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

DATE: SATURDAY, November 25, 1995                   TAG: 9511270048
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN VIRGINIA

RICHMOND - A state grant and help from Virginia Power will help put an electric-powered school bus on the road in Henrico County starting next year.

The school system received approval of a $215,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation Nov. 16 to help finance the project. An additional $62,000 worth of services will be provided by Virginia Power, and the School Board has earmarked $50,000 for the project.

Putting an electric school bus in service will involve a charging station, training, engineering support and extended warranties.

It is thought that the bus will be the first electric-powered school bus in use on the East Coast.

The 72-passenger vehicle will run off 12-volt batteries. The charge lasts between 70 and 75 miles.

- Associated Press

Deer hunter falls, fatally shoots self

SUFFOLK - A 15-year-old deer hunter died when he apparently shot himself in the stomach after falling out of his tree stand, Suffolk police said.

Police spokesman Michael Simpkins said Timothy Russell and an 18-year-old friend were hunting from separate tree stands Thursday morning when the friend heard a gunshot. The companion remained on his stand for 30 minutes before checking on Russell.

Simpkins said the friend, who was not identified, found Russell lying on the ground with a shotgun wound to the stomach. Russell apparently had fallen about 8 feet from his stand.

- Associated Press

UVa grad students help girls say no

CHARLOTTESVILLE - University of Virginia graduate students will be teaching more than 300 Charlottesville-area seventh-grade girls to be wary of tobacco and alcohol advertising.

``This is the prime age of experimentation, especially for girls,'' said Bronwyn Blackwood, a health educator with the university's Institute for Substance Abuse Studies. ``If you delay the experimentation, you can probably prevent them from becoming smokers and heavy drinkers.''

Blackwood said the girls will be taught about the marketing techniques used to sell tobacco and alcohol.

``We want them to be able to look at advertising and tell exactly how it was put together, what group they're targeting and what message they're trying to convey. We want the girls to be able to fend it off,'' she said.

The project is funded with a $164,205 grant from the federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

- Associated Press

Keywords:
FATALITY