ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200026
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-4 EDITION: METRO
10 Years Ago (1986)
June 10: Violent disorders brake out atg three Roanoke junior high schools - Woodrow Wilson, Addison and Ruffner -and Patrick Henry High School on the last day of the school year. One junior high student leaves with a dislocated jaw. Two juveniles are held and two others face assault charges. Officials described the incidents as the worst violence in the city schools during the 1985-86 school year.
June 13: A fire at his Pebble Creek apartment in Roanoke County claims the life of Fred Frelantz, renowned Roanoke musician, former WROV disc jockey and ad man. The Advertising Federation of the Roanoke Valley establishes a scholarship fund in his memory.
June 15: The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra has a new conductor: Victoria Bond, who has trail-blazed the way for American women in this field. "We think she'll be a sensation," says Roanoke Symphony Society President Thomas D. Rutherford, citing her "tremendous personality" and talents as pianist and composer as well as conductor. The American Symphony Orchestra League lists Bond as one of six women holding the principal artistic position with U.S. orchestras the size of Roanoke's or larger.
25 Years Ago (1971)
June 1: Between 50 and 60 Roanoke sanitation division employees receive three-day suspensions in a work stoppage. "They [the employees] have told us they want a mass meeting to air grievances," Public Works Director Bill Clark says. He also says he can't agree to such a meeting, and "they won't tell us, unless we sit down with what I consider an unruly group." While saying his union didn't condone a strike by the workers, R.E. Myers, consultant to the Public Service Employees Union 1261, says sanitation workers have many complaints and believe they are being mistreated.
June 7: Twelve aircraft, including a giant DC-3, are damaged when a 73-mph gust of wind strikes Woodrum Airport shortly before midnight. The wind also causes thousands of dollars in damage to buildings. Extensive damage is reported elsewhere in Roanoke, with Northeast apparently the hardest hit.
June 9: Jane Warren is pulled from the line at Patrick Henry High School's graduation ceremony for wearing a peace symbol with her cap and gown. "She was asked to leave the line because she was not following the decorum of the graduation," explains Principal Edward Boley. Jane's mother backs her because she believes schools have too many rules having little relevance to education.
June 29: The Roanoke School Board approves a plan desegregating the elementary schools that includes closing Harrison school; integrating all 24 elementary schools, but not on a percentage basis; busing an additional 946 elementary students, including kindergartners; acquiring 15 school buses at a cost of $117,000; and staggering schedules for elementary schools. The plan will be submitted to U.S. District Judge Ted Dalton for approval.
50 Years Ago (1946)
June 3: Beginning on this date, Roanoke police will strictly enforce section 67, chapter 34 of the city code, prohibiting unnecessary blowing of car horns by motorists, except as a danger signal. Those failing to heed this ordinance will face a court summons.
June 15: Wilson Gaiter and Lonnie Alfred Caldwell, both World War II veterans, will become the first blacks appointed to the Roanoke police force, effective June 16. Their appointments resulted from repeated requests from leading black residents.
June 19: Roanoke Treasurer C.R. Kennett announces that a record number of people - more than 20,000 - are qualified to vote in the August primary and the November general election in Roanoke. Some, however, won't be eligible because they haven't paid their taxes. A large number of former servicemen will be eligible because they are exempt from paying the poll tax for the year in which they were released from the military.
PAST TENSE is a monthly feature compiled by Melvin E. Matthews Jr. from past issues of the paper to help readers recall events in the Roanoke Valley.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB