WDBJ 7 news at Noon for 01/11/00

[HEADLINES]

[TALENT=Melanie]

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

A federal judge makes a decision on the students expelled for their part in this fight during an Illinois football game.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

A former Virginia Tech student takes her rape case before the nation's highest court.
(/////////////)
[TALENT=Patrick]
[SS=None]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=None]

News 7 at noon is next.

[expelled-students]

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

A federal judge has sided with the Decatur, Illinois school board in its expulsion of six high school students involved in a football game brawl.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Decatur, IL/September 7, 1999;]
[10:11:45]
The Decatur school district said the students violated its "zero tolerance'' policy on violence.
The debate mushroomed into a national issue when Jesse Jackson got involved and began leading public protests on behalf of the students.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[2sot 10:08:46-52 and 10:08:14-19]
[IN Q=We see not only in decatur a trend...]
((JACKSON:WE SEE NOT ONLY IN DECATUR A TREND...THROWING THEM TO THE WIND. SUPERINTENDENT:IT WAS A VERY SERIOUS FIGHT AND OUR SPECTATORS TAKE PLACE IN THEIR CITY.))
[SUPER=01-Jesse Jackson/Rainbow Coalition;]
[SUPER=01-Kenneth Arndt/School Superintendent; :07]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=in their city.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The board initially expelled the students for up to two years.
But Jackson and the Governor of Illinois persuaded officials to reduce the punishment to one year and allow the teens to attend alternative schools.
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[Brzonkala]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=US Supreme Court]

Former Tech student Christy Brzonkala is taking her case before the U-S Supreme Court today.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Washington, DC/Friday;]

Brzonkala wants to sue two men who, she says, raped her in a dormitory.
The case could overturn the six-year-old Violence Against Women Act under which Brzonkala's lawsuit was filed.

(------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=HOLD]

A lower court threw out the case, saying the federal act is a ``sweeping intrusion'' into matters which are traditionally handled by states.
And it said violence against women has an only ``indirect'' relationship with interstate commerce and is therefore out of federal jurisdiction.
News-Seven's Ellen Qualls is in Washington and will have much more on this story later today.

[Salem-Manager]

[ANCHOR=Mel]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=99-59 TC07:36]
[GRAPHIC=Salem]

Salem will welcome a new city manager later this year.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem]

Randy Smith is retiring September first.
Smith has worked for the city for more than 30-years, for the past 13 as city manager.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=I think]
[SUPER=01-Randy Smith/Salem City Manager; ]
[RUNS=18]
[OUT Q=after that.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Assistant city manager Forest Jones will take over when Smith retires.
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[ELIAN]

[ANCHOR=MEL]
[NEWSCAST=NOON]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Elian Gonzalez]

It's looking more and more like 6-year old Elian Gonzalez will be staying in Miami for now.
An INS official in Miami said this morning that in light of yesterday's ruling by a local judge, the agency would not force Elian to go back to cuba by the Friday deadline.
Terisa Estacio is in Little Havana with the latest.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[11;30-UPDATE]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Miami, FL; :00]
[SUPER=01-Judge Rosa Rodriquez/Miami-DADE Circuit Court; :26]
[SUPER=01-Orrin Hatch/(R) Presidential Candidate; :47]
[SUPER=01-Steve Forbes/(R) Presidential Candidate; :54]
[SUPER=01-Terisa Estacio/Reporting; 1:26]
[RUNS=1:39]
[OUT Q=CBS NEWS, MIAMI.]
((The saga of Cuban exile Elilan Gonzalez continues as the international custody battle centering around the 6 year old boy escalates. Yesterday Miami-Dade Circut Judge Rosa Rodriguez issued a temporary protective order so she can hear arguments filed by the boy's Miami relatives, while leaving the door open for Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez to leave Castro's Cuba and fight for his son.
SOTF, JUDGE ROSA RODRIQUEZ, MIAMI-DADE CIRCUIT COURT
Paraphrased: "Make sure all parties are notifed, will delay evidentiary hearing so father can attend." NOTE: MSNBC Footage of Debate Meanwhile, the politics of the boy's case are heating up to the point of becoming an election issue as the Republican presidential hopefuls offered their opinions during a televised debate last night.
SOT
Orrin Hatch, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Paraphrased: " There is only one issue, the best interests of the boy, INS shouldnt be making that decision" Steve Forbes, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE "We would no more send a boy back to Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Russian than we should Castro's Cuba." Locator: Cuba Back in Cuba, the movement to return Elian to his homeland gains momentum. At a rally attended by thousands of anti-American demonstrators, the message was clear: Send Elian home. Locator: Miami: In Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, the community continues to support Elian, keeping the tug of war over this little boy alive until the legal system can run it's course.
(ESTACIO CLOSE, PARAPHRASED, INS SPOKESMAN THIS MORNING SAID THEY WOULD
NOT FORCE CUSTODY OF ELIAN)))

[DEAD-IMMIGRANTS]

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

Elian's mother and step father were killed in their attempt for freedom.
Another desperate attempt to get into the U-S also ended in death for some illegal immigrants from China.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Seattle, WA;]

Nearly 20 men crammed themselves inside a container being shipped from Hong Kong to Seattle.
I-N-S officials don't know how long they had been in the container but the trip from Hong Kong can take several weeks.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[3:05:04]
[IN Q=we found 18 total people in....]
[SUPER=01-Robert Coleman/INS Acting Director;]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=15 are alive.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Of the 15 still alive some could hardly walk.
This is the third such smuggling case at this Seattle port in recent days.
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[postal-hike]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Postal Service]

It may cost another penny to mail letters next year.
The Postal Service has begun the lengthy process of raising rates.
Under the proposal, a first-class stamp would go up a penny to 34 cents.
Mailing a postcard would also go up a penny to 21 cents.

[Railroad-Checks]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Railroad retirees in the Roanoke and New River Valleys can breath easier.
More than 700 missing retirement checks were found at a Maryland post office early yesterday morning.
They were forwarded on to Roanoke.
[tease1] [HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

Virginia is in desperate need of blood.
Find out how you can help when news 7 at Noon returns.
(--------------)
[VO-NAT ]

And the British rocker who wrote one of the most popular sports-stadium songs of all time is out of jail.
First let's talk to Patrick Evans.
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[Talent=Patrick]
[Wx-Tease] [Weatherpro] [music up full] [comm1]

[glitter-Release]

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

Glam rock singer Gary Glitter is a free man.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-London, England;]

He was released from prison in Britain today after serving half of a four-month sentence for downloading porn photos of children from the Internet.
The 55-year-old singer briefly appeared before reporters and said he deeply regretted his actions and wanted to put it behind him and get on with his life.
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[S-Thomas]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kwe]
[TAPE#=99-56 23:34]
[GRAPHIC=Va. Death Penalty]

He killed his girlfriend's parents when he was 17.
Last night, Virginia executed Douglas Christopher Thomas for the crime.
(------------)
[VO-NAT 99-56 23:34]

Thomas was convicted in 1990.
[SUPER=03-Middlesex Co./November 1990]

The U-S Supreme Court denied a request for a stay yesterday, and Governor Gilmore denied a similar request less than an hour before the execution.
Thomas did not have a final statement.
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[Henry-Ax]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tar]
[TAPE#=99-49 TC53:46]
[GRAPHIC=Accident]

Charges are pending against a tractor trailer driver who ran his rig down an enbankment in Henry County this morning.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.;]

A Virginia Beach trucker was travelling along route 58 in Brosville just after 7 when his truck went off the shoulder, went through a guard rail and down an enbankment.
No one was injured.
Police say slick roads may have caused the accident.
The west bound lane of traffic was blocked for a time.
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[Lewis-Gale]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kwe]
[TAPE#=99-41 TC2:00:48]
[GRAPHIC=Lewis Gale Clinic]

