Archives Reprint

    The House of Delegates passed legislation Friday that would restrict locations for methadone clinics, likely ending a debate that has received significant attention in Southwest Virginia.

    The bill (SB 607) would prohibit a methadone clinic from operating within a half-mile radius of a school or child care center, unless the clinic operates out of a state-licensed hospital or state-owned facility. The restriction would not apply in densely populated Northern Virginia.

    The legislation would not affect existing clinics or facilities that already have state licenses and occupancy permits, such as a proposed clinic on Hershberger Road in Roanoke. But the geographic restrictions would effectively ban future clinics from most of Roanoke.

    Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, sponsored the bill after constituents raised concerns about a planned methadone clinic in Washington County.

    Wampler's bill also requires state officials to notify local governments and community services boards after receiving license applications from clinic operators. The House last month passed legislation (HB 745) sponsored by Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, that contained similar notification requirements but no geographic restrictions.

    Opponents of Wampler's bill have argued that it discriminates against addicts who need methadone treatment to stop using other drugs.

    The House passed Wampler's bill by a vote of 89-9. The Senate must approve minor amendments before sending the bill to Gov. Mark Warner.

   - Michael Sluss

Mother-turned-lobbyist thrilled by bill's passage

    Tara Salmons considers her lobbying effort a success, even though legislation she pushed to help protect pedestrians might not become law this year.

    The House of Delegates on Friday passed a bill (SB 246) that could allow localities to require the posting of handmade caution signs near yard sales and similar public events. But lawmakers attached a re-enactment clause that would require the General Assembly to approve the measure again next year before it can take effect. Unless the Senate or Gov. Mark Warner removes the clause, the bill cannot become law this year.

    Salmons began mounting a campaign for the bill after the death of her 2-year-old son, Samuel. The boy was struck and killed by a vehicle last year when he chased a friend onto U.S. 220 in Bath County, where Salmons had stopped for a bake sale.

    The bill, sponsored by Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, would allow localities to require advance notice of such a roadside event and to require the event's sponsor to post caution signs within 50 feet of the site. Localities could impose the requirement only on roads with speed limits of at least 35 mph.

    Some lawmakers complained that the bill fails to specify whether local governments or event sponsors would have the responsibility of paying for and posting the signs. They also raised concerns about liability issues if signs got knocked down. Del. Clark Hogan, R-Halifax County, attached the re-enactment clause so lawmakers could sort those questions out over the next year.

    The bill's tentative passage was a victory of sorts for Salmons. The House Transportation Committee defeated the bill last month, but Salmons persuaded a panel member to revive the measure two days later. The committee then narrowly approved the measure on a close vote.

    "They have to vote on it again next year, but it got passed and that's what counts," Salmons said Friday. "I feel I've won because people are more aware."

   - Michael Sluss

Red-light camera plan comes to screeching halt

    Roanoke officials will have to wait at least another year to install red-light cameras.

    Members of the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety once again put a stop to several bills that would have allowed localities to place "photo-red" cameras at select intersections. The cameras, which are already in place in a handful of Virginia localities, snap pictures or record video of cars that run red lights.

    Police then send a fine to the vehicle's owner, based upon the license plate information captured by the camera. The fine, which can be appealed, does not constitute a conviction and does not go on the driver's record.

    Supporters of photo-red technology claim the cameras make drivers think twice about running red lights and, therefore, help reduce potentially fatal collisions in intersections.

    "I think that over time, it's a cost-effective way to enforce traffic laws and increase public safety," said Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke and the sponsor of a bill to bring the red-light cameras to his home city.

    The House has become the graveyard for photo-red authorization requests in recent years. On Friday, committee members cited concerns over the technology's reliability and its "Big Brother-esque" nature.

    Committee members killed the Edwards bill and two others, one of which would have created a framework for any city, county or town to erect photo-red cameras.

    Authorization for the existing photo-red programs expires July 1, 2005. ;

   - Kevin Miller

No cake with candles for politically incorrect band

    The University of Virginia pep band isn't getting a birthday card from the General Assembly this year.

    For the past three decades, the Virginia Pep Band has specialized in both amusing and offending spectators at UVa athletic events. On several occasions, the "scramble" band so insulted rival fans - or residents of the rival university's home state - that UVa administrators felt it necessary to apologize.

    The last such incident happened in December 2002, when the pep band portrayed West Virginia University students as overall-wearing hillbillies. Not long after that, UVa officials banished the pep band from university sporting events and created a new, traditional university marching band.

    Del. Mitch Van Yahres, D-Charlottesville, introduced a resolution to "commend and congratulate" the band on its 30th anniversary. But members of the Senate Rules Committee weren't in a congratulating kind of mood Friday, at least not when it came to the pep band.

    Sen. Russell Potts, R-Winchester, railed against the "unbelievable, disgraceful conduct of that pep band." Sen. Bill Mims, R-Leesburg, said that while he often laughed at the band's antics, he could not commend "all of the things that have been reported."

    Several committee members, such as UVa alumnus Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania County, came to the band's defense by citing the group's charitable activities and contribution to school spirit. But in the end, the majority of committee members declined to sign onto the official birthday greeting.

   - Kevin Miller

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