WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 03/02/01

[7-School-Info]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]
We do have one school announcement for you today... [TAKE SCHOOLTOUCH] Bath County schools will be running on a two hour delay.

[7-Akers]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=Akers Executed]
Virginia executed its first person of the year last night.
(+++++++)
[Take Greensville FS Map]
Thomas Akers was executed at the Greensville Correctional facility in Jarratt last night, about 60 miles south of Richmond.
(+++++++)

Until the end, he fought legal attempts to appeal his case and spare his life.
Akers' chaplain said last night that the victim's father says he forgives Akers. Ellen Qualls has more.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Forgive them, Father]
[SUPER=03-Jarratt; :07]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co./December 1998; :14]
[SUPER=01-Larry Traylor/Va. Dept. of Corrections; :37]
[SUPER=01-Masha Hebst/Media Witness; :58]
[SUPER=01-Rev. Larry Likens/Akers' Chaplain; 1:17]
[SUPER=@Ellen1; 1:36]
[RUNS=1:50]
[OUT Q=Ellen Qualls News 7 Jarrett.]

[45-School-Info]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]
We do have one school announcement for you today... [TAKE SCHOOLTOUCH] Bath County schools will be running on a two hour delay.

[45-Thomas]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=00-49 1:48:51]
[GRAPHIC=Thomas Murder Trial]
The trial for Jeffrey Allen Thomas continues today. Thomas could get the death penalty if convicted.
Yesterday, one of his friends said she heard him confess to killing Tara Munsey .. an admission she says came the morning after Munsey disappeared.
As Marya Jones reports, that eventually led the friend to turn him in.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Barbara Helton told jurors]
[SUPER=@Marya1; :00]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski; :08]
[RUNS=:45]
[OUT Q=MJN7, Pulaski.]
((MARYA JONES/NEWS-7: BARBARA HELTON TOLD JURORS IN PULASKI COUNTY COURT THAT THOMAS CAME TO HER HOUSE UNEXPECTEDLY ON THE MORNING OF JANUARY 26TH SAYING HE "DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT." [vo]
Helton testified that Thomas said he tried to have sex with Munsey, that they fought and he pushed her down and shot her three times in the head.
She says he told her he threw the gun in some water.
Helton says she didn't believe it and allowed Thomas to stay at her house several nights int he two weeks before she turned him in.
On cross examination, defense attorney Brian Scheid exposed some contradictions bewtween what Helton said on the stand and to investigators last year. ((MARYA JONES/NEWS-7: THE REST OF THE DAY, INVESTIGATORS SHOWED HOW THEY COLLECTED AND PRESENTED EVIDENCE FROM THE AREA AROUND WHERE MUNSEY'S BODY WAS FOUND.
IF DEFENSE ATTORNEY'S QUESTIONS ARE ANY INDICATION, THOSE PROCEDURES ARE LIKELY TO FALL UNDER ATTACK LATER. MJN7, PULASKI.))))

[45-OxyContin]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=00-53 1:22:53]
[GRAPHIC=Oxycontin]

Oxycotin is one of the most advanced synthetic pain relievers doctors can prescribe, and state officials want its illegal use to stop.
(--------------)
[VO-NAT]

But the illegal abuse of OxyContin has caused 28 deaths in southwest Virginia in the last two years, the prosecution of four doctors -- and yesterday, a seven-part agreement between Maryland and Virginia's Attorney General and the drug's maker.
All acknowledge the drug's BENEFITS when properly used.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 16:12:33]
[IN Q=But when in]
((ATTORNEY GEN. MARK EARLEY: BUT WHEN IN THE WRONG HANDS, FOR THOSE TO WHOM IT HAS NOT BEEN PRESCRIBED, TO THOSE WHO WISH TO ABUSE IT ILLEGALLY, IT IS AN AGENT OF DEATH AND AN AGENT OF ADDICTION.))
[SUPER=@Earley;]
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=death and an agent of addiction.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley has appointed a special task force to report July first.
The drug's maker, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, among other things, will provide tamper-resistant prescription pads for doctors in southwest Virginia.
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[45-Drug-Bust]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=slo]
[TAPE#=01-03 57:02]
[GRAPHIC=**WIPE**]
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

It wasn't OxyContin, but crack that Lynchburg police went after yesterday.
The raid come yesterday afternoon at this home on Johnson Street.
One person inside was arrested but another got away.
Police say they found drugs inside and outside the house, which has been the subject of neighbors' complaints for months.
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[8-School-Info]

[8-M'ville-Body]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=none]

A man's body is found hanging outside a Martinsville bank branch.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville;]

Police say the 20- year- old man apparently hanged himself last night.
An officer noticed the man hanging from a railing alongside a wall outside the B-B-and-T bank on the corner of Ellsworth and Church Streets around 11-30 P-M.
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[ANCHOR=]
[GRAPHIC=]

They say the man was NOT an employee of the bank.
Police are not yet releasing the man's name.

[8-2-Akers]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM cutins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=Akers]

The man convicted of a 19-98 murder in Franklin county is executed for the crime.
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[VO-NAT]

Thomas Wayne Akers was executed by lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional facility in Jarratt just
[SUPER=03-Jarratt;]
minutes after the U-S Supreme Court declined to intervene and Governor Gilmore denied clemency. In the end, Akers expressed remorse for his crimes ... and he asked forgiveness from the victim's father.
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[8-Danville-Sheriff]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=00-50 1:58:29]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The Danville Sheriff's Department is under investigation.
State police are looking into allegations made February 14th, but they're NOT giving any specifics about them.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville]

State Police special agent Jim Ruland told us he's investigating improper actions by several Danville Sheriff employees.
The Sheriff, Danville's Police Chief, and the Commonwealth Attorney's Office asked the State Police to investigate to avoid any conflict of interest.
State Police won't say how long the investigation may take.
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[8-Gilmore-Budget]

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

31- milllion- dollars in FOUND money will go toward balancing Virginia's budget.
Governor Gilmore says the money comes from an agency that funds local constitutional officers and book- keeping changes.
The Governor is in the midst of a stand-off with Republians state senators over how much to cut the car tax this year.
His administration is looking to cut 421- million dollars from agency spending plans this year and next.
That is, unless lawmakers adopt a budget later this month.

[8-Tech-Budget]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=00-47 1:57:19]
[GRAPHIC=none]

The state budget stalemate is forcing state colleges to tighten their belts.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;]

They've been asked by the Governor to submit "contingency spending reduction proposals" by noon today.
Virginia Tech was told to reduce spending by more than 3-and half million dollars dollars for the fiscal year ending June 30th.
A spokesman says they will look for the money in the general fund.
[SUPER=03-Radford]

Radford University is also trying to tighten it's belt to meet a 630-thousand dollar cut.
Officials at both schools say it's especially tough because it's so late in the fiscal year.
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