Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040094
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SUTHERLAND - The daughter of a woman who was killed in a fire at a Petersburg hospital says she believes the blaze was started by a patient who broke a no-smoking rule.
``I had overheard the woman ranting and raving about smoking for the past two nights,'' Corinne Odessa Stevens said Monday. ``She had asked me for matches and a light, and I wouldn't give them to her because no smoking was allowed. She was irrational.''
Stevens' mother, Alma Bonner, was one of four patients killed in Saturday night's fire at Southside Regional Medical Center. It was Bonner's 76th birthday.
Petersburg fire investigators said the cause of the fire probably will not be determined until the end of the week.
- Associated Press
Commuter railroad opens Lorton station
LORTON - The newest stop on Northern Virginia's commuter railroad opened Tuesday, the first train service to Washington from the heavily populated suburbs of southern Fairfax County.
The Lorton station offers commuters four trains during the morning rush hour and four more in the evening.
``At peak hours, it's probably twice as fast as the conventional lanes on [Interstate] 95, and it's very reliable,'' Virginia Railway Express director Steve Roberts said.
Eighteen riders boarded the train for its first runs from Lorton, VRE spokesman Corey Hill said. It is the first additional station to open since the rail service started in 1992.
A one-way ticket from the new station to downtown Washington costs $4.55.
When the commuter line opened, officials predicted it would carry as many passengers as a lane of rush hour traffic on busy I-95. Ridership did not meet expectations, but rail officials say the project is a success.
The line is funded by ticket sales and subsidies from the state and the jurisdictions that use the service. The rail line has a $17 million budget this year and is requesting nearly $19 million for next year.
- Associated Press
by CNB