[7-11Roberts]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=00-07 TC1:29:02]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

A star Virginia Tech basketball player pleaded guilty to drug possession.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Philadelphia, PA/March 1999]

21-year-old Rolan Roberts, a forward for the Hokies, will serve six months' probation for marijuana possession.
Police searched Roberts' apartment in February and found a pipe and less than half an ounce of marijuana in a plastic bag.
(------------)

[7-11Casteel]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=00-06 TC1:33:38]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The Roanoke County firefighter who's accused of trying to kill his wife and three children may be having a change of heart.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Floyd/January 26]

Phillip Casteel allegedly admitted he cut the brake line on the family van in January, endangering Kimberly and the kids.
He's charged with attempted murder, but a plea agreement is now in the works.
He was released pending trial next month, on the condition he not have any contact with his wife.
Casteel's attorney confirmed they've been seeing each other.
Tom Blaylock says the protective order has been lifted and the bond conditions rescinded, so they can spend time together.
(------------)

[7-11Rainbow-Murders]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=00-11 TC47:59]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]

A re-trial is now underway in West Virginia in the 20-year- old Rainbow Family murder case.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lewisburg, WV;]

Jacob Beard was convicted of murder in 1993, but was released last year after a judge ordered a new trial.
19-year-old Nancy Santomero and 26-year-old Vicki Durian were hitchhiking to a Rainbow Family Gathering in the summer of 1980 when they were shot and killed.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]

The trial was moved to Braxton County, where opening arguments began yesterday.
Court officials expect the trial to continue for eight to ten days.

[7-Unshackling-Past]


[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Unshackling the Past]

Richmond is just months away from a new kind of tourism.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

City leaders are looking back to the 19th century again-- but this time for a multi-million dollar slave memorial, and a slave trail walking tour.
It would start on the James River, where slaves were shipped to the deep South.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 10:55:50]
[IN Q=Sold to Georgia]
((PHIL SHWARZ/VCU HISTORIAN: SOLD TO GEORGIA AS THE EXPRESSION WENT. SOLD DOWN THE RIVER. WERE THEY GONNA END UP ON A COTTON PLANTATION IN GANG LABOR WHERE THE CONDITIONS WERE HARSHER?))13
[sot 14:07:24]
((LLOYD FORD: IT MAKES ME WONDER HOW IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF I'D BEEN HERE TO SEE IT.))03
[SUPER=01-Phil Schwarz/VCU Historian; :00]
[SUPER=07-Lloyd Ford; :14 QUICK!! ]
[RUNS=16]
[OUT Q=here to see it.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

NOT everyone who comes to the old Manchester Docks for recreation agrees the story should be told.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 14:16:47]
[IN Q=I mean]
((BETTY WILLIAMS: I MEAN THERE'S STILL A LOT OF HATRED. A LOT OF PEOPLE MAY FEEL LIKE WE SHOULD STILL BE IN CHAINS.))

[SUPER=07-Betty Williams;]
[RUNS=10]
[OUT Q=in chains.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Tonight on NEWS 7 at SIX, the focus shifts to Richmond... at one time the slave trading capital of the world. [TAKE FULL SCREEN GRAPHIC HERE]
It's the final night of our series "Unshackling the Past."
(------------)

[7Weather]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=don]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

Today will be partly sunny with winds from the Southwest at 15mph Highs will be 80-90 Tonight will be partly cloudy with light southwest winds low will be in the low to mid 60's

[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Wind SW 15/80-90/Partly Cloudy/Light SW Winds/60-65;]
[SUPER=#555;RESET]

[45-11BioMedical-Complex]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=00-14]
[GRAPHIC=Carilion Biomedical]

Some businesses will feel the effects of the new Riverside Center for Research and Technology, once it's built near downtown Roanoke.
Teresa Hamilton explains.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The research]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=01-Darlene Burcham/Roanoke City Manager; :24]
[SUPER=@bowers; :39]
[SUPER=01-Laura Bullock/VDOT Spokesperson; 1:02]
[SUPER=@Teresa1; 1:14 ]
[RUNS=1:25]
[OUT Q=Hamilton, NEWS 7.]
(( The research and technology park will cover 74 acres along Jefferson Street and Reserve Avenue... just south of downtown Roanoke.
The goal is to attract high-tech healthcare-related industries to the valley.
Initially, the city will invest approximately 14- million dollars in the project-- money city leaders say will pay off.
(////sot////00:28:55)
[in q=I would]
((I WOULD EXPECT NOT ONLY MEDICAL FACILITIES BUT RELATED BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRIES TO ALSO LOCATE THERE.)) [RUNS07]
[OUT Q= locate there.]

Indeed-- the research park has already attracted its first tenant.
The Carilion Biomedical Institute will be building a 10- million dollar facility at the site.
[sot 00:12:38 ]
[in q= We will]
((WE WILL WORK WITH THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO BUILD A NEW INTERCHANGE OF ROY L. WEBBER EXPRESSWAY. THE NEW EXIT RAMPS WILL ROUTE TRAFFIC DIRECTLY INTO THE RESEARCH PARK PROTECTING NEARBY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS FROM BUSINESS TRAFFIC.)) [RUNS16]
[OUT Q= business traffic.]

But a V -DOT spokesperson says any road improvements, at this point, are not set in stone.
[SOT 01:46:10]
[in q= It sounds]
((LAURA BULLOCK/VDOT SPOKESPERSON: IT SOUNDS PROMISING BUT WE'VE GOT TO DO QUANTIFIABLE ANALYSIS, WE'VE GOT TO HAVE SPECIFIC FIGURES CONCERNING TRAFFIC WHERE TRAFFIC WOULD COME FROM, WHERE IT WOULD GO BEFORE WE COULD SAY WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE DONE IN THAT AREA.)) [RUNS13]
[OUT Q= in that area.]

Laura Bullock says V-DOT is looking forward to working with the city and has told city leaders the project does look promising. Teresa Hamilton, NEWS 7.

))[45-11McCoy]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Legal scales]

The source of the nitrous oxide that killed a Virginia Tech student last Fall has been traced back to an internet company in Arizona.
Computer Science Major Andrew McCoy ordered the drug on line from bongmart- dot-com.
Federal agents raided the source in Tempe, Arizona and found an assortment of water bongs and pipes.
Nitrous Oxide is commonly used as a propellant, but is also widely abused as a recreational drug.

[45-11Tultex]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=sch]
[TAPE#=00-05]
[GRAPHIC=Tultex Chapter 11]

Millions of dollars worth of Tultex assets are up for sale-- and a Cincinatti company wants to buy them.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.;]

In Bankruptcy Court hearings in Danville, a judge gives the okay for T-S-C Acquisition and Tultex to go ahead with the deal.
The purchaser will attain clothing, furniture, office and warehouse equipment from two out-of-state distribution companies Tultex owns.
The deal will close on Monday. Tultex lawyer, Bruce Matson, says the purchaser wants to keep the businesses running and hopefully keep the current employees.
An auction will be held next month for the remaining Tultex assets.
(------------)

[45Weather]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=don]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

Let's take quick look at your forecast....
Partly sunny with warm southwest winds and highs in the mid and upper 80s.
Partly cloudy tonight, with lows of 60 to 65.
The five day forecast includes a chance of showers for the first of the weekend...
[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Wind SW 15/80-90/Partly Cloudy/Light SW Winds/60-65;]
[SUPER=#555;RESET]

[8-11Ferrum]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=00-05 TC1:25:44]
[GRAPHIC=Ferrum College]

Ferrum College's president will step down in two years.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Ferrum;]

Jerry Boone rejected an offer from the Ferrum Board of Trustees to work an extra year.
Students have been angry at Boone recently for slicing athletic programs and changing the housing plan.
Faculty have criticized him for letting enrollment slide almost twenty percent in the last decade.
But Boone says faculty pressure did not push him out.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 15:06:41]
[IN Q=If you think]
((IF YOU THINK I'M PLEASED WITH IT, NO. I WOULD SAY NO TO THAT BUT AGAIN, I ANSWER TO A BOARD OF TRUSTEES THAT IS VERY PLEASED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF FERRUM COLLEGE.))
[SUPER=01-Jerry Boone/Ferrum President;]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=Ferrum College]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Boone plans to spend retirement with his family in Asheville, North Carolina...
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[SS=HOLD]
but he says before he leaves he'll make more big changes at Ferrum College.

[8-11Coal]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Coal Mining]

King Coal can provide Virginians jobs for some 50 more years.
But some researchers say the supply of coal may not last nearly that long.
Virginia Tech's Powell River Project estimated that Virginia's coal fields have approximately 28-Billion tons of coal remaining, but less than a tenth of that can be extracted cost effectively.
The study also concluded that coal production will decline in the coming years.

[8-11Roanoke-Radio]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=00-08 TC1:24:58]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Two of Southwest Virginia's favorite radio stations have merged and the changes might surprise you.
News 7 Business Reporter Jennifer (Mee-lee) Miele has more.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Just moments]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=01-Leonard Wheeler/WPVR President; :26]
[SUPER=01-Herm Reavis/WSLC General Manager; :53]
[SUPER=19-Jennifer/Miele; 1:09]
[RUNS=1:19]
[OUT Q=News 7 Salem.]
((Just moments before revealing Arrow 94's new format, phones were ringing off the hook with complaints about listening to 12 hours of the Rolling Stone's song, "It's only rock and roll."
[NATSOUND=]
((TUNE IN AT NOON)) Leonard Wheeler is President of Mel Wheeler, Inc., the company that owns The Arrow.
[SOT]
[IN Q=Besides, we'll]
((BESIDES WE'LL BE ABLE TO COVER ROANOKE, LYNCHBURG, NEW RIVER VALLEY, IT'S A 100,000 WATT STATION IN THE MARKET PLACE.
IT WILL GIVE COUNTRY MUSIC LISTENERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR A SIGNAL OF THAT STREAM.)) [RUNS14]
[OUT Q=of that stream.]

Star 94 will be simulcasting with WSLC-AM. Once a classic country station, WSLC's switch to mainstream country could mean powerhouse advertising opportunities for sponsors.
[SOT]
[IN Q=We look]
((WE LOOK AT THIS AS A GROWTH PATTERN TO TRY TO BROADEN OUR SERVICE AREA AND OUR LISTENING AREA TO TRY TO GAIN MORE LISTENERS TO BETTER SERVE OUR ADVERTISERS WITH A GREATER COMMERCIAL ACCEPTANCE.)) [RUNS13]
[OUT Q=commercial acceptance]
[SOT]

Now, both stations are playing country music with now live voices, but listeners are encouraged to call in with complaints. Jennifer Miele, News 7, Salem.))

[8Weather]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AMCutins]
[WRITER=don]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

Here's a final look at your Thursday forecast this morning.
Partly sunny and hotter with highs in the mid and upper 80s.
Partly cloudy overnight, with lows in the low to mid 60s.
The five day forecast includes a chance of showers for the first of the weekend...
[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Wind SW 15/80-90/Partly Cloudy/Light SW Winds/60-65;]
[SUPER=#555;RESET]
by SS