WDBJ 7 morning news for 02/18/02

[11XGR-Budget]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=01-60 TC-1:53:31]
[GRAPHIC=State Budget]
The House and Senate money committees have approved their own budget bills, reopening the debate on the state's spending plans... and the cuts that will be required.
Joe Dashiell has some of the winners and losers.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Lawmakers say the state's budget]
[SUPER=01-Sen. John Chichester/(R) Fredericksburg; :06]
[SUPER=03-Richmond; :13]
[SUPER=@Trumbo; :36]
[SUPER=@Bryant; :50]
[SUPER=@Joe1; 1:36]
[RUNS=1:55]
[OUT Q=JD News 7 Richmond]

((Lawmakers say the state's budget problems can't be fixed with a nip and a tuck.
[SOT CHICHESTER 15:09:31]
[IN Q=And this leads to gut wrenching decisions]
((AND THIS LEADS TO GUT WRENCHING DECISIONS, THERE'S JUST NO DELICATE WAY TO PUT IT.))
[RUNS= :07]
[OUT Q=no delicate way to put it.]

But members of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees offered up spending plans they say will address the state's budget problems, and spread the pain fairly.
There is some comfort for State employees who would receive no pay raise in Governor Warner's proposal. The House budget provides for a modest salary increase in December 2003... The Senate calls for a small bonus this year and next.
[IN Q=]
[SOT 16:25:56 :14]
((SEN. BO TRUMBO: WE WERE TRYING TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, TRYING TO GET THINGS DONE IN SUCH A WAY AS TO PROVIDE THE NEEDED REVENUES FOR THE PAY RAISE AT THE SAME TIME AS IN THE OUT YEARS. YOU CAN'T ALWAYS THINK ABOUT WHAT IT'S GOING TO DO THIS YEAR, YOU HAVE TO LOOK TWO, THREE FOUR YEARS OUT.))
[SOT 09:23 :09]
((DEL. PRESTON BRYANT: I THINK THE STATE EMPLOYEES, ALL HUNDRED THOUSAND OF THEM, ARE GOING TO APPRECIATE A SOLID PAY INCREASE A LITTLE MORE THAN WHAT THE SENATE MIGHT HAVE DONE, BUT THAT WILL BE WORKED OUT.))
[RUNS= :23]
[OUT Q=but that will be worked out.]

Both budget bills allow the state's colleges and universities to raise tuition, and lawmakers say the money will not go to the general fund.
[SOT CHICHESTER 15:54:40]
[IN Q=The tuition remains on the campus]
((THE TUITION REMAINS ON THE CAMPUS TO HELP OFFSET THE REDUCTIONS. THE TUITION IS NOT, AND I REPEAT NOT, SENT TO RICHMOND.))
[RUNS= :10]
[OUT Q=not sent to Richmond.]

Both bills actually increase total funding for public education over the current biennium... The House bill includes money for a teacher pay raise... the Senate version does not.
Lawmakers save money by freezing the car tax, closing excess prison capacity, reducing state support for constitutional officers... and the list goes on. [STAND-UP CLOSE]
Lawmakers admit there is plenty to criticize, and the grumbling has already started, with House Democrats complaining that Republican leaders violated the budget framework agreed upon at the start of the session.
Governor Warner is expected to weigh in Monday afternoon when he meets with house and senate leaders.
Joe Dashiell News 7 Richmond))

[Money-XGR]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Virginia Budget]

The House budget bill does include funding for cultural organizations in central and western Virginia.
The bill recommends more than 23- million dollars for non- state agencies during the next two- year budget period.

(XXXXXXX)
[TAKE PROPOSAL FS #1015 EssC]

More than 20 organizations in central and western Virginia are on the list, including the Art Museum of Western Virginia, Center in the Square, Virginia's Explore Park, the Harrison Museum,
[TAKE PROPOSAL FS #1016 EssC]
the Lynchburg Academy of Music, Mill Mountain Zoo, the Science Museum of Western Virginia and the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
(XXXXXXX)

[11Power-Plants]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=02-07 TC-22:35]
[GRAPHIC=none]

The State Senate has approved legislation that could weaken the State Corporation Commission and its oversight of proposed power plants.
So say critics of Senate Bill 554, and last week they urged the House of Delegates to reject it.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/Friday;]

The measure would limit the SCC's ability to rule on power plant proposals if other government agencies grant the necessary permits.
Opponents said the legislation would limit citizen involvement and have a negative impact on air quality in Virginia.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 11:46:10]
[IN Q=Well, I think the state corporation commission]
((DR. KEVIN COOPER: WELL, I THINK THE STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION HAS TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO HEAR ALL OF THE PUBLIC INPUT AND OPINION BEFORE THEY MAKE UP THEIR MIND WHETHER A PARTICULAR PLANT SHOULD GO AHEAD. AND I THINK IF THEY ARE ONLY LIMITED IN BEING ABLE TO CONSIDER ONLY CERTAIN TYPES OF INFORMATION, THEY WON'T GET THE FULL STORY AND THEY MAY MAKE SOME MISTAKES.))
[SUPER=01-Dr. Kevin Cooper/American Lung Assoc. of Va.]
[RUNS=:17]
[OUT Q=make some mistakes]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=none]

The bill cleared the Senate on a vote of 29 to 10. It's now headed to a House of Delegates committee.

[11Clifton-Stabbing]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=none]
[GAPHIC=Murder Invest.]
One woman is dead and another is in custody following a stabbing in Clifton Forge. Police say 51 year old Brenda Arnold was stabbed during an altercation at a rooming house shortly before noon on Saturday. 31 year old Tanya Williams of Clifton Forge has been charged with first degree murder. Police say the altercation started as a verbal argument and then escalated into the stabbing. Williams is being held at the Alleghany Regional Jail without bond.

[Yates]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

Opening statements are scheduled to begin today in the capital murder trial of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother accused of drowning her five children in a bathtub.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape;]

The defense says Yates didn't know the difference between right and wrong.
She is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.
A jury of eight women and four men will hear the case.
The capital murder trial is expected to last for three weeks.
(------------)

[Bush-Japan]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=George W. Bush]

President Bush is NOT backing down from his comments about an ``axis of evil.''
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Tokyo, Japan;]
During a news conference with Japan's prime minister today, Bush vowed to ``seize the moment'' and block certain nations from joining forces with terrorist organizations.
Those countries are North Korea, Iraq, and Iran.
President Bush is in Asia this week, hoping to gather support from key allies.
The meeting with Japan's prime minister kicked off a six-day visit to Asia that'll also take Bush to South Korea and China.
(------------)

[11Defibrillators]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=02-04 TC-23:01]
[GRAPHIC=none]

A device called a (duh-fib-ril-later) defibrillator could easily save your life if you ever go into cardiac arrest.
So why are they hard to find in public places?
Justin McLeod went searching for answers.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Nat sound of defibrillator]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=01-Tim McSherry/Roanoke Fire EMS; :18]
[SUPER=@justin1; :59]
[SUPER=01-Elizabeth Vail/American Heart Association; 1:19]
[RUNS=1:40]
[OUT Q=JM, News 7, Roanoke]
((((NAT SOUND OF DEFIBRILLATOR))
This is a defibrillator.
It's a device that shocks a person's heart back into a regular heartbeat.
And in many cases, what it does could mean the difference between life and death.
[SOT :00:28:33]
[IN Q=The faster that the]
((TIM McSHERRY/ROANOKE FIRE EMS: THE FASTER THAT THE DEFIBRILLATION CAN BE APPLIED, THE MORE LIKELY SURVIVABILITY.))
[Runs= 05]
[OUT Q=likely survivability]

That's important because death usually follows unless the heart rhythm is restored within five to seven minutes.
What makes defibrillators unique is that it's practically fool-proof and anyone can use it.
[SOT :27:58]
[IN Q=They're very simple]
((TIM McSHERRY/ROANOKE FIRE EMS: THEY'RE VERY SIMPLE. IT'S A MATTER OF OPENING UP THE MACHINE AND THE MACHINE WILL WALK THROUGH MOST OF THE PROCEDURE.))
[Runs= 06]
[OUT Q=most of the procedure]

Simple to use but not always simple to find.
Defibrillators are now in place in government buildings in Roanoke County but not Roanoke City.
Valley View Mall recently installed three.
And although you won't find any at the Tanglewood Mall or the Roanoke Civic Center, that is scheduled to change in the near future.
[SOT 17:43:01]
[IN Q=Currently, there are no]
((JUSTIN McLEOD/REPORTING: CURRENTLY, THERE ARE NO DEFIBRILLATORS HERE AT THE ROANOKE REGIONAL AIRPORT. AIRPORT OFFICIALS DO WANT TO BUY THEM BUT DUE TO BUDGET CUTS THOSE PLANS ARE NOW ON HOLD.))
[Runs= 09]
[OUT Q=now on hold]

The American Heart Association has its own plans.
They're leading a push to have defibrillators placed in as many public places as possible, including businesses.
[SOT 17:00:51]
[IN Q=In a America]
((ELIZABETH VAIL/AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: IN AMERICA, A THOUSAND PEOPLE EVERYDAY SUFFER FROM CARDIAC ARREST AND NINETY FIVE PERCENT OF THOSE FOLKS DIE AND MANY OF THEM BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO GET TO A DEFIBRILLATOR IN TIME.))
[Runs= 10]
[OUT Q=defibrillator in time]

So in time, defibrillators will become more common in public places.
And for many, it's comforting to know a life saving device is just a heartbeat away.
Justin McLeod, News 7, Roanoke.))

[11Dazzle]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=01-62 - TC-1:21:06]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Some area firefighters got fired up on the basketball court.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

It was all part of the Roanoke Dazzle's Firefighter Appreciation Day at the Civic Center.
Before the game, Roanoke City and Roanoke County squared off on the basketball court.
The players and their families then stuck around to watch the Dazzle play.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 17:51:31]
[IN Q=It's a great opportunity]
((DONNA DANIELS/DAZZLE PRESIDENT: IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO SHOW OUR APPRECIATION FOR THE FIREFIGHTERS OF THE ROANOKE VALLEY. IT IS ALSO A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO TALK TO OUR FANS ABOUT FIRE SAFETY. WE DO REALLY TRULY THINK THIS A WIN FOR BOTH OF US.))
[SUPER=01-Donna Daniels/Dazzle President]
[RUNS=12]
[OUT Q=both of us]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The firefighters passed out to the fans pamphlets and other materials on fire safety.
Fire trucks were also on hand for tours.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=none]

And in case you were wondering, the Roanoke City Fire Department beat the county firefighters 22 to 8.

[11Averett]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=01-56 - 1:32:06]
[GRAPHIC=Averett]

A Danville professor is making his mark in French presidential politics.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville]

Octavius Pinkard teaches political science at Averett University and has studied French politics for years.
President Jacques Chirac is seeking re-election and his advisers want to do more to attract the youth vote.
They contacted Pinkard, who flew to France this month to discuss strategy.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 11:46:52]
[IN Q=Let's say for]
((OCTAVIUS PINKARD/AVERETT U. PROFESSOR: LET'S SAY FOR INSTANCE INSTEAD OF A SHIRT AND TIE AND LOOKING STIFF, YOU WEAR A TURTLENECK AND A BLAZER OR A BUTTON-DOWN SHIRT AND A BLAZER OR YOU JUST GO TO A CAFE INSTEAD OF BEING AT A STAGED POLITICAL EVENT, A CONGRESS OF SOME SORT, GO TO A CAFE WHERE PEOPLE ARE GATHERED.))
[SUPER=01-Octavius Pinkard/Averett U. Professor]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=people are gathered.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Pinkard will be back in France in April for the first round of balloting.
(------------)
(Kimberly tosses to bump)

[bump-chyron]

[comm #3]

[11Tech-Cuts]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=02-02 TC-29:36]
[GRAPHIC=College Funding]

Virginia Tech's president is warning students and faculty, changes are on the way.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg]

Governor Mark Warner wants Tech to cut 31-million dollars for the new fiscal year.
The governor also wants to lift the tutition freeze at state colleges and universities.
As a result, students at Virginia Tech could see a tuition increase of five percent.
Tech's president realizes that could produce a financial hardship for some students.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 4:36:44]
[IN Q=For those students]
((CHARLES STEGER/VIRGINIA TECH PRESIDENT: FOR THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE CRITICALLY DEPENDENT ON FINANCIAL AID TO MAKE IT AS IT IS NOW, AS THE TUITION GOES UP WE WANT TO BE SURE THAT WE CAN INCREASE THE LEVEL OF SUPPORT WE PROVIDE TO THOSE STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE ALREADY WORKING ONE OR TWO JOBS TO STAY IN SCHOOL AND WE ARE GOING TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MINIMIZE OR HAVE NO IMPACT ON THEM AS WE GO FORWARD.))
[SUPER=01-Charles Steger/Virginia Tech President]
[RUNS=20]
[OUT Q=we go forward]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Tech is also looking into cutting several positions.
President Steger believes many of those cuts can come through retirement and attrition.
(------------)

[Airport-Security]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Airport Security]

The federal government is now in charge of airport security, but travelers probably won't notice the transfer of power.
Aleen Sirgany explains why.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Washington; :00]
[SUPER=01-John Magaw/Undersecretary for Transportation Security; :21]
[SUPER=03-Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, TX; 1:03]
[SUPER=01-Cathy Williams/Traveler; 1:12]
[SUPER=01-Aleen Sirgany/Reporting; 1:22]
[RUNS=1:34]
[OUT Q=Sirgany, CBS News, Washington.]
(( PKG

(NATS: AIRPORT)

(FONT: Washington Dulles International Airport, VA)
TRACK:
Security at 15 of the nation's largest airports, including Washington-Dulles is now different... but much of it looks the same.
Many of the same employees and procedures are still in place, but there is a new boss.
Instead of reporting to the airlines, security workers must now answer to the new Transportation Security Administration.

(SOT - John Magaw/undersecretary for transportation security)

"this is nothing different than let's say a bank merger, the people stay for the most part, it's just the leadership that may adjust"
TRACK:
The switch comes in response to the September eleventh attacks.
Terrorists were able to get through airport security with box cutters, which they used to hijack 4 planes.
Government officials believe switching from private security companies to better-trained, higher-paid federal workers and federal supervisors will decrease the chances of that happening again.

(SOT- Magaw again)

"they'll be federal people here screening them and watching them, if they see mistakes are being made, why are these mistakes being made, they need to be corrected. So they'll be a constant oversight of the operation"

(FONT: Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, TX)
TRACK:
The new security isn't expected to cause added delays.
But even if it does, travelers here in Dallas say safety is more important.

(SOT- Cathy Williams/Traveler)

"with the federal government overseeing things they'll have better control and it will be safer to fly"
STANDUP:
The transition is expected to take about nine months.
By mid-November, all security screeners in the U-S are supposed to be federal employees.
AS, CBS News, Washington.
))

[11Feedback]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=FdBack - TC-33:49]
[GRAPHIC=News 7 Feedback]

A shooting victim's background, and nude glamour photos received attention from our viewers this week.
Here's assignment editor Joe McKean, with Feedback.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Animation Open]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/Wednesday; :04]
[RUNS=1:26]
[OUT Q=music/animation]
((As part of our coverage on the shooting that led to the arrest of a federal drug agent on murder charges, we talked to relatives of the victim, and delved into his past.
A few viewers, including one from Roanoke (Kelly Laine) thought Keith Bailey's criminal record was irrelevant, and unnecessary to understanding what happened.
"This man was shot, unable to equally defend himself by a man that enforces the very laws that he knew he was breaking when he shot an unarmed man...It's almost like you have taken the cop's side on this matter, and felt it best to sway viewers by making them think that this man was a former lawbreaker, and that was reason enough for his death."
A piece that aired on Valentine's Day, describing a business that offered to take tasteful and artistic photographs of people in the buff went too far for many of our viewers.
(Lisa Vilagi/Salem) "The photos didn't show enough to be called pornography, but too much to be called appropriate viewing during family time viewing. Please consider all of your viewers when you plan the timing of your articles."
(David Bonham/Salem) "They were all in my mind X-rated, but what got me the most was you showed a picture of a family, father, mother, son and daughter in the nude. That was child pornography in my mind."
Any comments you'd like to make about our news judgment, or lack of it, send them along by US mail, fax, or email.

Joe McKean, News-7.))

[11Roanoke-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=02-06 TC-27:57]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]

Fire heavily damaged an apartment in Roanoke.
(------------)
[VO-NAT - :14+]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
Fire officials arrived at this apartment on Bennett Drive at around 10-o'clock last night. The fire was contained mostly to the lower level apartment. There is no word on the cause of the blaze, or if anyone was injured.
(------------)

[Corpses-Discovered]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Investigators continue to find more bodies on the grounds of a northwest Georgia crematory.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Walker Co., GA;]
Authorities say they may find as many 200 corpses of people who were supposed to have been cremated, but never were.
So far, searchers have recovered about 100 bodies -- and families have begun the difficult task of trying to identify their loved ones.
Bodies have been found stacked in storage sheds and scattered in wooded areas.
The operator of the crematory-- Ray Brent Marsh is charged with five counts of theft by deception, for taking payment for cremations he didn't perform.
(------------)

[6-OXY-Promo]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=02-09 TC-20:21]
[GRAPHIC=Oxycontin]
For some it's a wonder drug but for others this potent pain killer is the devil's drug.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski Co.; ]
This week NEWS 7 takes an in-depth look at why OxyContin has such a grip on southwest Virginia. We'll hear from people who say the drug has restored their life. But there's also another side to OxyContin. We'll hear from people who abuse the drug-- and have paid a price. We'll also have the story of a southwest Virginia doctor who was just recently sentenced to prison for writing illegal prescriptions for narcotics, including OxyContin.
(XXXXXXX)
[TAKE PINNACLE PROMO BOARD FS] (XXXXXXX) You can catch a "A Dose of Trouble"-- a special series beginning tonight on NEWS 7 at six.