DATE: Friday, October 31, 1997              TAG: 9710310674

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:  118 lines

HAMPTON ROADS [BRIEFS]

HAMPTON

Error has theater

being built within

potential crash zone

City planning officials admit making a mistake in granting a permit for construction of a 24-screen movie theater complex within the potential crash zone around Langley Air Force Base.

``It happened because it was human error,'' said Terry O'Neill, Hampton's planning director. ``We messed up. . . . We should have known about it, we should have checked, and we didn't.''

The theater complex, owned by AMC, is about 75 percent complete and scheduled to open in April, said John Gibson, a partner in the Virginia Beach-based Ellis-Gibson Development Group.

At capacity, the theaters will seat 5,098 people.

Officials said they haven't decided how to handle the matter.

O'Neill said city planners learned of the conflict several days ago when a Langley official pointed it out. Virginia Beach

Sister City Association

celebrates anniversary

A group of delegates half a world apart are banding together this week to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Sister City Association. Leaders and citizens will trade information on the everyday life of people with disabilities.

A 16-member delegation, including delegates with disabilities, from Virginia Beach's sister city, Miyazaki, Japan, arrived this week to observe how local schools and businesses include people with disabilities. Delegates also are participating in the International Conference and Forum for Humanity being held today at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center on Shore Drive.

Sister city participants in the conference include Kuniharu Matsuura, chairperson of the Welfare and Disabilities Association in Japan, and Katsuhiko Kusano, professor of special education at Miyazaki University.

The conference begins with registration at 8:30 a.m. and ends with a luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Participants will attend a 6 p.m. musical performance today by the special education students from Princess Anne High School and another by the Tone Chime Choir Saturday.

NORFOLK

Job fair gives assistance to

former substance abusers

Norfolk Works Inc., a nonprofit group that manages the city's federally funded Enterprise Community program, will hold a job-opportunity fair on Saturday.

On hand will be health-care professionals to offer assistance to people whose employability is being affected by substance abuse, part of Norfolk Works' recognition of national Red Ribbon Week.

Red Ribbon week is meant to discourage illegal drug use and raise awareness about problems caused by substance abuse.

The job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Park Place Recreation Center at 606 W. 29th St.

Call 624-8650 for more details.

Silent auction will benefit

Ronald McDonald House

The Christmas Attic in The Waterside Festival Marketplace will host a silent auction to benefit the Ronald McDonald House from noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 9.

There will be two limited-edition Ronald McDonald Houses - used as holiday decorations - auctioned off.

Ronald McDonald Houses provide accommodations to families with children being treated at nearby hospitals.

Call 625-2552 for details.

PORTSMOUTH

Attorney elected to board

of Beazley Foundation Inc.

Diane Pomeroy Griffin has been elected to the board of trustees of the Beazley Foundation Inc., a Portsmouth-based philanthropic organization.

Griffin, a Portsmouth attorney, is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary. In addition to having a private practice, she is certified by the Supreme Court of Virginia as a general and family mediator and serves as Commissioner in Chancery for the Third Judicial District of Virginia. She is past president and founder of the Tidewater Women's Bar Association, and past president of the Portsmouth Bar Association.

Griffin joins Justice Richard Bray, former Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr., Portsmouth City Councilman P. Ward Robinett Jr., Leroy T. Canoles Jr., John T. Kavanaugh, Ashton Lewis and Lawrence W. I'Anson Jr. on the board.

I'Anson is president of the foundation, which was founded in 1948 by Fred W. Beazley. The foundation has assets of $60 million. Since its founding, it has contributed more than $32 million to various nonprofit organizations.

CHESAPEAKE

Grant awarded to reduce

city's out-of-wedlock births

The Virginia Department of Health has awarded Chesapeake a $57,292 grant to reduce out-of-wedlock births, said Doris ``Cookie'' Roberts, director of human services.

Cities and counties across Virginia competed for the grant, which was awarded to municipalities that have shown progress toward reducing the number of out-of-wedlock births. The two-year grant will provide funds for Chesapeake to develop a program to continue to reduce the number of unwed births, Roberts said.

COMING UP. . . SUNDAY

Virginia Beach - The Rickie Richards campaign will host a candidate rally and an ``End the Car Tax Bashing'' from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Republican Headquarters at 2955 Virginia Beach Blvd. Republican candidates for local and state offices will attend. All are welcome. For details, call 481-2403. MEMO: Staff writers Lori Denney, Jon Glass and Ida Kay Jordan

contributed to this report.

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