DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190544

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

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HAMPTON ROADS

SUFFOLK

Work on railroad

crossings will close

streets in next week

Maintenance by CSX and Norfolk Southern on railroad crossings will cause downtown street closings over the next several days.

This is the schedule for closings:

CSX crossing at Moore Avenue will be closed today.

Norfolk Southern Mainline crossings to be closed at Commerce Street Thursday.

South Main Street Crossing Monday.

Saratoga Street Crossing Wednesday, Nov. 26

The crossings will be closed until the work has been completed and should not be closed for longer than one day.

For details, call the Public Work Department at 925-6385.

Finance department cited

by national organization

The city's finance department has been recognized by a national organization for its comprehensive financial reporting.

The Government Finance Officers Association, which serves about 13,000 government finance professionals in the United States and Canada, awarded Chesapeake its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 1995-96 fiscal year.

The award, based on year-end financial reporting, is the highest form of recognition for government accounting and financial reporting.

``The main purpose is to have reliable financial reporting . . . so people can make their own judgment about financial management,'' said Stephen Gauthier, director of technical services for the Chicago-based association.

NORFOLK

City prepares for holiday

parades with $1 parking

The city is preparing to ease traffic flow and provide cheaper parking for commuters during the holiday season with its ``Early Bird Special'' parking rates.

The special rates are an incentive for patrons to arrive early to the Grand Illumination Parade Saturday and the Lighted Boat Parade Nov. 29.

A $1 parking rate will be available between 3 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and between 2 and 4:30 p.m. Nov. 29. The special rate will apply only to the Waterside, Town Point and City Avenue garages and the Town Point lot. These rates do not apply at the Main Street Garage.

For details, call 441-2561.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Holly Festival of Trees

to offer style show, Santa

The 15th annual Holly Festival of Trees will be held Friday through Sunday at the Cavalier on the Hill, 42nd Street at the Oceanfront.

The theme will be ``A Musical Miracle on 42nd Street.''

Events will begin with a luncheon, fashion show, holiday decorating demonstrations and music by members of the Virginia Symphony. Seatings will be at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $20; registration is required.

A gala and auction will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday. The theme will be ``Creative Black Tie.'' There will be music, food and beverages. Decorated holiday trees will be auctioned. Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 at the door.

Santa will arrive by sleigh for an open house, which will include cookie decorating, puppet shows, caroling and photos, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $1 at the door.

To order tickets for the luncheon or gala or for more details on events, call 668-7098.

The festival is organized by the Norfolk City Union of The King's Daughters. Proceeds will benefit Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters.

Chief medical examiner

will kick off lecture series

Dr. Marcella F. Fierro, Virginia's chief medical examiner, will be the keynote speaker at the first lecture in the John Krueger Lectureship Series on Wednesday.

The series honors the late Dr. John J. Krueger, former director of the Pathology Department at Virginia Beach General Hospital.

The evening, co-hosted by the hospital and the Virginia Beach Medical Society Auxiliary, will include the presentation of the first Physician of the Year award.

Krueger, who died last year at age 65, founded the hospital's pathology department in 1965 and was active in church and community affairs. He reigned over the annual Virginia Beach Neptune Festival as King Neptune in 1990.

The lecture series was formed as a tribute to his dedication to the medical community and the city.

The event will be held Wednesday at the Ramada Inn, 57th Street on the Oceanfront.

PORTSMOUTH

Rodney Slater will speak

at dollars-sense workshop

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater will speak at a workshop on grant writing Friday at Holiday Inn-Portside.

The daylong program on ``Dollars and Sense: How to Find It and How to Get It'' will be sponsored by the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Conference of Minority Public Administrators. Registration will begins at 8 a.m.

Eva Teig, senior vice president of Virginia Power and former secretary of Health and Human Resources for Virginia, will speak at 9:15 a.m. The morning session also will include workshops on where to find money from federal and state governments and from the private sector.

An afternoon panel discussion on how to write successful grant applications will be led by Lawrence Dotolo of Old Dominion University.

Cost of the workshop is $25 for students, $50 for COMPA members and $65 for nonmembers. For more information, call Gwendolyn Davis, intergovernmental legislative director for Portsmouth, at 393-8614.

Police today will pay closer

attention to drivers' safety

Portsmouth police officers will pay closer attention to whether drivers are buckled up and whether children are in proper safety seats today.

The department's safety promotion, named Car Safety Awareness Day, will have officers giving out information on vehicle safety features in schools and when making traffic stops.

While officers have been urged to pay more attention to whether drivers are wearing seat belts or using child safety seats correctly, it will be their discretion whether drivers get a warning or ticket, according to police spokeswoman Amber Whittaker. For more information, call 393-8748.

ALSO. . .

Norfolk - All rental property owners and managers who have questions or concerns about recent changes in the handling of evictions in Norfolk are invited to attend a luncheon meeting with Sheriff Robert J. ``Bob'' McCabe from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Spaghetti Warehouse, 1900 Monticello Ave. MEMO: Staff writers Linda McNatt, Janie Bryant, Lewis Krauskopf, Pat

Dooley and Ida Kay Jordan contributed to this report.

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