THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160416
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Briefs
LENGTH: 78 lines
RICHMOND - Virginia Military Institute should treat women cadets like men cadets when the first females are admitted next year, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch-12 News poll released Tuesday.
Eighty percent of Virginia voters agreed with plans to keep VMI's physically demanding training program for both sexes.
Some women's groups have objected to plans to put women through the same grueling training as male cadets. But 84 percent of women, versus 80 percent of men, said VMI should keep the training program intact.
In September, the school's Board of Visitors agreed to admit women cadets next fall rather than try to turn the school private.
Cigars delivered to door
RICHMOND - The president of Richmond-based Bucksnort Inc., a company that specializes in cigar delivery and bartending services, has made it possible to have cigars delivered to your doorstep.
David Spear, who started the cigar-delivery service only a few months ago, said more people are smoking cigars now than ever before.
From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Spear makes deliveries by appointment. Some of his best clients are businesses. He is working on extending his delivery service to Hampton Roads.
A judge has ordered the warden of Mecklenburg Correctional Center to allow confidential contact visits between a death row convict, Joseph Roger O'Dell, and his wife when she is acting as a member of his legal team.
O'Dell's wife, Lori Urs, is also an assistant to his lawyers.
During the summer, O'Dell's lawyers were told by Virginia Department of Corrections Director Ronald Angelone that Urs would be allowed contact visits only as the spouse of a death row inmate - once every 90 days. Contact visits by legal advisers are allowed as often as necessary.
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
Murder trial begins
CHRISTIANSBURG - Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of carjacking a Virginia Tech student, forcing him to strip to his underwear and then shooting him in the head three times.
Three men abducted Alexander V. DeFilippis, 22, of McLean from a convenience store parking lot in Blacksburg Dec. 5. His body was found there along railroad tracks.
Ben Lilly, 27, of Montgomery County was charged with capital murder after the other two men said he shot DeFilippis. Virginia's ``trigger man'' law says only the person who actually committed a homicide can be put to death.
SOUTHSIDE Prison inmate escapes
DINWIDDIE - A man facing trial today in Petersburg involving a robbery and shooting escaped from the Dinwiddie County jail, authorities said.
Jerome M. McCray, 43, of Petersburg, got out of the jail's recreation area Monday about 3 p.m., but authorities were unable to say how.
In June, McCray was arrested in Petersburg and charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, malicious wounding, statutory burglary and other offenses in the shooting of Leon Jones, who was wounded in the leg.
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
National Guard shrinks
FREDERICKSBURG - The Virginia Army National Guard lost a third of its force during the past four years, and the remaining soldiers are focusing more on disaster relief than defense.
Since the end of the Cold War, efforts have shifted to disaster management and the state Guard's authorized strength has fallen from 12,000 in 1992 to 7,900 this year.
COMING UP TODAY: Charlottesville - Virginia High School Hall of Fame Banquet, 7 p.m., Omni Charlottesville Hotel. THURSDAY: Arlington - National Urban Youth Conference through Oct. 20. MEMO: From Associated Press reports by CNB