ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 27, 1996 TAG: 9605280071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
COLUMN: & now this
James Hewett was at a Franklin County Board of Supervisors meeting last week to complain about his taxes.
Nothing new, a citizen upset with the rate.
But Hewett brought a lawyer, and the tax he came to talk about isn't something commonly referred to in Franklin County.
Hewett, who lives in Winston-Salem, N.C., owns a large houseboat that he docks on Philpott Lake.
He asked the county Board of Supervisors to lower taxes on boats, like his, that weigh more than five tons.
Hewett's houseboat is valued at $86,600, he said. He paid $1,446 in county taxes this year.
If he lived in Gloucester County, Va., which borders the Chesapeake Bay, he'd pay only $315 in taxes, Hewett told board members.
His attorney, Eric Ferguson of Rocky Mount, mentioned that state law allows for the tax on large boats to be revised by local governments.
Board Chairman Wayne Angell - who didn't seem to be concerned about a revolt by five-ton-boat owners in Franklin County - figures the law was put on the books to benefit a locality like Gloucester County, which depends more on boaters and the fishing industry.
The board tabled Hewett's request for further study.
- TODD JACKSON
Tory desk fetches torrid price
A rare Virginia desk, carved and constructed after the Revolutionary War by a British sympathizer, sold at auction May 18 in Radford for the eye-catching price of $110,000. It was the first time Ken Farmer Auctions and Estates of Radford had sold a single object for six figures.
It was also a record for a southern desk "as far as we know," said Farmer.
The desk was built by cabinetmaker John Shearer, who caught Americana collectors' attention in the 1970s when one of his desks sold for $40,000, an unheard-of price at the time.
The desk sold in Radford went to a private home in Southwest Virginia.
"It made a big stir," Farmer said.
The desk, dated 1816, features an inlaid miniature bust resembling King George III and the inlaid phrase "by a true North Britain." Swags, shields and anchors are inlaid in the walnut as well. The desk, which was signed, also shows that Shearer lived seven years longer than most research shows, Farmer said.
Of course, he added, "it's hard to explain to people who don't collect antiques why something would be worth $110,000."
- MADELYN ROSENBERG
A sisterly visit from Kenya
Fredrick Omondi, chairman of finance, staff and general purposes in Kisumu, Kenya - one of Roanoke's six sister cities - was in Roanoke this month to help strengthen a 20-year-old connection.
The primary reason for his visit was to get to know members of the Roanoke community and to get an up-close view of city government operations, said Greta Evans, chairwoman of the Roanoke-Kisumu Sister City Committee and community affairs director at WSLS (Channel 10).
Omondi met with the staff of city departments similar to those he heads, consulted with members of the Sister City Committee and enjoyed cuisine at several Roanoke-area restaurants, Evans said.
Omondi also attended a service at High Street Baptist Church. The church's pastor - The Rev. Noel C. Taylor, former Roanoke mayor - visited Kenya in 1990.
Evans said plans were developed during Omondi's May 10-12 visit to boost the Roanoke-Kisumu relationship, which started in 1976. Joint projects have included the construction and operation of a vocational school in Kisumu for deprived young men and women.
A visit to Kenya in 1998 is being developed by the Sister City Committee. An invitation is extended to anyone who would like to participate in this cultural experience, Evans said.
For more information, contact Evans at 981-9110 or 989-4187.
- LESLIE TAYLOR
911 gets call of the wild
Call it the wildest cat call ever recorded.
Angela Viers, a dispatcher with the Pulaski Police Department, said a 911 call came in last month without a frantic voice on the other end. That, in and of itself, was not unusual given the numerous prank and frivolous calls dispatchers field.
The fact that a cat had pawed the 911 sequence after knocking a telephone receiver off its base was unusual.
"I could tell someone was there," Viers said. The only problem, she said, was she couldn't get any verbal response.
Many times a 911 caller leaves the phone off the hook so dispatchers will hear screams or fighting and send help. Or, a prankster will call and hang up.
When a caller hangs up, the dispatcher calls back and checks to see if everything is all right, which is what Viers did.
Viers said the cat's owner apparently saw the phone off the hook and put it back. When Viers got through, the woman explained it was her cat who made the call - and without speed dial.
When asked if this was the strangest 911 call she ever handled, Viers, a dispatcher for more than six years, said, "Probably not ... [but] I never had a cat call before."
- LISA GARCIA
LENGTH: Long : 101 linesby CNB