[HEADLINES]
[TALENT=Melanie]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
Southwest and Central Virginia get the first significant snowfall this winter.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
And Russian warplanes today are showering bombs on
Chechnya's capital.
(/////////////)
[TALENT=Patrick]
[SS=None]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=None]
News 7 at noon is next.
[NRV-Snow]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#00-04]
[GRAPHIC=Road Conditions]
The snow has stopped and road crews are hard at work-- cleaning up after the first significant storm of the winter season.
Some folks are digging out from eight inches of snow.
[Double Boxes=Melanie and Marya/Starlink]
Marya Jones is in Carroll County-- one of the hardest hit areas
Marya?
[Live=Marya Full/Starlink]
[SUPER=@Marya1;]
[SUPER=06-Carroll Co.;]
( ad lib)
[****ROLLED FROM STARLINK***]
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Carroll Co.]
[RUNS=:00]
(-------------)
[MARYA LIVE]
(adlib into V-Dot Board)
(XXXXXXXX)
[TAKE V-DOT NUMBER FULL]
(-------------)
[Live=Marya Full/Starlink]
[SUPER=06-Carroll Co.;]
( ad lib)
[Double Boxes=Marya and Tina/Starlinkg and Microwave]
[Day-Snow]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#00-04 TC02:26]
[GRAPHIC=Road Conditions]
[Double Boxes=Marya and Tina/Microwave and Starlink]
Tina Tenret is near Route 419 in Roanoke County to give us an update.
[Live=Tina Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Tina1;]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke Co.;]
Drivers here are going just fine -- the year's first snowfall didn't amount to much in the Roanoke area and it's not coming down now.....
But VDOT is still warning drivers to beware of hazards they cannot see.
(Rollcue: cannot see)
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The roads look]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
[SUPER=01-Laura Bullock/VDOT;]
[RUNS=:28]
[OUT Q=going to freeze]
(( The roads look clear in the Roanoke area, except for a little slush.
After all, V-DOT crews were on standby since midnight -- earlier in places like Hillsville.
State police say they've had a steady stream of people sliding off the road but no one's been hurt.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:00:57]
[IN Q=People shouldn't ]
((PEOPLE SHOULDN'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED ... GOING TO FREEZE.))
[RUNS:09]
[OUT Q=GOING TO FREEZE]))
[Live=Tina Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke Co.;]
( No problems at the airport -- power outages)
[Double Boxes=Melanie and Tina/Microwave]
[School-info]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]
Most schools in the area cancelled classes this morning.
And some colleges are now cancelling night classes.
(XXXXXXXX)
[TAKE SCHOOLWATCH FULL]
(adlib boards)
(------------)
[WX-One]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The Snow has ended, but will it melt anytime soon?
Let's talk to Patrick Evans.
[Patrick in WX Center]
(adlib)
[WXPro=Full]
(toss back to Melanie)
[Roanoke-Fire]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=00-02 TC06:57]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]
An early morning fire forced a Vietnamese family out of its home in Roanoke.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
The blaze in the one- thousand- block of Crescent Street began just before four o'clock.
Fire investigators say the fire was accidental, probably related to the home's heating system.
The family of five escaped unharmed.
Firefighters had some trouble getting the flames under control because of the way the house was built.
(------------)
[Lee-Mural]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Lee Mural]
A controversial portrait of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was burned on Lee-Jackson-King Day.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/July 1999]
The portrait hangs at an outdoor Richmond gallery that's devoted to the city's history.
Police said the vandalism case is under investigation.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[SS=HOLD]
Richmond City Council voted last summer to display the portrait following a heated public debate over whether Lee's role in the Civil War made his image offensive to blacks.
[CHECHNYA]
[ANCHOR=MEL]
[NEWSCAST=NOON]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Russian military forces are in the midst of fierce assault against rebel forces holed up in the Chechen capital of Grozny, this afternoon.
Allen Pizzey reports from Moscow.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[10:07:29]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Grozny, Chechnya; :00]
[SUPER=01-Allen Pizzey/Reporting; :18]
[RUNS=1:29]
[OUT Q=CBS NEWS]
(( Russian forces claim to have broken through rebel lines in the besieged Chechen capital Grozny. The Russian command claimed its troops would be in control of the city 'within days.'
(Rebels)
(APTN)
vo: But rebel fighters have proven effective at ambush and hit and run raids ... and show no sign of being beaten yet. Up to 2,000 are believed to be holed up in what is left of the city.
NAT SOT Rebel in Russian
(APTN)
vo: 'We've got plenty of food and more ammunition than we can use'...this rebel boasts.
(Civilians/snipers/couple with pram/woman with kitten)
(APTN)
vo: The same can't be said for the civilians caught in the middle. Trapped for the last three months in dank and airless cellars...they must risk snipers every time they venture out for what little food can be found..
(APTN)
Desperation forces a few to try to escape...hauling pitiful possessions out of what has been described as one of the most savage assaults on a city since World War II. With few comforts left in their lives...they cling to
what matters most.
(APTN)
(Woman and old people)
(APTN)
vo: This woman...eight months pregnant...had to leave her children behind.
(Shooting)
(APTN)
vo: The Russians claim they want to spare civilians...but are determined to win and convinced they will. And the rebels swear they won't quit.
Allen Pizzey/Reporting:
There is increasing international pressure on Moscow to at least ease off the assault in Chechnya. But as long as victory looks possible...that seems unlikely. The problem is...Russia has been this far before in Chechnya ... and lost ...
Allen Pizzey CBS News, Moscow.))
[tease1]
[HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
President Clinton wants to take a Virginia crime plan nation-wide.
Details are still ahead on News 7 at noon.
(--------------)
[VO-NAT ]
And little Elian Gonzalez's case moves to a federal courtroom today.
That story is next.
(---------------)
[music up full]
[comm1]
[Elian-court]
[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Elian Gonzalez]
The international custody battle over young Elian Gonzalez could soon be decided in a federal court in Miami.
Jeffery Koffman reports.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[10 NEWSPATH]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Spencer Eig/Miami Family Lawyer; :34 QUICK!!!!]
[SUPER=01-Rep. Barney Frank/(D) Massachusetts; 1:10]
[SUPER=01-Jeffrey Koffman/Reporting; 1:22]
[RUNS=1:37]
[OUT Q=CBS News, Miami]
((It's day 55 of the Elian saga and while the six-year-old boy stays here in Miami, the legal and political maneuvering continue. Today we will find out when lawyers for Elian's Miami family are planning to go to
federal court... Their objective-to try to force the I-N-S to reconsider its decision to send Elian back to his dad in Cuba.
(----- take tape -----)
(ELIAN CHASING PUPPY)
(NARR) The lawyers argue Elian hasn't been given a fair hearing... they think they can prove that he really does deser
ve to be granted asylum.
- SPENCER EIG - Miami Family Lawyer
YOU WOULD HAVE TO PROVE THAT THIS BOY WOULD BE PERSECUTED, ITS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THIS BOY WOULD BE ANYTHING BUT CANONIZED? TO BE CANONIZE BY A FASCIST DICTATOR THAT DROVE ONES OWN MOTHER TO HER DEATH IS A FROM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE THAT WE DON'T WANT ELIAN TO BE SUBJECTED TO.
(NARR) The odds of success in federal court are slim and so are the odds on Capitol Hill, but that's not stopping Congr
essman from trying to push through the Elian Act that would confer citizenship on the little boy by an Act of Congress.
(SOT - BARNEY FRANK - D-MASS ) I THINK IT'S A BAD IDEA AND A TERRIBLE PRECEDENT.
(NARR) Yesterday as the nation honored Martin Luther King's fight for civil rights, Congressman Barney Frank, a member
of an immigration subcommittee, said Elian's advocates here are going too far.
(SOT - BARNEY FRANK - D-MASS ) PEOPLE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR DISLIKE OF FIDEL CASTRO AND THEIR WISH THA
T HE SHOULD BE OVERTHROWN BUT YOU SHOULDN'T USE A SIX-YEAR-OLD THAT IS WHAT IS SAD ABOUT THIS.
(KOFMAN On cam close)
As perplexing as this may be to some who are watching, there is an overwhelming passion and conviction driving all this. Win or lose in court or in Congress... the Cuban-American community vows to fight on. Jeffrey Koffman, CBS News, Miami))
[CLINTON-GUNS]
[ANCHOR=MEL]
[NEWSCAST=NOON]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Clinton]
President Clinton is in Boston this afternoon to announce what the White House is billing as the largest National Gun Enforcement budget in history.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The 280 million plan, which needs a Congressional green light, will provide the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms with five hundred new agents.
It will target violent gun criminals, illegal gun traffickers and shady gun dealers.
The plan is similar to one in Richmond which has seen double digit drops in crime over the past few years.
So far the National Rifle Association is applauding the administration's plan.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[10:06]
[IN Q=]
((CITIZENS AND POLICE ON THE STREETS KNOW THAT IF THEY'LL ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS, WE'LL CUT CRIME. THAT'S WHAT THIS APPROACH SEEMS TO DO. WE'RE GOING TO MONITOR IT AND WE'RE GOING TO REPORT BACK TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC ON WHETHER THEY ACTUALLY DO IT.'))
[SUPER=01-Wayne LaPierre/NRA Vice President;]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=THEY ACTUALLY DO IT.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Under the plan States will share a thousand new state prosecutors along with one hundred federal prosecutors.
