ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 17, 1996 TAG: 9606170038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: & NOW THIS
Somewhere between the second and third standing ovation, James Kincanon told a fellow lawyer sitting next to him, "I don't know that I can take much more."
For Kincanon - an unassuming lawyer who shuns the limelight as much as possible - there was a lot to take at a recent meeting of the Roanoke Bar Association.
Kincanon was honored for serving as secretary of the bar association since 1937. The only times he left the position were for a stint in the Navy in World War II and again in 1963, when he served a one-year term as president of the bar.
"Only service to his country in wartime has interfered with his service to this organization," bar President Charles Dorsey said.
Kincanon, a retired city attorney who attended Tuesday's meeting thinking it was a routine bar session, was surprised with a number of honors - resolutions of appreciation from the bar and Roanoke City Council; a key to the city; the first annual Local Bar Leader of the Year award from the Virginia State Bar's Conference of Local Bar Associations; and the establishment of a $1,000 scholarship in his name. - LAURENCE HAMMACK Insurance battle rages on
When Carolyn Anderson said she would fight for her insurance claim against the city of Salem, she really meant it.
After The Roanoke Times published a story about Anderson getting the cold shoulder from the city's insurance company when a fire truck hit her parked car, two Salem body shops offered to do the estimated $400 repair free.
Anderson refused both offers.
"I feel like I'd be letting others down," said Anderson, who lives in Roanoke County.
Since the newspaper story, she said, she has been contacted by about 10 people who said they were supporting her efforts. Most of them had cars or property damaged by city snow plows in January.
Salem's insurer, the ITT Hartford Group, refused to pay for repairs to Anderson's car, which was sideswiped by a fire truck at Roanoke College while Anderson was watching her daughter graduate. An ITT Hartford adjuster said Salem was not liable because the fire truck was performing a government service when the accident occurred.
State law gives governments immunity from insurance claims arising from accidents that occur while they are performing a legitimate service to residents. - S.D. HARRINGTON Covington runner to carry torch
For Hunter Birckhead, the spirit of this year's Olympic games will remain part of his own family history for quite some time.
Birckhead, a Covington native, is one of 10,000 runners chosen to participate in the Olympic torch relay race across the United States. This coming weekend, his parents, who are former Roanoke residents, plan to join other family members, friends and co-workers to watch their son carry the torch for two-thirds of a mile through Raleigh, N.C.
An assistant regional forester with the North Carolina Forest Service, Birckhead was selected because of his volunteer work with Special Olympics, the Children's Development Center and other nonprofit organizations in the Raeford, N.C., area.
He lives in Raeford with his wife and two kids. - ALESSANDRA SOLER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB