ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Judge rules campground can evict
NEW KENT - Residents of a New Kent County campground that violated zoning and sanitation regulations must move out by Oct. 1, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Circuit Judge Samuel Powell upheld the validity of eviction notices issued to residents of the Chickahominy Outpost campground. Most of the 350 residents already have moved, but about 60 sought an injunction to block the evictions.
Residents originally were ordered to move by Aug. 18, but Powell extended the deadline.
The 189-acre property includes 205 campsites, rented for $65 a month, a mobile home park, a 27-slip marina, a store and a restaurant that closed about a month ago.
Powell ordered the campground shut down in July. Campground owners opted to sell the property rather than pay for improvements to bring it into compliance with zoning and health department regulations.
- Associated Press
Man gets 5 years for rape of girl, 13
STAFFORD - A man who helped lure a 13-year-old girl out of her home and into the woods to be raped was sentenced to five years in prison.
Ronnell Hill, 20, avoided a jury trial in Stafford Circuit Court on Monday by entering an Alford plea to conspiracy to commit statutory rape. The plea means he did not admit guilt but acknowledges there was enough evidence to convict him.
He pleaded guilty to unlawful carnal knowledge in June.
Hill was accused of conspiring with Marsha English, 18, in May 1995 to lure the girl out of her home with the intent of raping her. English was convicted of being an accessory before the fact of statutory rape and conspiracy to commit statutory rape, according to court records. She was given a 10-year prison sentence, with five years suspended.
According to court testimony, Hill and English picked the girl up and drove a short distance to an apartment complex where English lived. The girl testified that while English went into the home of a friend, she and Hill walked down a wooded path. She said Hill pushed her to the ground and forced her to have sex with him.
``I did not force her to have sex,'' Hill said Monday. ``I did not know her age. If I had known her age, it would not have gotten to this point.''
- Associated Press
Tickets fly in drive to enforce red lights
RICHMOND - Police in three Richmond-area localities issued 2,333 tickets to drivers accused of running red lights during a three-month crackdown that ended July 31.
The program, called the Metro Coalition Against Red Light Running, was funded by a $40,000 federal grant.
In Henrico and Chesterfield counties, officers wrote 45 percent more tickets for running red lights than during the same period in 1995. Police there say the effort appeared to pay off: There were 50 percent fewer accidents attributed to running lights in the suburbs.
Richmond did not record similar statistics, so citywide comparisons were not possible. Hanover County also participated, but its final figures were not available.
Federal authorities say running traffic lights is among the leading causes of crashes in urban areas.
``We figured we'd show some positive results,'' said Henrico police Lt. Lewis Shaw. ``But writing tickets was only one part of the campaign.''
He said publicity about the campaign also helped.
- Associated Press
Clinton to address christening of carrier
NEWPORT NEWS - President Clinton is scheduled to speak at the Sept. 7 christening of the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman.
The ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding, where the carrier is being built, will be open to the public, the shipyard said Tuesday.
Clinton named the ship last year for the 33rd president of the United States.
The Truman is 1,096 feet long, displaces 95,000 tons and will have 6,000 people and 80 aircraft on board. It is scheduled to be delivered in 1998.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 82 linesby CNB