ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604080056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
Police claim self-defense in shooting
RICHMOND - A man was fatally shot by two Richmond police officers who told investigators they fired in self-defense, police said Saturday.
The two officers responded about 10:30 p.m. Friday to a complaint about a disorderly man with a gun, the department said in a written statement. The officers say the suspect pointed his revolver directly at them and threatened them. One officer fired two shots. The other officer fired once, the statement said.
The injured man was taken to the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals where he died, the statement said. The victim's name is being withheld until next of kin can be notified.
- Associated Press
VDOT digs up Colonial artifacts
HAMPTON - The remains of a Colonial farmstead have been found at a highway construction site.
An amateur archaeologist, Kenneth Quinn of Hampton, called the Virginia Department of Transportation early last month to report finding belt buckles, ceramic shards, a piece of candlestick and spoon fragments in the construction debris.
Quinn's collection convinced VDOT to authorize a more extensive dig by College of William and Mary archaeologists, who began removing topsoil March 11.
``If the artifacts had been more mundane, we would have thought this was just fill trash - that it had to have come from some other place,'' said Mary Ellen Hodges, a VDOT archaeologist. ``But these were too interesting to ignore.''
The work is being done quickly to minimize the impact on the Mercury Boulevard expansion project. So far, the excavation has turned up the partial foundation of a relatively substantial 18th-century dwelling.
The archaeologists also found the remains of a second structure that senior field archaeologist Ken Stuck said included a large brick hearth, possibly a single-room kitchen or outbuilding that served the main house.
- Associated Press
Paperless welfare system looks likely
RICHMOND - Paper welfare checks and food stamps will likely be replaced with plastic in the next few years as the state switches to an electronic benefits transfer system similar to a bank debit-card account.
Recipients could use the cards to make purchases at stores and obtain cash from automated teller machines. The amounts would be deducted electronically from their accounts.
Studies show the cards would be better than checks and stamps for the state and for the recipients, said Clarence H. Carter, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services. The system would be less susceptible to fraud and more efficient to run. Recipients would be safer, could get access to benefits faster and see fewer errors.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB