WDBJ 7 news at 6 for 07/24/01

[1-News-Head]

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
Virginia's Explore Park turns to Roanoke County for help after losing its state funding. We'll tell you whether the county came through.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

And the federal courts are busy with rulings on Virginia's Moment of Silence and the status of the Vinton Police report.

[Sports-Heads]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=dal]
[TAPE#=sports head]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Dot Bolling is going for a seveth straight City-County Golf title. Also...
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[VO-NAT]

The Martinsville Speedway has gone below ground to keep the track above standard.
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[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Leo]
[SS=None]

Unsettled weather will continue through early Friday with on and off showers and thunderstorms...I'll have your forecast...
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon 4-Shot]

News 7 is next.
[Video-Open]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=Video Open]

(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=This belongs]
((THIS BELONGS TO ALL OF US))
[RUNS=:03 ]
[OUT Q=to all of us.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=2-Shot]

The state budget crisis left Virginia's Explore Park high and dry.
[ANCHOR=2-Shot]

Now Roanoke County residents will help bail it out.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannone 2-Shot]

Good evening, I'm SHannon Young.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

And I'm Keith Humphry.
[Explore]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#01-30 TC1:03:38]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Roanoke County taxpayers are coming to the rescue of one of the area's biggest tourist attractions.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

Explore Park and the county signed a deal tonight that means county money will be used to fill a hole in the park's funding.
[Double Boxes=Keith-Shannon and Marya/Microwave]

Marya Jones is outside the county administration building tonight.
So is Roanoke County the only local government pledging help?
[Live=Marya Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Marya1;]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke Co.;]
( ad lib)
(Rollcue: of a state shortfall. )
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=If you want]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.; :05]
[SUPER=01-Roger Ellmore/Explore Park Executive Director;]
[SUPER=01-Joe McNamara/Windsor Hills Supervisor;]
[RUNS=1:10]
[OUT Q=or to have tax increases.]
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[Live=Marya Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke Co.;]
( ad lib)
[Double Boxes=Keith-Shannon and Marya/Microwave]

[Rubatex]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=01-44 TC06:43]
[GRAPHIC=Rubatex]

Rubatex officials confirm it's possible more than 80 jobs could be moved out of Bedford.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford/File Tape]

An R-B-X spokesman says the company is trying to operate more efficiently as it works its way out of bankruptcy.

That means Bedford's extrusion operation could move to Arkansas or North Carolina.
The company has spoken with union leaders about the plan... there's no word as to when a decision will be made.

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[Moment-Silence]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6 p.m.]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=01-21 TC1:53:47]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Virginia schools must continue their daily moment of silence.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./July 5, 2000;]
A federal Appeals Court today upheld a Virginia statute that establishes a minute of silence in the classroom. The challenge was brought by several students and their parents who argued that the observation violated the First Amendment by encouraging prayer. The Commonwealth maintained the statute was designed to allow students to use the moment of silence in any way they chose, including but not limited to prayer.
(------------)

[Grand-Jury]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Vinton PD Invest.]

If you missed the brief opportunity to read the Grand Jury report on the Vinton Police Department, you can now read it at your leisure.
Federal Judge James Turk today unsealed the report and made it available to the public. The Grand Jurors asked that the report be released to the public when they finished their work last year, but State Judge Diane Strickland allowed citizens and the media to look at it for only three hours.
[SS=Foutz]

It is an issue again now because ousted former Police Chief Rickey Foutz is suing town officials. They wanted it released. He did not.

[Libertarians]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-22 TC1:42:48]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The Libertarian candidates who petitioned their way onto Virginia's ballots are now suing the state.
That's because new party labels approved last year identify any candidate whose party failed to get ten percent or more of the vote in one of the last two elections as "Independents."
(------------)
[VO-NAT :06]
[SUPER=403-Richmond/File Tape;]

Bill Redpath and Gary Reams say that violates two of their Constitutional rights.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 13:49:02]
[IN Q=The first argument is a ]
((KENT WILLIS/VIRGINIA ACLU: THE FIRST IS A FIRST AMENDMENT ARGUMENT. THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT FORCE YOU TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST YOUR BELIEFS. IN A WAY, WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS ASKING A PARTY LIKE THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY TO LIST ITSELF AS SOMETHING OTHER THAN WHAT IT IS. THE GOVERNMENT CAN'T DO THAT. THE OTHER IS AN EQUAL PROTECTION ARGUMENT. THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY AND THE REFORM PARTY HAVE THE SAME RIGHT TO THE BALLOT AS THE REPUBLICANS AND THE DEMOCRATS AND THIS TREATS THEM DIFFERENTLY.))
[SUPER=401-Kent Willis/Virginia ACLU;]
[RUNS=:24]
[OUT Q=and this treats them differently.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT :11]

The State Board of Elections says absentee ballots will be printed in the next few weeks.
The A-C-L-U seeks an injunction and a court order to change the ballot labels.
(------------)

[Kilgore]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-23 TC1:13:28]
[GRAPHIC=Jerry Kilgore]

Now we finally know which one's Jerry and which one's Terry.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :20]
[SUPER=403-Richmond/File Tape;]

The identical twins from Gate City have puzzled Richmonders for years: Terry as a delegate and Jerry as a member of George Allen's cabinet.
They even joked in June they could double Jerry's effectiveness on the campaign trail for attorney general.
But now, Jerry's mustache is gone, for the first time since law school.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 16:53:51]
[IN Q=You know I heard there was]
((JERRY KILGORE/R-CANDIDATE FOR ATTORNEY GEN.: YOU KNOW I HEARD THERE WAS A DELEGATE OUT IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA THAT WAS TRYING TO IMPERSONATE ME ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. SO I WANTED TO DRAW THE DISTINCTION.))
[SUPER=@Kilgore;]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=wanted to draw the distinction.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT :11]

It's NOT a first for Virginia politics.
A mustachioed Doug Wilder won the office of governor in November of 1989.
And a clean-shaven Wilder was sworn into office in January.
(------------)

[Tease#1]
[ANCHOR=SHannon 2-Shot]
[SS=NONE]

Jim Gilmore blasted her work last year.
But now a Lexington photographer is being called one of the country's best
That's still ahead on News 7 at Six.
(---------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

And we'll visit a special summer program in Danville where kids leave with a little knowledge and a computer.
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[Retail-Furniture]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=01-26 tc:57:30]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

The average American buys a new sofa every six years.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

But when money is tight, the average sofa will have to last a little longer.
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=Turning the Tables]

In part two of our furniture series, Jennifer Miele explains why a slowing economy is turning the tables on furniture retailers.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=As any furniture retailer]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg; :00]
[SUPER=01-Jeff Rorer/Mostly Sofas; :17]
[SUPER=@jennifer1; 1:30]
[RUNS=1:44]
[OUT Q=I'm Jennifer Miele.]
(( They call him the Sofa Guy.
He started out with 20 sofas, a van and a one room store.
Now preparing to open store number four, Jeff Rorer is approaching his lucky 7th year of selling sofas.
[SOT]
[tc:00:02:23] ((JEFF RORER: WE DO NOT HAVE SALES, WE DO NOT DRESS UP, WE DO NOT DO THE NORMAL FURNITURE STORE ANTICS, IF YOU WILL.))

[RUNS06]
Good luck aside, Rorer says NO retailer has escaped today's slowing economy.
[SOT]
[tc:00:08:27] ((YOU MUST HAVE A WASHING MACHINE, YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT A NEW SOFA, SO WE'RE DOWN ON THE PRIORITY LIST.)) [RUNS06]
If furniture DOES make the priority list, Rorer says shoppers aren't afraid to shop.
[SOT]
[TC:00:13:36] ((IF I'M GOING TO BUY A SOFA, I'M GOING TO SHOP LONGER, SHOP HARDER, AND GET EXACTLY WHAT I WANT.)) [RUNS06]
Back before the economy settled on simmer, before consumers put their pocketbooks in the freezer, things were cooking for retailers like Heilig Meyers.
Their customers were buying with credit, so Heilig Meyers had to spend a ton of money collecting delinquent payments from many of its customers.
In August H-M filed for bankruptcy. [NAT SOUND] [RUNS03]
Rorer says he's been able to weather the economic storm by sticking to sofas.
[SOT]
[tc:00:08:57] ((PEOPLE PROBABLY CHANGE BEDROOM SUITES EVERY 15 TO 20 YEARS IF THAT. FORMAL DINING SUITE ARE RARE PURCHASES ANY MORE, MAYBE EVEN ONCE IN A LIFETIME. BUT YOUR SOFA, YOU CHANGE THAT EVERY 5 TO 6 TO 7 YEARS.)) [RUNS11] [STAND UP] ((JENNIFER MIELE/REPORTING: ANALYSTS SAY RETAIL FURNITURE IS STARTING TO MAKE A COMEBACK. IN FACT, HEILIG MEYERS STORES IN ROANOKE AND LYNCHBURG HAVE CONVERTED TO OUTLET STATUS CALLED "ROOM STORES." AND ON LABOR DAY, MOSTLY SOFAS WILL TAKEOVER THE OLD PINK BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN ROANOKE. FOR NEWS 7, I'M JENNIFER MIELE.)) [RUNS15] ))

[Stocks]

[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A poor earnings report and 15-thousand job cuts at Lucent sent stocks lower today. [TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE]
[RUNS=:30]
[SUPER=x5000;]
[SUPER=440-y/183.30/10241.12/y/29.32/1959.24;]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

The DOW plunged 183-points.
NASDAQ dropped 29
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[VO]
[SUPER=271-i/1.31/42.10/i/0.59/19.46/i/0.34/62.01/i/0.50/24.75/i/0.13/8.87;]
[SUPER=272-i/1.80/57.25/i/0.04/34.70/i/0.49/47.11/i/1.30/44.00/i/0.49/46.01;]
[SUPER=273-h/0.22/25.25/i/1.10/19.63//Unchg/8.50/i/0.39/45.33/i/0.42/16.15;]
[SUPER=274-h/0.22/68.12/i/1.67/65.25/i/0.94/54.06//Unchg/69.84/h/0.07/53.10;]
[SUPER=#555; Reset]
[Gilmore-Mann]

[TAPE#=00-12 TC1:36:09]

[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-24 TC1:10:34]

In May of last year, Governor Jim Gilmore labeled her work "lewd, outrageous, and vulgar."
[ANCHOR=SHannon 2-Shot]

Now, Lexington photographer Sally Mann has been named America's best photographer by Time Magazine.
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Richmond Bureau Chief Ellen Qualls shared the news with the Governor.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=In the spring of 2000]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/May 2000; :00]
[SUPER=10-Gov. Jim Gilmore//May 2000; :12 ]
[SUPER=@Ellen2; :38 ]
[RUNS=1:13]
[OUT Q=Qualls, news 7, Richmond.]
(( In the spring of 2000, Sally Mann did a slide show presentation at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Among her slides were some experimental photos she asked the audience if they wanted to see.
[sot tape 00-3 :37]
((GOV. JIM GILMORE: BY DESCRIPTION TO ME THESE ARE REALLY BAD PICTURES, INAPPROPRIATELY DEPICTED OF CHILDREN, IN A SETTING THAT IS, WOULD I THINK BE SEXUALLY OFFENSIVE.))
[runs= 16]

