ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 29, 1996 TAG: 9601290057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: & Now This
Bill Ellenbogen has become a celebrity of sorts in Blacksburg, and not just because he is a former Virginia Tech football player.
Since christening his cyberbar - an Internet-connected computer in the bar of Bogen's, his downtown Blacksburg restaurant - Ellenbogen has been included in nearly every national newspaper and magazine story about the Blacksburg Electronic Village.
If his image wasn't already hip, it certainly has become so with "Life in Cyburbia," the latest BEV story in the slick pages of Esquire. Referred to as a "six-foot-five-inch, 260-pound leviathan" in the story by Randall Rothenberg, Ellenbogen - and his cyberbar - once again play a central role in a national story.
Why so much attention?
"It's a different concept and it also is something that has a little more panache than a computer screen," said Ellenbogen, who will take no personal credit for the added attention.
The Esquire story asks: "Is this digital utopia or the end of civilization as we know it?" It examines and questions the impact of technology on society, with snapshots of the way BEV has entered life in Blacksburg.
Since 1992, the BEV staff has logged in 119 summaries of newspaper and magazine stories in publications ranging from Playboy to The New York Times. Director Andrew Cohill, referred to in the Esquire story as the unofficial BEV mayor, said all the media attention has been "surprisingly good."
"The important thing for us has been to serve the community and the university," Cohill added by e-mail. "We are happy to receive the publicity, but our job is to get folks connected, not get our names in the paper."
There's more to come. In March, BEV will be featured in USA Weekend, complete with a picture of more than 50 Blacksburg residents who braved a cold winter day to be included in the cover photo.
Our man in the White House
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers in the White House?
Well he was, at least Saturday.
The mayor was among a group invited by President Bill Clinton to the Oval Office to observe the president's weekly radio address.
``He looked remarkedly calm,'' Bowers said of the president. ``He's fit, trim and ready for a tough campaign.''
Although Bowers has been to the White House about five times before, this was the first time he had visited the Oval Office. He said he was curious about Clinton's collection of books and memorabilia concerning Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
``I, too, am an FDR fan,'' Bowers said.
Clinton appeared ``upbeat'' about his State of the Union address, Bowers said.
``He's confident he's done a good job, but he's not overly confident. I was impressed,'' the mayor said.
Bowers was in Washington on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the 64th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Dog warden is felony free
Gerald Wheeler, Henry County's tell-it-like-it-is dog warden, is back on the job.
Wheeler was cleared last month of a felony charge of illegally distributing a drug to euthanize two dogs. He was found guilty of falsifying a state-required log sheet, a misdemeanor, after the occurrence last summer. He is appealing the conviction, which cost him $500.
Wheeler had been suspended without pay pending the outcome of his trial, but he was reinstated to his job by Henry County Administrator Bob Lawler earlier this month.
Asked how things are going, Wheeler said: ``Oh, everything's just lovely. Everybody who calls out here says, `I'm glad you've got your job back.'''
The charges were the result of a sting operation initiated by a woman in Patrick County who said she couldn't afford to put her dogs to sleep and who couldn't get in touch with the Patrick County dog warden.
Wheeler sent his son, Gary - who was acquitted of all charges - to euthanize two dogs the woman said were sick. Gary Wheeler was arrested by an undercover deputy, and his father was charged later.
After he was acquitted of the felony charge last month, Gerald Wheeler said: "I felt an obligation to this lady. I just hope to hell she appreciates it, 'cause it's sure going to cost me."
Alas, the plowing policeman
Boones Mill's police officer has become the lightning rod for another controversy.
Town Council member Virginia Carroll wrote The Franklin News-Post last week accusing Lynn Frith of blocking a town road with snow as he tried to clear another with the town's backhoe after a recent storm.
A pregnant woman three days past her due date was blocked in, according to Carroll.
Frith "has no business operating the backhoe or even being the town policeman," she wrote.
To that, Frith said: ``It's a total fabrication of the facts." He said he cleared half of the road in question, but the backhoe's wheels started to slide on a hill and he simply couldn't finish the rest.
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