WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 10/06/00

[7-11Henry-Juvenile]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]

[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=sch]
[TAPE#=00-38 TC23:00]
[GRAPHIC=Legal scales]
A Henry county teen who accidentally shot his best friend will NOT spend any time behind bars or in a detention home.

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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co/File Tape;]

A judge suspended the boy's sentence of juvenile detention.
The teen will be on an undetermined time of supervised probation. He will also continue psychiatric counseling along with his family and will pay for the victim's medical bills.
13 year old Brandon Lee Moore was shot accidentally in May.
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[7-11Fire-Plan]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=00-40 TC19:43]
[GRAPHIC=Roanoke Fire Stations]
Major changes are coming to the way Roanoke responds to fires. The city's closing FIVE fire stations - and building TWO new ones.
Keith Humphry reports.
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[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=@Keith2; 1:11]
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[OUT Q=KH, News 7]
(( Old Number one is so obsolete, it's not always fully manned. Station One generally houses only one ladder truck.
The century- old station was built to house horse-drawn fire wagons. It's a Nationally Registered Historic Landmark. Number one would literally become a museum, leased to the Julian Wise Foundation.
The plan is to close it, along with station three on Sixth Street, Southwest, a block below the Jefferson Center.
The two downtown stations would be replaced by a new one in the vicinity of Jefferson and Elm.
It would also house the Fire Administration offices.
Chief Jim Grigsby has already informed members of his department of the changes. He plans to start briefing members of City Council next week.
In the Northwest sector of the city, station Five on 12th Street, Northwest would close, along with Station Nine at 24th and Melrose. Here again these two stations would be eliminated, but replaced by a new fire house somewhere in the vicinity of 19th and Orange. The chief has said he has a site in mind but that additional property would have to be acquired.
Station 12 on Salem Turnpike would be closed, replaced by the new fire house that just opened this year on Peters Creek Road.
Chief Grigsby was unavailable, but Battalion Chief Audie Ferris said the station closings would save the city 800-thousand dollars in maintenance costs.
The plan does NOT call for any reduction in personnel.))

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[45-Pulaski-Doctor]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
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[WRITER=jmc]
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A Pulaski doctor is accused of molesting a 17-year-old girl.
William G. Clowdis, Junior was arrested Tuesday on misdemeanor counts of assault and battery, sexual battery, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The girl says the offenses took place on two occasions in July, when she was babysitting at the doctor's home.
An attorney for Clowdis says the o-b- -g-y-n denies the allegations and "expects to be fully exonerated."

[45-11Cochran]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=00-27 TC1:40:16]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

A Galax man has been sentenced for a double murder.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Galax/November 1999;]

Three life sentences - including life WITHOUT parole - for the murders of two elderly sisters.
John D. Cochran pled guilty yesterday to murder and arson in the deaths of Ila and Inez Edwards.
The bodies of the two women that Cochran had known for several years were found in their burning home last year.
He admitted beating beating and killing them, then setting the house on fire.
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[45-11Infant-Mortality]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=00-29 TC1:58:50]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Losing a baby is painful to any parent, but statistics show African- American parents are more than twice as likely to suffer that loss.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

Lynchburg's infant mortality rate has been dropping in recent years, but black babies there, are three times more likely to die before their first birthday.
So the March of Dimes has launched the Community Voice Project, aimed at teaching pregnant women the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
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[SOT 10:22:44]
[IN Q=We need to]
((BARBARA JEFFERSON/LOST TWO SONS: WE NEED TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY AND STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF RECEIVING PRENATAL CARE, SO EVENTS LIKE OURS WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN AND WE CAN AT LEAST DECREASE THE RATE OF INFANT MORTALITY.))
[SUPER=01-Barbara Jefferson/Lost Two Sons;]
[RUNS=13]
[OUT Q=of infant mortality.]
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[VO-NAT]

The 300- thousand dollar grant will help hire and train two dozen health advisors to work with the African- American community.
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[45-11Soulforce-House]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
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[GRAPHIC=None]
Dozens of gay activists lent a hand to a good cause in Lynchburg, calling for an end to anti- gay violence.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

