[HEADLINES]

[TALENT=Melanie]

(----------------)
[VO-NAT]


Roanoke city and the federal government reach a plea agreement over the burial of hazardous waste.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]


And a big merger is in the works between media giants Time-Warner and A-O-L.
(/////////////)
[TALENT=Patrick]
[SS=None]



[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=None]


News 7 at noon is next.

[Buried-Barrels]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#99-47 TC1:07:52]
[GRAPHIC=Roanoke City]


The burial of contaminated waste at the Roanoke public works service center will cost the city an additional 600-thousand dollars.
Today city council approved a plea agreement with federal officials.
[Double Boxes=Melanie and joeD/Microwave]


Joe Dashiell is at the municipal building with more on this story.
[Live=JoeD Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Joe1;]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]
( ad lib)
(Rollcue:fines and community service projects.)
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=We have done]
[SUPER=01-Bill Hackworth/Roanoke City Attorney;]
[RUNS=:21]
[OUT Q=cause problems in our own community.]
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]

[Joe's MIKE HOT!!!!!]
[RUNS=:20]
(-------------)



[Live=JoeD Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]
( ad lib)



[Double Boxes=Melanie and JoeD/Microwave]



[Roanoke-Fire]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=99-48 TC1:00:36]
[GRAPHIC=fire]


A fire this morning at a Southeast Roanoke home
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]

sent smoke billowing out of the windows.
But the fire was contained to the attic.
The blaze broke out around 10 o'clock at 10-04 Jamison Avenue.
Residents were home at the time, but made it outside safely.
No word yet on exactly what caused the fire.
(------------)



[aol-time]


[ANCHOR=mel]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=business News]


Time Warner, the world's largest media and entertainment company, is being acquired by Virginia based America Online for what will be the biggest corporate merger in U-S history.
Bobbi Harley has details from New York.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Steve Case/AOL Time-Warner Chairman;]
[SUPER=01-Bobbi Harley/Reporting;]
[RUNS=1:37]
[OUT Q=CBS News, New York.]

((ITS ALMOST AS AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE
NAT SOT YOU'VE GOT MAIL

THE E-MAIL SIGN ON FOR AMERICA ON-LINE AND GET READY IT MAY EVEN SATURATE MORE OF YOUR LIFE FROM HOME ENTERTAINMENT
NAT SOT HBO 7:49:22


TO BIG SCREEN BONANZAS
NAT SOT WARNER BROTHERS SLATE INTO TRAILER MUSIC 7:51:58


TO YOUR FAVORITE BOOKS AND MAGAZINES THATS BECAUSE THE WORLDS LARGEST PROVIDER OF INTERNET ACCESS IS MERGING WITH THE WORLDS LARGEST MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY, TIME-WARNER.
SOT - STEVE CASE, CHAIRMAN, AOL TIME WARNER


IF ITS APPROVED BY REGULATORY AGENCIES IT WILL BE THE BIGGEST CORPORATE MERGER EVER CREATING A NEW COMPANY WITH A THIRTY BILLION DOLLAR ANNUAL REVENUE.
ANALYSTS SAY ITS TRADITIONAL MEDIA MEETS NEW MEDIA AS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES LOOK FOR WAYS TO CASH IN ON THE GROWING POPULARITY OF THE INTERNET AND INTERNET COMPANIES TRY TO PUT MORE ENTERTAINMENT ON THEIR WEB SITES.
IN ANY CASE IT MEANS YOU'LL SEE LOTS MORE OF BOTH IN MANY MORE PLACES.
AND AS FOR WALL STREET
NAT SOT OPENING BELL


THE NEWS SENT STOCKS SHARPLY HIGHER.
(HARLEY STANDUP, DEALING WITH OTHER MEDIA MERGERS AND THE CHANGING FACE

OF WHAT'S AVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS.)))

[cuba-boy]


[ANCHOR=mel]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Al Gore has entered the dispute over Elian Gonzalez.
The vice president says he questions whether the Immigration and Naturalization Service has the expertise to decide the child's fate, and he thinks the courts should decide.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Miami, FL;]

[3:13:21]
And that appears to be the next step in this international tug of war.
After the I-N-S ruled Elian should be returned to his father in Cuba, Congressman Dan Burton issued a subpoena to have the boy testify before a House committee.
That will likely keep him in the U-S for at least another month.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]

((REP. DAN BURTON/R-INDIANA: THE ONLY REASON WE ISSUED THE SUBPOENA WAS TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT THE JUDICIAL PROCESS WAS FOLLOWED.))
[SUPER=01-Rep. Dan Burton/(R) Indiana;]
[RUNS=:08]
[OUT Q=process was followed.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[Super=03-Washington, DC;]

[3:00:44]
Gore's remarks today go against President Clinton who has endorsed the I-N-S decision.
(------------)



[E-Roanoke-Cubans]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=99-51 33:47]
[GRAPHIC=none]


The controversy is polarizing Cuban communities around the country, even here in Southwest Virginia.
Joy Sutton has that part of the story.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=It was just]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=07-Michael Angelo; :15]
[SUPER=03-Miami, FL/File Tape; :37]
[SUPER=@Joy2; 1:45]
[RUNS=1:50]
[OUT Q=n7 Roanoke]

(( It was just five years ago that Michael Angelo fled from Cuba -- traveling on a raft -- across the Atlantic Ocean -- risking his life in search of a better future.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 25:21]
[IN Q=It took me almost 3 days]

((MICHAEL ANGELO:IT TOOK ME ALMOST 3 DAYS, FOUR DAY IN THE WATER. WE HAD NO FOOD. AS SOON AS WE SAW THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD THAT WAS LIKE THE BIG BREAK LIKE GOD WE MADE IT))
[RUNS= 15]
[OUT Q=we made it]


Angelo and his friend Reimundo Fonseca say they were the lucky ones --just like six year Elian Gonzalez who survived the trip in November.
But unlike many Cuban Americans in Miami who are protesting the INS' decision to send Elian back to his father in Cuba -- Angelo and Fonseca feel he SHOULD be sent back.
They say he isn't old enough to make the decision to stay -- and his father in Cuba has the right to make that decision for him.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 27:20]
[IN Q=I think they]

((MICHAEL ANGELO: I THINK THEY ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING TO SEND HIM BACK TO HIS FATHER BUT AT THE SAME TIME WHY THE U.S DON'T GRANT HIM PERMANENT RESIDENCE))
[RUNS= 13]
[OUT Q=permanent residence]


Angelo says if Elian was given permanent residency in the United States -- he could return without any complications when he is older and can make a decision for himself.
That way if he decided to come back to the US he wouldn't have to make the dangerous trip across the Atlantic Ocean again.
(////SOT /////)
[SOT27:51]
[IN Q=When he grow up]

((MICHAEL ANGELO: WHEN HE GROW UP HE'S GOING TO DO THE SAME THING. HE'S GOING TO BUILD A RAFT. HE'S GOING TO PUT IT ON THE OCEAN. AND HE'S GOING TO DO THE SAME THING AND HE MIGHT DIE ))
[RUNS= 10]
[OUT Q=might die]


But only time will tell the future of little Elian Gonzalez -- whether he'll remain in the US or be returned to his homeland.
Joy Sutton, News7, Roanoke.))
[tease1] [HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]


New developments in a Roanoke police shooting.
That story is still ahead on News 7 at Noon.
(--------------)
[VO-NAT ]


And doctors in Japan make a big jump in genetic research.
First, let's talk to Patrick Evans about our windy forecast.
(---------------)
[Talent=Patrick]

[Wx-Tease] [Weatherpro] [music up full] [comm1]

[FROG-RESEARCH]


[ANCHOR=MEL]
[NEWSCAST=NOON]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


From Japan.. what could be described as a leap into the future of medicine.. remarkable research that may eventually help doctors replace human organs.
Barry Petersen reports from Tokyo.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]

[10:08:18]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Tokyo, Japan;]
[SUPER=01-Barry Petersen/Reporting;]
[RUNS=1:12]
[OUT Q=CBS News, Tokyo.]

(( Researchers in Japan have grown frog eyes and ears in a laboratory using the animal's own embryo cells.
They believe the technology could eventually help doctors replace lost or damaged human sensory organs using cells from the patients' bodies.
The researchers at the prestigious Tokyo University cultivated thousands of embryo cells in a special solution for five days to produce the organs.
They discovered that varying the concentration of the solution somehow brought forth different genetic instructions in the cells.
A lower concentration activated a set of genes producing eyes, while a higher concentration activated genes producing ears.
The researchers used embryonic stem cells, the ancestral cells that develop into the tissues and organs in the body.

The procedure is different from cloning, in which a single cell from an organism grows into a copy of the original.))


[E-Police-Shooting]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=99-56 22:24]
[GRAPHIC=Police Shooting ]


The Roanoke City police officer who returned to work after shooting and wounding an unarmed suspect last month has a NEW assignment.
Officer W-G (BOO-shay) Boucher returned as a patrol officer last week-- angering the suspect's family and the N-double-A-C-P.
A police department spokeswoman this morning said Boucher has NOW been transfered to administrative duties, but declined to say if the change in assignment has anything to do with the N-Double-A-C-P's pledge to get involved.
(------------)
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT2:56:51]
[IN Q=Why should this]

((MARTIN JEFFREY/ROANOKE NAACP: WHY SHOULD THIS OFFICER BE PAID WHILE THIS INVESTIGATION IS STILL PENDING. THAT'S NOT RIGHT. THAT'S NOT APPROPRIATE))
[SUPER=01-Martin Jeffrey/Roanoke NAACP]
[RUNS=:05]
[OUT Q=not appropriate]
(-----------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-December 31]


Officer Boucher shot 38 year old Wilbert Wesley Lewis on Patton Avenue, last month.
Police say it all started when (boo-SHAY) Boucher pulled Lewis over for driving without his lights on.
Authorities say Lewis did get out of his vehicle-- but that he reached back in and would NOT show his hands.
That's when police say (boo-SHAY) Boucher shot Lewis once in the abdomen.
But Martin Jeffrey says that's the officers version.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 2:57:30]
[IN Q=We're going to]

((MARTIN JEFFREY: WE'RE GOING TO BE ASKING THE CITY TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO PUT THAT OFFICER BACK ON LEAVE, PREFERABLY WITHOUT PAY. WE'RE GOING TO ASK THE COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY TO READY HIS STAFF TO DO THEIR OWN INVESTIGATION OF THE SHOOTING))
[RUNS=12]
[OUT Q=of the shooting]
(---------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]


Lewis is at Roanoke Memorial hospital.
The N-Double-A-C-P says he lost his spleen, kidney, part of his stomach and small intestine.
Police say officer Boucher (boo-SHAY) acted in self defense.

[E-Lewis-Gale]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=99-60 46:44]
[GRAPHIC=none]


Physicians at one Lewis Gale satellite clinic want to assure their patients they are NOT resigning.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.]


Doctor John Milton Miller and Doctor Stephen Couture (Koo-Chur) both practice at Clear Brook Internal Medicine on Indian Grave Road.
The two physicians want their patients to know they are NOT one of several physicians who are planning to leave.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[GRAPHIC=none]


A Lewis Gale Clinic spokesperson says several physicians have resigned over the last couple of weeks, from various clinics, but would NOT confirm the reason why or just how many were leaving.
[Tease2] [SOFT MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]


The 54 year old mother of newborn triplets is doing fine.
We'll hear from her when News-7 at Noon returns.
(-----------------)
[VO-NAT ]


And a photgrapher is in jail, accused of stalking Barbara Streisand and her husband James Brolin.
(-----------------)

[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #2]


[Streisand-Brolin]


[ANCHOR=mel]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


A photographer is in a California jail -- accused of stalking Barbara Streisand and her husband.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@File;]


Sheriff's deputies say Wendal Wall was arrested over the weekend after Streisand and actor James Brolin reported they were being followed as they drove near their Malibu home.
Bail for the 28 year photographer has been set at one million dollars.
(------------)


[WIPE/WIPE/WIPE]

[etheridge-crosby]


[ANCHOR=MEL]
[NEWSCAST=NOON]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=WIPE/WIPE/WIPE]


[WIPE WIPE WIPE WIPE WIPE]

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@File;]

[3:12:29]
Rock singer Melissa Etheridge tells Rolling Stone magazine that David Crosby, the singer and songwriter of Crosby, Stills and Nash, fathered her two children by artificial insemination.
Etheridge's partner, Julie Cypher carried the babies.
Etheridge says she's coming forward because she's ``tired'' of keeping it a secret.
She also says Crosby doesn't plan to help raise the children.
(------------)



[Mother-triplets]


[ANCHOR=mel]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


A 54 year old Washington State woman is now the mother of eleven after giving birth over the weekend to triplets.


(------------)
[VO-NAT]

[10:01:46 stills]
Doctors say Arcelia (ar-CEL'-ee-ah) Garcia gave birth to her daughters without the help of fertility drugs, which is very rare.
The girls remain in intensive care, but are breathing on their own.
[SUPER=03-Yakima, WA;]


With the help of a translator Garcia today expressed her joy.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]

((GARCIA THAT SHE PROBABLY WON'T HAVE ANY MORE ... SHE'S TOO OLD ... THIS WAS PROBABLY HER LAST SURPRISE ... BUT IT'S IN GOD'S HANDS ... IN ANY CASE, SHE JUST DOESN'T KNOW ))
[SUPER=39-Arcelia Garcia;]
[RUNS=:19]
[OUT Q=IN ANY CASE, I DON'T KNOW.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

[3:03:56]
The youngest of Garcia's eight other children is 15.
She also has 13 grandchildren.
(------------)



[Stocks]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE# none]
[GRAPHIC=stocks]


On Wall Street at Noon, the Dow was UP 83 points.
[tease3] [SPORTS MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]


Still to come in sports, highlights from the N-F-L post season including the Vikings and Dolphins victories,
(----------------)
[VO-NAT ]

and the Express continues to heat up the ice as they get an impressive win over Huntington at the Roundhouse.
Patrick has the highlights, next.
(---------------)

[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #3]



[S-Vikings]


[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-54 (1:08:22)]
[GRAPHIC=Vikings/Cowboys]


The season has ended for America's Team.
Jeff George tossed three touchdown passes as the Minnesota Vikings beat the Dallas Cowboys 27 to 10 in the N-F-C p

layoffs.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Minneapolis, MN/FOX Sports; :]


The owners kept a close eye on this playoff game.
With the score tied at 3 to 3, Emmitt Smith takes the pitch and goes outside scoring on the 5 yard run. Dallas led 10 to 3 in the first quarter.
But the Viks battle back. George throws the short pass to Robert Smith.
He takes it 26 yards to the end zone and the ties game at 10 to 10 in the second.
The Vikings keep it in the air. George goes deep hitting Randy Moss for the 58 yard touchdown and Minnesota jumped

out to the 17 to 10 lead.
[SUPER=32-Minnesota/27/Dallas/10/;]


Leading 20 to 10, George hits Chris Carter on this 5 yard touchdown play and the Vikings win it 27 to 10.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="When we.....]
[SUPER=01-Jeff George/Threw 3 Touchdown Passes; :]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=....great job."]
(-------------)
[TALENT=Patrick]
[GRAPHIC=Hold Logo]


The Vikings will travel to St. Louis next weekend to take on the Rams.

[S-Dolphins]


[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-48 (1:46:22)]
[GRAPHIC=Dolphins/Seahawks]


J.J. Johnson's two yard touchdown run with under 5 minutes left in the game gave Miami a 20 to 17 win over Seattle.

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Seattle, WA/CBS Sports; :]


A shot outside the dome in Seattle.
To the action...Seahawk quarterback Jon Kitna hooks up with Sean Dawkins on this 10 yard T-D pass. Seattle takes a 7 to nothing lead.
Miami comes back on the veteran arm of Dan Marino. He throws this one yard T-D pass to Oronde Gadsen which ties the game at 10 in the third.
The Dolphins let up on the kickoff. Seattle's Charlie Rogers muffs it, but picks it up and takes it 85 yards to the end zone for the touchdown. Seattle goes back on top 17 to 10 in the third quarter.
[SUPER=32-Miami/20/Seattle/17/;]


But Johnson put the game away in the fourth when he scores on the 2 yard run.
The Dolphins get the 20 to 17 victory.
(------------)
[TALENT=Patrick]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]


Miami advances to the second round of the A-F-C playoffs at Jacksonville next wekend.

[Wallace]


[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Rusty Wallace]


Rusty Wallace wiped out over the holidays.
The driver of the Number Two Ford was skiing down a slope at the Sugar Mountain resort in North Carolina on December 17th when he crashed.
Wallace suffered a hairline fracture of his right shoulder blade.
Wallace won't be out of action, however, but he is passing up this week's Ford tests at Talladega because he'll be doing annual training to retain his pilot's license.

[S-Express]


[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-61 (16:36)]
[GRAPHIC=Express/Blizzard]


The Roanoke Express put another game in the win column beating Huntington yesterday in the Roundhouse.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/Express vs. Blizzard; :]


These young fans danced the Express to victory.
Roanoke attacks in the first. Aaron Gates rips it from just inside the blue line and Dion Del Monte gets the rebound.
He fires it in the net for a 2 to nothing Roanoke lead.
The Express scored again. Duane Harmer shoots a floater that finds the back of the net to make it 3 to nothing Express.
[SUPER=38-Roanoke/4/Huntington/1/;]


The Huntington Blizzard try to come back.
Jim Moss skates up the middle shoots and scores, but the Express get the 4 to 1 victory. (------------)
by SS