Some of the unanswered questions about the doctor resignations at Lewis Gale Clinics should be answered later today.
What we do know is that 14 doctors have resigned from the 15 satellite clinic offices.
Kate Weidaw has more.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=In addition]
[SUPER=03-Salem; :00]
[SUPER=@Kate1; :42]
[RUNS=:53]
[OUT Q=KW, News-7.]
((In addition to the satellite offices, the main clinic in Salem is affected by the resignations as well. We're told a number of specialists and surgeons working here have quit. The resignations are said to be a result of doctors being unhappy with PhyCor -- the Nashville group that operates the Lewis Gale Clinic. In fact PhyCor has been sued several times by doctors who say the company steals their profits. However there are some doctors who have chosen to stay at their jobs. [take pre-pro] Both doctors at Bonsack and Clearbrook family Practice are staying. One doctor at Back Creek is not resigning and both doctors at the Allergy Clinic in Salem will remain on the job. [STANDUP] ((KATE WEIDAW/REPORTING; TODAY A CLINIC SPOKESWOMAN SAYS SHE SHOULD SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE RESIGNATIONS AND MORE IMPORTANTLY WHERE PATIENTS MIGHT HAVE TO GO TO SEE THEIR DOCTORS. KATE WEIDAW NEWS 7.))
[RUNS=]))

[5-Red-Cross]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=599-8 2:00:55]
[GRAPHIC=Blood Supply]

The American Red Cross is in desperate need of blood - locally and nationally.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-January 1998;]

The Red Cross says its local chapter is down to less than one day's supply of type O blood.
That makes the situation especially critical since Type O is considered the Universal Blood Type, which means it can be safely transfused in most patients during emergency situations.
The Red Cross says the holidays cut down on donations.
(------------)

[new-monuments]

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

The Grand Canyon is President Clinton's backdrop today as he designates three new national monuments today.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Tusayan, AZ;]
[3:12:03]
The President arrived at Grand Canyon Airport late last night.
One monument would encompass 1 million acres and lie adjacent to the canyon's North Rim.
Environmentalists are praising the plan.
But the state's governor and other G-O-P lawmakers say more public input is needed.
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[ANCHOR=MELANIE;]
[SS=None]

Mr. Clinton is also expected to name one other national monument in Arizona and one in California.
[Tease2] [SOFT MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

Cosmo is getting a new look at some area grocery stores.
Find out why when News-7 at Noon returns.
(-----------------)
[VO-NAT ]

And Doug Wilder looks back on a history-making term as governor.
(-----------------)
[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #2]

[E-Wilder]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=99-46 1:16:05]
[GRAPHIC=Wilder]

The man who broke racial barriers and won Virginia's top political office says he's glad he ran for President.
Doug Wilder says it taught him a great deal.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

In fact, ten years after Wilder was sworn in as the nation's only elected black governor, he says he has few regrets.
But breaking that barrier is NOT what Wilder views as his greatest accomplishment.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 11:07:03 ]
[IN Q=Handing over]
((DOUG WILDER/FORMER GOVERNOR: HANDING OVER TO MY SUCCESSOR A STATE THAT I HAVE NEVER HAD TO BE APOLOGETIC FOR.))
[sot 11:17:12]
((DOUG WILDER/FORMER GOVERNOR: WHY ANY DEMOCRAT... TRUMPET THAT AND RUN ON THAT IS SOMETHING I WILL NEVER, EVER UNDERSTAND.))
[sot 20:08]
((I CAN SAY TO YOU TODAY... SON OF VIRGINIA!))
[SUPER=01-Doug Wilder/(D) Former Governor; :00]
[RUNS=:24]
[OUT Q=son of Virginia!]
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[VO-NAT]

A ten year anniversary gala this week in Richmond will raise money for a Wilder Scholars program at Virginia Commonwealth University.
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[Address-Promo]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[TAPE=None]
[GRAPHIC=State of the Commonwealth]

Virginia's current governor, Jim Gilmore, delivers his "State of the Commonwealth" address Wednesday evening, and WDBJ-7 will air it live.
(+++++++)
[TAKE FULL SCREEN BOARD]
Ellen Qualls will have live reports from the capitol, and political expert Tom Morris will be here to give us some political perspective. Our coverage begins at 7-P-M Wednesday.
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[S-Kroger-Cosmo]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kwe]
[TAPE#=99-45 1:38:51]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Cosmopolitan magazine may be a little harder to find at Kroger stores.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.]

The magazine is being placed behind "blinder" racks with only the Cosmopolitan heading showing.
It all stems from customer complaints about the racy headlines on the magazines' covers.
In all, 22-hundred Kroger stores across the country will display "Cosmo" in the same way that most newsstands display adult magazines.
(------------)

[Stocks]

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

On Wall Street at Noon, the Dow was UP 30 points.
[tease3] [SPORTS MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

Still to come in sports, the N-F-L will let Washington Redskins guard Tre Johnson play in this weekend's playoff game,
(----------------)
[VO-NAT ]
and one Virginia Tech football star decides to take his running game to the pros.
Patrick has the details, next.
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[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #3]

[Johnson]

[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tar]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Redskins]

Washington Redskins guard Tre Johnson will suit up for this weekend's divisional playoff game at Tampa Bay.
The N-F-L has decided not to suspend the pro bowler.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[Super=03-Landover, MD/Saturday]

Johnson was ejected from that game, after a scuffle during the Skins 27 to 13 win over Detroit.
The N-F-L told the Skins that Johnson won't be suspended for this Saturday's game, but he still faces disciplinary action.
(-------------)

[S-Davis]

[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-46]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]

Redskin running back Stephen Davis may miss this weekend's playoff tilt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Team officials are determining Davis' practice status on a day to day basis.
Head coach Norv Turner says it is possible that Davis could see action this weekend, even if he's unable to practice.
Center Cory Raymer is also listed as doubtful with a rib cage injury.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Landover, MD; :00]

He is listed with injuries to an ankle and a knee, both suffered in Washington's win over the Detroit Lions last Saturday.
Davis has been a big key to the Skins offense and his presence this weekend is crucial considering how good the Bucs defense is.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="with their]
[SUPER=01-Norv Turner/Redskins Head Coach; :00]
[RUNS=:23]
[OUT Q=...a deterent"]
(-----------)

[S-Stith]

[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-58]
[graphic=sugar bowl]

If the Virginia Tech Hokies hope to make a run for the national title next season, they'll have to do it without running back Shyrone Stith.
News 7 Sports has learned that Stith will enter the NFL draft in April and his career at Tech is over.
His mother informed Tech assistant coach Brian Stinespring, who recruited him, of his decision last night.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg; :00]

Stith will leave Virginia Tech as the school's first one thousand yard rusher since Dwayne Thomas back in 1993.
Stith already has an agent and it is a done deal.
Sources say the injury Stith sustained in the Sugar Bowl may have prompted him to head for the draft.
(------------)

[S-Vick]

[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-55]
[GRAPHIC=Michael Vick]

One player that is returning to Blacksburg next season is Michael Vick. The red shirt freshman entertained some young fans yesterday in Newport News,
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Newport News; :00]

Vick spoke to about 80 challenged kids at the Enterprise Academy in Newport News, the school where his mom is a bus driver.
He spoke for about an hour and encouraged the kids to stay focused and listen to their teachers.
When asked about declaring for the NFL draft in April, Vick said, I am staying at Tech.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=I]
[SUPER=01-Michael Vick/Virginia Tech Quarterback; :]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=...for virginia tech"]
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[S-NBA]

[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-45]
[GRAPHIC=NBA]

It was a battle of two of the west's wildest as the San Antonio Spurs locks horns with the Utah Jazz last night.

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-San Antonio, TX/TBS; :00]

The two top teams in the Western Conferences Midwest division would not disappoint.
In the fourth quarter, John Stockton finds Howard Eisley off the screen, he drains the jumper the top of the key.

[SUPER=32-San Antonio/93/Utah/86;]

But Tim Duncan answered... all night long. With 2:22 to play, he nails this shot over Karl Malone to tie his career high with his 42nd point.
Duncan sets a new career high with this spin move, his 44th point, the Spurs lead 84-78 and go on to win 93-86. (------------)