The Roanoke Times from Roanoke, Virginia • 5

VIRGINIA BRIES State increases benefit limit rom staff and wire reports REDERICKSBURG The state Board of Social Services has increased from $200 to $700 the maximum benefit under a special fund to help unemployed Southwest Virginians pay utili ty and shelter costs The special fund established in late Octo ber is for people who have exhausted their un employment benefits in Buchanan Dickenson Lee Russell Scott Tazewell and Wise counties and the city of Norton or months Virginia Employment Commis sion figures have shown double digit unemploy ment rates for the counties igures presented to the board Thursday showed that since January the unemployment rate has increased in all the areas but Buchanan County Man holds police at bay WINCHESTER A rederick County man armed with a pistol and a rifle held authorities at bay for nine hours before surrendering riday police said Staff photo by BOB PHILLIPS Roanoke Times World News Saturday March 17 1984 5 wiir iMMBMMMMlMMIIwffpQHf STMT TawBsajfeW tL 'wiMMWsfejaawap'THirT nyf tIIMrijrji or 4sSm k' UR 7 wgj VZ Capt John Liggett of the county Department said the man whose name was not released threatened to kill himself and his two children when the standoff began about midnight Thursday The children 17 months and 4 years slept through the incident and were found unharmed after the man surrendered about 9 am The man was taken to the psychiatric ward of Winchester Memorial Hospital Liggett said He said the children were turned over to their mother who had been staying at a shelter for battered women Steelworkers lawsuit filed NEWPORT NEWS The Steelworkers un ion filed suit riday against Newport News Ship building charging the company with discrimination in paying retroactive pregnancy benefits to certain employees in the de signers Local 8417 The class action suit filed in Newport News District Court comes just four days before desig ners vote on whether to decertify the Steelwork ers as their bargaining agent A shipyard official said the company had not received a copy of the suit and would have no comment on it now The suit stems from a June 1983 US Su preme Court decision in which the justices ruled 7 2 that the company must pay pregnancy bene fits to the wives of male shipyard employees as well as to female employees xt Package leak starts scare RICHMOND Twenty five people were evacuated from one floor of the Richmond post office after officials found a leaking package which turned out to be well water never know with these said ED Taylor a deputy battalion fire chief with Richmond ire Bureau have to treat them as potential hazards Authorities were called to the post office Thursday morning to examine a leaking package that was being sent from Virginia Beach to the state Health Department Taylor said The second floor of the four story building was evacuated for about 30 minutes while the materials were tested post office spokeswoman Lois Miller said riday About 25 people work on the floor Residents can halt spraying RICHMOND Property owners in Loudoun County will be able to forbid spraying on their land when the state Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services' gypsy moth spraying pro gram begins there later this year The gypsy moth which strips trees of vire tually all greenery has been invading Virginia from the north The state agriculture department has determined that steps to eradicate them should be taken in northwestern Loudoun County and in loyd and Montgomery counties Medicaid probe ended A federal investigation into allegations of Medicaid fraud by a Roanoke psychiatrist and a Roanoke County health clinic has resulted in the government agreeing to end the probe and ac cept a repayment of about $100000 Assistant US Attorney Thomas Bondurant said the BI criminal investigation of the Youth and amily Development Center in Bonsack and pyschiatrist George Hull has been dropped and the case is to a civil settle The exact terms of the settlement were not known but the government reportedly is to re ceive about $100000 from the center and Hull for Medicaid overpayments William Dinwiddie 56 a pychologist who runs the youth and family center confirmed ri day that the tentative civil settlement has been reached and that be and Hull would repay the government about $100000 The delay in com pleting the settlement is caused by a dispute over exactly how much is to be paid by Dinwiddie and how much by Hull That final decision is up to US District Court Judge James Turk who has sealed the case file Sports complex planned A Northern Virginia based firm is planning to build an $11 million complex on a 312 acre tract next to the Salem Sheraton Inn on Route 419 The Wave Companies Inc plans a 90 OOO squa re foot operation that will consist of a sports rehabihtaiion healih center a 120 150 room hotel and medical office space The firm has been involved as engineers in a number of sports complexes in Northern Vir ginia In ebruary Salem City Council gave Wave permission to convert Academy Street School into 1 condominium units Early bloomers Nova Aliff of 103 Tampa Drive enjoys the full blooming garden in her back yard riday Most of the flowers are crocuses a hardy variety that pops above ground early getting a jump on spring which this year arrives officially Tuesday accompan ied by a long range prediction of cool showers Easter chicks sale banned 39th avian flu case erupts HARRISONBURG (AP) A Rocking ham County flock of 73000 young chickens was declared infected with avian flu ri day because the chicks had been placed in contaminated poultry houses according to a spokesman for the federal state task force fighting the disease The task force also announced that a ban has been placed on the sale of and ducklings in the 2700 square mile Shenandoah Valley quarantine area The 3 day old chicks were considered infected because test results showed that the flock of broilers the chicks replaced had been diseased said task force spokes man Sid Moore The flock of broilers estimated to contain at least 70000 birds was pro cessed about two weeks ago said Calvin Germroth an official with Rockingham Poultry Marketing Cooperative which owned the birds The virus was found in blood samples taken from the chickens while they were being slaughtered at the processing plant at Timberville Moore said Based on tests done on dead birds col lected from the farm about three miles northwest of Harrisonburg the broilers had been certified free of avian flu before they were shipped to the processing plant The virus however was found in blood samples that are routinely taken by task force workers from a small percent age of each flock as it is being slaughtered for processing Although avian flu is potentially dead ly to poultry it is not harmful to humans and eating diseased birds poses no health threat task force officials have stressed The virus has been found in 866300 birds 555550 turkeys and 310750 chick ens Recreation contract snarled By MELINDA PAYNE Staff writer BEDORD The Board of Supervisors re ceived a letter from City Council riday that could affect the ratification of a contract for a joint recreation program the two bodies had ten tatively agreed on earlier this week The proposed contract calls for the county to pay 70 percent of the recreation commission's budget and the city to pay 30 percent The open ended contract would have a two year termina tion period Council voted 4 1 Tuesday night to send a letter to the Supervisors stating that it agreed in principle to the proposed contract But in the let ter which the supervisors got riday the city asked that the contract be revised to provide for recalculating the payments at the be ginning of the second year so they would reflect the ratio of participation tracts Committee that came up with the new rec reation proposal Hurt said hoping that this is just a communication problem that create any real Hurt said he talked to Messier but "perhaps I didn't understand him clearly I thought he was talking about the contract not expiring at the end of one The supervisors and City Council have been on an alternative to the current contract for several months and have been negotiating a new contract for several weeks The contract which expires June 30 has created friction be tween the two bodies since it was signed two years ago Hillsville rehired officers reach accord on legal fees essentially the type of contract we already Supervisor Bobby Pollard said gotten tired of fooling with this thing The county needs to just forget it and start its own The county and city now have a joint recrea tion program in which the county pays 60 per cent of the costs and the city pays 40 percent Bedford Vice Mayor Thomas Messier said he discussed the change dealing with recalculat ing payments with Supervisor Garrett Hurt Wednesday before the letter was prepared sorry certain supervisors are upset about Both Messier and Hurt were on the Con HILLSVILLE Attorneys for two Hillsville policemen who won their jobs back after being fired last year reached a settlement riday with Town Council on their fees The governing body agreed at a special meeting to pay part of the bill for the attorneys of Ralph Hawks and his son Gregg Hawks fired Nov 14 by council and reinstated Wednesday by order of a grievance panel The total bill submitted by attorneys Jerry Jebo of Radford and Christopher A Corbett of