Daily Press from Newport News, Virginia • Page 30

INSIDE LOCAL PciiflPttg C2 Thursday, July 30, 1 992 Navy did complex, right in canceling arm twister says SEE SUNSET PARADE. See the Sunset Parade, a NavyMarine Corns zift to the citv of Norfolk Wednesday's numbers Pick 3: 3-1-9 Pick 4: 0-8-4-2 LottO: 8-9-13-30-32-35 on the people who have to work in these existing buildings with their inadequate conditions," Warner Arlington Board member Albert Eisenberg said it was unclear whether the Navy would keep its M1V hj LU1 V. UV of the county or move elsewhere. "That's the enormous other shoe that has yet to drop," he said. Warner said he had been I assured the offices would stay in the area.

I The complex was designed to Warner dismayed, cries pork barrel The Associated Press WASHINGTON A congressman who was largely responsible for scuttling the Navy's plans for a large office complex in Arlington said Wednesday the Navy finally made "the right decision." "There was a concern that the Navy was trying to build buildings to house a lot of people at a time when we were reducing the size of the forces," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. "It was not a good economic decision. The Navy finally made the right decision." Murtha, who heads the House defense appropriations subcommittee, used legislative procedures in April to block spending on the office complex. 1 vr open.

Crews are widening Hampton Boulevard. INTERSTATE 64 AT ROUTE 1 34. Alternating lanes of westbound Interstate 64 in York County at the off-ramp to Route 134 will be closed weekdays from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. through Aug.

31 while workers repair the concrete. INTERSTATE 64, VIRGINIA BEACH. There will be a detour around the Indian River Road area of westbound Interstate 64 in Virginia Beach from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday during construe-1 tion work.

Use outer connectors to get back onto the interstate. Police will direct traffic at Indian River Road. INTERSTATE 264, PORTSMOUTH. Alternating lanes of eastbound Interstate 264 at the Downtown Tunnel in Portsmouth will be closed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

tonight for resurfacing. JEFFERSON AVENUE. The right southbound lane of Jefferson Avenue from Pavilion Place to J. Clyde Morris Boulevard will be closed from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

daily through Friday while a sound wall is built. LIGHTFOOT ROAD. While Lightfoot Road is being rebuilt between Route 60 and Interstate 64, traffic will be reduced to one lane and will be stopped occasionally between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.

Much of the roadway has been removed, and traffic is being maintained on a gravel surface. Estimated completion date: Nov. 30. OLD WILLIAMSBURG ROAD, LACKEY. Traffic on Old Williamsburg Road between Browns Lane and Sonshine Way in the Lackey area of York County will be reduced to one lane through August while sewage service is extended to the area.

ROUTE 17, SUFFOLK. Alternating lanes of Route 17 at the Godwin Bridge in Suffolk will be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily for maintenance. Estimated completion date: Aug.

11. i ROUTE 17, YORK COUNTY. The northbound travel lane of Route 17 at route 718 in York County will be closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. today while construction is done on the right turn lane.

ROUTE 40, SUSSEX. Route 40 lanes on the Sappony Creek recognizing the 50-year anniversary of women in the Navy. It begins at 7:15 p.m. at Town Point Park at the Flag Plaza. A military band will provide music.

GIVE BLOOD. Give blood at the following locations: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Hampton Coliseum; 2 to 6 p.m., American Red Cross, Hampton Roads Blood Donation Center, 4915 W. Mercury Hampton.

HEAR LUNCHEON CONCERT. Hear a free music combo, Air Combat Command's Flight of Six from Langley Air Force Base, at noon at Mill Point Park in Hampton. Bring a bag lunch. Information: 764-2931. LISTEN TO MUSIC UNDER THE STARS.

The U.S. Continental Army Band will present a free outdoor concert at 7:30 p.m. at Continental Park, Fort Monroe. The concert will combine selections observing the 50th anniversary of World War II along with the regularly scheduled program and is open to the public. Bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating.

In the event of inclement weather, the performance will be canceled. REMINDER. It's not too early to register to vote. The following additional voter registration drives have been added in York County at these locations: 3 to 6 p.m. Aug.

4, Tabb Fire Station, Big Bethel Road; 6 to 8 p.m., Aug. 6, general registrar's office, 120 Alexander Hamilton 3 to 6 p.m., Aug. 18, Tabb Fire Station, Big Bethel Road; 3 to 6 p.m., Aug. 25, Bruton Fire Station, Hubbard Lane. BOWERS HILL, CHESAPEAKE.

Ramp widening on Interstate 64 and Interstate 264 at Bowers Hill in Chesapeake will continue through the summer. COLEMAN BRIDGE. No scheduled bridge openings, but this is subject to change without notice. HAMPTON BOULEVARD. One lane in each direction of Hampton Boulevard in Norfolk between Redgate Avenue and 21st Street will be closed from 9 a.m.

to 3 p.m. daily through August. One lane in each direction will remain iri-nv ram --n. i PASSING THE TORCH. Army Transportation Center Command Sgt.

Maj. Larry H. Orvis, left, and Col. Dan G. Shellabarger stand together Wednesday after the July Retirement Review at Fort Eustis.

Orvis, the senior enlisted person at Fort Eustis, turned his duties over to Command Sgt. Maj. John C. Daniels. The responsibilities of Shellabarger, the transportation center's chief of staff and garrison commander, were assumed by Col.

John E. Riley Jr. Buddy NorrisDaily Press 'Suicidal' sergeant is sought as fugitive The plan called for building a $240 million complex across the street from the Pentagon City mall and Metrorail station to house up to 6,000 Navy workers. The workers are now at a number of Northern Virginia locations, and the Naval Sea Systems Command wanted to consolidate them at one site. Murtha said the Navy should look to vacant office space in the area, if it decides the workers must be close to the Pentagon.

"I'd prefer to have them a little father out, to give them a chance to buy houses," he said. He said moving the command offices 20 miles to 30 miles from the Pentagon probably would not damage operations. Sen. John Warner, said the decision was a "terrible disa-pointment." "It inflicts a severe unfairness go to prison, FBI officials said. The letter stated he would leave his car near his former residence in Dale City, and his body could be found in the woods nearby, officials said.

Investigators from the FBI and the Naval Investigative Service found Moore's vehicle July 16 in Dale City but failed to find Moore's body despite a two-day search. Federal officials said they found inconsistencies in the letter, which led investigators to believe that Moore may have staged his death to avoid prosecution. A second financing option would be to increase the real estate tax rate, Sedgewick said. The first year would require an increase of nine cents per $100 of assessed value. The current tax in Newport News is $1.15 per $100.

The additional nine cents would raise the tax on a $100,000 house by $90. A bill passed by the General Assembly last year allows localities to charge a stormwater utility fee to pay for the costs of complying with the EPA regulations. An advantage to using a utility fee as opposed to the real estate tax, said Assistant City Manager Randy Hildebrandt, is that tax-exempt institutions such as the federal government and churches will also be required to pay it. The utility would be staffed primarily by existing employees in the public works and engineering departments, who are already involved in stormwater management. Hildebrandt said that until now, the city's stormwater program has focused on preventing floods rather than water quality.

Sedgewick said that some of the money in the program would be spent anyway to improve the city's storm drain system. mer Gov. Mills Godwin, who introduced Mosbacher. Godwin, too, predicted Virginia would back Bush and Quayle this year, having made something of a habit of voting for Republican presidential candidates in recent years. In fact, since 1952, when Eisenhower first defeated Adlai Stevenson, Republican presidential candidates have taken Virginia every year but 1964, when Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater.

Mosbacher, a former sailing champion and still fit and tanned, missed about 30 minutes in the sunshine after arriving late to the 10:30 a.m. affair. He had been flown mistakenly to the Norfolk, Bridge between routes 658 and 681 in Sussex County will be narrowed to 13 feet while the bridge is replaced. Estimated completion date: Nov. 1.

ROUTE 58, SUFFOLK. One lane of eastbound route 58 in Suffolk from the intersection of South Quay Road at Bill's Corner to O'Kelley Drive will be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Friday while workers apply asphalt overlay. ROUTE 460, SUFFOLK.

The right westbound lane of business route 460 west of the Nansemond River Bridge in Suffolk will be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Friday for asphalt overlay work. TRADE CENTER. During the past six years, at least 27 shipping lines have added or expanded service to Hampton Roads.

More than 70 lines serve the Port of Hampton Roads which imports more rubber and exports more coal than any other American port. "I just hope that we can educate the citizens and that they realize it's something the localities are being forced to eat and pay for." Newport News Vice Mayor Marty Williams, discussing a federal regulation that will force localities to pay for treatment of stormwater runoff next year, a requirement that may lead to the creation of a new city fee for taxpayers. Story, CI. "He who is ever ready to take credit for any action when it hath proved successful. And is equally ready to throw the blame on others when it goeth wrong in the least.

And who is ever looking for faults in those who are learned and righteous. Possesseth the nature of a crow." Selections from Buddhist Scriptures (The Tibetan Doctrine, "Elegant Sayings of the Dial 247-7878 to give your opinion on today's question. Sound Off calls will be taken until noon today. You need a touchtone phone. NN teen receives 15 years Daily Press NEWPORT NEWS A Newport News teen-ager received a seven-year prison sentence Wednesday for beating a man who later died from head injuries.

Circuit Judge Robert W. Curran sentenced Garland Hooker, 18, to 15 years in the penitentiary, but eight of those years were suspended. Hooker was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of William Owens, a 42-year-old Newport News man who was struck by at least three people during a domestic dispute in the early morning of Aug. 17, 1991. Witnesses testified that after the first series of fights had ended, Hooker followed Owens down several downtown streets, punching and kicking him as they went along.

contain 3 million square feet of office space. A revised plan called for 1 million square feet. Warner blamed the project's failure on pork barrel politics. "So many of these committee chairmen understandably want to pick off these Washington projects and put them in their districts," Warner said. Doctor sues VA over job at Salem i New boss violated his privacy, he says The Associated Press SALEM The Department of Veterans Affairs is being sued by a medical center chief of staff in Salem, who! says the public call for his resig-'; nation violated his privacy rights.

Dr. Larry Edwards has refused to resign and said he had been asked to leave because he blew the! whistle on some of the medical cen-; ter's operation. Edwards' lawsuit, filed in U.S.-District Court in focuses on what he contends was an improperly released memo from medical center director John Presley asking him to resign. The lawsuit was outlined in a news release distributed by Edwards' attorneys, William Brans--ford and Suzanne Lawrence of Washington. Presley is out of town this week and unavailable for comment, said Pat Clark, spokeswoman at the Salem VA Medical Center.

Lisa Respess, public affairs specialist for the VA in said, "As a general rule, we do not comment on pending litigation." The memo from Presley was provided to news organizations June 15, the day Presley asked Edwards to resign. Edwards is seeking an unspecified amount of damages because the information was released, according to his attorneys. Edwards' attorneys asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to seek a stay from the Merit Systems Protection Board to prevent the Department of Veterans Affairs from firing him. The office notified Edwards' attorneys Friday that it would be investigating his whistle-blower claim.

The Department of Veterans Affairs last week sent Edwards on a temporary-duty assignment at the VA Eastern Region Office in Fort Howard, Md. In the meantime, the VA's chief medical director is analyzing recommendations of a professional standards board appointed three weeks ago to review Edwards' employment. An earlier report from a VA administrative investigative board recommended that Edwards be allowed to stay at the Salem medical center. Numerous internal VA investigations of the medical center and its management staff have been critical of Edwards and former Director Clark Graninger. Edwards has been a target of employee criticism since February, when the employees' union publicly attacked Salem medical center management.

The union claimed that mismanagement had lowered employee morale and created a stressful work environment. not Suffolk, airport. But once in Suffolk, Mosbacher lost no time rallying behind the BushQuayle team and laying into their challengers. He blamed the Democratic Congress for the nation's economic ills while promising better times soon and then praised Bush for ensuring world peace and the downfall of communism. After his Suffolk stop Mosbacher was off to Norfolk, where he addressed a $250-a-plate fundraiser at the Marriott Hotel.

