[7-11Hale]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jha]
[TAPE#=501-04 TC02:39]
[SS=Murder Invest.]

A Roanoke man charged with murder is in custody after three months on the run. 9-year-old Earl Hale is wanted for the murder of a Roanoke woman at Hot Rod's Car Care back in January.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


Authorities got a tip last night from Crimeline that led them to a Petersburg bus stop-
That's where Roanoke Police and U-S Marshals arrested Hale.
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/January 2]


It was January second that police say Hale showed up at Hod Rod's Car Care.
That's where they say he fatally shot a former girlfriend - 27-year-old Charlene Ramsey and wounded 29-year old Rodney Basham.
Hale is charged with murder, malicious wounding, and firearms charges.
Police brought Hale in from Petersburg last night, and processed him in the Roanoke city jail.
(------------)



[7-11Drowning-Charges]


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

A Rocky Mount couple is charged with the death of their 10-month-old daughter.
A Franklin county jury charged Kimberly Jenkins and John Ratliff (RAT-liff) of involuntary manslaughter in the infant's drowning last winter.
A search warrant affidavit filed in Circuit Court says Jenkins put the baby down for a nap in the bathtub on December 8th ... and that she said the baby turned on the water.

[7-11Bus-Ax]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=01-11 TC39:36]
[GRAPHIC=School Bus Ax]

A Lynchburg school bus driver crashed her bus into a telephone pole. She suffered only minor injuries.

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]


Bus number-96 was not carrying any children when it veered off the road on Carroll Avenue around 2:15 yesterday.
The vehicle ran up the left embankment then struck a telephone pole, snapping it in half.
The driver.. 27- year- old Shawnta (shawn-TAY) Lloyd.. told authorities she doesn't remember how the wreck occurred.
The road was closed for about two hours while crews worked to remove the bus and repair the pole.
(------------)



[7-11Montgomery-Bus]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-06 TC1:37:12]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A Montgomery County school bus driver will have to find a new job after leaving a child un-attended.

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-March 23;]


The un-identified employee had been on suspension for leaving seven-year old Justin Nester on the bus. The Christiansburg boy fell asleep on his ride home and woke to find the bus empty and parked at Shawsville Middle School.
He says he started walking, but was quickly picked up by a woman named "Maggie" who brought him home safely.
Tuesday, the bus driver was fired.
School officials say drivers are supposed to check the bus before leaving.
(------------)



[7-11Threat-Charges]


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

Police say two bomb threats made to Blacksburg Middle School came from a 13-year-old girl.
The school was evacuated on Tuesday after a threat was found on the wall of the girl's bathroom.
Charges are expected to be filed against the teen next week.
Three other girls ages 12 and 13 are being charged with making a bomb threat last Wednesday after they allegedly slipped a note under an office door.

[45-11State-Budget]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=501-01 TC06:18]
[GRAPHIC=Veto Session]


The veto-session continues today in the General Assembly.
The House of Delegates adjourned last night without taking-up the Senate's action on Governor Gilmore's vetoes and amendments.
The Senate voted to override all six of the governor's vetoes and both houses rejected Gilmore's most essential amendments to a bill that would relax Virginia's tough limit on new claims of innocence by death row prisoners.
Earlier in the day, the Governor's scheme to tack state worker and teacher pay raises onto a Senate bill died at the hands of a political ally.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]


Lieutenant Governor John Hager yesterday single-handedly killed the Governor's plan to tap the state worker pension fund to pay for the pay raises.
Hager ruled political ally Jim Gilmore's amendment UNconstitutional.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 15:03:55]
[IN Q=It's not about the House versus]

((LT. GOV. JOHN HAGER: IT'S NOT ABOUT THE HOUSE VERSUS THE SENATE...GET IT OUT OF THE WAY AND BE DONE WITH IT.))
[SUPER=@Hager;]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=and be done with it.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


House Speaker Vance Wilkins has now thrown his support behind a budget compromise that would include pay raises.


That plan's 70 percent phaseout of the car tax this year may please the small throng of protesters at the gate of Capitol Square.
But it's unlikely to pass muster with Senate negotiators in its present form.
Meanwhile, another rally at the Capitol called for a special budget session.
It included teachers, environmentalists, museum supporters, local government officials, and mental health advocates.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 11:43:30]
[IN Q=This is the broadest group]

((VAL MARSH/ALLIANCE FOR MENTALLY ILL: THIS IS THE BROADEST GROUP I HAVE EVER WITNESSED IN ALL OF MY YEARS.))
[SUPER=01-Val Marsh/Alliance for Mentally Ill]
[RUNS=:09]
[OUT Q=in all of my years.]
(------------)



[45-6-Redistricting]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-13 TC17:46]
[GRAPHIC=Redistricting]


The redistricting session begins today.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]


And those Democrats drawn into the same district by the Republican leadership are busy assessing their options.
House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith defends the plan.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 14:08:11]
[IN Q=So we feel comfortable.]

((DEL. MORGAN GRIFFITH/R-SALEM: SO WE FEEL COMFORTABLE... AROUND THE STATE.))
[sot 14:44:08]

((JACKSON: I'VE NEVER CARED... BY THIS PROCESS.))
[SUPER=@Griffith; :00]
[SUPER=@Jackson; :09]
[RUNS=:18]
[OUT Q=by this process.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


Cattle farmer Madison Marye says he has NOT ruled out a move to Fairfax to continue to represent the 39th Senate district... which was plucked out of western Virginia.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 14:43:07]
[IN Q=Oh I wouldn't say that]

((SEN. MADISON MARYE/D-SHAWSVILLE: OH I WOULDN'T SAY that...BOUND TO BE IN SOMEBODY'S DISTRICT.))
[SUPER=@Marye]
[RUNS=:08]
[OUT Q=to be in somebody's district.]
(-------------)
[TALENT=]
[SS=none]


The loss of legislative districts in southwest and southside Virginia is a result of population shifts.
The targets of those new district lines are, in many cases, political.

[8-11Pulaski-Body]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-14 TC18:43]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Authorities are releasing the name of the man whose body was found in Pulaski.
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski;]


Police say it is 50-year-old William Lee Hurley.
He was found in a coal yard at the end of First Street yesterday.
Hurley is reportedly a Pulaski resident.
Investigators do not suspect foul play in the case but are waiting for a report from the medical examiners office before releasing more details.
(-------------)



[8-11Toller]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=01-10 TC31:39]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]


A fatal drunk driving accident could result in a long prison sentence for a Campbell County man.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Campbell Co./File Tape]


Maurice McKinley Toller (TOH-ler) was convicted yesterday on three counts of involuntary manslaughter, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.
Toller's blood alcohol was more than twice the legal limit when his truck crossed the center line and struck another vehicle head-on October 27th.
Taron (ta-RONE) Woodruff, his mother Ramona and Jonathan Anthony all died in the crash.
Toller faces up to 67 years in prison when he's sentenced in June.
(------------)



[8-6-Plane-Crash]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=01-04 TC1:15:06]
[GRAPHIC=Plane Crash]


The cause of a plane crash in Rockbridge county remains a mystery to federal authorities.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Rockbridge Co.]


A single engine Piper carrying two people hit trees at the end of a runway yesterday.
The plane was taking off from a private air strip about six miles west of Lexington.
No one was injured but there was some damage to the plane's wings.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
(------------)



[8-11Optical-Cable]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=01-]
[GRAPHIC=Opitcal cable]


A Roanoke company is closely monitoring the tense standoff between the U-S and China over a grounded Navy spy plane.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./File Tape]


Optical Cable has a deal in the works to provide China with fiber optic cable.
CEO Bob Kopstein says the deal would double the company's workforce, sales, and may lead to construction of a new manufacturing facility.
Kopstein told News 7 today his company won't be affected by the conflict, but he says, he'll continue to watch the situation carefully.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=]

[SS-none]

Kopstein says he expects his counterparts in China to visit the U-S at the end of April.[8-11Ericsson]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=01-09 TC51:13]
[GRAPHIC=Business News]


A little more than a year after it separated from its parent company Ericsson, Com-Net Erriccson has a new owner..

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Campbell Co.]


Published reports say Bermuda- based Tyco International has purchased Com- Net, which makes mobile radio systems for local governments and emergency personnel.
Com- Net employs about 650 people at three different facilities in Central Virginia.
It's not clear whether any jobs will be affected by the move which still must be approved by the federal government.
Com-Net bought the mobile radio division from Ericsson in January of last year. (------------)
by SS