Hillsville was $7812 Council agreed to pay $3500 of it in return for not being taken to court for the full amount Roanoke Christian gets permit for TV station A grievance panel that ruled that the Hawkses had violated no state or town codes and should be reinstated with back pay and benefits also ruled that the town should pay their attor fees The ederal Communications Commission voted riday to award Roanoke Christian Broad casting Inc a construction permit for a new UH television station on Channel 27 Roanoke Christian Broadcasting had been awarded the permit contingent on the outcome of a civil suit filed by Western Virginia Television Co which claimed that Roanoke Christian had copied Western engineering data from an application for the same channel The suit was filed after an administrative law judge recommended last year that Roanoke Christian be awarded the permit Roanoke Chris tian officials admitted they copied the informa tion but they said it was legal because the data was in the public domain The CC awarded the permit riday be cause the suit against Roanoke Christian had been dismissed The decision still can be appealed in court the CC said Three of the four council members had con tended that the panel exceeded its authority in ordering the town to pay fees because the town grievance procedure requires that grie vants bear all costs of preparing their cases Rape attempt charged A Vinton man has been charged with beating up and trying to rape a 39 year old Roanoke woman he had just hired as his secretary Vinton authorities said riday The woman who had placed an advertise ment in the newspaper seeking employment went to the home early Wednesday morn ing at his request authorities said Charged with attempted rape and malicious wounding is Spencer Lee Bryant 44 of 102 Cam bridge Square Bryant who is self employed and works out of his home has been released on a $25000 bond WE'RE YOUR AN! i DAN'S AN CITY 'SES Speed Reverse Made USA feS etc Gulf Coast an Co Safejy Harbour lorida Wood Blades Lifetime Warranty Brass Brown or White CEILING HUGGER 48" 119" rom WE ANY ADVERTISED ANYWHERE HOUR! MOM BAT Speed Wrf Control 4 Wood Blades Brown or White With Brest Trim Whisper Qwet DAN'S AN Cl Rjn to 8 pjn PHONE UHI02 THIS SUNDAY IN THE ROANOKE TIMES NEWS More women heading their own businesses we take a look at some Business enterprises headed by women are at an all time high and while many of them are concentrated on the retail level there are some in the Roanoke area who are breaking the mold Senior writer Mag Poff will be taking a look at some of these in Business How do some TV shows get where they're going? Ever wonder why characters on television shows seem to take on different traits? Or why a series takes a par ticular direction? It's "diagnostic and you can get a look at how it works in Tempo where also staff writer Chris Gladden will have a story about a courtroom where not just the defendant "sings" State high school titles are on the fine today Three state high school boys' basketball championships and the state AAA girls' championship are being decid ed today at University Hall in Charlottesville Sports writer Blair Kerkhoff is there and will have the details in Sports Also Randy King will be taking a look at what is expected tp happen in the Atlanta 500 auto race and we will have accounts of the many NCAA bas ketball playoff games from around the country Gary Warren Hart: man of contradictions Gary Warren Hart who moved almost overnight from dark horse to front runner among the Democratic presi dential hopefuls is unquestionably a man of many con tradictions Some of them are part of his appeal others are puzzling and almost eerie "He's a loner who basi cally does things on his own and is not necessarily a consensus builder which is about the only way to work around this place" a Senate colleague said Horizon Catfish perch others have their followers too They might not be as prestigious as bass and trout but catfish pickerel sunfish and perch have a large number of fans among the angling fraternity Outdoors Editor Bill Cochran takes a look at these species and some others in his Angling senes on the Outdoors page Glamour golfer Jan Stephenson may look more like a movie star than a professional athlete but the 23 year old golfer from Australia is one of the top women in the sport today She started out as a talented but not outstanding player whose looks attracted more attention than did her game Today she's a champion whose ability has earned her reject of fans and fellow players and lots of money Read her story in Parade find all these and more in Sunday's Roanoke Times (Qy World News CM CiSivwy pw 98 1 3211 toatrf 1 630 542 5822 1.