WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 08/14/01

[7Wx-Headline]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=Cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Mornin' Report]

Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom...... Look for partly sunny skies today with temperatures in the 80s.
Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner will have your complete forecast in just a moment.

[7-11Wachovia]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutins]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=01-49 TC00:56]
[GRAPHIC=Wachovia]

Nine of Wachovia's Southwest Virginia branches have been sold to the National Bank of Commerce.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The branches that have been sold include those at Towers Mall, Franklin Plaza, Crossroads Mall, Cave Spring, 460 East and West Salem... as well as branches in Bedford, Hardy and Chilhowie.
Customers of those branches should begin to receive information shortly about the transition process
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/File Tape]

Wachovia and First Union had to sell 38 branches to satisfy regulators' concerns about competition.
Their merger plans were approved yesterday by the Federal Reserve.
The combination of the two will create the nation's fourth largest bank.
(------------)

[7-6-Optical-Cable]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutins]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=01-51 TC01:30]
[GRAPHIC=Optical Cable]

A Chinese company is making a stop in Roanoke .. and if they like what they see..... it could mean a sales boost for Optical Cable Corporation.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./File Tape]

Shanghai-based WorldBest will tour the Roanoke County company today.
Optical Cable says WorldBest's connections in Asia could help it sell more fiber optic cable there.
Officials are not calling the visit a "joint venture," but do say if the visit goes well, it will enable Optical Cable to penetrate the Chinese market more rapidly.
(------------)

[7-Earley]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutins]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=01-]
[GRAPHIC=Mark Earley]

The latest subject in Mark Earley's bid for governor ........ education.
(------------)
[VO-NAT 22.5 BEFORE BITE]
[SUPER=403-Roanoke/Yesterday;]
The Republican, who outlined his plan in Roanoke yesterday, wants NEW teachers to undergo further testing to improve Virginia's education system. Earley says the State Board of Education would develop the competency evaluation- it would be given twice... over an eight year period. After passing both tests-- Earley says the teacher would then be designated a "Master Teacher" in Virginia.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 06:46:19]
[IN Q=We think that]
((MARK EARLEY: WE THINK THAT COMPETENCY EVALUATION IS REALLY GOING TO HELP US BOOST THE PROFESSIONALISM OF TEACHING AND THE QUALITY OF TEACHING HERE IN VIRGINIA AS NEW TEACHERS COME INTO THE SYSTEM.))
[SUPER=@Earley; :00]
[RUNS=10]
[OUT Q=into the system.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT 11 PLUS PAD]
[SUPER=403-Richmond/June;]
A spokeswoman for Mark Warner says the Democrat strongly supports education-- and, if elected Governor, would have a comprehensive plan for retaining and recruiting the nation's best teachers.
(------------)

[WXHeads]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Mornin' Report]

Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom...... The humidity is down so get outside while you can. Look for a mix of sun and clouds.

Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner will have the details after the news.[45-11Warner-PACs]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-20 TC08:50]
[GRAPHIC=Campaign 2001]

Campaign finance laws are taking the spotlight in Richmond.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :10]
[SUPER=403-Richmond;]

Some Republican lawmakers say a political action committee that supports Mark Warner violates a state law saying a campaign can only have one fundraising arm.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Well you're seeing disclosure]
[sot tape 13:45:54 ]
((DEL. CHRIS JONES/R-SUFFOLK: WELL YOU'RE SEEING DISCLOSURE, BUT YOU'RE SEEING MULTIPLE COMMITTEES WHICH IS CONTRARY TO WHAT THE LAW SAYS.))
[sot tape 13:43:03 ]
((GARY THOMSEN/REPUBLICAN PARTY OF VIRGINIA: IT'S PERFECTLY LEGAL FOR MARK WARNER TO TRY TO BUY THIS ELECTION. BUT HE NEEDS TO DO SO IN A MANNER THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND AND CAN FULLY SEE HOW HE'S DOING SO.))
[SUPER=401-Del. Chris Jones/(R) Suffolk; :00]
[SUPER=401-Gary Thomson/Republican Party of Virginia; :07]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=fully see how he's doing so.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT :14]

The Warner campaign calls the charge ridiculous.
It says the Virginians for Warner PAC is NO different from any PAC that gives to Mark Earley.
And the Republican Party should look at its own committees.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The speaker's slush fund]
[sot tape 13:53:10 ]
((LARRY FRAMME/VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: THE SPEAKER'S SLUSH FUND HAS REMAINED TOTALLY UNREPORTED, AND IN FACT THEY WENT AND GOT AN OPINION... MARK WARNER NOT DISCLOSING MATTERS THAT IN FACT HAVE BEEN DISCLOSED -- IT'S HYPOCRISY.))
[SUPER=401-Larry Framme/Virginia Democratic Party;]
[RUNS=:24]
[OUT Q=have been disclosed -- it's hypocrisy.]
(-------------)
[Anchor=Kim]
[SS=HOLD]

The State Board of Elections has so far found NO irregularities in either of the gubernatorial campaigns' filings.

[45-11Patterson-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutins]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=01-32 TC57:20]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Invest.]
A Rocky Mount man was murdered yesterday.
Now Roanoke police are investigating.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
A police spokeswoman says the body of 27-year old Timothy B. Smithers was found in an alley off the 14-hundred block of Patterson Avenue. A man who says he found the body also reports hearing screaming beforehand. Police responded to the call shortly after one yesterday morning. A neighbor says he saw investigators take a rock into evidence. An autopsy tentatively identified the cause of death as "blunt force trauma to the head."
(------------)

[45-6-Giles-Drowning]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-33 TC40:49]
[GRAPHIC=Drowning]
The body of a man who drowned in the New River has been recovered.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Giles Co.;]
The body of 42-year-old Kenneth Smith was located near the Shumate Falls area of Glen Lyn around 11 yesterday morning.
Authorities had been looking for the Bluefield, West Virginia man since Sunday evening. They say Smith was fishing at the Giles County location with a friend when they believe he stepped off a rock ledge into deep water. Authorities are calling the drowning accidental.
(------------)

[8Wx-Headline]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Mornin' Report]

Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom... A mix of sunshine and clouds today with low humidity and light winds. Temperatures in the 80s.
Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner will have the forecast in a few minutes.

[811Roanoke-Times]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutins]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=01-44 TC14:36]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A new printing plant may be in store for the The Roanoke Times.
Its request goes before the Board of Zoning Appeal today .. but the idea of a new plant is raising concerns for some.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

The newspaper wants to put the 31- million dollar expansion on property across second street from its current location.
Roger Roberts says the city encouraged him to renovate the upper floors of his building for three upscale apartments.
But now he fears the large printing plant will destroy the view, create noise, and make it difficult to rent the luxury units.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 02:35:45]
[IN Q=Trucks, fumes]
((ROGER ROBERTS/BUILDING OWNER: TRUCKS, FUMES, ODOR, NOISE, WHATEVER GOES WITH MANUFACTURING, THAT'S WHAT I'M GOING TO HAVE.))
[SUPER=01-Roger Roberts/Building Owner;]
[RUNS=:08]
[OUT Q=what I'm going to have.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

City Manager Darlene Burcham and Roanoke Times Publisher Wendy Zomparelli declined on-camera interviews, but Zomparelli described the project as "a terrific enhancement to downtown."
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Zomparelli also said the newspaper is eager to show the board what the new facility will look like.

[811Car-Tax]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=01-23 TC1:36:13]
[GRAPHIC=Lawsuit]

The lawsuit over the legality of Governor Jim Gilmore's car tax has been rejected.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :51 ]

The bi-partisan lawsuit was brought by two state senators and some northern Virginia business and higher education leaders.
It alleged the Governor had fudged the revenue numbers last year to keep the tax "phase-out" on schedule.
Richmond Judge Theodore Markow (MARK -oh) dismissed the suit, writing:
"Even though ... petitioners believe that the Governor's revenue forecast did not comply with statutory requirements ... "
" ... and even that the Governor 'sidestepped' procedural safeguards, it is void of language allowing the court to infer bad faith on the part of the Governor ... "
The judge says the senators and businessmen have NO precedent for legal standing, writing:
"If these individual taxpayers with no real or substantial interest were allowed to litigate this action, then virtually every taxpayer in Virginia would have standing to challenge virtually every appropriation ..."
(------------)

[86-Optical-Cable]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut ins]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=01-51 TC01:30]
[GRAPHIC=Optical Cable]

A Chinese company is heading to the Roanoke Valley to check out Optical Cable corporation.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./File Tape]

Shanghai-based WorldBest will tour the Roanoke County company today.
Optical Cable says WorldBest's connections in Asia could help it sell more fiber optic cable there.
Officials are not calling the visit a "joint venture," but do say if the visit goes well, it will enable Optical Cable to penetrate the Chinese market more rapidly. (------------)