About fifty Soulforce volunteers are building a house this week for Habitat for Humanity.
In the wake of the murder of a gay man in Roanoke two weeks ago, Soulforce officials say their visit is especially timely.
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[SOT 10:35:40]
[IN Q=It was certainly]
((DIANN WESTBROOK/SOULFORCE VOLUNTEER: IT WAS CERTAINLY ON OUR MINDS THE WEEK BEFORE WE CAME HERE. MANY OF US TOOK PART IN MEMORIAL SERVICES FOR DANNY OVERSTREET BEFORE WE GOT HERE AND WE ARE DEDICATING OUR CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS THIS WEEK TO THE MEMORY OF DANNY OVERSTREET.))
[SUPER=01-Diann Westbrook/Soulforce Volunteer]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=memory of Danny Overstreet.9]
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[VO-NAT]

Many of the volunteers also took part in last year's anti- violence summit with the Reverend Jerry Falwell and gay minister Mel White.
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[45Weather]

[8-SOLs-Ad]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=SOLs]

And an aide to Senator Chuck Robb says Republican George Allen's getting an unfair boost to his Senate campaign's stance on education. Governor Gilmore is spending over a million dollars on T-V ads promoting the Standards of Learning program in schools.

But the Robb camp says the ads are political - because former Governor Allen initiated the S-O-L program.
Gilmore aides say the ads are a legitimate way to tell parents the program is a success.

[8-Rail-Trail]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=am Cutins]
[WRITER=kwe]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Dozens of residents who live near an abandoned railroad track in Botetourt County don't want the area turned into a nature trail. Last night during a public hearing about 40 of them voiced their concerns about the plan. Kate Weidaw has the details.
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[IN Q=The 26 miles]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Nickie Drummond/Trail Opponent; :21]
[SUPER=01-Rita Pearity/Trail Opponent; :39]
[SUPER=01-Emily Prillaman/Trail Proponent; 1:03]
[SUPER=01-Bill Medecka/Trail Proponent; 1:15]
[SUPER=@Kate1;1:25]
[RUNS=1:35]
[OUT Q=kw news7]
((The 26 miles of abandoned railroad travels through what some call the area's most scenic property. That's why developers want to make a rail trail for everyone to enjoy. But residents like Nickie Drummond oppose the idea. She says her house faces the railroad and a trail will only bring trouble to her secluded home.

[SOT 6:03:57]
[INQ=]
((NICKIE DRUMMOND: IT'S GOING TO SERVE NO PURPOSE THEN TO WREAK HAVOC WITHIN THE COMMUNITIES THAT IT GOES THROUGH SO WHY DO WE NEED THIS TRAIL PUT IT IN A NON RESIDENTIAL AREA.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 12]

Other opponents ask what's the need for another nature trail in Virginia.

[SOT 5:53:08]
[INQ=]
((RITA PEARITY: IN THIS SECTION OF VA THE SMALL SECTION THERE ARE 11 ESTABLISHED TRAILS ALREADY SO MY POINT WE DON'T NEED THE TRAIL FOR RECREATION THOSE ARE AVAILABLE ALREADY.))
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[RUNS= 15]

But nature enthusiasts say residents' concerns over crime and litter are not the case where other rail trails have been set up.

[SOT 5:35:34]
[INQ=]
((EMILY PRILLAMAN: THIS HAS PROVEN TO WEST VIRGINIA TO BE A GREAT VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR WEST VIRGINIA AS WELL TO BE A FANTASTIC RECREATION FOR IT'S CITIZENS AND THOSE THAT VISIT WEST VIRGINIA.))
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[RUNS= 10]

[SOT 6:18:10]
[INQ=]
((BILL MEDECKA: I CAN TELL YOU FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE THERE IS VERY LITTLE TRASH, THERE'S NO CRIME EVERYONE WHO IS ALONG THE TRAIL IS REALLY NICE AND FRIENDLY.))
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[RUNS= 10]

[STANDUP]
[INQ=]
((KATE WEIDAW/REPORTING: THERE IS STILL A LONG WAY TO GO BEFORE THIS RAIL TRAIL BECOMES REALITY. PLANNERS SAY THEY WILL TAKE THE COMMENTS FROM THIS MEETING TO FORM A REPORT. THEN THEY WILL HOLD ANOTHER PUBLIC HEARING ON JANUARY 10TH AND WILL MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO BOTETOURT AND CRAIG COUNTY SUPERVISORS IN FEBRUARY. IT COULD BE JUNE OF NEXT YEAR BEFORE THEY EVEN BEGIN TO APPLY FOR FUNDING. KATE WEIDAW NEWS7.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS=]))

[8Weather]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#none]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Shifting gears now to the weather...

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