DATE: Monday, March 17, 1997                TAG: 9703170194

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   99 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ....

.... Pinky Starlight

The 230 pound Vietnamese potbellied pig received national attention more than two years ago when a Norfolk judge ordered Pinky on a diet.

The Pinky Starlight trail has run cold.

It would seem to be such a large trail - the Vietnamese potbellied pig at one time was at least 100 pounds overweight.

Pinky's original owner, Virginia Hudgins, would like to know the pig's whereabouts. She hasn't seen Pinky in nearly a year and misses her terribly.

A judge in 1995 declared Pinky excessively overweight. Shortly after, she was exiled to Virginia Beach for biting a family friend.

Hudgins asked several petting zoos to take Pinky in, but they all refused. They either said pinky was too fat or too testy.

About 10 months ago, Hudgins gave Pinky to William ``Herbie'' Dorsett Jr., owner of the recently closed Bar-B-Q Barn in Deep Creek. Dorsett wanted the pig as a pet, not a meal.

After a few months, Dorsett gave her to Woody Proffitt of Chesapeake. A month later, Proffitt sent her to live in Elizabeth City. And that's the last Hudgins has heard of her.

``I'm trying to track the pig myself,'' Hudgins said during a break in her shift waiting tables at the Pancake House in Norfolk. ``I love that pig. I want to see her and make sure she's fine.''

Proffitt doesn't share Hudgins' concern.

``I got tired of the damn thing tearing up the place and running out into the road,'' he said. ``I wish I had never heard of that pig.''

Proffitt said he didn't know the name of the person in North Carolina who took Pinky. He doesn't know if she's still there, nor does he care.

Pinky, he said, was ``still real fat'' when he last saw her.

Charles R. Vette was convicted of molesting seven children in 1989 in East Ocean View. The children's families sued the apartment owners for hiring Vette as resident manager without a criminal check.

The long, sad saga of Charles Vette, convicted child molester, is finally over.

It has been eight years since Vette molested six boys and one girl in his East Ocean View apartment. He was convicted in 1991 of 12 counts of child molestation and sentenced to five life terms in prison.

But the story didn't end there.

Vette was resident manager of the apartment complex, so the victims' families sued the apartment owners, claiming they did not check Vette's criminal background before hiring him.

It turned out Vette had a record of molestation. He was on parole. He had served four years in prison for molesting a 5-year-old girl in Virginia Beach.

Seven lawsuits were filed - one for each victim. The first case was settled in 1995. The young girl received $425,000, said her attorney, Jeffrey A. Breit.

The remaining six lawsuits were settled in January. The six victims will split $650,000, in varying amounts, Breit said.

Norfolk native George Hanbury helped shape South Hampton Roads over three decades as city manager or assistant in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth.

In 1990, George Hanbury left Hampton Roads for Florida's warmer climate.

He's been there ever since.

Hanbury is in his sixth year as city manager of Fort Lauderdale, the resort town made famous in the 1960s film ``Where the Boys Are.''

``I enjoy it here,'' Hanbury said. ``The average temperature is 74 degrees and there are nice breezes coming in from the Caribbean all the time. We have turquoise and teal-colored waters and coral reef right off shore that's great for scuba diving and snorkeling.''

He enjoys both water sports.

Hanbury was known for his controversial management style in Hampton Roads. He was forced to resign his position in Virginia Beach after making policy decisions without council input. He left his job in Portsmouth after taking $76,000 in bonuses over eight years.

But he was also known as an effective manager. One Virginia Beach city councilman described Hanbury as a ``push type of person - someone who moved things and kept them going forward.''

Hanbury, who was born and raised in the Berkley section of Norfolk, said he was apprehensive about leaving Hampton Roads at first.

``Have you ever felt like you wanted to stay, but thought you ought to go?'' he said. ``There was nowhere else in Hampton Roads for me to go. I had worked in just about every city.''

Hanbury said he comes back to Virginia often to visit his three children, who all live here. He'll be in Virginia Beach in May to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. MEMO: Have you been wondering whatever happened to someone or

something in the news? Dial INFOLINE at 640-5555 and press 7878. Leave

your suggestion for Jane Harper. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Pinky Starlight/Steve Earley/file

Charles Hanbury

Charles Vette

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