WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 03/09/01

[7-Thomas]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=01-11 12:17]
[GRAPHIC=Thomas Guilty]
A death sentence could be in store for Jeffrey Thomas.
(+++++++)
[Take FS GRAPHIC]
The jury needed just over two hours to convict Thomas of Capital Murder, Attempted Rape, and Felony Use of a Firearm yesterday.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

Today, the same jurors begin deciding whether Thomas should be executed.
Marya Jones spoke with Munsey's family, investigators and attorneys .. and has their reactions to the verdict.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Smoking a cigarette,]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski; :00]
[SUPER=01-Ella Buchanan/Tara Munsey's Cousin; :16]
[SUPER=01-Jim Davis/Pulaski Co. Sheriff; :35]
[SUPER=@Marya1; :59]
[RUNS=1:13]
[OUT Q=MJN7, Pulaski.]
(( Smoking a cigarette as he left the courthouse, Jeffrey Thomas' face was as impassive as it was hours earlier, when the jury read its guilty verdict.
Outside the courthouse, Tara Munsey's family hugged each other.
Munsey's cousin, Ella Buchanan, expressed the family's satisfaction with the verdict.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 1:50:31 - :46]
((ELLA BUCHANAN/TARA MUNSEY'S COUSIN: THIS HAS BEEN A SCIENTIFIC-PROVEN CASE...REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME TODAY.))
[runs= :15]

Pulaski County investigators said the verdict validated their hard work in the case.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 1:05:30 - :39]
((JIM DAVIS/PULASKI CO. SHERIFF: WE'RE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS... WE EXPECTED TO BE TRIED OURSELVES.))
[runs= :09]

Defense attorneys had attacked the way investigators collected evidence in the case, saying it COULD have been contaminated.
But prosecutor Mike Fleenor told jurors in his closing statement that Thomas' DNA was all over Munsey's body and clothes ... and that THAT was what the case boiled down to.
(///// SOT /////)
[SU ] ((MARYA JONES/NEWS-7: TARA MUNSEY'S FAMILY MEMBERS SAY THEY'RE DIVIDED OVER WHETHER THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE IMPOSED. THAT'S THE ISSUE JURORS WILL NOW TAKE UP IN THE SENTENCING PHASE OF THE TRIAL. DEFENSE ATTORNEYS SAY AN APPEAL OF THE CONVICTION WILL BE AUTOMATIC. MJN7, PULASKI.))
[runs= :13]))
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=hold]

Testimony in the penalty phase begins this morning at Nine.

[7-Pulaski-Furniture]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=slo]
[TAPE#=00-51 2:00:27]
[GRAPHIC=Pulaski Layoffs]
Pulaski Furniture is cutting 36 jobs.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape;]

The company blames a slow down in curio cabinet sales.
This layoff follows a cut of 13 people in Pulaski last month.
The company's other plant, in Ridgeway, cut 90 jobs two weeks ago.
(------------)

[7-Starlight-Ax]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=slo]
[TAPE#=01-14 00:32]
[GRAPHIC=aCCIDENT]

Two teenagers were involved in single car accident. The driver blames it on a deer running across the roadway.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;]

It happened on Starlight Lane last night in southwest Roanoke County.
The driver told police when he swerved to miss the deer, he lost control. The car hit an embankment and then rolled over.
The two boys were not wearing their seat belts, but no one was seriously injured.
(------------)

[45-County-Schools]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=am cutins]
[WRITER=kwe]
[TAPE#=01-06]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A decision has been made on who will attend the new Roanoke County High School.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.]

Superintendent Doctor Linda Weber recommended that when Hidden Valley High School opens in the fall of 2002, the rising juniors at Cave Spring High School who fall in the new school zone will attend the new school.
Last night, the school board agreed with Weber by a vote of 3 to 2, saying plans must move forward for the new school to be up and running.
Some parents say it should be the students choice whether they want to attend the new school.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 21:34]
[IN Q=I think]
((BUTCH OSBORNE: I THINK THE STUDENTS NEED TO BE CONSULTED, NOT JUST ONE OR TWO I THINK ALL OF THE STUDENTS NEED TO BE CONSULTED BEFORE A DECISION IS MADE.))
[SUPER=01-Butch Osborne/Parent]
[RUNS=10]
[OUT Q=decision is made.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

A student from Cave Spring Junior High School handed a petition with 250 signatures from students, saying they want a choice.
However, one student says while friends maybe split up, being the first graduating class at a new school is something that doesn't come along every day.
(///////////SOT///////////)
[SOT 14:03]
[INQ=]
((ANDREW GREEN/STUDENT: THIS IS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY MAYBE A ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE TO HELP FORM TRADITION AND LEADERSHIP AT A NEW SCHOOL.))
[SUPER=01-Andrew Green/Student]
[OUTQ=a new school.]
[RUNS=7]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

But there is an "out" for students who do not want to attend the new school. Their parents can apply to the school district to stay at Cave Spring.
(---------------)

[45-D'ville-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=Fire Investigation]

Arson is suspected in a house fire in a Danville fire late last night.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville;]

The blaze started just before midnight on the 800 block of Valley Street.
Officials say the resident, Greg Thomas was inside the home at the time of the blaze, but got out safely.
Heavy smoke and flames caused extensive damage to the structure.
Authorities say they believe someone deliberately set the fire, because it originated at both the front and back doors.
(------------)

[45-K9-Unit]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=00-55 1:34:50]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Lynchburg police are defending their response to an incident in which an officer was attacked by a K-9 dog last month.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg/February 13]

It happened at the police firing range on February 13th.. Officer Rick Ruggieri was severely bitten on the face and hands when a dog he was handling turned on him without warning.
In a report issued yesterday, police say department procedures were properly followed that day and that the incident was both unpredictable and unpreventable.
By his own choice, Officer Ruggieri is leaving the K-9 unit, along with another K-9 handler Karen Carter.
(------------)

[8-Thomas]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=01-11 12:17]
[GRAPHIC=Thomas Guilty]

Convicted killer Jeffrey Thomas COULD receive the death sentence today.
(+++++++)
[Take FS GRAPHIC]
The jury needed just over two hours to convict Thomas of Capital Murder, Attempted Rape, and Felony Use of a Firearm yesterday.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

This morning, the same jurors begin deciding whether Thomas should be executed.
Marya Jones spoke with Tara Munsey's family, investigators and attorneys .. and has their reactions to the verdict.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Smoking a cigarette,]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski; :00]
[SUPER=01-Ella Buchanan/Tara Munsey's Cousin; :16]
[SUPER=01-Jim Davis/Pulaski Co. Sheriff; :35]
[SUPER=@Marya1; :59]
[RUNS=1:13]
[OUT Q=MJN7, Pulaski.]
(( Smoking a cigarette as he left the courthouse, Jeffrey Thomas' face was as impassive as it was hours earlier, when the jury read its guilty verdict.
Outside the courthouse, Tara Munsey's family hugged each other.
Munsey's cousin, Ella Buchanan, expressed the family's satisfaction with the verdict.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 1:50:31 - :46]
((ELLA BUCHANAN/TARA MUNSEY'S COUSIN: THIS HAS BEEN A SCIENTIFIC-PROVEN CASE...REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME TODAY.))
[runs= :15]

Pulaski County investigators said the verdict validated their hard work in the case.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 1:05:30 - :39]
((JIM DAVIS/PULASKI CO. SHERIFF: WE'RE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS... WE EXPECTED TO BE TRIED OURSELVES.))
[runs= :09]

Defense attorneys had attacked the way investigators collected evidence in the case, saying it COULD have been contaminated.
But prosecutor Mike Fleenor told jurors in his closing statement that Thomas' DNA was all over Munsey's body and clothes ... and that THAT was what the case boiled down to.
(///// SOT /////)
[SU ] ((MARYA JONES/NEWS-7: TARA MUNSEY'S FAMILY MEMBERS SAY THEY'RE DIVIDED OVER WHETHER THE DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE IMPOSED. THAT'S THE ISSUE JURORS WILL NOW TAKE UP IN THE SENTENCING PHASE OF THE TRIAL. DEFENSE ATTORNEYS SAY AN APPEAL OF THE CONVICTION WILL BE AUTOMATIC. MJN7, PULASKI.))
[runs= :13]))
(------------)

[8-Mark-Warner]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=01-04 40:39]
[GRAPHIC=Mark Warner]

The "Mark Warner For Governor" campaign is now officially underway.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

The Democrat rallied supporters who gathered yesterday at the city market building.
Warner emphasized a favorite theme, making sure all parts of the commonwealth benefit from a changing economy.
He said he would continue the phase-out of the car tax... without threatening important programs and institutions.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=In a knowledge-based world]
((MARK WARNER/D- CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR: IN A KNOWLEDGE BASED WORLD, WE CANNOT RETREAT FROM OUR SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND OUR PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. AND THEY SHOULD NOT ALWAYS BE THE FIRST ON THE LINE TO HAVE THEIR BUDGETS CUT WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH.))
[SUPER=01-Mark Warner/(D) Candidate for Governor]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=when times are tough.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The Alexandria businessman has no Democratic opposition. He will face either Attorney General Mark Earley or Lieutenant Governor John Hager in the general election. (------------)