WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 01/31/01

[7-School-Closing]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]

Water problems are forcing one area school to close its doors today.
(+++++++)
[Take Schooltouch full]
Greenbank Elementary Middle School in Pochahontas County West Virginia is closed today.
(-------------)

[7-Link]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Link]
A famed Virginia railroad photographer has died.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape]

Photographer O. Winston Link died yesterday afternoon in Westchester County, New York.
Link's business agent, Tom Garver, says Link died of a heart attack enroute to a doctor's office. Negotiations are underway to create a museum in Link's honor in Roanoke.
There is no word on what his death will mean to the project.
O. Winston Link was 86.
(------------)

[7-ELF]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=01-01]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Virginia Tech heard from a man who represents an environmental organization that uses violence to make its point. More than 300- people, both for and against the group's tactics, listened in last night. Teresa Hamilton has more on the Earth Liberation Front.
(//////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=About a dozen]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg; :00]
[SUPER=01-Matt Dunlap/Lumber Industry Supporter; :13 quick]
[SUPER=01-Craig Rosebraugh/E.L.F. Spokesman; :37]
[SUPER=01-Talley Griffith/Lumber Industry Supporter; 1:13 quick]
[SUPER=@teresa2; 1:20]
[RUNS=1:35]
[OUT Q=Hamilton, NEWS 7, B'burg.]
(( About a dozen people who support or earn their livelihoods through the lumber industry carried signs outside Litton Reaves in protest. They say the Earth Liberation Front's message is nothing short of hatred and violence.
(///sot////)
[sot]
[in q=My ]
((MY FAMILY OWNS A LUMBER MILL AND IT'S THE LIVELIHOOD OF A LOT OF PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE DON'T DESERVE HAVING IT DONE TO THEM.))
[RUNS= 07]
[out q= to them.]
Matt Dunlap is referring to the list of businesses and homes that the Earth Liberation Front says it's damaged or destroyed through firebombing to protect the environment. Craig Rosebraugh says the group targets those who go out of their way to harm the air, water and soil for profit.
[sot]
((////sot////))
[in q=I didn't ]
((CRAIG ROSEBRAUGH/E.L.F. SPOKESMAN; I DIDN'T USE TO BELIEVE IN THESE TACTICS AT ALL I THOUGH THEY WERE COMPLETELY WRONG, BUT TEN OR ELEVEN YEARS LATER I HAVE COME TO UNDERWAY WHY THESE PEOPLE COMMIT THESE ACTS.))
[OUT Q= these acts.]
[runs= 15]
Rosebraugh says he receives e-mail when someone or a group commits an act of violence claiming to do so as part of the E-L-F. He told the crowd he then relays the message to the media if he deems the claim to be legitimate. But he insists he's not paid by the group and doesn't know the persons behind the crimes. But some argue Rosebraugh's more than just a messenger.
(////sot//////)
[in q=As a spokesman]
((TALLEY GRIFFITH/LUMBER INDUSTRY SUPPORTER: AS A SPOKESMAN FOR THAT GROUP IT MAKES HIM A DEFACTO MEMBER OF THAT GROUP REGARDLESS OF WHAT HE SAYS.))
[runs= 10]
[out q= what he says.]
More than 300- people turned out to hear Rosebraugh speak. He was invited by student animal rights organization called NRV-Care. Virginia Tech says it does NOT endorse or condone that organization or E.L.F. Teresa Hamilton, NEWS 7, Blacksburg. ))

[cutopen]
[SUPER=@Kimberly1;]

[45-School-Closing]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]

Water problems are forcing one area school to close its doors today.
(+++++++)
[Take Schooltouch full]
Greenbank Elementary Middle School in Pochahontas County West Virginia is closed today.
(-------------)

[45-Death-Penalty]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=00-55 57:02]
[GRAPHIC=VA Death Penalty]
Bills that would have abolished the death penalty have received a death sentence of their own.
A house committee in Richmond killed the bills, even after testimony from a Roanoke man who spent 13 years on death row for a crime he did not commit.
Richmond Bureau Chief Ellen Qualls has more.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=92 Americans]
[SUPER=03-Louisiana/December 2000; :00]
[SUPER=01-Michael Ray Graham, Jr./Exonerated Inmate; :15 ]
[SUPER=@Ellen2; :37 QUICK!]
[SUPER=01-Rev. Joe Vogt/Former Chaplain; :53 ]
[SUPER=01-Del. Bob McDonnell/(R) Virginia Beach; 1:06]
[SUPER=01-Monty Tucker/Attorney General's Office; 1:41 ]
[RUNS=1:56]
[OUT Q=Qualls, News 7, Richmond.]

(( 92 Americans have been set free from death row in modern times-- proven innocent of their crimes before their execution date arrived.
Roanoke's Michael Graham was the 91st... set free from Louisiana's death row in December.
[sot 17:06:11]
((MICHAEL GRAHAM/EXONERATED INMATE: I WAS ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES ON DEATH ROW. I HAD GOOD LAWYERS... I WAS SENTENCED IN A STATE WITH FEW LIMITATIONS ON WHEN A DEATH ROW INMATE CAN PRESENT EVIDENCE OF ... DOES NOT WORK.))
[runs= 21 ]

The issue had new urgency this year, and new Republican sponsors, after Virginia found its own former death row inmate innocent: Earl Washington's still NOT been set free.
Lutheran Pastor Joe Vogt spent five years as a death row chaplain in Virginia.
[sot 16;55:27]
((JOE VOGT/FORMER DEATH ROW CHAPLAIN: AS A PERSON OF FAITH...NOTHING JUST OR REDEMPTIVE.. PANDERS TO THE VERY WORST OF OUR HUMAN INSTINCTS.))
[runs= 13 ]

[sot 16:59:10]
((DEL. BOB MCDONNELL: HOW DO YOU RECONCILE...THOSE SORTS OF CASES?))
[runs= 14]

[sot 17:00:00]
((JOE VOGT/FORMER DEATH ROW CHAPLAIN: YOU HAVE HEARD... SPOKE OUT FROM THE CROSS, FORGIVING HIS EXECUTIONERS.))
[runs= 14 ]

But the status quo was preserved.
The Attorney General's office went on record.
[sot 17:08:01]
((MONTY TUCKER/ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE: IN 1977, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ENACTED THE DEATH...FULL FORCE AND EFFECT.))

[runs= 12]

This committee agreed.
Ellen Qualls, News 7, Richmond.))

[8-School-Closing]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]

Before we get to the news-- here's a school announcement.
(+++++++)
[Take Schooltouch full]
Greenbank Elementary Middle School in Pochahontas County West Virginia is closed today because of water problems.
(-------------)

[8-XGR]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=00-52 1:29:36]
[GRAPHIC=Back Street Cafe Shooting]

Last fall's fatal shooting at Backstreet Cafe apparently hasn't changed the minds of members on key committees in Richmond.
One person was killed, and six were wounded at the Roanoke gay bar.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

A bill to add sexual orientation to the hate crimes law was killed in the House Courts of Justice committee last night.
A similar bill died in a Senate committee two weeks ago.
In other action, a bill that would have certified midwives, allowing them to deliver babies at home, was also killed by a House committee.
But a bill mandating that every public school day in Virginia begin with the Pledge of Allegiance got final Senate approval.
(-----------)
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=none]

And a bill to make women who want abortions wait 24 hours after seeing their doctors cleared a House committee.

[8-Patrick-Hospital]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=00-45 TC1:45:49]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A new designation is just the right prescription for Patrick County's only hospital.
The facility now has a Critical Access Designation.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Stuart/File Tape]

The designation comes at time when R-J Reynolds Hospital is trying to get out of bankruptcy and is close to getting its reorganization plan approved by the bankruptcy court.
Hospital officials believe the new designation is another step towards getting the facility back on its feet.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT2:42:19]
[IN Q=That means it will become]
((CHIP MAGEE/HOSPITAL'S ATTORNEY: THAT MEANS IT WILL BE WILL BECOME A 25 BED ACUTE CARE HOSPITAL, AND IT WILL BE ABLE TO GROW SERVICES AND RECEIVE REIMBURSEMENTS FROM THE FED. GOVERNMENT THROUGH MEDICARE AND MEDICAID TO HAVE CRITICAL ACCESS CARE DESIGNATION))
[SUPER=01-Chip Magee/Hospital's Attorney]
[RUNS=12]
[OUT Q=designation]
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith ]
[GRAPHIC=None]

As part of the reorganization plan the hospital will cut the obstetrics unit and ambulance services as well as scale down the intensive care unit.
That's because those services were losing money.

[8-VA-Unemployment]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=dse/ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=VA Unemployment]

More people than ever are working in Roanoke and Danville--
Both metro areas have the lowest jobless rates on record last month.
(XXXXXXXXXX)
[TAKE FULL SCREEN BOARD]
Roanoke's rate fell to 1-point-4 percent. [ADD Danville]
Unemployment in Danville fell to 2-point-9 percent. [ADD Grayson]
Grayson County had the highest jobless rate in the state at 9-point-3 percent.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Statewide, the jobless rate fell to 1-point-9 percent .. the lowest December figure in 48 years.

[8-Big-Game]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Big Game Big Payoff]

Just one winning ticket has netted a lottery player 107- million dollars.
Lottery officials say the winning ticket from last night's Big Game Lotto drawing was sold in Chesterfield, Michigan. That despite the fact that plenty of North Carolina residents dropped serious cash to play the Big Game.