DATE: Friday, May 9, 1997                   TAG: 9705090734

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Briefs 

                                            LENGTH:  142 lines

HAMPTON ROADS [BRIEFS]

VIRGINIA BEACH

Mayor participates

in dedication for

new parking garage

Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf waving to a crowd of about 100 from an open convertible and a giant seafood buffet greeted guests at dedication ceremonies Thursday for the city's new $7.2 million parking garage at Ninth Street and Atlantic Avenue.

The three-story parking structure between Atlantic and Pacific avenues is the first multistory public parking facility to be built at the Oceanfront. It has been open for business for a month, although the front part of the building is still under construction.

The garage was built with private capital and the top three floors - containing about 610 parking spaces - are being leased by the city for public use.

United Way's director

of fund raising resigns

Julie Horton, director of fund raising for the Suffolk/Isle of Wight United Way for the past 14 months, has resigned.

Horton said Tuesday that she submitted her resignation May 1.

``It's just time to move on,'' Horton said. ``I'm in the process now of looking for another position.''

United Way is a charitable organization that helps individuals and families through a number of independent agencies,

``We're sorry to see her leave,'' said Mike Hughes, president of United Way of South Hampton Roads. ``We hope to have the position filled my mid- to late June.''

Horton, who lives in Suffolk, said her resignation will be effective on May 30.

Voter registration office

open for some Saturdays

The city voter registration office will stay open on Saturdays to accommodate registration and absentee ballot deadlines for the June 10 Democratic and Republican primaries.

The office at 434 W. Washington St. will be open Saturday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Residents must register no later than 5 p.m. on Monday to be eligible to vote in the primaries.

The office also will be open on Saturday, May 31 and June 7, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., for Suffolk residents needing to vote by absentee ballot. The last day to drop off an absentee ballot is June 7.

Disabled voters needing assistance must file a request with the registrar at least 48 hours before the election. For more information, call 925-6391.

Humor therapy, nutrition

topics of family health day

Family Health and Fitness Day will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Pavilion in Virginia Beach.

Lecture topics will include home security, life-saving basics, humor therapy, nutrition and prevention of athletic injuries in children.

Demonstrations will include martial arts, massage therapy and step aerobics.

A basketball free-throw competition will be from 10 a.m. to noon. An aerobics-instructor challenge will be led by Hope Carter-Snoap, a Reebok master trainer, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Admission is free. Donations will be accepted for the Samaritan House. For more information, call 498-WELL. Portsmouth

Pacific Escort renamed

Gosport after shipyard

The Norfolk Naval Shipyard's research vessel will be renamed the Gosport in a ceremony at 1 p.m. today at Portside on the downtown waterfront.

The ship, previously called the Pacific Escort, will be christened by Nan Klemm, wife of Capt. William Klemm, the shipyard's commanding officer.

Gosport was the original name of the shipyard when it was founded in 1767. No other American ship has ever borne the name.

The vessel will be open for tours after the ceremony.

Earth Day poster contest

entries still accepted

Students still have time to enter Chesapeake's Earth Day Birthday Celebration poster contest.

The celebration last weekend ended early because of rain. Students who would still like to enter the ``What Earth Day Means to Me'' poster contest may submit entries until May 16.

Students may bring their posters to any Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department community center; parks and recreation administrative offices at 112 Mann Drive; and at the Chesapeake sheriff's office at 401 Albemarle Drive.

Service to commemorate

officers killed on duty

A memorial service for local peace officers killed in the line of duty will be held in front of the Chesapeake police headquarters at 304 Albemarle Drive at 4 p.m. Monday by the Chesapeake Police Department, the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office and the Chesapeake Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 9.

This year's ceremony is dedicated to the memory of Chief Ian M. Shipley Jr., who died on Oct. 6, 1996. State Sen. Yvonne B. Miller will speak.

In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held at the Chesapeake Sheriff's Department. For details, call police spokesman Dave Hughes at 382-6809 or 661-3565.

NORFOLK

Composter sale encourages

backyard waste disposal

To encourage recycling and cut the city's cost of solid waste disposal, the Norfolk Environmental Commission is sponsoring a composter sale Saturday.

The sale is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the recycling center in the parking lot of Janaf Shopping Center, next to the Montgomery Ward and behind the Burger King.

The ``Earth Machine'' composter, an 80-gallon, ventilated plastic container, will sale for $35. The purpose is to encourage backyard composting using grass trimmings, leaves, food scraps and other organic waste to fertilize gardens and plants, said John Deuel, recycling coordinator for Norfolk's Department of Public Works.

Organic waste comprises about 30 percent of a typical community's waste stream.

ALSO . . .

Norfolk - Old Dominion University will hold its graduation at the university's Foreman Field at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, officials said Thursday. The university had scheduled an alternative time and place if it rained, but ODU administrators said they decided Thursday to keep the ceremony at Foreman Field.

COMING UP

TODAY

Virginia Beach - As part of Be Kind to Animals Week (May 4-10), the Virginia Beach SPCA will be open from 10 a.m. to midnight for a Midnight Madness Adopt-A-Thon. The shelter is located at 3040 Holland Road. For more information, call 427-0070. MEMO: Staff writers Jon Glass, Linda McNatt, Bill Reed, Pat Dooley,

Louis Hansen and Ida Kay Jordan contributed to this report.

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