WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 02/08/01

[7-Rivero]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-06 TC04:31]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A state senate committee fell just short of recommending that Commissioner (SAHN-ya Ri- Varo) Sonia Rivero was NOT qualified for reconfirmation as the head of the agency she's led for the past year.
Ellen Qualls reports.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=I'd like to]
[SUPER=03-Richmond; :00]
[SUPER=01-Sen. Yvonne Miller/(R) Norfolk; :27]
[SUPER=01-Sonia Rivero/Social Services Commissioner; :55 ]
[SUPER=01-Sen. Leslie Byrne/(D) Alexandria; 1:02 ]
[SUPER=@Ellen2; 1:41 ]
[SUPER=01-Anne Petera/Secretary of the Commonwealth; 1:48 ]
[RUNS=2:06]
[OUT Q=Qualls, News 7, Richmond.]
(([sot tape TWO 17:35:47]
((LUCAS: I'D LIKE TO HAVE A LOOK SEE.)) [runs:02 ]
A mostly irritated Senate Social Services and Rehabilitation Committee wants a day-long, post-session summit with Commissioner Sonia Rivero and her staff.
That's after 90 minutes of questions, and allegations that the agency under Rivero's leadership has overseen inexplicable delays in getting dollars to the neediest families and homeless shelters.... and had a general lack of compassion.
[sot tape ONE 17:23:33]
((SEN. YVONNE MILLER/D-NORFOLK: WE SERVE AT THE PLEASURE OF THE PEOPLE... NOT HAPPY WITH YOUR AGENCY....HELP US WITH OUR PROBLEM?)) [runs:19 ]
Senator Emily Couric asked Rivero how many frontline service workers she'd visited in her year at the agency's helm.
[sot tape ONE 17:06:40 ]
((SONIA RIVERO: LET'S SEE. I KNOW I WENT TO HENRICO COUNTY, THAT WAS THE FIRST ONE I WENT TO. AND THEN I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER. I CAN'T REMEMBER RIGHT NOW. SORRY.)) [runs:09 ]
[sot tape ONE 17:10:37 ]
((SEN. LESLIE BYRNE: HAVE YOU EVER TOLD ANYONE ON YOUR STAFF THAT OPPOSITION TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT REGULATIONS... WOULD BE GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL?)) [runs:19 ]

[sot tape ONE 17:11:00 ]
((SONIA RIVERO: THAT'S A STRANGE QUESTION. I DO EXPECT OUR STAFF TO SUPPORT THE DECISIONS ONCE THEY ARE MADE AND TO SUPPORT THE GOVERNOR'S POLICIES.)) [runs:14 ]
[sot tape ONE 17:24:21 ]
((SEN. YVONNE MILLER: THE BUCK STOPS AT YOUR DESK. AT NO POINT HAVE I HEARD YOU ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING.))
[runs:07 ]
Rivero was flanked by two of Governor Jim Gilmore's cabinet secretaries -- one of whom let the senators know the message had been received.
[sot tape TWO 17:33:19 ]
((ANNE PETERA/SECRETARY OF COMMONWEALTH: YOU HAVE THE GUARANTEE ...HE DOES FIRMLY UNDERSTAND THAT THIS INDIVIDUAL DOES SERVE AT HIS PLEASURE.)) [runs:11]
The full Senate may take up Rivero's fate.
The House has moved her name into the confirmation pile.
Ellen Qualls, News 7, Richmond.))

[7WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#none]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Taking a break from the news now to check weather---

Partly sunny and warm with highs near 65.

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[45-Water-Main]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Water Main Break]

A large water main break at the 34-hundred block of Brandon Avenue has left some Roanoke residents without water this morning.
Officials say crews are working on the problem.They hope to have it fixed by 10 or 11 this morning.
There's no word on how many homes are affected.

[45-Car-Inspections]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=00-46 TC1:49:40]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]
A car inspection may cost you more soon.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co.]

A bill in the General Assembly would DOUBLE the cost of a state inspection to twenty dollars for cars and fifty for trucks.
It's a move inspection station owners like.. They say they're losing money at the current rate of ten dollars a pop.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 15:05:12]
[IN Q=They make it]
((JOHN HARRIS/HARRIS GARAGE: THEY MAKE IT TOUGH ON YOU TO GET CERTIFICATION AND THEY ALSO MAKE IT TOUGH ON YOU WHEN YOU INSPECT THE CAR TOO. GOT DIFFERENT THINGS TO FOLLOW, RULES WE HAVE TO GO BY, CAN'T BREAK 'EM JUST BECAUSE WE LOSE THE MONEY, WE CAN'T BREAK THE RULES. I'D HATE TO SEE 'EM DO AWAY WITH IT, BECAUSE EVERYBODY NEEDS THEIR CARS INSPECTED FOR THE SAFETY OF IT ON THE HIGHWAY.))
[SUPER=01-John Harris/Harris Garage]
[RUNS=18]
[OUT Q=on the highway.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Governor Gilmore vetoed a similar bill last year, saying it amounted to a tax increase on Virginians.
(------------)

[45-State-Revenues]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-02 TC23:52]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]

State tax collections for the month of January were up 22 percent over the last year, which could fuel some momentum to the car tax cut.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]

Governor Jim Gilmore says that brings the year-to-date growth just up to four percent.
But that's NOT changing key minds at the capitol.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Even though]
[SOT 13:09:46]
((SEN. JOHN CHICHESTER/R-STAFFORD: EVEN THOUGH ONE FIGURE WOULD PUT US UP AROUND 3.8 OR 4...TO GO FORWARD WITHT HE CAR TAX. SO IT CHANGES NOTHING. AND WE'VE KNOWN WE HAD A GOOD JANUARY FOR SOME TIME.))
[SUPER=01-Sen. John Chichester/(R) Stafford Co.;]
[RUNS=:25]
[OUT Q=some time.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The Governor's still fuming over the car tax characterization by Chichester.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Everybody here]
[sot 12:52:32]
((GOV. JIM GILMORE: EVERYBODY HERE REMEMBER "CHRISTMAS VACATION?" ...VIOLATION OF OUR MORAL AND LEGAL OBLIGATION TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.))
[SUPER=@Gilmore;]
[RUNS=:28]
[OUT Q=people of Virginia.]
(-------------)
[TALENT=]
[SS=none]

House Speaker Vance Wilkins is holding some of the budget cards... suggesting this week he take the unusual step of naming himself and other like-minded tax cutters to the budget conference committee.

[45WEATHER]

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

Partly sunny and warm with a high in the mid 60s...

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[8-Water-Main]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Water Main Break]
Some Roanoke residents have dry facuets this morning because of a large water main break on the 34-hundred block of Brandon Avenue.
Officials say crews are working on the problem.They hope to have it fixed by 10 or 11 this morning.
There's no word on how many homes are affected.

[8-Landmarks]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=01-08 TC07:24]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Historic preservation is getting renewed attention in Virginia, in light of a recent fire.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/January 29;]

The former depot of the Virginian Railway was on a list of endangered sites long before it caught fire last month.
And members of the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation say the blaze reminded them of other structures that have been lost to fire, redevelopment or neglect.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 02:07:31]
[IN Q=What we most need to do]
((ROBERT FRANCE/PRESERVATION FOUNDATION: WHAT WE MOST NEED TO DO IS EACH OF US LOOK AROUND US AND SEE THE TREASURES WE HAVE AROUND HERE, AND SAY YES THIS IS WORTH PRESERVING.))
[SUPER=01-Robert France/Preservation Foundation]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=worth preserving.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/January 1999; ]

The Preservation Foundation is now working to establish a rapid response fund, that would allow the group to step in, when historic buildings are threatened.
(------------)

[8-Bank-Robbery]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=00-50 TC1:26:11]
[GRAPHIC=Bank Robbery]

Roanoke police have captured a man who allegedly robbed a Salem bank yesterday after tellers refused to cash a check for him.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem]

Police say 29- year- old Maurice Dooley told a teller at Southwest Virginia Savings Bank on West Main Street that he had a gun.
But the teller didn't see one.
The robber took an undisclosed amount of money, and ran away.
(------------)

[8-Quesenberry]

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

A 43- year- old Pulaski county woman is charged with having sex with highs school students and giving drugs to at least one of them.
Investigators arrested Regina C. Quesenberry for having sex with teens between the ages of 15 and 18.
She's also charged with supplying marijuana to a minor.
Quesenberry was released on 3-thousand dollars bond.
She declined to comment.

[8-Elm-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=01-01 TC14:02]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Fire]

Authorities are releasing the name of the man whose body was found in a Southwest Roanoke apartment fire.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Firefighters discovered 51 year old Jeffrey Elwood Stanley in a back room of the house.
Flames ripped through the apartment house at Elm and Third around 10 Tuesday night.
Six other people who lived there lost their home in the blaze- The American Red Cross has offered them help.
Investigators say the fire was an accident -- they estimate 45-thousand dollars in damages.
(------------)

[WIPE WIPE WIPE]

[8-King-Charles]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=01-03 TC20:01]
[GRAPHIC=wipe wipe]

[WIPE WIPE WIPE WIPE]

(-------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/Tuesday Night]

The Red Cross is offering a helping hand to a family that lost its apartment on King Charles Avenue Tuesday night.
Fire officials say two children were upstairs... one of them suffered burns.
That child was taken to a burn center in Charlottesville.
That's where family members are now.
They'll get help from the Red Cross when they get back.
(------------)

[8WEATHER]

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

Let's check the Thursday forecast again--
Partly sunny and warm with highs in the 60s...

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