WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 01/09/01

[7-Henry-Schools]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=Henry Co. Schools]
A cost-cutting plan to consolidate several schools in Henry County brought out more than a hundred parents to voice their opinions a a public forum last night.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co./Last Night]

The district must come up with a way to do that without hurting the education opporunities for its students.
District officials believe the answer lies in a long range facilities plan.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 4:04:48]
[IN Q= Its an instructional improvment plan]
((DR. JIM BECKNER/ACTING SUPERINTENDENT: ITS AN INSTRUCTIONAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN. ITS AN FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS PLAN. AND THERE IS ALSO A FINANCIAL PLAN.))
[SUPER=01-Dr. Jim Beckner/Acting Superintendent;]
[Runs= 08]
[OUT Q= financial plan]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

To achieve that, the school board is considering a plan to consolidate four of the high schools into two buildings. If the school adopts this plan, high school students would either attend Bassett High School or Magnavista High school.

The other two high schools would become middle schools.
Some parents who turned out for last night's public forum believe this plan causes more problems than it solves.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 4:08:35]
[IN Q=We cannot continue]
((SHIRLEY CRAVEN/OPPOSES THE PLAN: WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO DOWNSIDE OUR SCHOOLS THAT WE GOTTA TO STAY ON THE COURSE THAT WE'VE BEEN ON. LYNN HAGER/OPPOSES THE PLAN: IF THE HIGH SCHOOLS ARE CONSOLIDATED THE STUDENTS WOULD HAVE TO STAY ON THE BUS FOR OVER A HOUR, SOME MORE THAN THAT.))
[SUPER=01-Shirley Craven/Parent;]
[SUPER=01-Lynn Hager/Parent; :07]
[Runs=14]
[OUT Q=more than that]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The next step is for the school board to vote on the proposal.
That could come at the next meeting which is scheduled for Thursday.
(------------)

[7-Danville-Hospital]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=00-48 1:09:15]
[GRAPHIC=Mental Health]
Danville's Southside Virginia Mental Health Institute, and Roanoke County's Catawba Hospital are on the state's closing list.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville/File Tape;]

The Gilmore administration has unveiled its final plan for restructuring the state's mental health facilities.
The overall goal is to have fewer patients hospitalized in acute care facilities.
The Danville institute is slated to close by next year.
(------------)

[7-Catawba]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mce]
[TAPE#=00-49 44:49]
[GRAPHIC=Mental Health]

Some patients from the Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute could be transferred to Catawba Hospital in Roanoke County until 2004.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./File Tape;]
But the state wants to shut down Catawba two years later. Geriatric patients would be transferred to other facilities. Long-term patients would be sent to hospitals in Marion and Staunton. The Executive Director of the Roanoke Valley Mental Health Association worries about those patients that will be left with only community-based services.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=There are...]
((DIANE KELLY: THERE ARE MANY SERVICES WE NEED IN OUR COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW THAT WE DON'T HAVE - THAT AREN'T FUNDED. WHAT KIND OF GUARANTEE WILL WE HAVE THAT THERE WILL BE FUNDING FOR THESE PROGRAMS THAT ARE PROPOSED?))
[SUPER=01-Diane Kelly/Roanoke Valley Health Assoc.;]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=that are proposed?]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Officials with the Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute and Catawba Hospital declined to comment.
The whole plan is subject to General Assembly review.

[7WEATHER]

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

Checking the Tuesday forecast--
Partly sunny and cool today with highs near 35.

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[45-Radford-Police]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=00-55 41:27]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Radford's City Council hopes it can improve morale and reduce turnover in its police department.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Radford;]

City Council voted to cut back the police department's work week from 42-and-a-half hours to 40.
Council also promised to formulate a plan to add officers and raise pay during the next three years.
Last month, a blue ribbon panel revealed that Radford officers were among the lowest-paid and most overworked in the region.
(------------)

[45-Train-Station]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mce]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Center in the Square hopes its plans for Roanoke's old Norfolk and Western passenger station include a tribute to photographer O. Winston Link. Meredyth Censullo has the details.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The final...]
[SUPER=01-Jim Sears/Center in the Square Director; :12]
[SUPER=04-File Tape; :27]
[SUPER=@Meredyth1; 1:24]
[RUNS=1:39]
[OUT Q=News7, Roanoke.]
((The final years of the steam engine have been recorded in black and white, through photographer O. Winston Link's lens.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT @ 8:09:56 - 8:10:08]
[IN Q=He not only...]
((HE NOT ONLY TRIED TO CAPTURE THE STEAM ENGINE AS IT WAS BEING PHASED OUT BY NORFOLK AND WESTERN BUT HE ALSO TRIED TO CAPTURE A QUALITY OF LIFE AT THAT TIME - THEY KIND WE MAY NEVER SEE AGAIN.))
[RUNS= :11]
[OUT Q=see again.]

And thats why The Center wants to "link" Link to the history museum. It hopes to build a NEW museum dedicated to the photographer INSIDE the passenger station - featuring lights, cameras - everything Link used to capture the engines in action. But the tribute could be halted in its tracks by a 300-ton obstacle.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=I think it...]
((I THINK IT WOULD MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT IF 1218 WAS NOT DONATED FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE MUSEUM.))
[RUNS= :07]
[OUT Q=of the museum.]

Link wants Norfolk Southern to donate the 12-18 locomotive to the project... But the locomotive, currently in storage, would require extensive repair work and a large amount of space to be put on display. Without the 12-18, the Center might not get Link. And thats one obstacle its still working on crossing.
(MEREDYTH CENSULLO: The Center hopes to get a final decision from Link in the next several weeks...If they get the go-a
head, the museum could be open by July, 2003...Just six months after a predicted grand opening of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Meredyth Censullo, News7, Roanoke.) ))

[45WEATHER]

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

Taking a break from the news now to check the forecast--
Partly sunny today, with highs staying in the 30s.

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[8-City-County]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=00-45 1:08:46]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Regional cooperation with the topic of a mass meeting of local government officials.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

More than 40 elected and appointed officials sat down together at the Jefferson Center.
There was no shortage of suggestions, as members of the group suggested potential areas of cooperation.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Mayor Smith's idea]
((ALEX BROWN/SALEM CITY COUNCIL: MAYOR SMITH'S IDEA OF GETTING THREE IMPORTANT ITEMS AND WORKING ON A FEW AT A TIME, RATHER THAN A WHOLE LOT AT A TIME, THAT WAY WE CAN GET SOMETHING DONE.)) ((BRAD GROSE/VINTON TOWN COUNCIL: THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD FEELING HERE TODAY, AND IT GOES A LONG WAY, BUT YOU'RE RIGHT YOU HAVE TO TRANSFER THAT INTO SOME POSITIVE ACTION AND THAT'S WHERE WE STAND NOW, BUT I'M ENCOURAGED I THINK THERE WILL BE SOME POSITIVE ACTION BECAUSE OF THIS MEETING.))
[SUPER=01-Alex Brown/Salem City Council; :00]
[SUPER=01-Brad Grose/Vinton Town Council; :11]
[RUNS=:25]
[OUT Q=because of this meeting.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Roanoke County has offered to host the next "Roanoke Valley Summit." The group is expected to convene again sometime in the Spring.
(------------)

[8-Plane-Crash]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=bre]
[TAPE#=00-43 1:37:37]
[GRAPHIC=Plane Crash]

The search continues for the cause of a fatal plane crash near Bluefield, West Virginia.
The pilot was killed in the accident.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Mercer Co., WV]

The Cessna 310 crashed just 2-thousand yards from the Mercer County airport.
The pilot is idientified as Wayne Wickline, from Meadow Bridge, West Virginia.
He was supposed to pick up three passengers for a charter flight.
Nearby residents heard an explosion and a loud boom around 7 yesterday.. and notified authorities.
(///// SOT /////)
[00:08:02.10 SOT]
[IN Q=WELL I WAS IN THE HOUSE]
((WELL I WAS IN THE HOUSE AND I HEARD LIKE A FIRECRACKER GOING OFF ABOUT SEVEN O'CLOCK))
[SUPER=01-Dreama Blackburn/Mercer Co. Resident;]
[RUNS=05]
[OUT Q=SEVEN O'CLOCK]
(----------)
[vo-nat] Rescue workers had a hard time getting to the crash. Heavy snowfall and dangerous road conditions made the plane difficult to find.
(///// SOT /////)
[00:04:24.19 SOT]
[IN Q=WHEN WE FOUND IT]
((WHEN WE FOUND IT THE PLANE WAS STILL ON FIRE, IF IT WASN'T FOR THAT WE MAY NOT HAVE FOUND IT AS QUICKLY BECAUSE IT WAS STILL SNOWING VERY HEAVILY AND THERE WAS JUST A COMPLETE WHITE OUT, YOU COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING))
[SUPER=01-Robert Youther/Bluefield Rescue Squad]
[RUNS=10]
[OUT Q=COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Federal investigators are expected at the scene today. They will try to determine what caused the plane to go down.
(------------)

[8-R'ford-Crosswalk]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=00-54 28:55]
[GRAPHIC=None]

City officials are hoping to make the crosswalk near Radford University a much SAFER path--
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Radford/Last Month;]

This Norwood Street crosswalk connects the university to a student parking lot.
In the past school year, it's been the scene of several accidents where students were struck by cars.
Last night, the city approved 100-thousand dollars in improvements, including a traffic signal and rumble strips to slow down motorists.
The work will be finished this summer.
(------------)

[8WEATHER]

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

Turning to weather now--
Partly sunny and cool with highs in the mid 30s..

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