stopped dipping the cancellation stamp on his black ink pad.
``I'll probably be stamping into the night,'' Hott said. ``This is a piece of history. It won't be done again. This is a way you can participate in history, and it only costs 32 cents.''
Some people missed work, while others traveled from as far away as Florida and Texas and waited in line as long as two hours.
``I usually don't travel for stamps,'' said John O'Malley, a Florida resident who used to be postmaster in Fredericksburg. ``I have an interest in the Civil War and planned a two-week vacation around this event.''
The collection was created to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Civil War. Virginia was represented in six of the 20 stamps. Along with Chancellorsville, stamps commemorate Confederate Gens. Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, who both fought there.
- Associated Press
2 teachers named to education board
RICHMOND - Gov. George Allen on Friday appointed two teachers who serve on his Champion Schools Commission to the state Board of Education.
The appointments of Lee Ware of Powhatan County and Cheri Pierson Yecke of Stafford County give Republican appointees a 5-4 majority on the board. Both will serve four-year terms.
Ware has been a history and government teacher at Powhatan High School since 1984. He succeeds Lewis M. Nelson Jr.
Yecke is a graduate instructor in educational psychology at the University of Virginia. She succeeds Malcolm S. McDonald.
- Associated Press
Father pleads guilty to shaking infant
MANASSAS - A Lake Ridge man faces a possible 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to shaking his 2-month-old daughter so violently that she was hospitalized.
Andre Strong, 24, pleaded guilty Thursday in Prince William County Circuit Court to felony child abuse.
Detective William Kelmartin testified that Strong originally said the March 16 injuries occurred when he accidentally dropped the baby, but later admitted shaking her.
The baby was taken to Fairfax Hospital after Strong showed the lethargic infant to her grandmother, police said.
The infant was released from the hospital March 20 and placed in the care of her mother's parents.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Sandra Sylvester recommended Strong be sentenced to 10 years in prison, with six years suspended on condition he completes five years of probation, and fined $1,000.
Sentencing was set for Aug. 17.
Associated Press
Ex-con ex-senator's law license restored
RICHMOND - A former state senator who admitted embezzling $170,000 from clients and served 10 months in prison has been reinstated to practice law in Virginia by the state Supreme Court.
James T. Edmunds, a former state senator from Lunenburg County, petitioned the court in February to restore his law license, and the court recently ruled in his favor.
Edmunds served in the Senate from 1972 to 1980. In 1987, he admitted stealing money from clients and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 15 years suspended, on seven embezzlement counts.
He served about 10 months behind bars before he was paroled in December 1988. He since has been paying back the money he stole.
- Associated Press
Keywords:
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