[HEADLINES]
[TALENT=Kimberly]
Coming up on News 7--
A Lynchburg inmate has apparently committed suicide in his jail cell-- just one day after a jury found him guilty of first -degree murder.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
And we'll have the latest on a standoff in Danville.
A man remains barricaded inside his mother's home after allegedly shooting a paper carrier early this morning.
(/////////////)
[TALENT=KIMBERLY]
[WXPRO/FULL=]
The forecast remains much the same as it has been all week-- lingering clouds and the potential for more showers over the weekend.
But don't rule out some periods of sunshine, too.
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[SS=None]
Stay where you are-- News 7 at noon is next.
[2Danville-Standoff]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mce]
[TAPE#=00-21 TC 1:09:49]
[GRAPHIC=Standoff]
A standoff continues this afternoon in Danville.
Police there say Melvin Atkins gunned down a newspaper carrier with a high powered rifle this morning and then barricaded himself in his mother's home.
[Double Boxes=Kim ANCHOR/ Surae Starlink]
Surae Chinn is in Danville as this standoff approaches it's eighth hour .. Surae.
[Live=Surae Full/Starlink]
[SUPER=@Surae1]
[SUPER=06-Danville]
[TAPE ROLLED FROM TRUCK]
(rollcue... )
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Neal Morris/Danville Police Chief]
[SUPER=01-Samantha Jones/Neighbor]
[RUNS=:00]
[OUT Q=]
(())
[Live=Surae Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=06-Danville]
(ad lib)
[Double Boxes=Kim ANCHOR/Surae Microwave]
[White]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Lynchburg police say an inmate who was found guilty of first degree murder on Wednesday, has apparently committed suicide.
Authorities say 23- year- old Norman Douglas White apparently hanged himself inside his jail cell.
A corrections officer with the Blue Ridge Regional Jail discovered White yesterday evening at around 6-15.
Police say White was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy was scheduled for this morning.
White was convicted of shooting Morris Anthony last July in a drug- related murder.
[FL-Tobacco]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Tobacco Under Fire]
A Miami jury is deliberating what will likely be major case for the tobacco industry.
The four men, two women panel will determine punitive damages for the nation's five big tobacco companies.
Attorneys for hundreds of thousands of sick smokers are seeking up to 196- BILLION- dollars to punish cigarette makers.
But tobacco giants say a high- paying verdict will put them out of business.
The case is the first smokers' class- action suit to ever reach trial.
[Waco]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
Closing arguments are now under way in the Branch Davidian wrongful-death trial in Waco, Texas.
Those will wrap up the nearly month- long trial.
At issue, is whether the government shares the blame in the fire that killed dozens of people.
Terisa Estacio has the latest.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Waco, TX;]
[SUPER=01-Michael Bradford/U.S. Attorney;]
[SUPER=01-Michael Caddell/Plaintiff's Attorney;]
[SUPER=01-Sheila Martin/Plaintiff;]
[SUPER=01-Terisa Estacio/Reporting;]
[RUNS=:00]
[OUT Q=CBS News, Waco.]
(
These images of the fiery inferno consuming the Branch Davidian
Compound in Waco, Texas gripped the nation. Years later, certain facts
remain undisputed. On April 19, 1993 after a 51 day standoff more than
80 Branch Davidians died in a fiery inferno.
Exactly how they died and why lies at the heart of the Plaintiffs 675
million dollar lawsuit against the Federal Government.
(take sot / Micheal Bradford; US Atty. )
(outuce: on them ) (incue: Well, all the responsibility )
Track: But that counters, the Plaintiffs claims.
Attorneys representing surviving sect members and relatives of those
deceased have built their case around several key issues.
They presented evidence arguing FBI agents violated a plan by Attorney
General Janet Reno. They allowed tanks to ram holes in the
compound...triggering the chaos.
Also, they say agents contributed to the deaths of those inside by
failing to provide fire crews to extinguish the flames.
(take nats of fire crews from scene )
(take sot Micheal Caddell;Plaintiff's Attorney )
(incue: We never said they tried to kill them )
(outcue:
This video shows some the leader David Koresh with some of his followers
The US attorney presented an autopsy report indicating several adults,
children and infants died from gunshot wounds attempting to show the
jury sect members were suicidal.
(Sheila Martin/Plaintiff; )
(incue: I dont know anything about that )
(outcue: never heard of any )
(take Terisa Estacio )
incue; In a Federal Case, a judge has the option to pick a jury. He
did.. and the five member jury acts as an advisory panel. It is unclear
how long they two groups will meet before a decision is rendered. Te,
cbs news, waco
))[Supermax]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=00-12 TC1:54:48]
[GRAPHIC=Supermax Prisons]
The chairman of the state Corrections Board is going to get a tour of Southwest Virginia's two "supermax" prisons.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Wise Co./File Tape;]
The news media and human rights groups haven't been allowed in since the prisons opened.
But Connecticut prison officials -- who are paying to house 500 inmates -- have looked into allegations of abuse, racism, and denied access to lawyers and religious services.
Virginia's corrections board chairman says he's waiting to hear an internal report on an inmate who died of an apparent heart attack after a stun gun was used on him three times.
But that report will NOT necessarily be made public.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 10:59:12]
[IN Q=I will make]
((FRED FINKBEINER/CORRECTIONS BOARD CHAIRMAN: I WILL MAKE THE BOARD AWARE ...NEED TO KNOW BASIS, THEY MAY NOT HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT IT.))
[SOT 16:27:15 ]
((KENT WILLIS/VIRGINIA ACLU: WE ARE DEVELOPING OUR OWN EQUIVALENT OF A 16TH CENTURY MEDIEVAL DUNGEON HERE. AND WE'RE NOT LETTING PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT.))
[SUPER=01-Fred Finkbeiner/Corrections Board Chairman; :00 ]
[SUPER=01-Kent Willis/Virginia ACLU; :26]
[RUNS=:34]
[OUT Q=about it.]
(-------------)
[TALENT=Kim]
[SS=HOLD]
The F-B-I is investigating the stun gun incident.
Corrections director Ron Angelone has released a medical report from an independent doctor, who says there's NO linkage between stun gun usage and heart attacks.
[Interstate]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=NET]
[GRAPHIC=INTERSTATE 73]
Some Franklin County residents want to put the brakes on Interstate 73.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co.]
The group "Friends of Franklin County" hopes to convince the board of Supervisors to withdraw its support of the new interstate, and pass a resolution barring it from running through the county.
They're circulating petitions and encouraging residents to write to local and national officials.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT18:24]
[IN Q=Go to northern virginia]
((GERRY SLOTNICK/FRANKLIN COUNTY RESIDENT:GO TO NORTHERN, VIRGINIA AND SEE WHAT INTERSTATES HAVE DONE, THE SPRAWL, THE CONGESTION, THE POLLUTION, IT'S JUST TERRIBLE))
[SUPER=01-Gerry Slotnick/Franklin Co. Resident]
[RUNS=08]
[OUT Q=just terrible]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The group wants 220 upgraded instead.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]
The Chairman of the Board of Supervisors says a new highway is needed in the county because 220 isn't adequate due to safety and traffic reasons.
[Britain-Parliament]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=none]
There will be one less voice in Britain's raucous House of Commons...
The female speaker of the house is calling it quits.
Mark Phillips has the story.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-London; :00]
[SUPER=01-Betty Boothroyd/Speaker of the House; :22]
[SUPER=01-Mark Phillips/Reporting; :52]
[RUNS=:57]
[OUT Q=Mark Phillips, CBS News, London.]
((
(SCRIPT)
(Locator: London, UK)
(Betty: House of Commons)
sot: 'Order order!'
sot: 'you will apologize to this chair'
sot: 'I apologize to yourself'
Her voice, they say, and her manner are a cross between a school
headmistress and a barmaid announcing last call. Either way they'll
miss it when Betty Boothroyd begins the retirement she announced to a
surprised British House of Commons.
(brief retirement announcement)
An unprecidented thing happened when she dropped her suprise.
(SOT Boothroyd)
'...be happy for me...'
The MPs broke into applause -- that never happens here.
(dancing)
A lot about Betty Boothroyd is out of the ordinary -- including her
brief history as a chorus girl dancer.
(campaign stills)
From an English working class family she campaigned and finally won a
seat for the Labour Party in 1973.
(being pulled from seat)
Her selection as speaker -- the first woman to hold the job and complete
with requisite reluctance -- was a popular one.
Whoever succeeds her will have a hard act to follow. MP CBS News London.
))
[81-Lawsuits]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=00-19 TC48:54]
[GRAPHIC=LAwsuit]
Relatives of a couple involved in a baby switching case are suing the state. They say Interstate 81 -- where the couple was killed -- is unsafe.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co./July 4, 1998;]
Rebecca Chittum's parents died on July Fourth two years ago when their car hydroplaned on I-81 in Botetourt County, crossed the median, and hit a tractor trailer head on.
The family's lawsuit says the state negligently designed the highway with improper highway grading, no storm water basin, narrow lanes and sharp curves. It also says the 65-mile-per-hour speed limit is too high.
The family's lawyer says the two parties are negotiating to settle out of court.
A representative from the Attorney General's Office says he's not seen the lawsuit yet, and cannot comment.
(------------)
[Cory-Everson]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=00-23 38:34]
[GRAPHIC=none]
The chief financial officer of Cory Everson's is in the ladies gym now, in from Tennessee.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;]
William Bailey refused to come to the door to talk to News7 -- but he did call the station to say a new air conditioner is on the way, and when it gets here, he will re-open the gym.
He denies he's selling his thousand memberships to New Fitness gym -- even though the owner of New Fitness says Bailey has named a price and a contract's being drawn up.
Bailey has said before it's over a hundred degrees in the gym -- but the fans were not on.
(------------)
[Growin-It]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=500-4 1:05:54]
[GRAPHIC=Growin It]
Gardening can be fun for people of all ages. In this week's Growin It, Steve Pardon tells us about an interesting program that gets young people involved.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Lisa Soltis/Roanoke Parks and Recreation; :13]
[SUPER=07-Mark Burton; 1:02]
[RUNS=2:05]
[OUT Q=I'm Steve Pardon.]
(-------------)
[TAKE PINNACLE PAGE FULL]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
If you would like to learn more about the Adventures in the Park program, you can call the Roanoke City Parks and Recreation department at 853-2236.
[Commonwealth-Games]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Commonwealth]
The Star City will have an Olympic atmosphere over the next few weeks.
Opening ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games happen today.
And joining us to talk more about the upcoming event is Pete Lampman, who's with Virginia Amateur Sports.
Good afternoon, Pete.
[Double Boxes=Kim ANCHOR/Guest Microwave]
[Live=Guest Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=01-Pete Lampman/Virginia Amateur Sports;]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke]
(Now, we're probably looking at some rain over the weekend... are there many events happening indoors?? )
(So many activities make up the Commonwealth Games, ranging from arm wrestling to shooting to autocross.. We have some
video from the past couple of years.... how has this event grown over the years?)
(Any new events this year?)
(And you have a special treat for spectators this year...an appearance by a former Olympic gold medalist)
(How many people usually come out to the Commonwealth Games?)
[Double Boxes=Kim ANCHOR/Guest Microwave]
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]
Okay, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon, Pete. Opening ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games happen tonight at the Roanoke Civic Center.
[ESS/FULL=VA AMATEUR SPORTS]
Fore more information about the Commonwealth Games, you can call this number...
by SS