Next was Richmond for a television interview and another $250-a-plate affair at the Richmond City Club. Wednesday's question: Is your paycheck keeping up with inflation? YES: 7 NO: 59 The prices of things have also come down considerably so the profit margin has been reduced a little bit. My paycheck keeps up with inflation, but I seem to consistently live above my means since I don't know how to budget. For the first time in 10 years. -t It hasn't kept up with inflation in the past 12 years, let alone last year.

My husband had to take an extra job, and I've had to go to work now full-time instead of part-time. Things are just getting worse. This is a joke question, right? I had a 1.9 percent pay raise, and the inflation was 3.2 percent. Now you tell me. My paycheck certainly hasn't kept up with inflation and if you complain to the managers and supervisor, they're quick to remind you that there are a lot of people out of work out there and they'd be more than happy to have your job.

No, and I teach school. It's been the worst year ever. My paycheck today brings me home less money than I earned two years ago. the General Assembly approve Wilder's stadium plan? The Associated Press QUANTICO Federal authorities Wednesday said they are searching for a Marine Corps sergeant who may have staged his own death while awaiting a court-martial on charges of sodomy, child molestation and desertion. Master Sgt.

Phillip Anthony Moore, 38, was to appear before a court-martial July 20. Four days before that date, investigators discovered a letter from Moore indicating he was planning to commit suicide rather than Bay Continued from C1 Under a fee structure proposed for Newport News by the consulting firm, individual homeowners would be charged a basic fee of from $36 to more than $50 per year. Businesses and institutions would be charged based on how much impervious surface they have. The size of the fee would depend on whether the city uses bonds to pay for capital construction or if it uses a pay-as-you-go system, according to Sedgewick. By using bonds and stretching the payments out over time, the monthly fee would start at $3.14 per month, increasing to $3.74 after four years.

Paying for capital structures up front would require a fee of $4.31 per month, increasing to, $5.01 after four years. A diagram prepared by the consulting firm indicates that an office building that takes up 10,000 square feet of space with 40,000 square feet of parking lot would have about 35 times as much impervious space as the average home and would be charged 35 times as much. Chief Continued from CI that Bush just read the biography of feisty Democratic President Harry Truman. "I think it's sort of getting his fighting spirit going," said Mos-bacher of the book. Mosbacher visited Suffolk late Wednesday morning as featured speaker at the grand opening of the city's Republican campaign headquarters.

He was joined there in the broiling sun by Suffolk's new mayor, S. Chris Jones; Del. Robert Nelms, R-Suffolk; Sen. Frederick Quayle, R-Chesapeake; and by for Today's question: Should Cleared Continued from C1 harm but Byrd was hit once in the back of the head by a large-caliber slug, according to the autopsy report. The only person in the group fir ing a large-caliber weapon was a 15-year-old relative of Philpott, but Kearns argued that the others shared responsibility for the killing because they acted in concert.

Watson attorney, J. Ashton Wray argued Wednesday that the only thing the group agreed to do was scare Kindred by firing shots over his head. "They got out to scare and this juvenile pan icked and started shooting at people. It wasn't a plan, it wasn't an Agreement," Wray said. Watson testified that just before the trio walked into the alley and opened fire, Philpott even told the tyouth not to shoot anybody.

The 15-year-old had a hand gun and Watson a rifle that belonged to Spruill, who drove the group around that night and dropped them off after they Kindred, according to court 'testimony. Philpott was unarmed. Watson testified that he fired just one shot into the air and then ran away. Kearns argued that even if the group's plan didn't expressly call for killing Kindred or anyone else, the group's participants were still responsible for the plan's probable consequences. And, according to Kearns, death is a probable consequence when someone takes a gun into an alley where people are standing and then starts shooting.

But Wray argued that Watson, a former Army infantryman, had enough skills with a gun that he would have hit one of the youths had that been his intention, particularly at such a short distance. The shooting came at the tail end of an evening in which Watson and the others drank one beer after another and smoked marijuana and cocaine. Wray argued that Watson who testified that he drank 15 or 16 beers may have been guilty of being drunk in public and of illegally using drugs, but that didn't make him a murderer. Philpott, convicted of first-degree murder and of using a gun in the crime, has been sentenced to 22 years in prison. Spruill is to be sentenced Friday..