Briefly

Man dies in attack by crowd

One person was killed and two others were injured after they were attacked and beaten by a crowd of about a dozen people Saturday, police said.

James Robertson, a 19-year-old who was visiting from Georgia, died after the attack. The other two victims were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and released Saturday. Their names and ages were not released.

A group of five or six females and six to 10 males, all thought to be in their teens or 20s, attacked the three victims, stripping them of their clothes and then beating them, a police spokesman said.

Two of the victims broke free and escaped. Officers found Mr. Robertson at the scene, badly beaten.

Police did not immediately offer a motive for the assault and did not say whether the victims knew their assailants.

NORFOLK

Maritime group awaits support

As the U.S. Maritime Administration awaits support from Congress to dry-dock the Savannah, the 1950s-era vessel has been shuttled to three temporary berths in Hampton Roads since August.

The delay is expected to add at least $400,000 in towing and berthing expenses.

The administration’s plan to dry-dock the ship for a hull blasting and repainting is part of the agency’s plan to remove the ship’s remaining nuclear components and prepare the vessel for a possible donation as a public attraction.

The agency’s senior technical adviser says the maritime agency had to adapt to fiscal realities. The agency expected to have money in hand to dry-dock the ship when a repair job at Colonna’s Shipyard in Norfolk was finished.

However, the agency’s budget was still in limbo after last year’s congressional battles.

The 596-foot-long vessel is now at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair.

Money for the dry-docking work is not expected to be available until October at the earliest, when the 2008 fiscal year begins.

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