WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 04/18/01

[7-School-Info]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]
Good Morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom...
We do have several school announcements this morning.
(XXXXXXXX)
[TAKE SCHOOLTOUCH FS]
(Kimberly ad-libs from boards)
(XXXXXXXX)

[7-Vote-Mascot]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-]
[GRAPHIC=Mascot]

Blacksburg High School must now find a new mascot.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Christiansburg;]

In a five to two decision, Montgomery County School Board members voted last night to retire the Indian logo and mascot.
The members have spent months discussing the controversial issue, listening to public comments, and considering a recommendation from a local task force, who did vote to keep it.
But for many people, having an Indian as a mascot is personal.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT-15:10:44]
[IN Q=IM NOT]
((COMMUNITY MEMBER/OPPOSES INDIAN MASCOT;IM NOT A MASCOT IM NOT A HEATHEN, I'M NOT A SAVAGE, I'M A TAXPAYING AMERICAN CITIZEN SAID A MEMBER OF THE VIRGINIA CHICAPPE NATION.))
[SUPER=07-Indian Mascot Opponent;]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=NATION]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The newly adopted policy gives the high school until 2003 to comply.
(------------)

[7-Henry-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=01-]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]
A Martinsville man is hospitalized in critical condition with burns over 80- percent of his body after a fire at C-P Films in Henry County. Teresa Hamilton has more from Fieldale.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The president]
[SUPER=03-Fieldale/Yesterday; :05]
[SUPER=01-Ken Vickers/Company President; :27]
[SUPER=@Teresa1; :47]
[RUNS=:56]
[OUT Q=NEWS 7, Fieldale.]
(( The president of C-P Films says his heart goes out to the family of John Yellock. Ken Vickers says Yellock and another man were operating a machine that coats rolls of film when Yellock was burned by a flash fire. At this point-- officials aren't certain what caused the blast. But say it's been years since a serious accident has happened at the plant which employs more than 500- workers.
(////sot////)
[sot 14:10:44]
[IN Q= It's only]
((KEN VICKERS/COMPANY PRESIDENT: IT'S ONLY A FEW WEEKS AGO THAT WE WERE CELEBRATING OUR FOUR MILLION MAN-HOURS WORKED WITHOUT A LOST TIME ACCIDENT AND WE'VE GONE YEARS AND YEARS WITHOUT A SERIOUS INJURY.)) [runs13]
[out q= a serious injury.]
Vickers says the other worker did suffer injuries but is going to be OK. Yellock received burns over 80- percent of his body. [take su] Work is continuing inside the Henry County plant but not in the area where the blast occurred. Teresa Hamilton, NEWS 7, Fieldale.))

[7-Pulaski-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-16 TC26:35]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]
A home in Pulaski was destroyed by fire.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski;]

The Pulaski and Draper Fire Departments responded to the fully engulfed house on Bridge Street at around 4 yesterday afternoon.
69-year-old Alta (All-ta) Koger (Co-ger) and her 75-year-old brother-in-law Eugene Sayers both got out safely.
Coger says she was in the kitchen when she heard a popping sound.
It took about 20-firefighters to contain the fire.
(------------)

[45-School-Info]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]

We do have several school announcements this morning.
(XXXXXXXX)
[TAKE SCHOOLTOUCH FS]
(Kimberly ad-libs from boards)
(XXXXXXXX)

[45-Car-Tax]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-03 TC2:05:40]
[GRAPHIC=Car Tax]
Let the courts decide the fate of the car tax. That from a bi-partisan handful of state senators and civic leaders.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]

Republican Senator Warren Barry and Democrat Dick Saslaw (SASS-law) say Governor Jim Gilmore broke the law.
They've filed a lawsuit alleging Gilmore artificially inflated his December revenue report to keep his tax cut on its original schedule.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Some of his personnel are gonna]
[sot TAPE TWO 14:58:16]
((SEN. WARREN BARRY/R-FAIRFAX: SOME OF HIS PERSONNEL ARE GONNA BE SEQUESTERED AND CERTAINLY UNDER OATH THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TO REVEAL SOME THINGS THAT THE GOVERNOR MAY NOT WANT TO BE REVEALED. IF THAT BE THE CASE, I WOULD HOPE THAT IT WOULD MAKE HIM A LITTLE MORE COMPATIBLE TO DEAL WITH AND START TO LEARN THE ART OF COMPROMISE.))
[sot TAPE TWO 14:33:00]
((GOV. JIM GILMORE: I'M NOT FEELING PARTICULARLY PRESSURED. I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY FEELINGS ON IT AT ALL. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL WILL GO AHEAD AND DEFEND THE SUIT AND I THINK THAT WILL BE THAT.))
[SUPER=01-Sen. Warren Barry/(R) Fairfax; :00]
[SUPER=@Gilmore; :21]
[RUNS=:28]
[OUT Q=I think that will be that.]
(-------------)
[TALENT=Kim]
[SS=HOLD]

Senator Barry calls the lawsuit a "two by four" to get the Governor's attention.
The Governor says he's confident his budget practices are perfectly legal... and Senator Barry's comments might be interpreted to mean the suit has been filed in bad faith.
No court dates have been set yet.

[45-Derailment-Reward]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=01-14 24:36]
[GRAPHIC=NS Derailment]
Norfolk and Southern says vandals caused Friday's train derailment in Roanoke. Now the company and Salem police are offering a 5-thousand dollar reward for information about who caused it.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/Friday]

Company police say the incident that led to the derailment started in Salem, where the train had problems and had to stop.
Officials say someone separated some of the cars from the main part of the train.
Once the train pulled away, inertia got the other cars rolling until they wrecked.
(------------)

[45-Hollins-President]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=01-15 22:05]
[GRAPHIC=Hollins University]
A change at the top of Hollins University.
President Janet Rasmussen (RAS-muhs-sin) is stepping down.
A spokeswoman says Rasmussen's contract was up for renewal.
But she and the board of trustees agreed that it would be best for her to pursue other opportunities.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./September 1996;]

Rasmussen came to the private, liberal arts school for women about four years ago.
Enrollment has been slipping recently, and the trustees have been looking at ways to increase it.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

Retired Roanoke Times publisher Walter Rugaber will become acting president.
The university says it will release a statement today.

[8-School-Info]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=School Info]

Before we get to the news--here are a couple of school announcements.
(XXXXXXXX)
[TAKE SCHOOLTOUCH FS]
(Kimberly ad-libs from boards)
(XXXXXXXX)

[8-Chase/Shooting]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=01-08 TC1:04:38]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Authorities are still trying to figure out why a Roanoke man shot himself after a police pursuit through the Roanoke Valley.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;]

Police pursued Jake Moeller (Mow-ler) from the Hollins area to Colonial Avenue outside the North Cross School.
They used spikes to deflate the tires of his Chevy Blazer.
Officers found the 28-year-old slumped in the driver's seat with a gunshot wound to his head.
He later died at the hospital.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 6:56:17 - :27]
[IN Q=It is unfortunate]
((DET. CHRIS NIELSEN/ROANOKE CO. POLICE: IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT HE DID CHOOSE TO SELF-INFLICT THE GUNSHOT WOUND. YET WE ARE FORTUNATE THAT NO ONE ELSE WAS INJURED THROUGH RUNNING RED LIGHTS OR THROUGH EXCESSIVE SPEED.))
[SUPER=01-Chris Nielsen/Roanoke Co. Police;]
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=excessive speed.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Police say they began chasing Moeller after he broke into his ex-girlfriend's house in Roanoke County yesterday morning.
She was not injured.
Last year, Moeller was released from prison after serving five years for rape.
His father says he believes his son's problems with depression led to the fatal car chase.
(------------)

[8-Beasley]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=01-13 TC27:39]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

The elderly Lynchburg man who drove through a Golden Corral restaurant in January is convicted of reckless driving.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg/January 17]

83-year old Clayton Beasley mistook the gas for the brake when his car plowed into the Golden Corral January 17th.
A medical checkup showed Beasley did not suffer any physical problems and he has since been cleared by the D-M-V to drive again.
A judge today restricted Beasley to driving to and from his doctor's office for the next three months.
He was also fined 250 dollars.
(------------)

[8-Meningitis]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-09 TC1:06:20]
[GRAPHIC=Meningitis]

A Virginia Tech student is diagnosed with Meningitis-- a rare and potentially fatal infection.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;]

Officials say a 23-year-old sophomore is being treated for bacterial meningitis at Montgomery Regional Hospital.
The disease infects the bloodstream and causes the lining of the brain to swell.
Virginia has seen sixteen cases of meningitis this year.
It can be transmitted from discharges of the nose and throat of an infected person.
People who've had close contact with a meningitis patient are treated with an antibiotic.
Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, vomiting and a skin rash. (-------------)