DATE: Saturday, September 6, 1997           TAG: 9709060419
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:  112 lines

HAMPTON ROADS [BRIEFS]

Without sprinklers, two motels ordered to close top floors

Two motels were each ordered to close the top floor to guests by Tuesday and conduct fire-watch patrols of the first three floors because the buildings lack sprinkler systems.

York County fire officials also told the motels to post notices on main entry doors this week to notify guests of the situation. The motels failed to meet a Sept. 1 deadline to install automatic sprinklers, said Robert A. Yeager, the county's fire inspector.

The managers of the Comfort Inn-Central and Comfort Inn-King George declined Thursday to comment on the order.

The state regulation requires that automatic fire sprinklers be installed at all hotels and motels taller than three stories, regardless of when they were constructed.

The regulation was established in 1990, with a March 1, 1997, compliance deadline. Earlier this year, the General Assembly extended the deadline to Sept. 1.

HAMPTON

D.C. police are looking for

Watergate burglary report

The Washington, D.C., Police Department has started looking into the possible existence of the original police report from the Watergate burglary.

A document billed as the original report has been for sale at the Phoebus Auction Gallery in Hampton since late June.

An officer from the department's Office of Internal Affairs telephoned a Virginian-Pilot reporter Friday with questions regarding the auction and the document.

``I don't know if it is the actual document or not,'' said Agent Earl Gatewood of Internal Affairs. ``Since it is allegedly the property of the Metropolitan Police Department, we have to look into it.''

The latest word from the auction house several weeks ago was that bidding for the report was still open, but no one could be reached Friday at the auction house to confirm that.

The report is presumedly in the hands of a former D.C. police officer who has had the document since shortly after the infamous burlary on June 17, 1972. The auction house received national media attention this summer when it put the report up for sale along with other Nixon memoribilia, including the lock said to be picked by Watergate burglars.

``We are interested in if the document exists and where it is,'' Gatewood said of the report. ``If it's going to be offered for sale again, I'd like to know when it's going up for sale.''

The Office of Internal Affairs has a policy of not confirming or denying whether an official investigation is being conducted. Gatewood said he would not legally be able to force auction house owner Gail Wolpin to reveal the name of the person in possession of the report.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Plane tickets, free heat are prizes at Neptune Festival

A $2 investment in a Neptune Festival Poseidon Pin could take you on an airplane trip or heat your house for a year.

At least that's what will happen to some people who buy Poseidon Pins as part of Virginia Beach's annual fall gala, the Neptune Festival, from today through Sept. 28.

The names of people who buy the $2 purple and yellow plastic pins will be entered in a drawing at the end of the festival, and grand prizes include airfare for two anywhere in the United States, 1,000 gallons of heating oil, a beach weekend, a U.S. Savings Bond and a gold bracelet. Drawings for $100 gift certificates also will be held.

The Neptune Festival folks hope to sell some 23,000 festival mementoes this year. Businesses can buy them by the bucketful, 100 for $60. The proceeds go back into the festival coffers.

They can be purchased at the Neptune Festival office, 265 Kings Grant Road, Suite 102. The pins also will be sold at the Oceanfront throughout the Neptune Festival's Boardwalk Weekend, Sept. 26-28. Call 498-0215.

NORFOLK

NSU's new leader to speak at annual fall convocation

Norfolk State University president Dr. Marie V. McDemmond will speak at the university's annual fall convocation exercise at 5 p.m. Sept. 21 in the Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall on campus.

McDemmond will address the students, faculty and staff members, parents and community residents during the event that traditionally marks the beginning of a new academic year at NSU. The theme of this year's convocation is ``Continuing a Tradition of Excellence: Student Success in the 21st Century.''

McDemmond assumed the university's presidency on July 1. She is the first female president at NSU and the first woman to serve as the chief executive of a four-year, state-supported university in Virginia.

PORTSMOUTH

Run for Holiday House

to be held on Sept. 20

The 16th annual Run for Holiday House, which includes a 1-mile walk and a 5-K run, is scheduled for Sept. 20.

The entry fee is $10 for either event or $15 for both, if postmarked by Sept. 13. Entries received after Sept. 13 and on race day are $12 per event. One long-sleeved T-shirt will be issued to each registered runner.

The walk begins at 9 a.m. The run, a Tidewater Striders-approved event, starts at 9:30 a.m.

Hosted by the Knights of Columbus (St. Paul's Council No. 418) and Maryview Medical Center, the race will benefit Holiday House, an intermediate-care facility for mentally retarded children between the ages of 4 and 21.

The starting and finishing lines will be on Willett Drive, between Maryview Medical Center and Willett Hall.

The walk has two categories for men and women: 49 and under, and 50 and over.

Call race director Jim Alexander Sr. at 484-8674 for registration information. Registration forms can be picked up at local YMCAs. MEMO: Staff writers Erika Reif and Rebecca Myers Cutchins and the

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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