ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610140063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
Racetrack, horsemen reach deal NEW KENT - Colonial Downs and a group representing Virginia's thoroughbred horsemen have signed a $4.5 million purse account contract to govern the first two years of racing in New Kent County.
Approval of the contract between Colonial Downs and the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association was delayed for about a month by a lawsuit filed by two Northern Virginia horsemen.
The deal calls for ``no less than 30 days'' of live thoroughbred racing during the track's first two seasons. It also calls for 5.25 percent of all wagers placed on races shown at off-track betting parlors to be awarded winning horse owners. Colonial Downs guarantees that a minimum of $4.5 million in prize money will be in place when the track opens in June.
- Associated Press
Millions budgeted for beach renewal
VIRGINIA BEACH - The federal government is planning to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a project it hopes will soften the blow of a hurricane on Virginia Beach.
The Army Corps of Engineers is providing 65 percent of the money for the $103 million project. The remainder comes from $36 million in city-backed tourism bonds.
The money will be used to move millions of cubic yards of sand from the Hampton Roads channel to the beach. When that sand is washed away, it will be dredged up and returned to the beach.
In addition to the Virginia Beach Erosion and Hurricane Protection Project, the federal government will pay two-thirds of the cost of the sand replenishment for the next 50 years. The cost to replace sand along the oceanfront about every three years is estimated at $280 million.
The project is not designed to withstand a direct hit from a major hurricane, its designers say, but to soften the blow to the oceanfront and tourism industry.
- Associated Press
Counsel appointed for accused doctor
CHARLOTTESVILLE - A Harrisonburg neurologist facing an attempted murder charge in Tennessee has asked for a court-appointed attorney to defend him against a related federal charge in Virginia.
Dr. Ray W. Mettetal Jr. told U.S. Magistrate B. Waugh Crigler at a hearing Thursday that he was penniless. Crigler agreed to the request for counsel. An arraignment was set for Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg.
Mettetal was arrested in Nashville on Aug. 22, 1995, and charged with attempting to kill his former boss, head of the neurosurgery department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Police say Mettetal, a resident in neurosurgery at Vanderbilt in the mid-1980s, wanted revenge because the former boss ruined his chances to become a neurosurgeon.
- Associated Press
Escapee caught on Vt., Canada border
DERBY LINE, Vt. - An escaped jail inmate from Virginia is being held in Vermont after he was caught trying to cross the Canadian border in Derby Line.
Michael Fleming, 27, and his father, Robert Fleming, 54, both of Coeburn, Va., were caught Wednesday, according to the state police.
Police said Michael Fleming had escaped Sept. 10 from a jail work crew in Dickenson County, Va. Fleming was jailed in Virginia while awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder, malicious wounding, being a felon in possession of a weapon, using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and abduction.
- Associated Press
Barge runs aground; no diesel fuel spilled
NORFOLK - A barge carrying 62,000 gallons of diesel oil ran aground Thursday in the Elizabeth River after developing a hole and taking on water, the Coast Guard said.
No oil escaped. A temporary patch was placed across a 2-foot-long hole, and the barge was towed to Colonna's Shipyard Inc. for repair and to remove its cargo, said Russell Thorne, executive vice president of Norfolk Dredging Co., which owns the damaged vessel.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB