[7-11Henry-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=00-55 TC1:48:49]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Invest.]


Murder resulted from an argument between friends according to Henry County deputies.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


George Lincoln Hopkins was arrested and charged with first degree murder for allegedly killing Larry Thomas Bennett.
[SUPER=03-Collinsville; :06]


Deputies say the two men had been drinking when an argument broke out around two-thirty yesterday morning.
The victim's 13 year old child escaped through a window and called police.
Authorities believe Hopkins killed Bennett with glass from a coffee table broken during the altercation.
(------------)



[7-11Floyd-Coach]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=01-06 TC1:16:10]
[GRAPHIC=Indictment]


A Floyd County Grand Jury has indicted a teacher and coach on charges of sexual abuse.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Floyd; ]


26-year old Jeremy Ryan Cox is accused of taking indecent liberties with a tenth grade girl who was a member of an athletic team he coached.
Authorities say the allegations came to light when the student told personnel at Floyd County High School.
Cox faces seven counts, the most serious- abduction with intent to defile- carries a possible prison sentence of 20 years to life.
(--------------)
[ANCHOR=]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Cox turned himself in and was released on bond. Neither he nor his attorney was available for comment.

[7-11Crouch]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=slo]
[TAPE#=01-16 TC05:42]
[GRAPHIC=None]


The U-S Attorney for Western Virginia announced he's resigning.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/July;]


Robert Crouch sent letters to President Bush and to Attorney General Ashcroft stating that his resignation will be effective at midnight on May 1.
Crouch has served as U-S Attorney for the Western District of Virginia since 1993.
He was appointed by the Clinton Administration.
(------------)



[7-NRV-Snow]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=none]


Falling snow caused problems for motorists in higher elevations. Last night-- the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 between Christiansburg and Ironto were blocked for several hours overnight.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co./Last Night;]

Around ten o'clock-- state police say three tractor trailers and a car collided blocking both northbound lanes. Snow had been falling throughout the area for several hours making driving treacherous. To help keep traffic from backing up-- motorists traveling north were routed onto Route 460 at exit 118. A number of drivers, fearing they too would be involved in an accident took a break at area truck stops.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:16:18 is on tape labeled bad wx]
[IN Q=IT DOESN'T]

((ANDREW JONES/TRACTOR TRAILER DRIVER: IT DOESN'T TAKE LONG FOR IT TO GET REALLY MESSY. YOU KNOW JUST USE CAUTION. I WAS DOWN TO 30 MPH YOU KNOW. I THINK IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO STOP.))
[SUPER=01-Andrew Jones/Tractor Trailer Driver;]
[RUNS=10 approx]
[OUT Q=TO STOP.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

State police say two people were taken to the hospital with injuries.
No word on how serious those injuries were.
(------------)




[45-11Shooting]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=01-14 TC03:56]
[GRAPHIC=Shooting]


A 16 year old Roanoke boy died after being shot by a 15 year old girl.
The girl is in her parents' custody as police continue their investigation.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]


Police say Neville Swain and the girl were playing with a 38-caliber gun inside his Elm Avenue apartment.
He was shot once in the head....and later died at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
(///// SOT /////)
[BUMP SOTS]
[IN Q=We're still investigating]
[SOT 9:14 - :19]

((SHELLY ALLEY/ROANOKE POLICE SPOKESWOMAN: WE'RE STILL INVESTIGATING THAT NOW AS TO WHO THE GUN BELONGS TO AND HOW IT ENDED UP IN HER HANDS.))
[SOT 3:25 - :39]

((DINA FOSTER/NEIGHBOR: I REALLY FEEL IN MY HEART IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. THEY'RE NOT NO TROUBLED KIDS OR ANYTHING. JUST A LOADED GUN AROUND AND KIDS WANT TO BE KIDS. I BASICALLY FEEL IN MY HEART THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED, CONSIDERING I KNOW THEM.))
[SUPER=01-Shelly Alley/Roanoke Police Spokeswoman; :00 quick!]
[SUPER=01-Dina Foster/Neighbor; :06]
[RUNS=:19]
[OUT Q=I know them.]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=]
[GRAPHIC=none]


No charges have been filed yet against the girl because the shooting is still under investigation.

[45-11Farner]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=01-08 TC28:09]
[GRAPHIC=LEGAL SCALES]


He wanted his girlfriend quote: "hacked up".. instead a Campbell County man will serve time in prison for trying to arrange her murder.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Campbell Co./File Tape]


27-year-old Michael Farner was arrested last May after an undercover investigation involving an A-B-C agent.
Farner had tried to hire the agent to kill Lisa Miller, because he claimed she knew too much about crimes he'd allegedly been involved in.
Farner was sentenced yesterday to ten years in prison for two counts of soliciting murder.
(------------)



[45-11L'burg-Budget]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Lynchburg's plans to convert its old train station into a transportation hub could be slowing down.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]


The station is being renovated to house a visitors center and passenger terminals for Amtrak and Greyhound.
But city leaders yesterday frowned at spending 650- thousand dollars on a new road that would allow buses direct access from the station to Fifth Street.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 20:19:01]
[IN Q=We are going]

((JULIAN ADAMS/LYNCHBURG COUNCIL MEMBER: WE ARE GOING TO STRUGGLE TO PAY FOR THE SCHOOL NEEDS THAT WE HAVE, WE'RE GOING TO STRUGGLE TO PAY FOR THE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AND SALARIES THAT WE NEED TO STAFF THE POSITIONS. THIS WHOLE THING IS A PROJECT THAT HAS GROWN BEYOND WHAT IS REASONABLE,.))
[SUPER=01-Julian Adams/Lynchburg Council Member]
[RUNS=19]
[OUT Q=what is reasonable.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


Adams wants to eliminate a proposed public safety museum and use that land as a turn around for Greyhound buses.


Council will examine several options before making a decision.
(------------)



[8-11Confederate-Month]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-05 TC1:15:24]
[GRAPHIC=None]


This year, April will NOT be known as Confederate History Month in Virginia.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


Instead, Governor Gilmore's proclaiming April, 2001 as Virginia's Month for Remembering the Sacrifices and Honor of All Virginians Who Served in the Civil War..."
It states in part:
"Whereas the four years of Civil War was suffered by both North and South to protect what each side believed to be threatened rights and imperiled liberty..." -- specifically naming slavery as an abhorred and condemned cause of the war.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 15:21:10]
[IN Q=There's nothing in this proclamation]

((GOV. JIM GILMORE: THERE'S NOTHING IN THIS PROCLAMATION THAT DOES ANYTHING EXCEPT HONOR THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CONFEDERACY, HONOR THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE UNION, AND HONOR THOSE WHOSE HISTORY IS TIED UP WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN SLAVERY. SO I THINK THERE'S PLENTY OF GOOD REMEMBRANCES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE.))
[SUPER=@Gilmore; ]
[RUNS=:17]
[OUT Q=remembrances and opportunities for people.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]


A spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans is calling the proclamation a great disservice to Virginians who served in the Confederate army.
He says the Governor, quoting now, "knuckled under to the N-double-A-C-P with a proclamation that's a hodgepodge of competing interests."
(------------)
[TALENT=]
[SS=None]


Last year, the N-double-A-C-P threatened an economic boycott of the state.
The group had NO immediate comment yesterday.

[8-11Wilder]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Doug Wilder]


Meanwhile, Virginia's only black governor supports the new proclamation.
Doug Wilder says it offers a real historical backdrop, and clearly addresses the suffering and the anguish of slavery and war.
Wilder says Gilmore's proclamation is appropriate when one considers what could have been if the Confederacy had won the war.



[8-AM-Smith]


[ANCHOR=]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=01-17 TC1:11:28]
[GRAPHIC=Brian W. Smith]


A Roanoke man's convincing portrayal of a U-S Marshal will likely mean he'll spend time behind bars.
Brian Wendell Smith pled guilty to impersonating a U-S Marshall.
Smith had convinced Teresa Craghead he was working undercover.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]


The prosecutor says Smith was such a convincing con artist, he convinced Craghead to take him with her when she went in for counseling.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 16:44:20]
[IN Q=For a while]

((HE WENT TO DR. DEYERLE. FOR A WHILE THERE HE HAD DR. DEYERLE CONVINCED HE WAS A US MARSHAL, HE WAS SO EFFECTIVE IN CARRYING OUT THIS CHARADE.))
[SUPER=01-Tony Giorno/Prosecutor]
[RUNS=12]
[OUT Q=in carrying out this charade.]
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]


Smith was also charged with fraud, and that could have some bearing on the length of his sentence.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 16:44:45]
[IN Q=He convinced her]

((HE CONVINCED HER THAT THE MARSHALS WERE GOING TO FREEZE HER BANK ACCOUNT, SO SHE TOOK MONEY OUT. QUITE A LOT OF CASH JUST HAPPENED TO DISAPPEAR.))
[SUPER=01-Tony Giorno/Prosecutor]
[RUNS=15]
[OUT Q=just happened to disappear]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=]
[SS=none]

Facing the additional charge of fraud, Smith pled guilty. He faces up to three years in prison when sentenced later.

by SS