Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 8, 1995 TAG: 9508080061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
C.G. and G.S., Roanoke
A: The green screen is gone for good. It never did much screening anyway.
In fact, anyone who wanted to look at the recycling yard had a virtually unobstructed view between those green panels.
The panels were taken down so the shoulder could be paved and new guardrails installed.
The Transportation Department is hoping vegetation will take over the screening role eventually.
The green panels, called a ``glare foil'' by transportation engineers, are in storage in case they can be used somewhere else, a Transportation Department official said.
Permit fees vary
Q: This new concealed-weapons law is confusing. In Alleghany County it costs $15 to apply for a concealed-weapon permit but in Craig County, where I live, it's $50. What are some other counties in this area charging?
O.Q., Craig County
A: Most localities are charging around $50, the maximum stated in Virginia's new concealed-weapon law.
Two notable exceptions are Montgomery County, which is charging $63, and Alleghany, where the cost is $15.
Montgomery is going the extra mile and running an FBI fingerprint check on applicants - at an added cost of $24 per person.
Most local police agencies investigate an applicant's background by running his or her name in the Virginia Criminal Information Network, where convictions from other states usually show up - but not always.
Alleghany Sheriff Butch Simpson said he doesn't charge any fee for fingerprinting applicants and checking their backgrounds, though the law allows him to charge up to $35. Simpson said it's a service he's already paid to do.
Clerks of court collect $15 for the cost of paperwork and entering the permit into state police data files. People who want a permit must apply to the circuit court clerk's office where they live.
Among those charging $50: Roanoke and Roanoke County, Craig County and Salem.
Botetourt and Franklin counties charge $40. Bath County, which you also asked about, hasn't issued any permits yet and the total fee isn't set, the clerk said. Several Bath residents have picked up applications, though.|
Starting from Z
Q: I've noticed a lot of license plates now begin with Z. Is the DMV about to run out of numbers?|
|L.K., Roanoke A: The Z series of license plates means the owner didn't pay anything extra for scenic or vanity message plates.
When scenic plates were introduced a few years ago, they started with the letters AA. Plain plates went to ZZZ and started working backward.
There are plenty of numbers left; plain plates now begin with ZNN.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB