WDBJ 7 news at 6 for 01/13/00

[1-News-Head]

[TALENT=Keith]

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[V/O-NAT]
Fire and wind- -conspire to confound fire crews on a day when wind measured gusts EIGHTY miles an hour in some places. A LIVE report on that tonight on NEWS 7.
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[TALENT=Keith]

And we'll measure reaction to the Governor's proposal to divide Lee-Jackson- King Day into TWO separate holidays.

[Sports-Head]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[TAPE=SpHead]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The S-I 1999 commemorative Virginia Tech Hokies issue is out. We'll give you a look.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=And I'm Mike]
((And I'm Mike Stevens on the NASCAR media tour. We'll hear from Dale Earnhart, tonight in sports.))
[RUNS=05]
[OUT Q=Earnhart, tonight in sports.]

[WX-Head]
[TALENT=Robin]
[SS=None]

And now that the front has blown through the region, much colder air and snow showers are moving in quickly. [open]
[SUPER=#4054; News 7 at Six Headline Banner]
[SUPER=@Keith1;]
[SUPER=@Steve1;]
[SUPER=@Robin1;]
[RUNS=:20]

[Bradshaw-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6p]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=99-52 46:10]
[GRAPHIC=Brush Fire]

Strong winds are creating plenty of problems today, the most serious being dozens of brush fires across the region.
A state forestry official counted at least 20, and said local departments had maybe 20 more to deal with.
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[NAT SOT]
[IN Q=]
[RUNS=:04]
[OQ=back around]
(--------------)
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co.]

A 20 acre brush fire closed part of Bradshaw Road for a while, just over the Roanoke County line.
Firefighters have that fire contained and are getting the hot spots out.
Roanoke County crews have also had to deal with a 30 acre blaze along Willow Branch Road near the Franklin County line.

(------------)[Bedford-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=99-51 38:36]
[GRAPHIC=Brush Fire]

Those intense winds created an intense brush fire on a Bedford County mountain .. a fire that is still spreading.

[Double Boxes=Keith & Tina/Microwave]

Tina Tenret is at the base of Jeter's Chapel Mountain, in Stewartsville.
[Live=Tina full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Tina1;]
[SUPER=05-Bedford Co.;]

(rollcue... spreading the flames )
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Richard Miles/Va. Forestry Department; 12]
[RUNS=:37]
[OUT Q=not been evacuated.]
(())

[Live=Tina full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Bedford Co.;]
(ad lib)

[Double Boxes=Keith & Tina/Microwave]

[AEP]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6p]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=99-53 35:17]
[GRAPHIC=AEP]

The high winds cut power to hundreds of people throughout southwest and central Virginia.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.]

In the Roanoke Valley, trees that cut utility lines or knocked down poles left about 23-hundred customers without electricity at one point.
Most of them have it back.
In the New River Valley, it was the same story.
A-E-P says almost 39-hundred customers had lost power as of four this afternoon, in Pulaski, Giles, Montgomery and Carroll counties.
A spokesman says some of them may not get the lights back on until sometime tomorrow morning.
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[First-Wx]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[TAPE=99-50 1:12:13]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Robin Reed, we're back in the wind tunnel tonight.
[MCU] ROBIN But coming out shortly Keith. One of the more notorious windy spots in Virginia, Afton Mountain was howling today.

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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Afton Mountain]
ad-lib
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[WXPRO/FULL]WIND GUSTS DAMAGE REPORT

[TOSS BACK TO KEITH][Job-Fair]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=99-47 1:14:23]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The unemployment rate in Martinsville City has reached a whopping 20 percent.
And that means hundreds of people are job less. But Martinsville Officials are hoping to change all that.
[Double Boxes=Keith & Joy/Microwave]

Joy Sutton joins us from Danville with details.
[Live= Full/Microwave]

Keith, Martinsville City officials say it is their job to provide opportunities for these dislocated workers -- and they felt a job fair was the best way to do it.
[SUPER=@Joy1;]
[SUPER=05-Danville;]
(rollcue... )
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville;00]
[SUPER=01-Darlene Gunter/Former Tultex Employee;17]
[SUPER=01-Ron Ritter/Earl Industries;56]
[RUNS=1:22]
[OUT Q=new workers]

Darlene Gunter has been on the job hunt since December when she was laid off from Tultex.
She says finding a new job hasn't been easy. But Gunter says she is hopeful that she will have a job soon -- with one of the 60 companies that came out to participate in the Job Fair 2-thousand in Martinsville.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT2:12:24]
[IN Q=I think it's]
(( DARLENE GUNTER/FORMER TULTEX EMPLOYEE: I THINK IT'S GREAT. CAUSE 2600 HUNDRED PEOPLE WITH NO JOBS. COMPANIES CLOSING LEFT AND RIGHT. YOU HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE TWICE A WEEK TO FIND A JOB. THAT'S MONEY THAT YOU DON'T HAVE. AND THIS RIGHT HERE JUST CUTS DOWN ON ALL THAT))
[RUNS=13]
[OUT Q=on all that]

Around a thousand job seekers packed inside the Martinsville National Guard Armory -- they filled out applications and interviewed with prospective employers from all across Virginia and North Carolina.
Ron Ritter the Executive Vice President with Earl Industries -- a ship repair company in Portsmouth, Virginia -- has already hired several workers from the job fair -- who will relocate to the area and start work as early as Monday.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT2:04:44]
[IN Q=I'm really excited]
((WE KNEW THAT THERE WERE SOME TREMENDOUS LAYOFF HERE RECENTLY THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN THEY'RE NOW UNEMPLOYED. I ALSO KNOW SOUTHSIDE HAS A TREMENDOUS WORK ETHIC AND THEY'RE GOOD AT THEIR JOBS. ))
[RUNS=14]
[OUT Q=good at their jobs]

Ritter says he plans to hire more than 60 employees.
And some local companies like Stanley Furniture were also looking for employees.
Stanley Furniture is opening a new plant in Henry County -- and will hire 250 new workers.
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[Live=Joy Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Danville;]

And City Officials are hoping that as result of this job fair -- many of the job less will have a place to work very soon.
[Double Boxes=Keith & Joy/Microwave]
Keith,

[Trigon]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=tfl]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=Trigon ]

There is welcome news for many insurance workers in the Roanoke area .. who thought they were going to lose their jobs.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-October 1999]

Trigon announced in October it would be laying off about 200 people from its Mid-South Insurance company subsidiary.
Now Trigon says its overall business is growing enough to keep more than 100 workers from the Mid-South staff, and transfer them to other positions within Trigon.
As for Mid-South, Trigon announced today it is selling the company to a Nebraska-based carrier.
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[Rubatex]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=99-46 1:21:09]
[GRAPHIC=Rubatex Strike]

More sabre-rattling at Bedford's biggest employer.
Rubatex says it's serious about hiring replacement workers ... while the union on strike says the company's using scare tactics to get a better bargaining position.
[Double Boxes=Keith & Scott/Newsroom]

Scott Goldberg was in Bedford today and has the story tonight from our newsroom.
[Live=Scott full/Newsroom]
[SUPER=@Scott1;]

Keith ... Rubatex said again today that it can get the job done with fewer replacement workers, because the union employees were, according to Rubatex managers, "inefficient."
But for the first time today, the company went further, saying it's producing every bit as much as it did before the strike -- a claim the union says the company can't back up. ((
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Bedford;00]
[SUPER=01-Jim Laurin/Rubatex Negotiator;16]
[SUPER=01-Larry Brookshier/Rubatex Plant Manager;30]
[SUPER=01-Richard Walker/USWA Local 240 President;58]
[RUNS=1:07]
[OUT Q=every one of us back]
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[SOT natsound from tape 2]
[IN Q=]
((NATS: RUBBER ROLLING OFF MACHINE.)) [RUNS02]
[OUT Q=]

Four months into the strike ... Rubatex insists everything's rolling along.
With a replacement workforce half as big as the pre-strike workforce ... the company defies anyone who suggests production levels aren't what they used to be.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 14:21:42]
[IN Q=(shakes head), then "i have no way"]
((JIM LAURIN/RUBATEX NEGOTIATOR: I HAVE NO WAY TO PROVE IT, BUT WE ARE PRODUCING AT 100-PERCENT, WE ARE SHIPPING AT 100-PERCENT.)) [RUNS07]
[OUT Q=100 PERCENT]

But the company's chief negotiator and the Bedford plant manager refused to make public their shipping records.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 14:20:33]
[IN Q=i don't mean]
((LARRY BROOKSHIER: I DON'T MEAN TO BE SHORT WITH YOU, BUT WE GIVE YOU TRUTHFUL INFORMATION. I DON'T KNOW THAT IT WOULD BE OUR OBLIGATION TO SATISFY YOU ON THAT. )) [RUNS10]
[OUT Q=ON THAT]
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[SOT natsound]
[IN Q=]
((QUICK NATS INSIDE PLANT)) [RUNS01]
[OUT Q=]

For its part the union insists things can't be as good as Rubatex says ...
And that it's bluffing when it tells the more than 400 picketers that only 200 would have a chance of getting rehired ... should this strike come to an end.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 13:15:06]
[IN Q=you see it]
((RICHARD WALKER/USWA LOCAL 240 PRESIDENT: YOU SE IT ALL THE TIME. THEY WANT PEOPLE TO THINK THAT THEY'RE GOING TO LOSE THEIR JOBS -- IF THEY'RE NOT GOING TO COME BACK NOW, THEY'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE THEM. BUT I CAN TELL YOU, IF WE WAS TO GO BACK THERE TODAY, THEY'D BE GLAD TO HAVE EVERY ONE OF US BACK.)) [RUNS10]
[OUT Q=ONE OF US BACK] ))
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[Live=Scott full/Newsroom]

The company says it's responding to written union requests for information about the contract that's in dispute.
Still, the two sides don't plan to meet face-to-face.
[Double Boxes=Keith & Scott/Newsroom]
Keith.[Tease#1]
[HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[SS=NONE]

A separate holiday for Martin Luther King. Still ahead ... Virginia reacts to Governor Gilmore's proposal.
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[VO-NAT]

And we'll go on campus for reaction to another proposal .. to freeze tuition for the next four years.
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[COMM#1]

[King-Day]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=99-44 2:02:53]
[GRAPHIC=ML King]

As the dust settles on Governor Jim Gilmore's call for a separate Martin Luther King holiday, questions are being raised as to how it should happen.
[Double Boxes=Keith & Ellen/Microwave]

Ellen Qualls is at the state capitol tonight with more.
[Live=Ellen Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Ellen1;]
[SUPER=05-Richmond]

(rollcue...less than receptive legislature.)
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/Last night; :00 QUICK!!]
[SUPER=01-Brag Bowling/Sons of Confederate Veterans; :05]
[SUPER=01-Salim Khalfani/Virginia NAACP; :14]
[SUPER=01-Henry Kidd/Sons of Confederate Veterans; :41]
[SUPER=01-Doug Wilder/Former Governor; :54]
[RUNS=1:08]
[OUT Q=rather than niceties.]
(())

[Live=Ellen Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Richmond;]
(ad lib)

[Double Boxes=Keith & Ellen/Microwave]

[Tuition-Freeze]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=99-45 1:40:19]
[GRAPHIC=Va College Tuition]

Governor Gilmore wants to continue the freeze on tuition at Virginia's public colleges and universities.
And today, officials at one school in western Virginia said they support the idea.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Radford]

Radford University actually rolled back tuition by 20 percent for the current school year, and officials say they support the latest proposal to extend the freeze for another four.
Radford senior Shawn Winslow says he believes the policy helps many families.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 17:11:07]
[IN Q=I'm a transfer student]
((SHAWN WINSLOW/RADFORD UNIVERSITY SENIOR: I'M A TRANSFER STUDENT MYSELF AND RIGHT AFTER I TRANSFERRED, THAT COLLEGE WENT UP IN TUITION. AND SO FOR SOME KIDS THAT WAS A BAD THING BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS WERE ON A SET-BASED INCOME AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY TO COME UP WITH.))
[SUPER=01-Shawn Winslow/Radford University Senior;]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=the money to come up with.]
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[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

With 86- hundred students, Radford is currently enjoying an increase in enrollment... up by more than 200 students this year.

[Stocks]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]

An up day on Wall Street today... [TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE ]
[RUNS=:25]
[SUPER=x5102;]
[SUPER=430-x/31.33/11582.43/x/107.19/3957.21;]
as the Dow climbed into record territory with a 31- point gain.
Nasdaq climbed 107 points.
[SUPER=431-i!/33&/i1e/53b/h1/47f/i$/55%/h&/31&;]
[SUPER=432-ie/30f/u/3a/hf/41f/hd/34/hg/39@;]
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[Rice]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=99-48 1:05:18]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

He was once the highest non-elected official in West Virginia, an aide to the Governor. Today Tom Rice stood before a federal judge in Roanoke, "mortified," by a crime HE said was "plain stupid."
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford/February, 1999]

The 59 year old political operative had been trolling the Internet last February when he found what appeared to be a young teenager in a chat room.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 15:15]
[IN Q=He was looking]
((HE WAS LOOKING FOR SEXUALLY INEXPERIENCED MALES. HE WAS GOING TO MENTOR THEM IN THE WAYS OF SEX. AND IN FACT THEN TRAVELED TO BEDFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO MEET WHAT HE BELIEVED TO BE A 13-YEAR OLD BOY.))
[SUPER=01-Tony Giorno/Prosecutor]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=13-year old boy.]
(------------)
[* * * Keith on ENG * * *]
There wasn't any boy ready to meet him. Rice was arrested at the school by Bedford deputies who'd been targeting pedophiles on the Internet.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=So it wasn't]
((SO IT WASN'T JUST A CASE OF HIM SITTING HOME, TINKERING ON THE COMPUTER AND THEN FORGETTING ABOUT IT. HE ACTUALLY CAME HERE TO CARRY OUT HIS STATED INTENTIONS.))
[RUNS=11]
[OUT Q=stated intentions.]
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

Because his "intentions" involved a sex act that's a crime with any aged victim in Virginia, the Judge rejected a sentencing range of 12 to 18 months and sentenced Rice to serve 63 months in prison.
Rice offered no excuses, called the proposed act "repugnant," and said he had no anger for anyone but himself.

[County-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=99-54 41:19]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Fire destroyed a house in a Botetourt County neighborhood this afternoon.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co.]

It started around noon, in a home on Gala Drive in the Botetourt East subdivision.
The strong winds today didn't help matters, and it took a while to get the flames and smoke under control.
No one was home at the time, and no firefighters were hurt.
Authorities aren't sure yet what started it.
(------------)

[Sports tease]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

A sneak peek at the Sports Illustrated special Virginia Tech issue, more news on the death of Hornets guard Bobby Phills,
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
and Mike Stevens Media Tour NASCAR notes roll on with Dale Earnhardt.
(------------)

[S-Dale]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-56 (57:51)]
[GRAPHIC=Media Tour]

Dale Earnhardt has spent most of this off season under the knife and on the mend.
As our NASCAR media tour reports continue tonight Mike Stevens and Photographer Lynn Eller check in with the Intimidator in Mooresville, North Carolina.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=First audio...]
[SUPER=03-Mooresville, NC; :00]
[SUPER=01-Dale Earnhardt/7 Time Winston Cup Champ; :18]
[SUPER=@Mike1; 1:13]
[RUNS=1:43]
[OUT Q=...news 7 sports."]
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[S-Phills]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-52 (1:12:34)]
[GRAPHIC=Charlotte Logo]

Drag racing with his teammate David Wesley may have caused the car wreck that killed Bobby Phills.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Charlotte, NC; ]

Investigators think the two men were driving their Porches at more than 75 miles an hour on a hilly curve with a 45 mile per hour speed limit.
Phills apparently lost control and skidded several hundred feet into oncoming traffic.
Wesley refuses to talk to police but court records show he's been charged with speeding twice in the past 28 months.
(------------)

[S-Hokies]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-61]
[GRAPHIC=Tech football]

The commemorative "Virginia Tech Hokies" 1999 official Sports Illustrated issue has arrived in Roanoke and in Blacksburg.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The 88 page issue contains eight feature stories with countless pictures of Tech's 11 and 1 year. The Hokies 2000 starting line up is previewed. The Magazine will be widely distributed to area supermarkets, drug stores, and newstands Friday. The 60 thousand issues are only on sale in the Virginia area. Sports Illustrated says this is the first time the losing team has been celebrated with a commemorative issue.
(------------)

[S-Glenvar]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-58]
[GRAPHIC=Friday Football Extra]

Friday Football Extra power Glenvar has named former Salem high school star Stephen Magenbauer the Highlanders new head football coach.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./1999 Season; :00]

The 26 year has been Glenvar's offensive coordinator for the last four years. During that time, the Highlanders produced about 300 yards of offense a game. Mag's and his wife Edwynna are expecting their first child in April. The 1996 Virginia Tech graduate replaces Brian Hooker, the Highlanders coach for the last decade.
(------------)

[S-Express]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-57 (36:15)]
[GRAPHIC=Roanoke Express]

The Roanoke Express leads the Richmond Renegades by two points in the race for first place overall in the Northern Conference.
[GRAPHIC=Express/Toledo]

Roanoke has two big games this weekend, The Renegades on Saturday and the Toledo Storm tomorrow night at the Roundhouse.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :]

The Toledo game marks the first appearance for former Express forward Tim Christian.
Christian, Roanoke's all time leading scorer, has played 2 games with the Storm without scoring and his former coach and teammates hope to continue that scoreless streak.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="I am...]
[SUPER=01-Daniel Berthiaume/Express Goalie; :]
[RUNS=:14]
[OUT Q=......get traded."]
[ANCHOR=Steve]
[GRAPHIC=Hold Logo]

Face off tomorrow night at the Roundhouse is 7-thirty.

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