THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160313
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Briefs
LENGTH: 60 lines
Allen says money will promote 1998 technology meeting
FAIRFAX - A day after Virginia's public colleges made claims on part of a $247 million state budget surplus, Gov. George Allen announced how some of the money will be spent.
The $1 million pledge Allen made Tuesday is intended not for education but to promote an international meeting of technology executives that will bring about 1,500 top information and technology executives from around the world to George Mason University.
Allen has proposed colleges get $118,000 from the surplus.
The General Assembly will vote on the $1 million request and the rest of Allen's budget amendments this session.
CENTRAL VIRGINIA
More money for highways
RICHMOND - A federal accounting error and Virginia's own underestimation of what it was entitled to receive will result in a $135 million windfall in federal money for the state's highways.
The $135 million means Virginia will get about 40 percent more money for highways than state officials had expected. States get back part of the money their residents pay in federal gasoline taxes. The money will be added to next year's highway budget, which goes into effect July 1.
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
City needs police officers
ROANOKE - The city is trying to fill vacancies for police officers but qualified applicants are hard to find. No one wants the job. The few who try out are failing a required polygraph test ``by leaps and bounds,'' one city official said.
City Council has authorized 258 officers. Only 238 are deployed now, but 11 will hit the streets after graduation from a training academy next month.
Also. . .
The number of Virginia families on welfare has fallen 22 percent since March 1995. Scott Oostdyk, deputy secretary of the Virginia Department of Health and Human Services, said the smaller welfare caseload will save taxpayers about $77 million in the next two years.
COMING UP
TODAY: Blacksburg - Arraignment for Brian Edmonds and James Crawford, Virginia Tech football players charged with rape, Montgomery County General District Court, 9:30 a.m.
Williamsburg - Virginia Bar Association meeting though Jan. 18, Williamsburg Lodge and Conference Center, 310 S. England St. Press credentials required. MEMO: From The Associated Press
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY