ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997                  TAG: 9704070053
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 

THE WEEK IN REVIEW A SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE WEEK'S TOP STORIES IN THE NEW RIVER VALLEY.

BLACKSBURG

Football player booted

Blacksburg police arrested Virginia Tech football player Pedro Edison late Wednesday on two counts of destruction of property and one count of obstruction of justice. The next day, Tech officials kicked Edison off the team in the first case handled under a new disciplinary policy for Tech athletes. Published in Friday's Roanoke Times.

CHRISTIANSBURG

DUI case moves forward

Both victim and suspect were legally drunk in a fatal collision on Peppers Ferry Road in January. The survivor, Timothy S. Chaffin, was convicted of drunken driving on Monday and had a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter sent to the Montgomery County Circuit Court Grand Jury. Chaffin had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19 percent three hours after the Jan. 23 wreck. The victim, Steven E. Burton, had a 0.10 blood-alcohol content. Published in Tuesday's and Thursday's Currents.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Shawsville first

The Montgomery County School Board set the construction of a new high school in Elliston as its top school-building priority on Tuesday night. The School Board wants the Elliston facility built before renovations and expansion of Blacksburg Middle School. The county Board of Supervisors will ultimately decide how and when the new schools are built. Published in Thursday's Current.

Raises unlikely

Based on discussions Monday by the county supervisors, it appears unlikely that county sheriff's deputies will receive a special pay increase to make their salaries more competitive with surrounding jurisdictions. The Sheriff's Office has had a 24 percent turnover in the last year, largely attributable to low pay. Published in Thursday's Current.

RADFORD

Hospital's future?

Social services, arts and community groups gathered with a consultant on Wednesday to discuss the future of the Carilion Radford Community Hospital building once the hospital moves to a new building in Montgomery County in late 1998. Using the old building as a center for nonprofits may be a viable use for the structure, which is hemmed in by physicians offices and a residential neighborhood. Published in Thursday's Current.

PULASKI COUNTY

No downtown mall

It sounded like a good idea, but turning downtown Pulaski into a new generation of outlet mall just wouldn't work because there simply isn't a market for such shopping with Wytheville so near by, a consultant announced last week. Downtown's distance from Interstate 81 was also a factor. Published in Thursday's Current.

VIRGINIA TECH

Hokie birthday!

Virginia Tech kicked off the celebration of its 125th birthday on Friday with Founders Day activities. The highlight Friday was the presentation of numerous awards to faculty, staff, alumni and students. There was also live music and booming fireworks late Thursday on the Drillfield. Published in Friday's Current.

For electronic versions of these and many other stories, see the New River Current and Roanoke Times on line.

http://www.roanoke.com/nrvhome/nrvindex.html

LENGTH: Medium:   80 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  NASA. Roger Crouch became the first Hokie in space 
          Friday when he went aloft as a payload specialist aboard the Space 
          Shuttle Columbia. Crouch will be overseeing microgravity experiments
          during the 16-day mission. He earned a master's and doctorate from 
          Tech.