Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 25, 1993 TAG: 9308250264
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NEWPORT NEWS - Three peace activists were convicted by a jury Tuesday of damaging property at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. during a Good Friday disarmament protest aboard a submarine under construction.
Greg I. Boertje-Obed; his wife, Michele A. Naar-Obed; and Kathleen A. Boylan were released after being sentenced to eight months in jail. Each also was fined $2,500.
The three had been behind bars since their arrests April 9 because they refused to post bond. They were given credit for that time and had served more than the period required for early release.
They were arrested after cutting through a fence around the shipyard, climbing a scaffold onto the submarine, pouring blood on the vessel and painting peace signs. They also hammered a missile launch tube.
- Associated Press
Racial slurs in Bristol may mean suspension
BRISTOL - The School Board voted unanimously to enact a policy that allows school officials to suspend students who make or respond to racial slurs.
Eleven citizens spoke out against the board's proposal, including representatives of the Bristol Tennessee-Virginia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Rev. Kenneth Carter, who spoke on behalf of the NAACP, urged the board to delay action on the rule and to appoint a citizens' committee to study why students make racial slurs in the first place.
The policy was proposed by board Chairman Ron Morgan in response to racial tensions that arose at Virginia High School near the close of last school year over a controversial piece of artwork. That situation led to at least one fight among students.
- Associated Press
Fairfax, Prince William agree to trade garbage
FAIRFAX - Fairfax will swap garbage with Prince William in a deal that will save both counties money and landfill space.
Under the program, Fairfax will send all its yard refuse to Prince William's 38-acre composting yard in return for accepting regular household garbage to burn in its incinerator in Lorton.
"We call it the trash trade," said Tom Smith, chief of Prince William's solid waste division.
Each county will put a monetary value on its trash, based on what it would cost to dispose of, then trade equivalent amounts.
- Associated Press
8 counties designated drought disaster area
RICHMOND - Eight Virginia counties were declared a drought disaster area Tuesday, becoming eligible for federal assistance, the governor's office said.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Michael Espy informed Gov. Douglas Wilder that King and Queen County had been declared a disaster area. The seven counties surrounding King and Queen - Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, James City, King William, Middlesex and New Kent - were included in the designation.
Wilder had requested the designation in a July 29 letter to Espy. The federal government is continuing the assessment of drought damage in another 13 counties. Wilder has estimated crop losses at $27.6 million.
Farmers in the eight counties will be eligible for low-interest loans.
Wilder said he expects more counties to seek disaster declarations. - Associated Press
by CNB