In step Governor Jim Gilmore and First Lady Roxane -- asking for the state supported museum to develop a policy to prevent such overly free expression from happening again.
July 9th of this year, Time Magazine names Mann America's best photographer, citing her "serene technical brilliance and the clearly communciated eloquence she derives from her subjects... all but indistinguishable from love."
We showed the issue to the Governor -- whose concern has obviously diminished.
[sot tape 16:52;07 ]
((GOV. JIM GILMORE: WELL I THINK SALLY MANN'S A FINE PHOTOGRAPHER. AND I HAD SOME, OBVIOUSLY, ISSUE WITH JUST A FEW OF HER PICTURES REGARDING CHILDREN. BUT BY AND LARGE, HER WORK IS REALLY RATHER EXTRAORDINARY AND I THINK SHE'S TO BE CONGRATULATED.))
[runs= 13]

That's all he cares to say now.
Ellen Qualls, News 7, Richmond.))
(-----------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Sally Mann responds to News 7 by e-mail: "I love it. I wish there was a symbol in e-mail to denote utter scorn, don't you?"

[Summer-Education]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6 PM]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=01-29 TC43:13]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Some low- income high school students are logging onto success in Danville this summer.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville]

They're taking part in a program called STARS.
It's designed to prepare teenagers to meet the challenges in a digital economy.
For two weeks, students learn different computer programs and how to use the Internet.
They get to keep the computer once the program is over.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 54:36]
[IN Q=There's no way my parents]
((MICHELLE MILLNER/STUDENT: THERE'S NO WAY MY PARENTS WOULD BUY ME A LAPTOP THIS YEAR. I MEAN PROBABLY WHEN I WENT TO COLLEGE WOULD BE SOMETHING OF A PRESENT BUT THIS IS REALLY GREAT OF THEM GIVING US THE LAPTOPS AND THEY ARE PAYING OUR INTERNET UNTIL WE GRADUATE, ITS REALLY NICE.))
[SUPER=01-Michelle Millner/Student]
[RUNS=15]
[OUT Q=its really nice]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

STARS is open to low-income high school students from all over Virginia.
Averett University is hosting the 63 teens enrolled in this summer's program.
(------------)

[WIPE WIPE WIPE WIPE]

[College-Prep]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-47 TC08:14]

[ Wipe *** Wipe *** Wipe]

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[VO-NAT :19.5]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg; ]
Virginia Tech is giving some high school students from Texas a taste of college life. The university is hosting eight minority students from a Houston charter school for 10-days. The equal opportunity grant enabled program exposes juniors and seniors to college level courses. Today the group experimented in the chemistry lab.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 44:34:27 / :53:17:21]
[IN Q=WERE GOING TO BE]
((MELANIE SINGLETON/HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR; WERE GOING TO BE STUDYING PSYCHOLOGY WERE GOING TO BE IN AN EXPERIMENT, VETERINARIAN STUDIES GEOLOGICAL STUDIES. KAY CASTAGNOLI/VIRGINIA TECH RESEARCHER; THEY MAY COME FROM A COMMUNITY THAT'S VERY ISOLATED THAT'S VERY SIMILAR THEY WANT THEM EXPOSED TO AS MANY PLACES AS THEY CAN BE EXPOSED.))
[SUPER=01-Melanie Singleton/High School Senior;]
[SUPER=01-Kay Castagnoli/Virginia Tech Researcher;]
[RUNS=:17]
[OUT Q=THEY CAN BE EXPOSED.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Organizers at Tech say the hosting stint is one of 10-equal opportunity programs funded at the University.
(------------)

[Sports TEase]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=dal]
[TAPE#=sports tease]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Coming up, more changes at the Martinsville Speedway, day one of the City-County golf tournament is in the books
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

and this Salem outfielder's bum shoulder kept him down at the start of the second half, now he's coming on strong.

(------------)

[S-M'ville]

[ANCHOR=denise]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-105]
[GRAPHIC=Martinsville Speedway]

The Martinsville Speedway has gone to great lengths to increase the track's capacity and look over the last few years. Steve Mason says, now the speedway has gone underground to improve efficiency.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=first audio]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville; :00]
[SUPER=01-Clay Campbell/Martinsville Speedway President; :23]
[SUPER=01-Bobby Law/Hanson Pipe & Products; :52]
[SUPER=01-Steve Martin/Steve Martin Trenching; 1:20]
[SUPER=@Steve1; 1:29]
[RUNS=1:50]
[OUT Q=...news 7 sports"]
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[S-City]

[ANCHOR=denise]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-95 55:40]
[GRAPHIC=Golf]

There are four leaders after 18 holes of the Roanoke Valley Women's Golf Association City-County tournament that teed off today at Countryside.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]

52 golfers are competing in this years tournament.
Marilyn Bussey fired a first round six over 77 and is
tied for second place with Valeta (VA-leeta) Pittman.
There is a four way tie for first between JMU bound Meg Davies, Nancy Snodgrass, Holly Updike and Dot Bolling.
Bolling is gunning for her seventh straight City-County title. The 54 hole event heads to Hanging Rock tomorrow.
(------------)

[S-Catalanotte]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=six]
[WRITER=dal]
[TAPE#=sp-94 tc 51:27]
[GRAPHIC=Avalanche]

Packed with potential and power, this season hasn't been exactly been what Salem outfielder Greg Catalanotte expected.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem;]

The slugger had a good season in Asheville last year batting 269 with 20 home runs and 75 RBI.
He says he didn't live up to his own expectations in the first half of this season and the second half started with a sore shoulder that kept him out of 10 games.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=you just]
[SUPER=01-Greg Catalanotte/Bats 239, 11 Home Runs;]
[RUNS=19]
[OUT Q=makes you tough]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The switchhitter is batting 239 with 11 homeruns.
Manager Dave Collins says he's the type of player who can carry a team because he has the power to knock it out of the park.
But Collins adds Greg needs to work on consistency.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=he's the kind]
[SUPER=01-Dave Collins/Avalanche Manager;]
[RUNS=16]
[OUT Q=with that]
(------------)

[S-Jeffers]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=dal]
[TAPE#=sp-98 tc 40:10]
[GRAPHIC=Panthers]

Former UVA receiver, Patrick Jeffers' status for the Panthers' season opener is in doubt.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Spartanburg, SC/Last Year;]

Jeffers has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to remove some cartilage
He'll miss at least three weeks of practice and maybe the season opener.
On his other knee, the cartilage between the back of his kneecap and the femur bone has completely eroded away.
(------------)

[Promo]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#01-32 TC37:15]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
It's been several weeks now since a Roanoke church van flipped on its way home from Myrtle Beach.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
The accident killed one and left three others seriously hurt. [***News 7 MB Graphic***]
[Double Boxes=Keith-Shannon and Teresa/MB SET]
Teresa Hamilton just visited two of the accident victims who are back in Roanoke.
[Live=Teresa Full/MB Set]
[SUPER=@Teresa1;]
Keith and Shannon, the pair will be the first to tell you they're lucky to be alive and more than anything want to say thank you to everyone for their prayers.
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
19- year old Mirela Dizdarevic returned home on the 14th. She broke her back when she was thrown from the Virginia Heights church van. But the accident did not break her spirit. Despite her injuries... she is planning to start her freshman year of college.
(//////sot/////)
[sot]
[in q=There's just]
(( MIRELA DIZDAREVIC: ))
[SUPER=07-Mirela Dizdarevic; ]
[RUNS=09]
[OUT Q=i'm really thankful.]
[vo-nat] Ben Wheeler is also back in Roanoke. The 16- year old is a patient at Roanoke Memorial but is expected to be released on Friday. His father hasn't left his side.
(-------------)
[***News 7 @ 11 MB GRAPHIC***]
[Live=Teresa Full/MB SET]
Joe Wheeler says his son is a miracle. Keith and Shannon, we'll have much more on this story tonight on NEWS 7 at eleven. [Double Boxes=Keith-Shannon and Teresa/MB SET]