Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412080056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Officials of several state agencies and local school boards attacked the proposal during a Senate Education and Health Committee meeting, saying it would weaken public education overall.
``There is no educational equity in this plan - rather, an inherent exclusivity,'' Newport News Superintendent Eric Smith told committee members.
Allen is pushing for broad exemptions from state oversight and regulation for schools that sign a ``charter'' or contract spelling out the educational results they will achieve as a result of their independence.
Advocates say the concept gives local schools the flexibility to achieve their own educational priorities.
Ex-prison guard,
8 others indicted
ALEXANDRIA - Nine people, including a former guard, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges such as drug distribution, escape and weapon violations at the Lorton Correction Complex.
According to the indictments issued Wednesday, Kenneth Thomas, a former guard at the prison operated by the District of Columbia, accepted a $200 bribe to smuggle cocaine into the prison in June. He is charged with possession with intent to distribute, bribery of a public official and introducing cocaine into a prison.
Five inmates and three visitors to the prison were indicted on various drug, weapon and conspiracy-to-escape charges.
Voices for Va. in
base-closing group?
NEWPORT NEWS - Two men with strong ties to Virginia are the choice of the state's congressional delegates for seats on the military-base-closing commission in hopes that Virginia will escape a round of cuts next year.
The state's five Republican House members wrote Speaker-elect Newt Gingrich on Tuesday asking him to place retired Gen. Frederick Franks Jr. on the Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Franks is a former commander at Fort Monroe.
There also is a push on the Senate side to have Majority Leader-elect Bob Dole nominate Patrick Tucker, a former aide to Sen. John Warner, R-Va. Tucker is the Washington lobbyist for Newport News Shipbuilding and its parent company, Tenneco Corp.
President Clinton is expected to name the commission's chairman and another member by year's end. Majority and minority leaders in the House and Senate will be allowed to nominate a total of six others.
The base closing commission, the fourth to be appointed, is expected to preside over the most difficult and broadest cuts to date. Last year, the commission recommended that 130 bases be closed and 45 be realigned.
Virginia has suffered relatively little during previous rounds of closings and, in some areas, the state's military installations actually grew. Among the past survivors with doubtful futures are Fort Eustis in Newport News and Fort Monroe in Hampton.
Since the base closing commission must work under very specific guidelines and with a great deal of guidance from the Pentagon, several congressional sources told the Daily Press there is little a commission member could do to spare a base if it is of limited military value.
``It's not a nefarious or cynical political advantage of some kind,'' said Rep. Herbert Bateman, R-Va. ``They don't guarantee Virginia favorable consideration on anything other than the merits.'' But, he added, ``they do bring to the table an extensive knowledge and background concerning the military mission of those installations in Virginia.''
Franks, 58, commanded the troops who outflanked the Iraqi Republican Guard divisions and helped bring the Persian Gulf War to a swift end. He led the Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe for more than three years before retiring in October.
Franks now is living in Alexandria. His wife said he was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.
Tucker, 47, lives in Washington. Before joining Tenneco, Tucker was a long-time legal counsel and staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee and had a hand in writing the base-closing regulations.
``He's superbly qualified,'' Warner said of his one-time aide. ``He's a man of fairness and objectivity and I would highly recommend him.''
Tucker was traveling Tuesday and efforts to reach him through the shipyard and Tenneco were unsuccessful.
The idea was recommended by Allen's Commission on Champion Schools. Allen will ask the General Assembly to approve the idea when it convenes next month for its 1995 session.
by CNB