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WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 08/07/00
[7-11Verizon-Strike]
[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kwe]
[TAPE#=00-19; TC 1:28:23]
[GRAPHIC=Verizon]
Contract talks continue this morning Verizon and union negotiators.
They report progress but say a number of serious issues remain unresolved.
In Roanoke, workers are entering their second day on the picket lines.
Kate Weidew reports.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;00]
[SUPER=01-David Layman/Local 2204 President;:39]
[SUPER=@Kate1;1:30]
[RUNS=1:45]
[OUT Q=kw news7 roanoke co.]
(([NAT SOUND]
[RUNS= 5]
Dozens of Verizon telephone operators and line technicians woke up early to hit the picket lines. From the Bell Atlantic headquarters on Airport Road to the downtown office in Roanoke, to Hershberger Road strikers were holding signs and getting support from drivers passing by.
[NAT SOUND HORN]
[RUNS= 3]
The strikes comes after the union's three year contract expired at midnight on Saturday while negotiations were still taking place.
Although talks are continuing workers want the company to know they mean business.
[SOT 39:28]
[INQ=]
((WORKER: NO CONTRACT NO PEACE!))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 4]
[SOT 22:26]
[INQ=]
((DAVID LAYMAN/LOCAL 2204 CWA PRESIDENT: WE'VE GIVEN COMPREHENSIVE PROPOSALS SINCE JUNE 26-TH AND THE COMPANY HAS FAILED TO ADDRESS THOSE PROPOSALS.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 8]
The local union president says the employees want a better pension plan and working environment.
[SOT 24:13]
[INQ=]
((DAVID LAYMAN: PEOPLE ARE CONSTANTLY MONITORED IN SOME OF OUR JOBS THE RULES TODAY MAY NOT BE THE RULES OF TOMORROW, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE SO MANY SALES AND ABRIDGE TO MAKE SALES.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 13]
While workers are off the job more than 33- thousand Verizon managers across the country will step in to take over their responsibilities.
Officials expect few if any interruptions in basic telephone service.
[SOT 26:33]
[INQ=]
((DAVID LAYMAN: WE HOPE THERE IS VERY LITTLE SERVICE DISRUPTION.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 4]
[BUTT, BUTT, BUTT]
[SOT 27:29]
[INQ=]
((DAVID LAYMAN: THE COMPANY SAYS THINGS ARE AUTOMATED, BUT AUTOMATION DOESN'T TAKE THE PLACE OF 82-HUNDRED PEOPLE.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 8]
[STANDUP]
[INQ=]
((KATE WEIDAW/REPORTING: BUT VERIZON OFFICIALS SAY THERE COULD BE DISTRUPTIONS IF A CUSTOMER WANTS TO SPEAK WITH AN OPERATOR OR HAVE SERVICE INSTALLED. BOTH THE COMPANY AND IT'S WORKERS HOPE AN AGREEMENT IS REACH TO END THE STRIKE. KATE WEIDAW NEWS 7 ROANOKE COUNTY.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS=]))
[7-11Pitts-Fatal]
[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mce]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Accident]
A Chatham teenager died in a single-car accident in Pittsylvania county.
State Police say 19-year-old Alex Wayne Blair was driving on U-S 29 when his 19-94 Pathfinder swerved off the side of the road.
He apparently overcorrected and his vehicle rolled several times, throwing him from the car.
Blair was pronounced dead at the scene.
In the weather to start you work week, a humid day ahead. Partly Sunny and breezy highs 87-to-92. Tonight clear lows around 70.
The extended...
[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Humid & Breezy/87-92/Mostly/Clear/70-75;]
[SUPER=#555;RESET]
More than 280 Norfolk Southern employees in Roanoke are losing their jobs this month.
The workers say the layoffs are ironic, because the job losses are based on the company's split of Conrail with C-S-X.
The workers say they were assured the deal would bring 188 jobs to the area. Instead, 55 Norfolk Southern signalmen were laid off over the weekend and 228 carmen will be let go Wednesday.
[45-11Allen-Robb]
[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kwe]
[TAPE#=00-31; TC 6:14]
[GRAPHIC=Campaign2000]
U-S Senate Candidates Chuck Robb and George Allen held their first debate over the weekend focusing on eachothers' records.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=203-Bath Co./Saturday]
One of the questions centered on the gas tax.
George Allen says Robb tried to have a bill passed in 19-93 that would have raised the gas tax by 50 cents a gallon.
(///// SOT /////)
[IN Q=We would]
((GEORGE ALLEN: WE WOULD HAVE BEEN PAYING 2 DOLLARS A GALLON AND YOU TALK ABOUT CONSERVATION THEN WHY DO YOU ALWAYS VOTE AGAINST ANY DOMESTIC PRODUCTION UNDER THE NORTH SCOPE OF ALASKA.))
((CHUCK ROBB: I DIDN'T NOT REINTRODUCE THAT LEGISLATION IN 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 AND I WILL NOT REINTRODUCE IT THIS YEAR. I KNOW IT'S AN ISSUE YOU ENJOYED RUNNING ON.))
[SUPER=201-George Allen/(R) Senatorial Candidate]
[SUPER=201-Sen. Chuck Robb/(D) Senatorial Candidate]
[OUTQ=running on.]
[RUNS=33]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Robb says he made the proposal during the Persian Gulf War.
(------------)
[45-11VA-Teachers]
[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=00-29; TC 37:00]
[GRAPHIC=Education]
According to school administrators, hiring teachers is becoming more competative.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/Last Week;]
Even local school systems are feeling the impact of changing times... as the teaching population ages and fewer young people enter the profession.
Last week-- Montgomery County still had ten teaching vacancies to fill.
Superintendent Fred Morton says it's often hard to compete with larger school systems in terms of salary.
But Morton says the New River Valley has a lot to offer.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 01:09;31]
[IN Q=I think ]
((FRED MORTON/MONTGOMERY CO. SUPERINTENDENT:I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAVE TO DO WHEN WE'RE RECRUITING IS TO TALK ABOUT A LOT OF THE BENEFITS HERE. WE'RE MADE A REAL COMMITMENT TO SUPPORTING TEACHERS IN TERMS OF CLASS SIZE AND SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS WE DO. WE MAY NOT BE THE BEST IN THE STATE, BUT WE'RE VERY COMPETITIVE IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE DOING THERE AND SO IT'S NOT JUST QUALITY OF LIVING LIFE, IT'S QUALITY OF TEACHING LIFE. ))
[SUPER=01-Fred Morton/Montgomery Co. Superintendent;]
[RUNS=20]
[OUT Q=teaching life.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Morton says school officials made approximately 40- recruiting visits to colleges and universities last year.
(------------)
In the weather to start you work week, a humid day ahead. Partly Sunny and breezy highs 87-to-92. Tonight clear lows around 70.
The extended...
[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Humid & Breezy/87-92/Mostly/Clear/70-75;]
[SUPER=#555;RESET]
Hiring teachers is becoming more and more competitive according to school administrators across the country.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/Last Week;]
Even local school systems are feeling the impact of changing times... as the teaching population ages and fewer young people enter the profession.
Last week-- Montgomery County still had ten teaching vacancies to fill.
Superintendent Fred Morton says it's often hard to compete with larger school systems in terms of salary.
But Morton says the New River Valley has a lot to offer.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 01:09;31]
[IN Q=I think ]
((FRED MORTON/MONTGOMERY CO. SUPERINTENDENT:I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAVE TO DO WHEN WE'RE RECRUITING IS TO TALK ABOUT A LOT OF THE BENEFITS HERE. WE'RE MADE A REAL COMMITMENT TO SUPPORTING TEACHERS IN TERMS OF CLASS SIZE AND SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS WE DO. WE MAY NOT BE THE BEST IN THE STATE, BUT WE'RE VERY COMPETITIVE IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE DOING THERE AND SO IT'S NOT JUST QUALITY OF LIVING LIFE, IT'S QUALITY OF TEACHING LIFE. ))
[SUPER=01-Fred Morton/Montgomery Co. Superintendent;]
[RUNS=20]
[OUT Q=teaching life.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Morton says school officials made approximately 40- recruiting visits to colleges and universities last year.
They also took along members of the community to talk about the positive things the New River Valley has to offer.
(------------)
West Virginia State Police are still investigating the case of a missing Virginia Tech student.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Fayette Co., WV/September 1998]
It's been nearly two years since Rob Kovack was last seen in Blacksburg.
His abandoned car was discovered in Fayette County... near the New River Gorge Bridge.
West Virginia state police say the case has always been active but were recently given permission to devote even more time to it.
They've since met twice with Virginia State police to go over their files.
They say they have NO new leads or information.
(--------)[8-11Tech-Picnic]
[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=AM CUTINS]
[WRITER=mce]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=None]
It resembled an old-fashioned pep rally - but this was the welcome-back picnic of the millennium!
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg]
More than 12-hundred Virginia Tech alumni and fans turned out for the 3rd annual "Outback Steakhouse Welcome Back Picnic" yesterday.
There, they had the chance to meet the 2000 Hokie's football team, and even rub shoulders with Head Coach Frank Beamer.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT@21:19 - 21:35]
[IN Q=If you're talking..]
[SUPER=01-Frank Beamer/Virginia Tech Football Coach]
((FRANK BEAMER/HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL, IT'S NOT LONG BEFORE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT OUR GREAT FAN SUPPORT AND THE FACT THAT GAME DAY'S COMING BACK FOR THE THIRD TIME IN THE LAST 8 BALLGAMES, COMING BACK TO BLACKSBURG, THAT GOES BACK TO OUR GREAT FAN SUPPORT, ENTHUSIASM AND EXCITEMENT THEY PROVIDE.))
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=they provide.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The menu at the picnic was donated by Outback Steakhouse ..
All proceeds benefit athletic scholarships to the school.
The Blacksburg Hokie club says as a result of Outback's support, the Coaching club has been able to donate more than 50-thousand dollars to the Athletic Fund.
(------------)
A humid day to start your work week. The highs will be in the upper 80's to low 90's. Tonight will be warm with lows in the low to mid 70's.
The extended,
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[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Humid & Breezy/87-92/Mostly/Clear/70-75;]
[ESS C] (EXTENDED)[SUPER=#555;RESET]