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WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 08/24/00
[7-Verizon]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=500-11 TC1:16:25]
[GRAPHIC=Verizon Strike]
Verizon and the rest its striking workers have reached a tentative agreement.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/File Tape]
That means the thousands of workers are returning to the job today.
The agreement, which still must be ratified by union members covers Virginia and five other mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia.
Verizon officials say it will take about a month to clear a backlog of 63-thousand repair requests and 200-thousand orders for new service that have come in since the strike began August 6th.
(------------)
A former Virginia Tech administrator was sentenced to probation yesterday for defrauding the school of money.
Professor Craig Rogers was convicted on two charges of obtaining money by false pretenses.
Tech alleged he used public funds on several thousand dollars worth of personal expenses, including airline tickets.
Earlier this week, Rogers resigned from his job as a dean at the University of South Carolina.
After being trapped upside down in his truck, an elderly man is doing okay.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.;]
Rescue crews took an hour and a half to free 81 year old John White.
A delivery truck landed on top of the victim's truck that flipped over.
The two vehicles collided on North Daniels and Cherwood Roads yesterday afternoon.
The driver of the delivery truck was not injured.
The victim's wife stood by watching the whole rescue effort.
White has been treated and released from the hospital.
(------------)
Another accident yesterday threw a teenager out of his car.
The 17 year old was taken to Danville Regional Medical Center.
Witnesses say he was conscious and said he lost control to avoid a deer.
State troopers say he seemed to be doing okay.
Authorities charged the teen with failing to maintain control of the car.
(------------)
Despite a federal grant, a Southwest Virginia school for gifted students is still overcrowded and underfunded.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Dublin;]
Senator Chuck Robb delivered the Governor's School a 138-thousand dollar check yesterday to help it get a new building.
The school needs 2-and-a-half million dollars to reach its goal.
As governor in 1985, Robb started the Governor's school system.
It provides accelerated math and science classes to students from six nearby school districts.
(///// SOT /////)
[BUMP SOTS]
[IN Q=We would like]
[15:10:16 - :25]
((PAT DUNCAN/GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL DIRECTOR: WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A NEW BUILDING. THIS IS WHAT WE NEED DESPERATELY BECAUSE OF THE SMALL SIZE OF THE BUILDING AND THE INCREASING NUMBER OF STUDENTS.))
[SUPER=01-Pat Duncan/Governor's School Director; :00]
[RUNS=:09]
[OUT Q=number of students.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The school has 122 students in a building meant for under 100.
The Governor's School hopes to combine with a magnet school on the campus of the New River Community College.
(------------)
Turning our attention now to weather--
Mostly cloudy with possible showers today..
[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Mostly Cloudy/Possible Showers/80-85/Partly Cloudy/Possible Showers/60-65;]
[SUPER=#555;RESET]
[ESS C] (EXTENDED)
The Verizon strike is over.
The company and the rest its striking workers have reached a tentative agreement.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/File Tape]
That means the thousands of workers are returning to the job today.
The agreement, which still must be ratified by union members covers Virginia and five other mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia.
Verizon officials say it will take about a month to clear a backlog of 63-thousand repair requests and 200-thousand orders for new service that have come in since the strike began August 6th.
(------------)
A small fire damaged a Roanoke church.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
Authorities say a pile of firewood and siding behind the recreation building at Rosalind Hills Baptist Church caught fire last night.
They don't know why.
The fire did about 500 dollars damage and is being investigated.
(------------)
[45-11Church-fire]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=sch]
[TAPE#=00-27 TC44:00]
[GRAPHIC=Fire Invest.]
Authorities are calling a Danville church fire suspicious
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville/August 13]
The fire ruined the 70 year old Bethel Holiness Church on Grove Street a week and a half ago.
The Danville Police Department along with the Fire Department are trying to find out who did it.
Investigators took debris from the church last week. That's being tested at a forensic lab in Roanoke.
(------------)
Authorities are looking into Tuesday morning's suspicious fire at the Harris Grocery in Henry County.
The fire heavlily damaged the store.
Federal, state and local agencies are investigating.
The owner, Michael Marvin Harris pled guilty to dealing cocaine through his store. He was sentenced to seven years in prison six months ago.
(------------)
Gypsy moths have damaged nearly 25-thousand acres of trees in Alleghany and Bath Counties.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Alleghany Co.;]
Steve Bennett is dealing with the gypsy moth problem first hand.
In June, he noticed the insects devouring the leaves on his trees.
The moths aren't the problem... it's when the insects are in the caterpillar stage that they do the most damage.
Experts say folks should destroy the moths' egg masses.
Each one could contain up to a thousand caterpillars.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=In the residential]
((ROY KISER/EXTENSION AGENT: IN THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS THERE'S THE NUISANCE ASPECT, YOU CAN HAVE LITERALLY THOUSAND IF NOT MILLIONS OF CATERPILLARS CRAWLING ON HOUSES, GET IN CARS, GARAGES, THEY WILL THEN EAT YOUR SHRUBBERY.))
[SUPER=01-Roy Kiser/Extension Agent;]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=eat you shrubbery.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Steve Bennett had portions of his property sprayed over the summer and will probably do so next year.
If you detect a problem... experts say contact your local extension office.
(-----------------)
Time again to look at the Thursday forecast...
More clouds and sun today...with showers possible.
[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Mostly Cloudy/Possible Showers/80-85/Partly Cloudy/Possible Showers/60-65;]
[SUPER=#555;RESET]
[ESS C] (EXTENDED)
It's off the picket lines and back on the job for Verizon workers.
The company has reached a tentative agreement with its striking workers.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
That means the thousands of workers are returning to the job.
The agreement, which still must be ratified by union members covers Virginia and five other mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia.
Verizon officials say it will take about a month to clear a backlog of 63-thousand repair requests and 200-thousand orders for new service that have come in since the strike began August 6th.
(------------)
A former Virginia Tech administrator is on probation for allegedly defrauding the school of thousands of dollars.
Professor Craig Rogers was convicted on two charges of obtaining money by false pretenses.
Tech alleged he used public funds on several thousand dollars worth of personal expenses, including airline tickets.
Earlier this week, Rogers resigned from his job as a dean at the University of South Carolina.
They're spending their first weeks of schools without air conditioning...but otherwise, it's business as usual at Pulaski County High despite an explosion last month.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Dublin;]
15-hundred students went back yesterday.
The only thing missing was air conditioning in their windowless classrooms.
That's expected to be restored by Labor Day.
Until then, students will get out two hours early.
A natural gas explosion in the mechanical room knocked out power, gas and water last month.
School administrators estimate the speedy repairs cost 750-thousand dollars.
(------------)
An infestation of Gypsy moths is wreaking havoc on trees in Allegany and Bath counties.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Alleghany Co.;]
Steve Bennett is dealing with the gypsy moth problem first hand.
In June, he noticed the insects devouring the leaves on his trees.
The moths aren't the problem... it's when the insects are in the caterpillar stage that they do the most damage.
Experts say folks should destroy the moths' egg masses.
Each one could contain up to a thousand caterpillars.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=In the residential]
((ROY KISER/EXTENSION AGENT: IN THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS THERE'S THE NUISANCE ASPECT, YOU CAN HAVE LITERALLY THOUSAND IF NOT MILLIONS OF CATERPILLARS CRAWLING ON HOUSES, GET IN CARS, GARAGES, THEY WILL THEN EAT YOUR SHRUBBERY.))
[SUPER=01-Roy Kiser/Extension Agent;]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=eat you shrubbery.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Steve Bennett had portions of his property sprayed over the summer and will probably do so next year.
If you detect a problem... experts say contact your local extension office.
(-----------------)