WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 12/14/00

[7-School-Information]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=School Information]

Several school systems in our area have altered their schedules due to the weather.
We are running the ones that we have at the bottom of your screen.
(XXXXXXXXXX)
[take FS Web Address] We also have them listed on our website. You can find an up to date list by logging on to W-D-B-J-7-dot-Com then click on weather cancellations.

(XXXXXXXXXX)[7-Roads]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jha]
[TAPE#=00-53 TC06:18]
[GRAPHIC=Winter Weather]

Authorities everywhere warn motorists to be extra cautious.....especially on bridges, overpasses, hills, and untreated roads.
(XXXXXXXXX)
[TAKE FULL SCREEN BOARD]
If you need more detailed road information on the route you're taking this morning, you can call V-Dot directly at 1-800-367-ROAD. [Take FS Valley Metro Board]
For more information on bus schedules you can call Valley Metro at 982-2222.
(-------------)

[7-Radford-Chief]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=00-44 TC52:22]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Radford's police chief has resigned-after a report said he contributed to low morale and high turnover at the department.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Radford/Monday;]

A-C Earles was Radford's chief for 13 years.
He announced his retirement after a meeting with the city manager yesterday.
The move comes on the heels of a report to City Council explaining a 40-percent turnover rate that's cost the city three-quarters of a million dollars in three years.
In it, former and current officers described Earles as an INVISIBLE leader who played solitaire in his office most of the time.
Deputy Chief Jonny Butler has been appointed interim Chief until Council can find a new one.
(------------)

[7-Bedford-Roundup]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=00-41 TC1:09:36]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Bedford County officials arrested nearly two dozen people yesterday as part of Operation Street Sweeper.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co.;]
Authorities began rounding up drug suspects bright and early yesterday morning. By yesterday evening, they'd arrested 20 people for allegedly selling a variety of illegal drugs from marijuana to crack cocaine. The undercover operation began about nine months ago and includes charges against 30- people. Sheriff Mike Brown says the goal is to put the smaller, street level dealers out of commission.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=They're the ones]
((MIKE BROWN/BEDFORD CO. SHERIFF: THEY'RE THE ONES A LOT OF THE SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN, MIDDLE, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, THAT'S HOW THEY GET IT, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THEY GET IT FROM.))
[SUPER=01-Mike Brown/Bedford Co. Sheriff; :00]
[RUNS=10]
[OUT Q=it from.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Those arrested were handed a candy cane and Christmas card courtesy of Sheriff Brown... wishing them a Happy Holiday and highlighting their miranda rights.
(------------)

[7-Otte]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mce]
[TAPE#=500-6 TC01:33]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
The 21-year-old woman who killed her son by putting him in a microwave oven will spend the next five years in prison.

(------------)
[VO-NAT ]
[SUPER=03-New Kent Co.]
Elizabeth Renee Otte pled no contest to involuntary manslaughter in September. A New Kent County Circuit judge yesterday sentenced her to ten years, but suspended half of the time. She was also placed on 20-years probation. Otte's son, Joseph Lewis Martinez, was found dead in her home in 19-99. Experts argue Otte suffers from epilepsy, and her seizures are often followed by blackouts.
(------------)

[7WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Checking your Thursday forecast now-- Watch out for icy spots this morning...otherwise tempertures will gradually warm up into the upper 40s this afternoon.
[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Early Showers/Warming Up/46-50/Partly to/Mostly Clear/27-31 ;AREA FORECAST]
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[45-School-Information]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=School Information]

Several school systems in our area have altered their schedules due to the weather.
We are running the ones that we have at the bottom of your screen.
(XXXXXXXXXX)
[take FS Web Address] We also have them listed on our website. You can find an up to date list by logging on to W-D-B-J-7-dot-Com then click on weather cancellations.

(XXXXXXXXXX)[45-Roads]

[45-Hickson]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=00-37 TC2:04:00]
[GRAPHIC=LEGAL SCALES]
Prosecutors say they DO know the death of 13-month-old Frances Vermillion was no accident, but they may NEVER know exactly how she died.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford]

Sonya Hickson was found guilty yesterday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Frances Vermillion in 1998.

Hickson told police the girl had bumped her head four times in a ten- minute span.. but the judge decided her version of events did not match up with the physical evidence.
Prosecutor Randy Krantz says Hickson may have just snapped out of frustration and beat Vermillion in the head.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 6:31:46]
[IN Q=But it was]
((RANDY KRANTZ/PROSECUTOR: BUT IT WAS VERY CLEAR THEN FROM THE EVIDENCE, THE COMMONWEALTH FELT, THAT ONCE SHE SAW WHAT SHE HAD DONE SHE HAD TO COME UP WITH AN EXPLANATION THAT SHE THOUGHT WOULD COVER THAT BUT SIMPLY JUST COULD NOT TELL WHAT HAPPENED.))
[SUPER=01-Randy Krantz/Prosecutor]
[RUNS=15]
[OUT Q=tell what happened.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Hickson faces up to twenty years in prison.
(------------)

[45-Floyd-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=00-48 TC44:32]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Invest.]
A couple facing charges in Pennsylvania for the murder of a woman found in Floyd County WILL return to Pennsylvania.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co./October;]

Suspect 24-year-old William Howard Housman and his girlfriend, 34-year-old Beth Ann Markman are charged with the October murder of Leslie Rae White.
A Pennsylvania prosecutor filed murder, abduction and other charges against the couple yesterday.
[SUPER=03-Floyd Co./October;]

The 18-year-old college student's gagged-and-bound body was found in the trunk of a junked car near an abandoned house in Floyd County.
The medical examiner said she was strangled.
Police believe Housman and Markman killed White in their Pennsylvania mobile home, then drove her body to Floyd County and dumped it.
Housman and Markman will be extradited later this month.
(------------)

[45-Fraternity-Robbery]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=Armed Robbery]

Police have charged three men with armed robbery at a Virginia Tech fraternity.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;]

Tech officials say the men robbed two brothers of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity at gunpoint around 11 yesterday morning, while many of the fraternity brothers slept inside.
Police say they caught Jeffrey Bombic, Carlos Coleman and Byron J. Traylor on campus minutes later, speeding away with the stolen items.
They're charged with breaking and entering and grand larceny.
(------------)

[45WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Taking a break from the news now to check the forecast..-
Expect early freezing rain...then temperatures will warm up into the upper 40s by this afternoon.

[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Early Showers/Warming Up/46-50/Partly to/Mostly Clear/27-31 ;AREA FORECAST]
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[ESS C] (EXTENDED)
[cutopen]
[SUPER=@Kimberly1;]

[8-Roads]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jha]
[TAPE#=00-53 TC06:18]
[GRAPHIC=Winter Weather]

Local authorities are warning motorists to be extra careful.....especially on bridges, overpasses, hills, and untreated roads.
(XXXXXXXXX)
[TAKE FULL SCREEN BOARD]
If you need more detailed road information on the route you're taking this morning, you can call V-Dot directly at 1-800-367-ROAD. [Take FS Valley Metro Board]
For more information on bus schedules you can call Valley Metro at 982-2222.
(-------------)

[8-M'ville-annoucement]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=00-42 TC1:50:57]
[GRAPHIC=New Jobs]

More economic development is headed to Martinsville-- an announcement is scheduled for later today.
Meanwhile some good news has already arrived. 380 new jobs are opening up, thanks in part to a 2-hundred thousand dollar state grant.

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville]

An international furniture company called Investors Corporation will move into the former Pulaski Furniture company in January.
It plans to build a lumber processing plant and make bedroom furniture.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Unfortunately Basset has]
((JOHN CATHCART: UNFORTUNATELY BASSET HAS DECIDED TO CLOSE DOWN THEIR PLANT IN JANUARY. BUT THAT'S OUR BENEFIT BECAUSE WE INTEND TO START HIRING IN JANUARY. BY THE END OF 2002. WE'LL EMPLOY 380 PEOPLE.))
[SUPER=01-John Cathcart/Investors Corporation]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=employ 380 people.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Representatives from the Gilmore administration yesterday presented Investors Corporation with the check.
The money will be used for building improvements.
(-----------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[SS=HOLD]

Another economic development announcement for Martinsville is in the works today.
Officials say a major American company will make the largest investment in city history.

[8-Blacksburg-Triathlon]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Lawsuit]

The town of Blacksburg is fighting a lawsuit brought by the family of a man who died in a triathlon.
It was last summer- Gary Wayne Taylor died when his bicycle hit a car at an unpatrolled intersection.
In an answer to his family's lawsuit, the town claims it has governmental immunity AND that Taylor signed a waiver acknowledging risks in the triathlon.
The town claims it made no contract with participants that obligated it to patrol intersections.

[8-Henry-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=Murder]

Police say a fatal shooting in Henry County may have been drug-related.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.]

38-year-old Daniel Berry Rose was shot multiple times in the King's Village area of Henry County Tuesday.
He was taken to an area hospital where he died late Tuesday night.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=He traveled to that]
((CAPTAIN NESTER: HE TRAVELED TO THAT AREA WITH A FEMALE PASSENGER, EXITED THE VEHICLE. HE HAD CONTACT WITH A PERSON OR PERSONS, WAS SHOT AND WOUNDED, RETURNED TO THE VEHICLE, AND HE AND THE FEMALE PASSENGER THEN LEFT THE AREA.))
[SUPER=01-K. G. Nester/Henry Co. Police]
[RUNS=11]
[OUT Q=left the area.]
(------------)
[Anchor=Kimberly]
[ss=none]

Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to call 638-8751.

[8WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Turning to weather now--
Use caution as you drive around this morning...early morning freezing rain will give way to drier conditions this afternoon .,
Highs climbing to near 50.

[SUPER=X5000; SET DISSOLVE]
[SUPER=314-Early Showers/Warming Up/46-50/Partly to/Mostly Clear/27-31 ;AREA FORECAST]
[SUPER=#555;RESET]
[ESS C] (EXTENDED)