ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, October 28, 1996 TAG: 9610280057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: & Now This...
Chris Clay broke into Debi Nicholson's Northern Botetourt house at least twice and didn't draw so much as a cross look from Nicky.
Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom entered the house with an invitation and nearly became the huge mastiff's lunch.
"I didn't run. I was proud of that," Branscom said. "I learned from my campaign experience, running only makes it worse.''
Branscom had spent about an hour at the house checking out the crime scene and got along fine with Nicky. But as he went to leave, Branscom looked at the dog and paused at its face, thinking how its features were a lot like his own St. Bernard.
When he looked Nicky in the eye, the dog charged.
Branscom's shirt and tie took most of the licking, but Branscom did go by the Botetourt County Jail for a tetanus shot. He said he takes full responsibility for the attack and feels awful about what happened to the dog: Nicky was sentenced to 10 days in quarantine at home.
The burglar got five years, 11 months in prison.
- MATT CHITTUM
Star City featured in film
OK, granted, it's not like the Dudley Moore movie "Crazy People," where filmmakers turned parts of Roanoke into the Big Apple.
But if you check out "A Perfect Candidate," the documentary about Virginia's 1994 Senate race between Oliver North and Charles Robb now playing at the Grandin Theatre, you'll find a few familiar faces and places, as well.
Roanoke newscasters - past and present - are the most notable. The movie splices in excerpts from local broadcasts from 1994 to help keep the narrative flowing, relying on footage of WDBJ (Channel 7)'s Melanie Moon announcing that Douglas Wilder had quit the race and using WSLS (Channel 10)'s Kallie King (since departed) to report the final results.
Sharp-eyed filmgoers also may spot former WSLS correspondent Nola Woods interviewing North aboard his campaign RV, but you'd have to be a real insider to recognize two Roanoke Times reporters, Warren Fiske and David M. Poole, who often turn up in scenes of the press pack surrounding the candidates.
You wouldn't know it, but the scene where Robb blasts North as a "document-shredding snake-oil salesman" took place at a rally at what was then Democratic headquarters on Jefferson Street in Roanoke.
But the filmmakers play a little fast and loose with an impressive motorcade rolling down Salem Avenue with police escort. It actually was Vice President Al Gore's arrival at a Robb event on the City Market, but the film cuts to President Clinton, speaking in Alexandria.
- DWAYNE YANCEY
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB