[1-News-Head]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
Details on the embezzlement scheme allegedly devised by County Administrator Sid Clower
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
And a case of bacterial meningitis reported at Tech.
[Sports-Head]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Tonight on News 7 Sports, we'll chat with the Avalanche's Stu Cole, have a career update on Tech's Sarah Hicks.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
And fresh off the Terps' national title - Maryland assistant Dave Dickerson is officially one of four finalists for the Radford University men's head basketball coaching job.
(------------)
[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Robin]
[SS=None]
It was a no-go on showers here but southside caught some earlier today. Now the cold air is rushing in. We will check the latest temperatures in a moment.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon 4-Shot]
News 7 at Six is next.
[Video-Open]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=Video Open]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
Indicted Henry County administrator Sid Clower is released on bond.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
The prosecution says Clower's simple scheme went undetected for nearly a decade.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
Good evening, I'm Keith Humphry.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
And I'm Shannon Young.
[CLOWER]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=02-02 TC1:34:04]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
Henry County Administrator Sid Clower made bond this afternoon set at 100 thousand dollars.
[ANCHOR=keith 2-Shot]
His trial is set for July 30th.
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[SS=Sid Clower]
Clower's attorney says he's eager to face and dispel the charges.
Jennifer Miele says Clower's eagerness may have to last for many months.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Accusations of ]
[SUPER=03-Patrick Co.;:00]
[SUPER=01-Scott Austin/Defense Attorney;:19]
[SUPER=01-Don Caldwell/Special Prosecutor;:49]
[SUPER=@jennifer2;1:00]
[RUNS=1:26]
[OUT Q=JM News 7 Patrick County.]
(( Accusations of embezzlement and two days in jail seemed to wear on Henry County Administrator Sid Clower.
He arrived at his bond hearing with his arm in a sling... an injury he suffered when police tackled him last week as he threatened to commit suicide with a handgun.
But his defense attorney paints a very different picture of Clower's mood.
[SOT]
[tc:00:30:40]
((SCOTT AUSTIN/DEFESNE ATTORNEY: HE'S UPBEAT HE'S DOING VERY WELL. HE'S MOTIVATED READY TO GET GOING ON THAT TO PROVE THESE ALLEGATIONS ARE FALSE.))
[RUNS11]
Prosecutors allege Clower set up a blind mailbox to which Public Service Authority Checks were sent -- the public utility Clower headed up for more than a decade.
The state believes he deposited 200 thousand dollars worth of those checks into his personal bank account ... and did so since 1993.
[SOT]
((DON CALDWELL/SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: IF I'M WRONG THEN I APOLOGIZE, EVERYBODY WILL HAVE A GOOD LAUGH AND WE'LL GO HOME. BUT IT APPEARS TO BE A RELATIVELY UNSOPHISTICATED SCHEME.))
[RUNS10]
Clower is under house arrest and must wear a monitoring system.
He's currently suspended from his jobs as County Administrator and PSA Director WITHOUT pay.
His trial date is set for late July in Henry County.
But that's not set in stone.
Because Clower was such an influential manager in Henry County, a change of venue is likely... and that may take time.
And while the clock ticks, Henry County's administrator must wait to prove his innocence.
Jennifer Miele, News 7, Patrick County.))
[Standoff]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-09 TC55:28]
[GRAPHIC=Standoff]
A tense standoff in Christiansburg today: a neighborhood was evacuated when a man threatened to kill himself.
Police say 43-year-old Kelly Walter Poe shot himself inside a trailer at the Dogwood Mobile Home Park.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Christiansburg;]
At around noon today police surrounded the area and evacuated 20-families when told about the suicide threat.
Officials say, when negotiations with Poe were unsuccessful, a tactical team used tear gas to enter the residence.
Poe was found with a gunshot wound.
The police department says none of the officers fired a shot.
State Police are investigating....but officials have *not* confirmed that the shot was fatal.
Residents were able to return home at around 2:45.
(------------)
[Meningitis]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-10 TC32:26]
[GRAPHIC=Meningitis]
A Virginia Tech freshman is in critical condition with bacterial meningitis this evening.
Health officials say 18-year-old Rayna Dubose is receiving aggressive treatment at the University of Virginia Medical Center.
She was transferred there after seeking initial care at Montgomery Regional Hospital on Monday.
[BLACKBSURG DOUBLE BOXES=Rachel & Shannon /Microwave;]
New River Valley Bureau Chief Rachel Cannon has more information about the risk of anyone else at Tech contracting the bacteria...Rachel?
Shannon...I'm told by officials that the chances of the infection spreading are low.
[LIVE=Rachel /FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=@Rachel1;]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]
Doctors say you need to have intimate and pro-longed contact with someone to get meningitis.
But still...campus officials are concerned and working to get the word out to the university community....
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg; :07]
[SUPER=01-Dr. Tom Ryan/VT Medical Director; :12]
[SUPER=04-March 16; :46]
[SUPER=01-Larry Hincker/University Spokesman; 1:01]
[RUNS=1:07]
[OUT Q=A PRECAUTONARY MEASURE.]
((((PICTURE))
A school spokesman says Rayna Dubose returned to Tech's campus from Easter break not feeling well.
Health officials now describe her condition as serious.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 15:46:43]
[IN Q=she is]
((DR. TOM RYAN/VT MEDICAL DIRECTOR; SHE IS BEING TREATED AGGRESSIVELY AND WE ALL HOPE AND PRAY THAT THAT WILL BE ALL THAT'S NECESSARY AND THAT SHE'LL DO FINE.))
[OUT Q=DO FINE.]
On campus students are being alerted to the infection's symptoms...headaches, nausea, high fever and severe muscle aches.
Health officials say people should seek treatment but warn the chance of more meningitis cases is low.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT15:43:34]
[IN Q=it's spread ]
((DR. TOM RYAN/VT MEDICAL DIRECTOR; IT'S SPREAD BY SECRETION FROM THE NOSE AND THROAT SO IT REALLY TAKES FAIRLY CLOSE AND INTIMATE CONTACT.))
[OUT Q=CONTACT ]
People at a higher risk include roommates, people she shared eating or drinking utensils with and since DuBose plays on the basketball for Tech...her teammates.
They're all receiving antibiotics.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 15:44:35]
[IN Q=The treatment]
((THE TREATMENT IS DIRECTED TOWARDS ERADICATING THE BACTERIA IN THE THROAT BEFORE IT CAUSES ANY PROBLEMS AND PREVENT SPREAD OTHERS.))
[OUT Q=SPREAD OTHERS.]
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 15:42:11]
[IN Q=we have]
((LARRY HINCKER/UNIVERSITY SPOKESMAN; WE HAVE NOTIFIED THE TWO BALL TEAMS THAT PLAYED AGAINST US IN THE PREVIOUS TWO WEEKS JUST AS A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE. ))
[OUT Q=MEASURE].))
(-------------)
[LIVE=Rachel /FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]
Now there is a Virginia law that requires incoming college freshman to either get a meningitis vaccine or become informed about the disease and then request a waiver.
Officials say the problem with this is that the vaccine doesn't protect against all strains of the infection...
[BLACKSBURG DOUBLE BOXES=Rachel & Shannon /Microwave;]
Shannon, health officials say they can't release information on whether or not DuBose received the vaccine.
[Kizer-School]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-05 TC1:18:32]
[GRAPHIC=None]
After years of debate and pleas from parents, the fate of Lynchburg's smallest elementary school has been sealed.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]
Last night the school board 7-to-2 to close Elizabeth Kizer Elementary at the end of the current school year.
Board members said the school system will save several hundred thousand dollars by closing the school and laying off 17 teachers citywide.
The city's schools are facing a 750-thousand dollar budget shortfall this year.
[SUPER=04-October 1999; :20]
Parents, students and teachers have been fighting against the closure for years.
The issue first came up in 1999 when school officials discussed closing Kizer or combining its students with those at Dearington Elementary.
The school's principal and president of the Parent-Teacher Organization declined to comment on the closure today.
(------------)
[Tease#1]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
[SS=NONE]
A judge's ommission gets a Franklin County man off a murder charge.
That's next on News 7 at Six.
(---------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
And the federal government is coming to the aid of flood victims in Far Southwest Virginia.
(----------------)
[Fitzgerald]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=01-61 TC1:35:02]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-SHot]
A man accused of killing a Smith Mountain Lake woman in a drunk driving accident is off the hook for now.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
William Robert Fitzgerald had two prior drunk driving convictions and prosecutors were seeking a third one ... along with a charge of murder.
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[SS=None]
But today, a judge said he would NOT certify the charges against Fitzgerald because of another judge's omission ...
[***NEWS 7 @ 6 MB GRAPHIC***]
[DOUBLE BOXES=Shannon & Marya /MB SET;]
Marya Jones was in Franklin County General District Court today for the case and has more.
[LIVE= Marya/FULLMB SET]
[SUPER=@Marya1;]
Shannon,
When Ellen Marie Schenker was killed in a head-on collision back in November, state police said it was because a drunk driver struck her.
That WOULD have made it William Fitzgerald's THIRD drunk driving arrest in 10 years -- allowing prosecutors to charge him with felony murder.
But today Shencker's family watched those charges fall apart ... in part, because of a legal technicality.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=After a judge]
[SUPER=03-Rocky Mount; :00]
[SUPER=01-David Nixon/Fitzgerald's Attorney; :22]
[RUNS=1:17]
[OUT Q=guilty people go free.]
(( After a judge dismissed felony murder and D-U-I charges, William Fitzgerald wheeled out of court a free man.
Judge George Jones said that because a Roanoke County judge George Harris convicted him of a previous drunk driving offense, but did NOT mark a box on paper saying he was guilty, the charges of murder during a THIRD D-U-I could NOT stand.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 36:22 - :28]
((DAVID NIXON: THE GENERAL DISTRICT JUDGE DID NOT MARK IT AS A CONVICTION AND AS LONG AS IT'S NOT MARKED AS A CONVICTION, IT CAN NOT BE COUNTED AGAINST HIM.))
[RUNS:06]
On November 2nd, state police say Fitzgerald stuck Ellen Marie Schenker head on ... killing her and injuring her son Tommy.
The accident happened just seven hours after he was released from jail for drunk driving.
State police found alcohol in his car.
Witnesses today said his blood alcohol was WELL within the legal limit.
His attorneys say the wreck was the result of medication ... not drunk driving.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 37:56 - 38:05]
((DAVID NIXON: WE THINK THAT WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE IS HE MERELY PASSED OUT, HE FAINTED AT THE WHEEL DUE TO THE LIBRIUM HE WAS PRESCRIBED BY A DOCTOR.))
[RUNS:09]
Schenker's husband and sons left the hearing disheartened.
Ron Schenker says: "I'm in total disgust that the man is now walking free that killed my wife because a judge didn't check a box that said he was convicted.... Courts work on technicalities and guilty people go free."))
(-------------)
[LIVE=Marya/FULL MB SET]
Prosecutors said that they MIGHT seek charges again with a grand jury again after taking another look at the case.
Fitzgerald's attorneys said today's hearing exonerated him.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Shannon & Marya /MB SET;]
Shannon?
[Ferrell]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-03 TC1:03:18]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Bedford County's prosecutor says he has *not* made a decision whether to press charges against a woman who allegedly shot herself but told police she'd been shot by a stranger.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co./March 20]
44- year- old Linda Ferrell walked into the China Royal restaurant on March 20th and told employees an unidentified white male had shot her in the chest.
Police from three jurisdictions responded to search for the suspect, but it was later determined Ferrell had tried to commit suicide.
Commonwealth's attorney Randy Krantz says Ferrell is still undergoing a psychiatric evaluation and he's not sure whether she'll be found competent to stand trial.
If she is, Ferrell could be charged with filing a false police report.
(------------)
[Advance-Auto]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=jmi]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=Advance Auto]
A local company has been named to the Fortune one thousand list.
Roanoke Valley's Advance Auto Parts is listed as number 578 in the nation-wide business magazine.
The company went public last year and now has 24-hundred stores in 38 states.
Advance placed below Reader's Digest and above Scientific America on the list.
[Stocks]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Stocks fell amidst worries that rising tensions in the Middle East could slam the brakes on the economic recovery as oil prices soar.
[TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE]
[RUNS=:30]
[SUPER=x5000;]
[SUPER=440-y/115.42/10198.29/y/20.05/1784.35;]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
The DOW dropped 115 points.
NASDAQ fell 20.
