WDBJ 7 news at 6 for 04/02/02

[1-News-Head]

[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Specialists prepare to take on Roanoke County's tire fire.
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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
And, the man accused of stealing money from Henry County waits to find out whether he'll be allowed to buy his way out of jail.
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[Sports-Head]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Tonight on News 7 sports, the Express opens the playoffs tonight. The Avalanche players arrive in town this afternoon.
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[VO-NAT]
And Maryland's Gary Williams graciously accepts the Sears national championship trophy today in Atlanta.
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[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Robin]
[SS=None]

A changing weather story tonight as clouds roll in. Showers will be scattered about tomorrow. Details just ahead.
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[ANCHOR=Keith 4-Shot]

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

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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Henry County takes its administrator off the payroll.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

Meanwhile, his involvement with payroll is under investigation.
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[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

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

And I'm Keith Humphry.
[Clower]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#02-02 TC1:29:48]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Henry County administrator Sid Clower is now suspended without pay pending a state police investigation.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

He was indicted yesterday on six counts of embezzlement and is now in jail awaiting a bond hearing.
[Double Boxes=Keith-Shannon and Jennifer/Microwave]

Jennifer Miele is at the Henry County Administration building where the board of Supervisors made its decision today.
[Live=Jennifer Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Jennifer1;]
[SUPER=05-Henry Co.;]
( ad lib)
(Rollcue:take his paycheck away. )
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Mike Seidle/Henry Co. Supervisors Chairman; :00]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.; :25 ]
[SUPER=01-Tim Hall/Henry Co. Spokesman; :37 ]
[RUNS=:44]
[OUT Q=state police may find.]
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[Live=Jennifer Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Henry Co.;]
( ad lib)
[Double Boxes=Keith-Shannon and Jennifer/Microwave]

[Pulaski-Body]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6 p.m.]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Pulaski police are investigating a body found near Norfolk Southern railroad tracks. They say they believe the 60-something year old man died of natural causes. His identity is not being released but police says he's been missing for days, and was possibly on a drinking binge. The body was found by one of the man's friends.

[Monty-Budget]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=502-06 TC01:11]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Montgomery County officials say crunching the budget numbers is a challenge with the state's current fiscal shortfall.

County residents could face a tax increase. They'll get a look at the numbers at a public hearing tomorrow night.
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[VO-NAT :20.5]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co.;]
Spokesman Bobby Parker says cuts in state funding and debt payments mean a proposed increase on the real estate tax. The budget calls for a six and a half cent raise. Parker says the revenue will help pay for projects the county's already committed to... school construction, the new county government center and courthouse improvements.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 11:40:02]
[IN Q=MONEY IS]
((ROBERT PARKER/COUNTY SPOKESMAN; MONEY IS TIGHT ALL OVER THE PLACE SO TO HAVE THIS INCREASE FOR THE PROJECTS THAT WE ASSUMED AND TO HAVE THE SURPRISE IN THE CHANGE IN THE ECONOMY THE CHANGE IN STATE FUNDING PICTURE HAS REALLY BEEN UNANTICIPATED AND MAKES IT ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING.))
[SUPER=01-Robert Parker/County Spokesman;]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING.]
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[VO-NAT]
Parker says officials hope services will not be cut and that right now, they're not in the budget proposal. Tomorrow's public hearing starts at 7 p-m at Blacksburg Middle School. The County's Board of Supervisors is scheduled to approve the budget "on or before" April 19th.
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[Franklin-Budget]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Some Franklin County Supervisors say an increase in the real estate tax may be the only way to give county employees and teachers the raises they want.
Others say they won't raise taxes on the 17-hundred residents who lost their jobs last year.
The issue will be up for debate at a budget work session tonight.
The county administrator has proposed a budget that increases the 9-1-1 tax.
Because state funding fell short, there are also no pay raises for county employees or teachers.
The county's real estate tax is the lowest in the region at 55 cents per 100 dollars of property.

[US-Airways]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=02-08 TC59:07]
[GRAPHIC=US Airways]
Some former U-S Airways employees have filed a class action against the airline AND the union that represented them.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/September 2001]
Gary Jeffreys of Salem and 15 other U-S Airways workers are challenging the way the company went about laying off airline employees last Fall. In Jeffreys' case, U-S Airways transferred the 32-year veteran Customer Service Agent to Charlotte, but was furloughed by the union. The lawsuit says other employees who'd been with the company for as little as two years kept their jobs in Charlotte. The complaint claims union representatives played favorites with Charlotte- based employees at the expense of those based in Roanoke and similar- sized markets.
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[Matricardi]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Governor Mark Warner says he believed he was talking confidentially to fellow Democratic leaders during a telephone conference call last month that was allegedly monitored by Virginia's top Republican party staffer.
Warner made his first public comment today about the criminal eavesdropping investigation of G-O-P executive director Ed Matricardi.
Calling the alleged eavesdropping an "isolated incident,'' Warner said he believed that the March 22nd phone call was a private conversation.
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney David Hicks says he doesn't expect to make an announcement about the case for days, perhaps not until Monday.

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

Deputies are asking for help in a series of robberies in Central Virginia.
That's one of the stories still ahead on News 7 at Six.
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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

And contractors start setting up shop at Roanoke County's tire fire. They'll soon be putting it out.
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[Tire-Fire]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=02-03 TC1:02:33]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Crews and equipment are arriving to battle Roanoke County's massive tire fire.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;]

Williams Fire and Hazard Control, a Texas-based company that specializes in fighting oil fires, started hauling in heavy equipment today.
The company plans to extinguish some of the hottest tire piles using a combination of foam and water.
The work could begin as early as tomorrow.
The E-P-A has contracted several other companies to help with air and water monitoring.
A meeting with local residents to discuss smoke and runoff is being set up for later this week.
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[Campbell-Robberies]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Campbell County authorities need your help solving a string of weekend robberies.
Police say a black male wearing a brown sweatshirt and a mask tried to rob Turpin's Market around 8:45 Saturday night.
He indicated he had a gun, but fled without taking any money.
A half- hour later, a woman was leaving the N&W Market on Route 29 when someone struck her in the head and stole her purse.
Then, late Sunday night, a woman in Gladys told police someone showed up at her house trying to buy bait.
When she told him her husband was asleep, the person pulled a gun and stole her purse.
Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call Central Virginia Crimestoppers.

[Peace-Protestor]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-12 TC31:50]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A Lynchburg judge says he needs more time to decide whether the city's protest permit laws restrict a person's First Amendment right to free speech.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg/November 9, 2001]

Peace activist Jack Payden-Travers was fined 50 dollars for not getting a permit when he organized this anti-war rally last November.
Lynchburg requires groups of more than five people to get a police permit before holding any kind of public rally.

Payden-Travers.. with the help of the A-C-L-U.. appealed his conviction to Circuit Court judge Mosby Perrow.
Perrow was supposed to issue a ruling yesterday, but told the attorneys involved he wants more time to study the issues involved.
A decision is expected within a month or so.
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[Unemployment]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=VA Unemployment]

Virginia's unemployment rate fell slightly in February to four-point-two percent.
The Virginia Employment Commission attributes the improvement to mild weather in February and fewer temporary factory layoffs around the Presidents' Day holiday.
Fairfax City had the lowest unemployment at point-seven percent.
Dickenson County, hit by mining and manufacturing job losses, had the highest at 15-point-9 percent.
Ten other cities and counties, many of them in our area, reported double-digit unemployment... among them: the city of Martinsville as well as Henry, Halifax, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Pulaski and Wythe counties.

[Stocks]

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

Gloomy earnings outlooks and worries about rising oil prices sent stocks lower today. [TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE]
[RUNS=:30]
[SUPER=x5000;]
[SUPER=440-y/48.99/10313.71/y/58.21/1804.41;]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

The DOW dropped 49 points.
NASDAQ fell 58 points.
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[VO]
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[SUPER=#555; Reset]
[Kilgore-DUI]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

Law enforcement officials should keep examining ways to use technology to combat drunken driving.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

That's according to Attorney General Jerry Kilgore.
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=Drunk Driving]

Kilgore made the remarks today to about 235 police officers attending a training conference on drunken driving issues in Virginia Beach.
He said technology is changing every day ... and criminals shouldn't be the only ones taking advantage of it.
He also said his office stands ready to help local authorities enforce drinking laws.

[Avian-Flu]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

State agriculture officials are moving to widen and speed up poultry testing, in an effort to stop an avian flu outbreak in four Western Virginia counties.
Starting today, positive readings from a single virus test will result in an order to destroy the affected flock.

Until now, state veterinarians required two tests for virus antibodies, a process that could take up to a week.
The Avian Flu virus has been detected in 20 turkey and chicken flocks in Rockingham, Augusta, Page and Shenandoah counties.
Sixty-one-thousand birds have been destroyed.

[Carilion-Grant]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6 p.m.]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=02-13 TC07:56]
[GRAPHIC=Carilion]

Dozens of healthcare research programs are underway at Virginia Tech and U-V-A thanks to the Carilion Biomedical Institute.
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[VO-NAT :19]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/December 2001;]
CBI today announced it would award Virginia Tech and U-V-A one million dollars apiece. A partnership announced in 2000 has the Institute giving the schools five million dollars each over a five year period. The grants support research in eldercare, therapeutics, laboratory and hospital automation and patient monitoring.
(///// SOT at :19 /////)
[SOT 1:00:31-1:00:47]
[IN Q=Patient monitering in terms of...]
((GEORGE BLANAR/CARILION BIOMEDICAL INSTITUTE: PATIENT MONITORING IN TERMS OF, HOW DO YOU GET A PATIENT, HOW DO YOU DETERMINE A PATIENT NEEDS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL, MONITORING THAT PATIENT, HOW TO GET A PATIENT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL SOONER AND HOW TO KEEP THE PATIENT SAFE IN HIS HOME.))
[SUPER=01-George Blanar/Carilion Biomedical Institute;]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=safe in his home.]
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[ANCHOR=Shannon ]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]
The 2002 grants are expected to fund 35 research projects.

[Sports Tease]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Coming up tonight on the Big 7, Maryland's Gary Williams picks up the Sears trophy on his way out of town. The Express begins postseason action tonight, while the Avs arrive in the valley.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
And we'll check in with the ultra-successful Franklin County baseball team with Steve Mason in Rocky Mount.
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[S-Terps]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-116 12152tc]
[GRAPHIC=MARYLAND]
College Basketball's newly crowned champions are riding high tonight. The Maryland Terrapins claimed the Division One title last night, and earlier today their coach claimed the crystal Sears Championship Trophy and a $10 thousand dollar scholarship.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=YOU COULDN'T....]
[SUPER=04-CBS Sports; :00]
[SUPER=01-Gary Williams/Maryland Head Coach; :06]
[RUNS=:24]
[OUT Q=...THIS WELL."]
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-College Park, MD/This Afternoon; :00]
The Terps returned home to a heroes' welcome this afternoon in College Park. Rest assured that the entire "Terrapin Nation" will savor this moment for many years to come. But the reality is that folks already are looking ahead to next season.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=WE DO RETURN...]
[RUNS=:24]
[OUT Q=...NEXT YEAR."]
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[S-Hornets]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-111 11305TC]
[GRAPHIC=HORNETS]

The Charlotte Hornets proposed move to New Orleans is anything but a done deal tonight.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Fort Mill, SC; :00]
The NBA's front office in New York says the league will not vote on the move next Tuesday as was originally thought.

The Hornets owners have signed an agreement with the Crescent City, but the NBA is giving no indication when or if it will approve the move.
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[S-Express]

[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-114 13107tc]
[GRAPHIC=Express]

The Roanoke Express will try and be a giant killer beginning tonight as the team opens the ECHL playoffs against the mighty Trenton Titans, a team that has only one loss against the Express compared to six wins. Trenton beat Roanoke 9 to 1 in the last two games between them, including a spanking in Trenton.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Duncan Dalmao/Express Defenseman; :00]
[SUPER=01-Mike Peron/Express Center; :18]
[RUNS=:32]
[OUT Q=.....wear teams down"]
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[S-AVS]

[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-117]
[graphic=avalanche]

The Salem Avalanche begins the season with six straight home games starting this Friday night at Salem Memorial Stadium against the Potomac Cannons.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem; :00]

Today, the 2002 Avalanche met the media during the team's annual player luncheon at Mac and Bob's in Salem.
The roster, as expected, has only a handful of returnees from the championship team but that doesn't mean this squad won't wear a bulls eye on it's chest
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Stu Cole/Avalanche Manager; :00]
[SUPER=01-Tom Stepka/Avalanche Pitcher; :17]
[RUNS=:27]
[OUT Q=....do it again"]
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[S-Eagles]

[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-110 1:15:09]
[GRAPHIC=Baseball]
The Franklin County baseball team is in the midst of a challenging season. But Steve Mason tells us it will tough keeping these Eagles grounded.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Rocky Mount; :00]
[SUPER=01-F. L. Slough/Franklin County Head Coach; :12]
[SUPER=01-Jesse Bowles/Eagles Pitcher & Third Base; :33]
[SUPER=@Steve1; :41]
[SUPER=01-Travis Hundley/Eagles Short Stop; :58]
[RUNS=1:32]
[OUT Q=News 7 sports"]
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((The Eagles resume is as long as it is rich in baseball tradition. Five district titles a regional title, regional runner up, and two state quarterfinals under ninth year head coach F.L. Slough. ((:))
But the Eagles finished 9 and 12 last season. Five starters are back and the pitching staff returns starters Jesse Bowles Bowles, Chris White, Early Page and Ben Hutton. ((:)) ((:)) ((:))
Bowles is the Eagles top player with a bigtime name. His cousin is former eagle and Tech star Larry Bowles, now rehabbing an injured knee in the Anaheim Angles organization. ((:))
The Eagles are gunning for their first state tournament appearance since 1997. In Rocky Mount Steve Mason News 7 sp orts.))