DATE: Wednesday, October 8, 1997            TAG: 9710080515

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:  107 lines

HAMPTON ROADS [BRIEFS]

ACCOMAC

Infant found near Route 316 left by 12-year-old mother

A 3-hour-old infant girl was found Tuesday by a Parksley resident in a brush area near Route 316 in Parksley on the Eastern Shore.

According to Accomack County Sheriff Robert Crockett, the Parksley man heard cries from a baby about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and found the infant near the road. He called 911.

When the deputies and rescue personnel arrived, they rushed the unclothed infant girl to Shore Memorial Hospital. She was in stable condition Tuesday.

The Sheriff's Department found the 12-year-old mother at her residence. She said she gave birth shortly after 6:30 a.m. at her residence and put the baby in the brush.

NORFOLK

Norfolk Foundation awards grants to 5 organizatons

The Norfolk Foundation awarded $435,107 in grants to five nonprofit organizations during the fall meeting of its Distribution Committee.

The foundation usually awards grants three or four times a year.

The largest grant of $290,000 went to the Business Consortium for Arts Support to help 33 arts and cultural groups.

Also awarded grants were:

Children's Museum of Virginia, $50,000 to be paid over two years for the Phase II building campaign at the Portsmouth museum.

Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, $50,000 to be paid over five years for the school's capital campaign to raise funds for classroom computer technology.

Beacon Light Civic League Inc., $35,000 to help construct an office in the Berkley area of Norfolk. The organization builds affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents of the Berkley and Campostella neighborhoods.

Ecumenical Family Shelter Inc., $10,107 to buy a computer for children at the Dwelling Place homeless shelter and to purchase office equipment and make repairs at the Norfolk shelter.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Three in Virginia Beach given Life Saving Awards

Three citizens, including a police officer, were presented with Virginia Beach Life Saving Awards Tuesday for their efforts in helping people in grave danger.

The first award went to police officer Joseph M. Bertini who on April 3 pulled an unconscious man from a burning home in the 1200 block of Gladiola Crescent in Green Run.

Bertini was on patrol when at 1:20 a.m. he saw smoke rising from the home. Finding the house unlocked, Bertini entered the burning building and began searching for residents using his flashlight. Suddenly, flames rushed from the kitchen.

He crawled to the front door and made one last look for people. He found an unconscious man on the living room floor and pulled him to safety. The man was taken to the hospital and treated and released.

The second award went to two teen-agers, Richard Caulk, 16, and Steven Gooch, 15, who on March 6 were riding their bikes in the 500 block of Hannibal St. in Princess Anne Plaza.

The two saw a fire in the back of a home. They ran to the back, and tried to use a garden hose to put out the fire. Gooch then went to the front door to tell residents to call the fire department. He found the front door open, and went inside. He saw a woman sitting at a dining room table and told her to leave.

Caulk then made his way into the house through the back door and up the stairs, where he found the fire in a bedroom. He tried to put out the flames but was unsuccessful until firefighters arrived.

PORTSMOUTH

Group offers program on housing for mentally ill

Opportunity House, a clubhouse that provides structured daily activities for mentally ill adults at 505 Jamestown Ave., will have a special program today, beginning with a reception at 3:30 p.m.

A panel discussion on housing for the mentally ill will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will be followed by a candlelight vigil with speakers and musical entertainment.

The public is invited to participate in the program, which is part of Mental Illness Awareness Week.

Annual golf tournament raises scholarship money

The Steven T. Williams Memorial Scholarship Golf Tournament is scheduled for Friday at Sleepy Hole Golf Course in Suffolk, with lunch at 11:30 a.m. and a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m.

The annual tournament is sponsored by members of the Churchland High School Class of 1979 to honor Williams, a classmate who died in a swimming accident in 1980. The annual tournament has raised about $25,000 through the years. Fifteen scholarships have been awarded, starting with a $1,000 award in 1983. The awards, based on academic excellence and athletic participation, are now up to $2,000.

For more information, call tournament chairman John Babb at 366-4328 or Todd Skeeter at 446-2596.

WILLIAMSBURG

Beatty appointed director of the 2007 Celebration

Norman G. Beatty, a government and public relations consultant and former Colonial Williamsburg community and government relations vice president, has been named director of the 2007 Celebration.

Beatty will be responsible for coordinating state, national and international plans to commemorate the approaching 400th anniversary of the founding of America's first permanent English colony at Jamestown and of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Beatty will work closely with the Celebration 2007 Steering Committee, which has held two events this year. On May 9, the official 2007 logo was unveiled at Jamestown Settlement, and on Sept. 24, a ``1607-2007'' commemorative Virginia license plate, which will be available in November, was introduced in Alexandria. MEMO: Staff writers Tom Holden and Ida Kay Jordan contributed to this

report.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu