DATE: Wednesday, November 5, 1997           TAG: 9711051161

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Staff writers Alexis Smith, Susie Stoughton and Rebecca Myers

        Cutchins contributed to this report.

                                            LENGTH:   92 lines

HAMPTON ROADS

VIRGINIA BEACH

Lost peacock finds

temporary home in

yard of animal lover

Kay Richie woke up early Monday morning to an unusual sight. Her two collies were on the landing of the stairs of her Windsor Woods home staring out the patio doors at a peacock.

``They weren't barking; they were just cocking their heads back and forth trying to figure out what it was,'' she said. ``I couldn't believe my eyes.''

An animal lover - she owns parakeets, love birds, fish and dogs - Richie tried to figure out what a peacock might eat. She decided on cracked corn. ``I wasn't sure if I should go too close to it, so I put out the cracked corn and water.''

She then went to her job as an aide at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church and School.

``I thought this would be great for show-and-tell. But I wasn't sure if it would be there when I got home.''

She discovered that not only was it still there, but it roosted in her tree for the night.

``I figured if it flew in, it could fly out, but I wanted to find its owner if I could,'' she said Tuesday afternoon as she watched the bird with the long iridescent green and blue neck as it made itself at home in her back yard.

Richie has a lead on who the owner might be.

There's a sign posted in the nearby Chimney Hill section of Virginia Beach asking for help in finding a lost peacock.

SUFFOLK

New James C. Causey

Bridge to be dedicated

City and state officials will dedicate the new Broad Street bridge today at 2:30 p.m. in a ceremony on the grounds of the Suffolk Presbyterian Church at 410 N. Broad St.

The City Council has renamed the span the James C. Causey Jr. Bridge in memory of a man who was in city government 30 years.

Causey became the city engineer in 1932 and was named city manager 10 years later. Between 1946 and 1955, he worked in the private sector, then returned to the city manager's post until his retirement in 1971. He died the following year.

Causey is credited with the establishment of Morgan Memorial Library and construction of the Kingsboro Bridge on Pinner Street, a sewage treatment plant, Fire Station No. 1 and the Municipal Center. He is also credited with developing a plan to extend sewer lines to about 40 percent of the old city of Suffolk and with numerous road and recreational improvements.

Causey's daughter, Margaret C. Brown, will speak at the dedication. The public is invited.

NEWPORT NEWS

DMV opens new office

on Patrick Henry Drive

The Newport News Department of Motor Vehicles Customer Service Center will open its doors for the first time on Monday. The office, at 12730 Patrick Henry Drive, replaces the former office at 12912 Jefferson Ave.

The new 7,357-square-foot office features 15 teller stations, 100 parking spaces, a motorcycle test range and a drive-through teller window.

To accommodate the transition to the new office, the Jefferson Avenue office will be closed Saturday.

PORTSMOUTH

City will host production

of ``The Man Called Jesus''

Fourteen Portsmouth and Chesapeake churches will participate in the production of ``The Man Called Jesus,'' which tells the life and story of Jesus Christ from birth to Resurrection using three multimedia screens, special effects, authentic Hebrew dancing and costumes.

The production, which also will be taken to Israel and Russia, will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Willett Hall, 3701 Willett Drive, Portsmouth. Admission is free. Call 579-5884 for information.

ALSO. . .

Portsmouth - Due to water damage caused by recent rain, the Portsmouth Lightship Museum, located at the foot of London Boulevard at Water Street, will be closed for at least a week for repairs to the museum's underground electrical system. For more information about the museum, call 393-8741. ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

A seemingly lost peacock walks through Kay Richie's yard on Fox

Hollow Lane in Virginia Beach on Tuesday. It first appeared there on

Monday and spent the night roosting in one of Richie's trees.

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