[Headlines]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
Up next on News 7--
A condemned killer is put to death for the 19-98 murder of a Roanoke man.
Thomas Wayne Akers received a lethal injection last night.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
And police discover the victim of an apparent suicide HANGING outside a bank branch in Martinsville.
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
(ad lib weather)
[ANCHOR=Steve]
(ad lib live tease)
[2-shot]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
Get your Friday started with us-- on News 7 Mornin.
[M'ville-Body]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=01-05]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Authorities discover a man's body hanging outside a B-B-and-T Bank branch in Martinsville.
(----------------)
[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 bank on the corner of Ellsworth and Church Streets around 11-30 P-M.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=none]
They say the man was NOT an employee of the bank.
Police are not yet releasing the man's name.
[2-Akers]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Akers]
Thomas Wayne Akers was put to death last night for the 1998 murder of a Roanoke man in Franklin County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
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.
(------------)
[11Thomas]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=00-49 1:48:51]
[GRAPHIC=Thomas Murder Trial]
Jeffrey Allen Thomas could get the death penalty if he's 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 between 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.))))
[Earthquake]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Earthquake]
In national news--
Six counties in Washington State are declared federal disaster areas.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Seattle, WA;]
That, following Wednesday's six-point-eight magnitude earthquake.
Safety inspectors spent yesterday examining buildings.
Many downtown offices remain closed for repairs.
Travel was also hindered--
A battered air- traffic control tower caused numerous flight delays at Seattle's airport.
FEMA officials also toured the area yesterday.
Damage estimates already surpass two- BILLION- dollars.
(------------)
[Puff-Daddy]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Sean Combs]
Singer Sean "Puffy" Combs faces the music in a New York City Courtroom.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-New York, NY;]
Combs took the stand yesterday to defend himself in his gun possession trial.
The rapper says he never packed a gun or offered a bribe that night in 19-99, when three people were shot at a Manhattan nightclub.
The defense has rested its case.
Combs faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of weapons and bribery charges.
He's accused of offering his driver 50-thousand
dollars to say the gun belonged to him.
(------------)
[Marketwatch]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=NET]
[GRAPHIC=Business News]
It was a mixed day on Wall Street yesterday. The Dow closed lower and NASDAQ higher.
Alexis Christoforous has that story and more in this morning's Marketwatch.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Alexis Christoforous/Reporting; :00 ]
[RUNS=1:29]
[OUT Q=your local stocks.]
(tape tosses to stocks)
[STOCKS]
[COMM]
[11OxyContin]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=00-53 1:22:53]
[GRAPHIC=Oxycontin]
It's called the poor man's heroin by police and prosecutors.
Oxycotin is one of the most advanced synthetic pain relievers doctors can prescribe.
(--------------)
[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.
(------------)
[5-Breastfeeding]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=500-21 1:32:31]
[GRAPHIC=Breastfeeding]
Women lose bone density when they breast feed.
While it is recovered later, a new study at Virginia Tech wants to help them gain even more bone mass than they had before.
This could help in the fight against osteoporosis.
Healthcheck reporter Joy Sutton explains.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Julie Cook]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;00]
[SUPER=01-Julie Cook/Pregnant Woman;14]
[SUPER=@File;26]
[SUPER=01-Jeannemarie Beiseigel/Human Nutrition Grad Student;51]
[SUPER=@Joy1;1:18]
[RUNS=1:44]
[OUT Q=news 7, blacksburg]
((Julie Cook will soon have her first child. She's seven months pregnant. And she is planning to breast feed.
And she says because of a family history of osteoporosis she wanted to participate in the study.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT21:24:21]
[IN Q=The study helps me not be as concerned]
((JULIE COOK: THE STUDY HELPS ME NOT TO BE AS CONCERNED ABOUT THAT OR AT LEAST FEEL LIKE I'M DOING EVERYTHING I CAN BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY POSITIVE THINGS ABOUT BREAST FEEDING FOR THE BABY))
[RUNS11]
[OUT Q=the baby]
Breast feeding or the lactation period is similar to post menopause --because a woman's period stops and estrogen levels drop.
Jeannemarie Beiseigel (Bee-sa-gul) a graduate student in Human Nutrition is conducting the study.
She says although the women do gain back their bone density during the weaning period, she wants to know if there is a way to prevent that loss, potentially giving women a higher bone density then they had before breastfeeding.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT21:38:12]
[IN Q=Animal studies have shown]
((ANIMAL STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT SOY ISOFLAVENS MIMIC ESTROGEN AND THEREFORE PREVENT BONE LOSS IN WOMEN WHO ARE AT LOW ESTROGEN STATUS, SUCH AS WOMEN WHO WOULD BE BREAST FEEDING ))
[RUNS12]
[OUT Q=who would be breastfeeding]
To put their hypothesis to the test --there will be two groups --women who will be given pills that only contain calcium and vitamin D --the other group will be given pills that also contain the soy isoflavens.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT21:45:23]
[IN Q=One of the ways]
((JOY SUTTON/REPORTING: ONE OF THE WAYS RESEARCHERS WILL DETERMINE CHANGES IN BONE DENSITY IS BY USING THIS DEXA MACHINE WHICH MEASURE BONE DENSITY AND BODY COMPOSITION))
[RUNS07]
[OUT Q=body composition]
And for Cook who saw her grandmother suffer in pain with osteoporosis --she says anything she can do to make a difference is worth it.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT21:26:44]
[IN Q=I don't want to go through]
((JULIE COOK: I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THE PAIN AND I DON'T WANT MY CHILD OT HAVE TO WATCH ME GO THROUGH THAT PAIN))
[RUNS04]
[OUT Q=that pain]
And Cook hopes the new addition to the family --will see her healthy for years to come.
Joy Sutton, News 7, Blacksburg.))
(--------------)
(+++++++)
[TAKE FS PINNACLE]
If you're interested in participating in the study, you can contact the Virginia Tech Bone Lab at 540-231-7387.
(--------------)
[Health-Check]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=NET]
[GRAPHIC=Mornin Health Check]
In medical news, a new study says bones may not be the source of an aching back.
Doctor Dave Hnida has that story and more in this morning's Health check.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Dr. Dave Hnida/Reporting; :00 ]
[RUNS=1:22]
[OUT Q=CBS News, New York.]
((Information:
ON CAM
IF YOUVE GOT LOW BACK PAIN , THE REASON MAY BE YOUR BLOOD NOT YOUR
BONES.
VT=VO
A STUDY FROM JOHNS HOPKINS SHOWS SMOKERS- PEOPLE WITH HIGH CHOLESTEROL-
AND PEOPLE WITH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE- ARE ALL MORE LIKELY TO HAVE BACK
PROBLEMS THAN OTHER PEOPLE. THE THEORY- SMOKING.. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE..
HIGH CHOLESTEROL- ALL CAUSE BLOCKAGES OF THE SMALL BLOOD VESSELS THAT
NOURISH THE SPINE- AND THATS WHAT MAKES THESE FOLKS MORE PRONE TO
HURTING THEIR BACKS-- AND TAKING LONGER TO RECOVER.
VT=VO
IT DOESNT TAKE MUCH FISH TO LOWER A PERSONS RISK OF A HEART ATTACK.
THATS ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY FROM THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION WHICH
FINDS JUST ONE SERVING OF FISH EACH WEEK CUTS THE RISK OF A HEART ATTACK
BY 44%.
BUT HERES THE CATCH- IT CANT BE JUST ANY FISH- FATTY FISH IS WHAT
PROVIDES THE HEART PROTECTION- AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE TUNA, MACKEREL,
AND SALMON.
VT=VO
FINALLY TODAY- FISH MAY BE BRAIN FOOD- BUT OTHER FATTY FOODS ARE NOT.
RESEARCH FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SHOWS A FATTY DIET SLOWS DOWN
BRAIN FUNCTION- IN OTHER WORDS A DIET HIGH IN FRIES COULD CAUSE MEMORY
LOSS, SLOWER LEARNING, AND JUST OVERALL CLOGGED THINKING.
SO HERES THE QUESTION- CAN YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU ATE YESTERDAY?
ON CAM
THAT'S A LOOK AT SOME OF THE DAY'S TOP HEALTH STORIES.IM DR DAVE HNIDA
FOR CBS
NEWS.))
(Kimberly tosses to bump)
[bump-chyron]
[Streaming-Video]
[comm #3]
[2-HEADLINES]
[2-shot=KMC/SYO]
[SUPER=#4049; Morning Headlines]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
Here's a look at today's top stories.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
Condemned killer Thomas Akers becomes the first death row inmate to be executed in Virginia this year.
Akers fought AGAINST an appeal to spare his life.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
A police officer makes a suprising discovery when he finds the body of an apparent suicide victim hanging outside a
Martinsville bank branch.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
And a new Roanoke police sub-station is making a difference in the quality of life in one northwest neighborhood.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
And that's what's making news on this Friday, March 2nd .
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
News 7 Mornin' will be right back.
[2-M'ville-Body]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=01-05]
[GRAPHIC=none]
An apparent suicide victim is found hanging outside a B-B-and-T Bank branch in Martinsville.
(----------------)
[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 bank on the corner of Ellsworth and Church Streets around 11-30 P-M.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=none]
They say the man was NOT an employee of the bank.
Police are not yet releasing the man's name.
[11Akers]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=Akers Executed]
Virginia first execution of the year has been carried out.
(+++++++)
[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.]
[11Danville-Sheriff]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=00-50 1:58:29]
[GRAPHIC=None]
State Police are investigating the Danville Sheriff's Department.
It involves allegations made February 14th but authorities won't say what they are.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville]
State Police special agent Jim Ruland says 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 will take.
(------------)
[2-Earthquake]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Earthquake]
Making national headlines--
President Bush has approved federal disaster declarations for six counties in Washington State after this week's powerful earthquake.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Seattle, WA;]
There were no fatalities.
But damage from the six-point-eight magnitude quake is estimated at two- billion dollars.
Bush's action clears the way for federal help
with repairs.
Meanwhile, safety inspectors spent yesterday examining buildings.
Many downtown offices remain closed for repairs.
Crews also checked for damage along the city's highways and bridges.
(------------)
[Napster]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Napster]
A federal court could pull the plug on Napster today.
A hearing will take place in San Francisco.
The recording industry claims the free on-line music service is ripping it off.
Officials say they expect an injunction to be re- worked today to effectively shut down Napster.
[Gilmore-Budget]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=VA Budget]
Governor Gilmore says he's found 31- million dollars in savings to help balance the state's budget.
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 Republicans 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.
[11Tech-Budget]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=00-47 1:57:19]
[GRAPHIC=none]
State colleges are feeling the effects of the state budget stalemate.
(----------------)
[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 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.
(-------------)
[11Substation-Update]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=kwe]
[TAPE#=00-]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Lafayette Boulevard in Roanoke is a new community according to residents.
It's now known as a place that went from driveby shootings and drug deals on the corners to a quiet neighborhood.
Kate Weidaw tells us it's all thanks to the new police substation that became part of the neighborhood in September.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-John Overstreet/Resident; :05]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :11]
[SUPER=01-Natasha Smith/Resident; :40]
[SUPER=@Kate1; :55]
[SUPER=01-Beanetra Nichols/Resident; 1:08]
[RUNS=1:26]
[OUT Q=KW News 7 Roanoke.]
((John Overstreet didn't always feel comfortable doing work in his yard.
[SOT 1:17:38]
[INQ=]
((JOHN OVERSTREET: PEOPLE DIDN'T GET OUT AS MUCH THEY'D COME TO THEIR FRONT DOOR AND THEY WOULD DO SOMETHING IN THEIR YARD AND WOULD RUN BACK IN THE HOUSE.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 8]
Overstreet says he used to see teenagers hanging out on every corner, and some of them were trouble.
[SOT 1:17:05]
[INQ=]
((JOHN OVERSTREET: THEY'D LAY OUT HERE IN THE YARD AT NIGHT JUST DOING WHAT THEY WANT TO DO JUST LIKE THEY LIVED HERE.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 7]
But that's not the case anymore since the Roanoke City Police Department created a substation on Layette Boulevard in September.
Natasha Smith says the police presence has turned a street that was once known for selling drugs and drive by shootings into a quiet neighborhood.
[SOT 1:20:59]
[INQ=]
((NATASHA SMITH: THEY ARE PATROLLING A WHOLE LOT, I GUESS IT'S KEEPING PEOPLE FROM STANDING OUT MAKING THEM SCARED TO STAND OUT HERE. I WOULDN'T WALK WITH MY KIDS AT FIRST DOWN THIS STREET BECAUSE IT WAS ALWAYS CROWDED BUT NOW I CAN.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 12]
[STANDUP 1:29:22]
[INQ=]
((KATE WEIDAW/REPORTING: BUT NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY ABOUT THIS SUBSTATION MOVING ONTO THIS STREET, A SHORT TIME AFTER IT OPENED A BRICK WAS THROWN THROUGH THAT WINDOW.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 7]
Beanetra Nichols and her friends say even though they're hanging out on the street corner it doesn't mean they're selling drugs.
[SOT 1:24:00]
[INQ=]
((BEANETRA NICHOLS: THEY GOT IT LIKE WE ARE OUT HERE DOING SOMETHING BUT DON'T ANYTHING BUT STAND HERE, CHILL, HAVE FUN, WHATEVER.))
[OUTQ=]
[RUNS= 5]
But with crime down and residents enjoying a safer neighborhood, officials say the substation is here to stay and more like it may pop up in other neighborhoods. Kate Weidaw News 7 Roanoke.))
[Local-Recap]
[SUPER=#4059;Local Recap]
[2-Shot=Kmc/Syo]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
Now here's another look at today's top local stories:
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
Authorities discovered a man's body hanging outside a B-B-and-T Bank branch in 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 bank on the corner of Ellsworth and Church Streets around 11-30 P-M.
They say the man was NOT an employee of the bank.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
Thomas Wayne Akers was put to death last night for the 1998 murder of a Roanoke man in Franklin County.
Akers was executed by lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional facility in Jarratt just
minutes after the U-S Supreme Court declined to intervene and Governor Gilmore denied clemency.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
State Police are investigating the Danville Sheriff's Department.
It involves allegations made February 14th but authorities won't say what they are.
State Police special agent Jim Ruland says he's investigating improper actions by several Danville Sheriff employees.
State Police won't say how long the investigation will take.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
(Shannon mic hot)
(///////////////)
(Shannon ad lib weather)
(-------------)
[2-SHOT]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
Now here's Keith Humphry with a preview of News 7 at Six.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Most students]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=on News 7 at 6.]
(-------------)
[Desk=Kimberly/Shannon and Steve]
(toss)
[ANCHOR=Steve]
(live ad lib, tease tomorrow)
(ad lib bye)
[Desk=Kimberly/Shannon and Steve]
by SS