Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 28, 1995 TAG: 9508280103
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The vote was 273-109 Saturday to save the clock, which was put up in 1993 by longtime civic leaders George Cartledge and the late John Hancock. Perched atop the Star City Diner, it has been dark since Tuesday in preparation for being taken down.
The removal was ordered by attorneys for Hancock's estate, one of whom said the estate is being closed out and will no longer have funds to help pay to keep the clock going.
But the diner's owner said Sunday he would block the clock's removal until he receives a written promise from the estate to pay for any damage to his building that sign workers may cause.
One clock supporter is Robyn Russow, a former Botetourt High School teacher who relies on it for a up-to-the-minute tabulation of the debt for math problems she gives teaching students at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., where she is an instructor.
One debt-related puzzler goes like this: With the debt more than $4.5 trillion, how long would it take to count out that amount of money at a rate of one dollar bill per second?
The answer may surprise you. According to Russow, it's about 150,000 years.
A domesticated Duke
Duke, the shy stray dog who for two years roamed a small stretch of U.S. 460 in Northeast Roanoke and dodged animal control officers, is now downright domesticated.
After three months of obedience classes, the 4-year-old mixed breed passed the Canine Good Citizenship Training Test on Thursday - with honors.
``He went from eluding the authorities to becoming a good citizen,'' said Joanne Stern, who, with husband Hal, adopted Duke from the Roanoke Valley SPCA in February.
Thursday's test at the Mudlick Kennels School for Dogs in Southwest Roanoke required Duke to pass a series of exercises that would ensure he could ``go out in public without creating a nuisance,'' Hal Stern said.
``He had to walk with me without tugging on a leash. One of the exercises was greeting someone with another dog and making sure [Duke] stood there without getting involved with the other dog. He did great.''
Duke barely resembles the dog of six months ago, who'd cower when approached and whose cholesterol was elevated from a diet too heavy on hot dogs.
``He's a good little guy, very affectionate,'' Stern said. ``We can't go anywhere without him being nearby.''
And Duke gets along fine with the Sterns' other two dogs.
``It's a family,'' Hal Stern said.
To the rescue
The Goode Rescue Squad passed its state inspection last week, so it's ready to do business - sort of.
``We're a bona fide agency, but we're not approved to answer county calls yet,'' said the squad's founder, Rob Ballagh. ``However, if someone wants to call us on the telephone and ask for our help, we can come.''
Goode Rescue still needs the approval of the Bedford County Board of Supervisors before it can answer 911 calls for help. It also will need to join the county rescue squad association, which will make suggestions about the boundaries of Goode's territory, Ballagh said.
Ballagh hopes to get the board's approval by the end of September.
Good schools attract
Schools are still Roanoke County's drawing card, says School Board member Michael Stovall.
The county has spent millions of dollars in recent years on a new landfill, trash train and reservoir, but people don't move to the county because of them, Stovall said.
``They come because of you and education,'' Stovall recently told the county's top school administrators and teachers.
To support his contention, he pointed to requests by students from surrounding localities to attend county schools.
The school system received 262 new applications this year from students outside the county. It already educates about 750 students from other localities.
Because of space limitations, the county accepted only one-third of the new applicants this year.
Stovall, who represents the Vinton District, said he received calls from many people outside the county who were disappointed that their children were not accepted.
``You should have heard what I heard after the notices were sent to those who had applied,'' he said.
Roanoke educates about 360 students from outside its boundaries, and Salem has about 340.
The school systems receive state aid for each nonresident - about $2,500 a year. The state money goes wherever the students attend school.
by CNB