All will focus on gun crimes only.
(------------)
[Allen-Bush]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Campaign 2000]
Former Governor George Allen is expected to endorse Texas Governor George Bush today for the Republican presidential nomination.
Bush already has the backing of Governor Gilmore in Virginia's presidential primary on February 29th.
If Bush wins the G-O-P nomination this summer, he and Allen could be making joint appearances in the state.
[Tultex]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=99-52 TC51:35]
[GRAPHIC=Tultex Ch. 11]
Henry County supervisors now have a list of needs to take to Richmond.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.;]
County administrator Sid Clower will travel to the capitol later this week to meet with officials from Governor Gilmore's office.
Clower is hoping to have legislation introduced before the general assembly that would help the area's more than three thousand laid off textile workers.
So last night-- Clower and county supervisors held a meeting to gather input from those most affected.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=It is ]
((ANTHONY HAIRSTON/DISPLACED WORKER: IT IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY, IT MAY NOT BE NO HURRICANE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT COMING BUT AS FAR AS WE FEEL IN OUR HEARTS, A HURRICANE HAS COME THROUGH WHEN YOU HAVE THESE MANY WORKERS OUT OF WORK.))
[SUPER=01-Anthony Hairston/Displaced Worker; ]
[RUNS=:11]
[out q= of work.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
At the end of the meeting-- Clower and the board compiled a list of requests.
Among the most important-- seeking an increase and extension in unemployment benefits...as well as Medicaid or some other health insurance for the laid off workers.
(------------)
[Rockbridge-Accident]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Accident]
A Buena Vista teen-ager was killed and another critically injured in an auto accident yesterday in Rockbridge County.
State police say 18-year-old John Thomas Huffman lost control of his car on a curve on Mountain View Road.
Huffman and his passenger, Thomas James Brown, were thrown from the vehicle when it oveturned.
Brown died at the scene.
Huffman was airlifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center.
[Tease2]
[SOFT MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
Still ahead on News 7 at noon, Patrick Evans will be here with the latest forecast details.
(-----------------)
[VO-NAT ]
And find out about some Japanese businessmen with a lot of pull.
(-----------------)
[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #2]
[S-Lewis-Gale]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=sgo]
[TAPE#=99-49 48:42]
[GRAPHIC=Lewis Gale Departing Doctors]
The Lewis-Gale Clinic won't talk about the nature of its discussions with departing doctors ... but says it's hopeful everything will be resolved after this week.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem]
This ... after it was revealed over the weekend ... that a group of 14 family-practice doctors who are resigning ... are now working on a deal that will let them stay in this area.
A spokeswoman for the clinic tells News-7:
"This weekend's discussions were very positive and very constructive ...
This is going to be a critical week, trying to iron out details."
Negotiations include lawyers for the clinic's parent company ... the doctors ... and Columbia H-C-A.
Talks are focused on getting the doctors out of non-compete clauses in their contracts.
(------------)
[E-DMV-Organ]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tfl]
[TAPE#=99-51 45:07]
[GRAPHIC=Organ Donations]
The D-M-V in Virginia is finding that one question is saving thousands of lives.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/March 1999; ]
In February 1999, Department of Motor Vehicles clerks began asking customers, "Do you wish to become an organ donor?"
That approach resulted in the highest number of organ donors in agency history.
Organ donors increased by nearly 250-percent in just one year.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=HOLD]
The D-M-V is also supporting organ donation by printing "Save a Life, be an organ donor" on the back of all driver's license renewal envelopes.
[tug-of-war]
[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Executives and office workers in Tokyo have found a way to "cool off" after a frustrating morning in the office.
Instead of popping out for
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Tokyo, Japan;]
[7:04:29]
lunch, they're taking part in a tug-of-war on ice.
Sixteen teams of men and women took part in the unique tug of war on ice.
The annual event was staged at an ice skating link located in the very center of Tokyo's busy business area.
The winning team gets 100-thousand yen or one-thousand dollars worth of coupons usable at the business center area.
(------------)
[Stocks]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE# none]
[GRAPHIC=stocks]
On Wall Street at Noon, the Dow was DOWN 109 points.
[tease3]
[SPORTS MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
Still to come in sports, we'll check in on the U-V-A men's and women's basketball teams, including highlights of the Lady Cavs upset of N-C State,
(----------------)
[VO-NAT ]
and the Green Bay Packers have filled their coaching vacancy by returning a familiar face.
Patrick has details, next.
(---------------)
[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #3]
[2-School-info]
[ANCHOR=Melanie 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=none]
We want to recap those schools which have called off night classes.
(XXXXXXXX)
[TAKE SCHOOLWATCH FULL]
(adlib boards)
(------------)
by SS