DATE: Tuesday, July 29, 1997                TAG: 9707290317

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:  117 lines

HAMPTON ROADS - NEWS BRIEFS

Tickets to the fourth annual American Music Festival's main musical attractions are cheaper this year and have nearly sold out for the Labor Day weekend event.

Tickets cost only $1 for each of four concerts scheduled Aug. 28 through Sept. 1 at the 5th Street Stage. Last year, tickets were $10 each. The five-day festival will feature some 40 concerts on 10 stages, with the 5th Street events being the only ticketed concerts. The rest are free.

Thousands of the $1 tickets already have been sold, and sales may soon come to a close, said Danielle Batdorf, a Beach Events spokeswoman.

The concert area on the beach at 5th Street can hold 20,000 concert-goers, Batdorf said.

Scheduled performers for the main stage include Tanya Tucker and David Lee Murphy, the Village People and K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Hall & Oates, Kool & The Gang and Wilson Pickett.

Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations. There is a limit of four tickets per person per show.

Tickets will not be available at the gate, and children 12 and under also must present a ticket to enter the 5th Street area. PORTSMOUTH Blood drive organized to alleviate type O shortage

Because of an emergency shortage of type O positive and O negative blood, the Red Cross will hold a type O blood drive from noon to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Portsmouth/West Chesapeake Chapter House, 700 London Blvd.

There has been a greater demand than usual for type O blood. There have been 3 severe trauma situations in the past few days, and the Red Cross sent out 50 units of type O negative blood.

Everyone with type O blood who is over 17 years of age, weighs more than 110 pounds and is in good health is urged to make an effort to donate blood.

It takes about 45 minutes to give blood, including the registration. The hours between 2 and 5 p.m. are usually less busy.

Call 393-1031 for more information. City tries to assess need for adult day-care services

The Portsmouth Task Force on Aging is interested in getting feedback from Portsmouth residents who could use adult day-care services.

A committee looking into the need for such a service would like interested residents to call the Portsmouth Senior Center with answers to these questions:

How many days a week would the service be used?

At what hours of the day?

Will transportation be needed?

What special needs would the individual participating in the program have?

Why is this program needed for your family member?

What would the family be willing to pay per day for this service?

Interested residents should call 398-3777, preferably between 9 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday. NORFOLK Sentara holds baby shower for newborn clothing closet

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital is inviting Hampton Roads residents to a baby shower to help fill up its clothing closet.

The closet is a stock of clothing offered to some of the neediest infants born at the hospital. The shower is being conducted by Sentara employees.

For years, the closet has been managed by a social worker at the Sentara Norfolk General Women's Health Pavilion, but the stock has never been as low as it is now.

Donations to the baby shower clothing drive should be new items of premature or newborn clothing and should be dropped off at the Information Desk at the hospital on Wednesday. For more information, call 1-800-SENTARA. SUFFOLK Daughter faces charge in crash that killed mother

An 82-year-old Portsmouth woman was killed and her 49-year-old daughter was injured Sunday evening when the daughter apparently fell asleep at the wheel and crashed while driving home from a day trip to Richmond, police said Monday.

Doris L. Moore was killed when the 1985 Volvo she was riding in struck a utility pole on the 2900 block of Pruden Blvd. about 6:30 p.m., according to Suffolk police.

Moore lived with her daughter, Patsy Moore Griffin, in the 3300 block of Corell Court in Portsmouth. Griffin was taken to Norfolk Sentara Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

According to police reports, Griffin said she became drowsy while driving through Suffolk following an afternoon excursion to Richmond. She fell asleep, she said, and the car drifted left at 55 mph across two lanes of oncoming traffic then slammed into the utility pole.

The daughter wore a seatbelt; the mother did not. Police said Griffin faces a reckless-driving charge. Public forum will address changes in welfare rules

Clients of welfare services are invited to attend a forum regarding welfare reform on Wednesday, July 30, between 10 a.m. and noon at John F. Kennedy Middle School. The school is located at 2523 E. Washington St.

Speakers from the Suffolk Department of Social Services will talk about the changes welfare recipients can expect when new welfare rules are implemented on October 1.

Welfare recipients will be able to ask questions about time-limits on welfare benefits, job training and other pertinent issues. Door prizes and refreshments will be provided.

COMING UP

WEDNESDAY

Portsmouth - The 44th annual Portsmouth Seafood Outing will be held from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the U.S. Coast Guard Support Center in West Norfolk. Bill Deal and Ammon Tharp will provide music for the outdoor party, which features a seafood buffet, business exhibits and a silent auction. Tickets are $20 for members in advance, and $25 for nonmembers and at the gate. A block of 10 tickets costs $180. Call 664-2576. MEMO: Staff writers Lori Denney, Rebecca Myers Cutchins and Liz Szabo

contributed to this report.

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