The Roanoke Times from Roanoke, Virginia • 1

CH cn ho 00 CD cn The Roanoke Times roanoke Virginia roanoketimescom single copy 50c WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10 2001 EXTRA Preserving rail heritage Admirers of 0 Winston dramatic railroad photographs want to showcase them in a proposed museum SPORTS 4 1 1 a Turner returns Non Turner fired last month as coach of the Redskins is the new offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers Page B6 OOD Best recipes A collection of mouth watering recipes from the year just ended gwl ummmNMK BUSINESS Rollover ratings The government rating passenger vehicle rollover risks for the first time gives its worst grade to two General Motors sport utility vehicles Page A9 Online roanoketimescom SEND US A NEWS TIP Got a story idea? Click on the form and share it with us RADORD POLICE REPORT Read the report of the citizens committee that looked into the police department Weather TODAY: SUNNY 52 30 HIGH LOW Thursday Mostly sunny with a high of 52 Index A9 Business Cl Classified A15 Commentary E2 Crossword B2 Deaths A14 Editorial Bl Local A2 Lottery B6 Sports E2 TV Listings A2 Weather I President elect George Bush expected to move quickly in selecting a replacement Chavez withdraws as nominee Linda Chavez President elect nominee for Labor secretary announced Tuesday she is removing her name from consideration for the post Guatemalan Marta Mercado an illegal alien at the time said she received money from Chavez while staying in her home ASSOCIATED PRESS Qx 'V fij Cheney Presidential Transits Chavez disputed reports that Bush aides prodded her to step aside as the nominee for secretary of Labor KNIGHT RIDDERTRI Bl WASHINGTON Calling herself a victim of and destroy Linda Chavez withdrew as George nominee for Labor secretary Tuesday bringing a swift conclusion to Bush's first political crisis as president elect Chavez a conservative firebrand stepped down following tw'o days of controversy over her relationship with an illegal immigrant she shel tered in her Maryland home from 1991 93 Chavez said she helped Marta Mercado of Guate mala in an act of kindness but their relationship may have violated federal law's It is illegal to knowingly harbor or shield from an illegal immigrant and to fail to pay Social Security taxes for an employee Mercado said she performed house hold chores for Chavez and was given about 1500 but both women said they did not con sider it an employer employee relationship Chavez disputed reports that Bush aides prodded her to step aside and so did GOP insiders but her standing in the Bush camp slipped as new questions arose over the previous 18 hours about her arrangement with Mercado Chavez's withdrawal also underscored the risks inherent in fast track effort to assemble a new administration The five week delay in declaring a winner in the presidential election left Bush insufficient time for full back ground checks on his top level nominees PLEASE SEE CHAVEZA12 Star quarterback set to make announcement Vick likely to leave Tech for NL draft The Hokies could lose the dynamic talent that helped them earn 22 victories the past two football seasons By RANDY KING THE ROANOKE TIMES NEWPORT NEWS Quarterback Michael Vick apparently has made his last highlight film play for Virginia Tech' In hardly surprising yet crushing news for football program and its legion of fol lowers Vick has decided to forgo his final two seasons of college eligibility and leave school lor the riches of the National ootball League a source told The Roanoke Times on Tuesday night One of Vick's teammates speaking only under the cloak of anonymity said Vick was in Blacksburg on Tuesday gathering his college transcript and other paperwork necessary to declare himself eligible for the April 21 NL ri dralt Vick a third ycar sophomore must notify the NL office by 5 pm riday to enter the draft its an underclassman 4 Vick is expected to formally announce his decision at 3 pm Thursday here in his home town the source confirmed The Daily Press of Newport News and at least one television station also reported Tues day that Vick would leave Virginia Tech for the NL Vick be reached for comment 1 Tuesday night Repeated calls to his Newport News home went unanswered A visit Tuesday night to home located in a housing project Ion 1 2th Street and Ridley Circle showed no ap parent signs of anyone being present There was an unwrapped Tuesday copy of the Daily Press newspaper in a plastic bag stuck through the front door handle and there were no a lights visible inside the premises When asked by a reporter if anyone had seen Vick a middle aged woman strolling by said i matter of factly Michael is gone Tech coach rank Beamer in Atlanta for the American ootball 'Coaches na I tional convention could not be reached for comment Tuesday night Beamer did not return a phone message left on his hotel room voice message system at the Hyatt Regency The news appeared to come as somewhat ofj PLEASE SEE VICKA2 SEA TRANQUILLITY ASSOCIATED PRESS Ml Win A ULL MOON hangs over a pier light beside icy Lake Michigan at Ludington Mich before setting early Tuesday morning In the Mideast the same full moon was eclipsed by the shadow Story on A6 Roanoke company envisions day when it gets trampled Success a dirty word at Egg actory In pursuit of a better mousetrap officials say they hope to develop a doormat for the masses By DUNCAN ADAMS THE ROANOKE TIMES Goal: Build a better doormat Make it tacky As in And the world will beat a dusty path to your door At first blush the task sounds a tad mundane for the al gurus at The Egg ac tory of Roanoke the same folks like to introduce the world to electro active eyeglass lenses and affordable plasma flat panel televisions Gut a Tech Mat and you won't recover a microprocessor fiber optic cable or even a lowly AA battery In fact the Tech Mat might have more in common with flypaper than say a Think of the Tech Mat as a sort of giant lint roller flying carpet But Egg actory offi cials insist the mat when and if it ac tually rolls off production lines will provide users with a cleaner healthier home really is an example of a remarkably innovative product being developed right here in the Roanoke said Brad Blum innovation project manager for The Egg actory LLC founded by father Ron really taken a pretty ordinary product and redefined On Tuesday The Egg actory said it has received notice that two vital patent applications for its Tech Mat have been allowed by the US Patent and Trademark Office a de velopment Blum said helps assure protection from would be competi tors patents pretty much lock the door for us on this he said The Egg actory has applied I PLEASE SEE DIRTYA3 1 I SHIVERING AT SEA WORLD Scientists say plants have a mind of their own A SSOGIA TED PRESS I' I I BOB WAGONER (left) and other Sea World staffers inspect a manatee rescued from the warm outflow waters of the Southside Generating Station in Jacksonville la The cold has taken its toll on wildlife across the South Story on A4 Attack of the Killer Tomatoes moves from screen to reality Spores that eject themselves Roots that crawl The mechanisms of plants are full of lovely and fascinating things By ROBERT BOYD KNIGHT RIDDERJTRIBUNE WASHINGTON A tree that walks' A lily that burrows into the ground A fungus that shoots out spores like rifle bul lets? this? plants supposed to stay put and let animals do the moving? Not entirely Scientists say there are a surprising number of ways in which plants relo cate themselves or parts of themselves to improve their chances of surviving and repro ducing in a hostile world not talking about plant growth the dropping of leaves or the passive transport of seeds by passing birds or an imals They are studying actual plant motion which is some times very slow but can be ex tremely fast According to Steven Vogel a zoology professor at Duke University in Durham NC motion is something that commonly and inaccurately take as the achievement of animals that sets them apart from and above mere Consider the stilt palm a tree that grows in the Amazo nian rain forest Although it a reaches 75 feet tall the as some times known has a trunk that touch the ground In I stead it is propped up by a 'I teepee shaped bundle of roots that surrounds it PLEASE SEE PLANTSA2 i.