DATE: Tuesday, May 13, 1997                 TAG: 9705130342

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

HAMPTON ROADS [BRIEFS]

Region

Citizens invited

to participate in

regionalism forum

Rick Horrow will be present at an educational forum Wednesday sponsored by the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations to answer questions about economic development and regionalism.

Horrow, president of Horrow Sports Ventures and sports development consultant, was hired in April by the Hampton Roads Partnership to meet with civic and political groups to see if the region can agree to build projects to improve the quality of life and attract business.

Carolyn Lincoln, vice president of the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations, said this will be an opportunity for citizens ``to give their input and find out exactly what the partnership has in mind for economic development in this region.''

The forum begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Virginia Beach City Council Chambers. Citizens from all the cities are invited to attend. Call 467-3862 for more information.

Norfolk

Salvage ship arriving with

Navy helicopter wreckage

The salvage ship Grasp is scheduled to return home at 8 a.m. today with wreckage from a Navy helicopter it retrieved off Cape Hatteras, N.C.

The bodies of the helicopter's four victims were retrieved by the Grasp last week and have since been returned to their families.

The ship's return ends a six-week mission at the site of the H-60 Seahawk helicopter's March 13 crash, which came as it approached the frigate Jesse L. Taylor during a training exercise with the John F. Kennedy Battle Group.

Witnesses said the helicopter apparently was given a last-minute ``wave-off'' as it approached the frigate for refueling, passed over the ship's stern and crashed into the sea. The area is known as the ``Graveyard of the Atlantic'' and is infamous for its treacherous shoals and foul weather.

The salvage efforts, which began March 28 in about 350 feet of water, 25 miles off the coast, were not without costs.

Five crew members from the Grasp were injured April 21 during the salvage operation when a mooring line holding the ship above the wreckage slipped during rough weather, knocking them to the ground.

They suffered various injuries to legs, heads and stomach areas. All have since been released from the hospital, but two remain on medical leave.

The Grasp and its crew recovered the main fuselage, tail boom and main console of the aircraft, which will be turned over to the Navy Safety Center for an investigation.

City forum to focus on

teen pregnancy issues

The city's Department of Public Health and Department of Human Services will hold a forum Wednesday to enlist community support in confronting the issues of teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock childbirths.

The program will be from 7 to 9 p.m. at Lafayette-Winona Middle School, 1701 Alsace Ave.

Congress has recently acted to address the problem. As part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, it sponsored five $20 million incentive grants. Grants will be awarded annually over a three-year period to the five states that do the most to reduce their numbers of out-of-wedlock births over a two-year period while not increasing their abortion rates.

Wednesday's forum is free and open to the public.

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