DATE: Monday, March 24, 1997                TAG: 9703240199

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Compiled by Jane Harper 

                                            LENGTH:  108 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ...

The former Chesapeake resident's career as a professional wrestler ended suddenly 10 years ago when his Porsche wrecked, leaving him partially paralyzed and his dreams of winning a World Championship Wrestling title unfulfilled.

A lot has happened since his car met a pole, says Terry Allen, 37, who lives in Charlotte. After doctors initially predicted he would be a quadriplegic and never walk again, Allen underwent several surgeries and says he eventually regained use of much of his body.

Today, he walks dragging his right leg and can't use his right arm. He still has a lot of nerve damage on both sides of his body, but he has come a lot further than most people expected he could.

Allen says he is pleased with the progress he has made physically, but what has brought him the greatest joy was the birth of his son, Christian Kyle, who celebrated his first birthday March 7.

``He's just amazing,'' Allen says. ``I wish that I was able to do a lot more things with him physically, but I'm glad that I'm at a place in my life where I can really appreciate him and what a blessing he is.''

Allen says he and his wife, Tracey, just recently moved into a bigger house to better accommodate their active son and his frequently visiting grandparents.

Allen worked as a commentator and later as an assistant talent coordinator for World Championship Wrestling after his accident but left that job a few years ago. He still does some work with Magnum Tower Associates, the Chesapeake communications business he started with his father after the accident, but says he has not been very involved.

``I'm looking at other things in the communications business. I just haven't found the niche that I lost after my wrestling days.''

Allen has no involvement in pro wrestling now, he says, other than maintaining friendships with some of the wrestlers who were competing when he was. He occasionally watches some of their matches on television.

``It's gotten a little too bizarre for my taste. It's always been an entertainment business, but it's really become so cartoonish that I can't stand to watch it.''

Five years ago an Australian syndicate won a $27 million Virginia lottery jackpot by playing more than 5.6 million tickets in an attempt to cover all 7.1 million possible six-number combinations. Changes in the system were made afterward to prevent such wins again.

The Australian syndicate that won big still collects its payments from Virginia, and now it's handing them out in Europe.

Leading members of the syndicate, including ``Lotto Wizard'' Stefan Mandel, began operating their own lottery in Gibraltar a few years ago, says Patricia Schwarzschild, a Richmond lawyer who once represented the group.

``They're running it instead of playing it these days,'' she says.

Schwarzschild says she doesn't know how successful the Gibraltar lottery has been because she hasn't heard from anyone in the syndicate since she represented the group in a Virginia court more than four years ago. Then, a judge ruled the state could not withhold taxes from the group's winnings.

Once the syndicate got its winnings, it was dissolved, Schwarzschild says. She doesn't know how many people were involved in the deal.

``It was like a trust,'' she explains. ``People bought individual units, and it (the winnings) was divided among them.''

Paula Otto, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Lottery, says she also had heard about the syndicate's Gibraltar venture but doesn't know much else about the group's fate.

The syndicate will continue to collect its $1.3 million annual checks for 15 more years, Otto says.

In 1995, many Virginia Beach residents were angered by a consultant's recommendation to cut down more than 300 trees along a scenic but dangerous stretch of Shore Drive in an effort to make the roadway safer. City officials later decided to ax only 68 trees that were close to the roadway and replant 131 farther back.

City engineers say they hope to save even more of the 68 trees slated for removal. Rich Nettleton, a civil engineer for the city, says he believes as many as 20 to 25 percent of the trees can be spared.

But Nettleton says he's not making any promises.

``We're going to save as many as possible,'' he says, ``but I can't say just how many.''

The trees are being cut down to make room for a 10-foot shoulder along both sides of Shore Drive, where there is no paved shoulder. Without a shoulder, motorists who wander from the roadway can drive off the road into a sandy area that often causes them to lose control of their vehicles. From 1991 to 1994, there were 83 accidents in the area; 10 were fatal, killing 19 people. Fifty-three involved tree strikes.

``It's not the trees that are causing the accidents, it's the lack of a shoulder, and speed and volume of traffic,'' Nettleton says.

Still, any trees within 12 feet of the roadway are slated for removal to make room for a new shoulder and construction equipment.

The 131 new trees, shrubs and ground cover already have been replanted, Nettleton says. Construction of the shoulder is expected to begin in late April or May and should be completed within 60 days. The new shoulder will include ``rumble strips'' to alert drivers when they veer off the road.

The number of accidents along Shore Drive already has begun to drop, Nettleton says, and there have been no fatalities there in more than a year. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Terry ``Magnum TA'' Allen

Stefan Mandel, also known as the "Lotto Wizard."

A stretch of Shore Drive, near Coast Artillery Road, may have a

shoulder added as a safety precaution...<

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