ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997 TAG: 9702170011
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Lilly sentenced to death
A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge sentenced Benjamin Lee Lilly to death Tuesday for the capital murder of a Virginia Tech student in 1995.
Police said the 28-year-old Lilly and two accomplices carjacked Alexander V. DeFilippis from a Blacksburg convenience store and murdered the 22-year-old in a rural part of Montgomery County. Ben Lilly's wife, who wed the killer in the Montgomery County Jail in mid-January, sobbed as Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs set April 9 as the execution date. A long series of appeals is expected. Published in Wednesday's Current and front page.
New administrator named
Jeffrey Johnson was named Montgomery County's new administrator Wednesday. The Giles County native was picked from more than 90 applicants and eight semifinalists. Johnson, 49, will leave his county administrator post in Brunswick County and start in Montgomery on March 3. He'll have four weeks to work with outgoing County Administrator Betty Thomas, who is retiring after 16 years in the position.
Jeff Lunsford, assistant county administrator, was one of the semifinalists to replace Thomas. But on Feb. 7, he accepted a job as Louisa County's new administrator. He was Montgomery County's finance director for nine years before becoming assistant county administrator in September 1994. Published in Thursday's Current.
BLACKSBURG
Collegiate Square rebuffed
Developers of the long-dormant Collegiate Square site near downtown Blacksburg sought a guarantee this week from the Blacksburg Town Council that they could build a hotel on the site without undergoing another round of regulatory review. But council unanimously rejected the notion, amid concerns about a lack of sufficient parking for a hotel. Meanwhile, council approved a major new town-house and apartment development off Ramble Road called Knollwood. Developers Jeanne Stosser and Georgia Anne Snyder-Falkinham hope to target professionals from the nearby Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. Published in Thursday's Current.
GILES COUNTY
Neely accepts plea bargain
Narrows building contractor Allen R. Neely accepted a plea bargain Tuesday reducing drug charges against him to a misdemeanor. He issued a statement through his attorney after the hearing stating that he was innocent of all charges filed against him. He was originally charged with possessing and conspiracy to possess crack cocaine. The first charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and the second was not prosecuted. Neely must perform 100 hours of community service and submit to random drug screenings. He said he accepted the plea bargain because the case had dragged on for nearly a year and was affecting his business. Commonwealth's Attorney Garland Spangler said he accepted it because an informant had changed his story, which could have weakened the case before a jury. Published in Wednesday's Current.
PULASKI
New councilman named
Pulaski Town Council named Pulaski native Joe Weddle Tuesday to fill a vacancy on the governing body. Weddle, who is Pulaski Division superintendent with American Electric Power and longtime town Planning Commission member, will complete the term of John Johnston who was named mayor earlier this month following the resignation of Andy Graham for health reasons. Published in Wednesday's Current.
RADFORD
Courthouse plan OK'd
Radford City Council on Monday approved a $2.5 million plan to renovate and expand the Municipal Building rather than build a more-costly new courts building. The plan is expected to relieve the space crunch in the nearby Public Safety Building, too. Published in Wednesday's Current.
For electronic versions of these and many other stories, see the New River Current and Roanoke Times on line.
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LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM STAFF. 1. Teacher Tamara Oliver runs a club forby CNBsecond-graders to learn about computers from the guts outward at
Margaret Beeks Elementary in Blacksburg. The club is for girls only,
and one youngster said she likes it that way because boys are so
bossy. 2. (headshot) Lilly.