
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 2, 1990                   TAG: 9006040182
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BRIEFLY PUT...

DOWNTOWN Roanoke's version of musical chairs is speeding up. Recently the law firm of Parvin, Wilson et al announced plans to move this fall into the Marketplace Center building under renovation in Market Square. Now with offices in the Dominion Bank building, the firm had been negotiating with developers of the Dominion Tower to move there.

Endorsing the marketplace instead is fine. Sure, it's important that the tower fill up. But who wins if a full tower is surrounded by vacant offices?

\ JACOB DE HAVEN, a wealthy Pennsylvania merchant, lent $450,000 to the Continental Congress to rescue the troops at Valley Forge. Now his descendants are taking Uncle Sam to court to force repayment. Says one of them: "It's not the money - it's the principle of the thing." Maybe it's not the principal of the thing either, but the interest over more than two centuries. The claim totals $141.6 billion.

\ CONGRATULATIONS to Loven Seaman Jr. of Staunton for receiving his Purple Heart 22 years after he was wounded in battle. To win his decoration, the former sergeant had to fight the Army bureaucracy for two decades - a lot longer than he fought in Vietnam. At least this war ended in victory. Seaman deserves a medal.

\ PRESIDENT BUSH has held more news conferences in 17 months than the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan, held in eight years. This much-maligned institution is not just for the convenience of the news media; it can be a great help to chief executives in explaining their policies to the public. Reagan preferred the televised speech. Bush may not always be forthcoming, but he does not shun questions about his administration's actions.

\ THE JAPANESE have been having bad luck with fish recently. First, part of the country's fishing fleet was captured by the Soviet navy. Disguised with North Korean flags, the fleet was caught illegally harvesting salmon, much to the government's embarassment. Said a Japanese diplomat: "This is a total mess."

So was the Osaka Flower Expo. The theme of this year's show is conservation. But thousands of fish died in the "Pond of Life," killed by a chemical run-off from an adjacent exhibit - a replica of the 12th hole of the Augusta National golf course. Please, no tasteless jokes about Japan and sushi. These people - and their fish - have suffered enough.

by CNB