(-------------)
[VO]
[SUPER=271-i/1.15/43.85/i/0.02/46.18/i/0.49/68.26/i/0.69/20.31/i/0.03/6.95;]
[SUPER=272-i/0.23/64.97/i/1.02/52.51/i/0.35/36.75/i/0.97/22.11/i/0.33/44.07;]
[SUPER=273-h/0.01/22.01/i/0.77/21.95/h/0.02/1.02/h/0.24/53.30//Unchg/13.75;]
[SUPER=274-i/0.96/65.91/i/0.19/73.03/h/0.10/45.50/i/0.25/36.20/i/0.33/58.60;]
[SUPER=#555; Reset]
[Flood-Aid]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=02-06 TC1:06:56]
[GRAPHIC=Flood Relief]
Nine Southwest Virginia communities ravaged by last month's floods will be getting federal disaster assistance.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-Last Month]
President Bush has granted a major disaster declaration for Dickinson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington and Wise counties as well as the city of Norton.
The disaster declaration makes grants and loans available for eligible residents and businesses to cover uninsured losses and to pay for repairs.
It also makes housing assistance available.
The federal government will also help pay for efforts to prevent future flood damage.
(------------)
[ITT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=02-08 TC1:01:14]
[GRAPHIC=None]
It's a light in the dark for local law enforcement officials...
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
The Roanoke City Police department received a dozen night vision goggles and support equipment from I-T-T Industries Night Vision today.
It's a part of the area's multi-jurisdictional Homeland Defense Initiative that connects police and business.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT - 47:04]
[IN Q=I think it also sends...]
((JOE GASKINS/ROANOKE CITY POLICE CHIEF; I THINK IT ALSO SENDS A MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE COUNTRY THAT WE IN POLICING CAN PUT TOGETHER A HOMELAND DEFENSE PROGRAM, BUT IT'S MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE WHEN EVERYBODY GETS INVOLVED, AND CONTRIBUTES IN THEIR OWN WAY.))
[SUPER=01-Joe Gaskins/Roanoke Police Chief;]
[RUNS=15]
[OUT Q=contributes in their own way.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The night vision equipment will be housed at the Roanoke City Police Department, but will be made available for other law enforcement agencies if needed.
(------------)
[Sports Tease]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Coming up tonight on the Big 7, we'll have the latest from Radford University as the Highlanders look to lock up leaders for their men's and women's basketball programs.
Sarah Hicks gets a shot at the WNBA.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
And Steve Mason visits tonight with Avalanche manager Stu Cole after day one of the team's Salem workouts.
(------------)
[S-Tech]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-120 5455TC]
[GRAPHIC=RADFORD HOOPS]
Radford University is in a unique situation this spring in that the school is trying to replace both its men's and women's head basketball coach.
News 7 Sports has learned tonight that one of the jobs has been filled the other is close to being finalized.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Charlottesville/This Season; :00]
Dave Dickerson, the top assistant on the national champion Maryland Terrapins is one of four finalists for the men's job.
Dickerson has been at Maryland for 6 years, and is considered a tremendous recruiter.
He is a former assistant coach at Radford, as well.
(------------)
[TALENT=MIKE]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD RU]
The other finalists include former Highlander Chris Hawkins, who for the past two years has been coaching at the University of Buffalo. He has been on campus today.
Byron Samuels, who served on the RU staff this season went through the interview process yesterday.
And tomorrow Mike Sutton will be on campus. Sutton is in his 5th season at Kentucky as Tubby Smith's right hand man.
The men's coaching situation should be finalized by next Thursday.
As for the women's search - we have learned that tomorrow Jeri Porter will be named the Highlanders women's basketball coach.
She comes from the University of North Alabama, where in just her second season she was named coach of the year in the Gulf South Conference.
She also has tremendous local ties. She was a superstar player and an assistant coach at Liberty University.
[S-AVS]
[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-119 40:41]
[GRAPHIC=Avalanche]
The Salem Avalanche ticket sales for the 2002 season are up from last season. Steve Mason checks in with the Avs as they begin practice at Salem Memorial.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=@Steve1; :00]
[SUPER=01-Stu Cole/Salem Avalanche Manager; :22]
[RUNS=1:30]
[OUT Q=....News 7 sports"]
(------------)
[S-Express]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=EXPRESS/TITANS]
After giving their all, but having little to show for their efforts last night, the Roanoke Express steps back on the ECHL hardwater tonight for game two of its best of five series with Trenton.
Last night Roanoke's defense allowed just 22 shots, but lost game one 2-to-1.
[S-Hicks]
[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-114 1:31:56]
[GRAPHIC=WNBA]
The WNBA will take a close look at former Lord Botetourt star and Virginia Tech senior Sarah Hicks. She is among the top college seniors that will gather next week in Chicago for the 2002 WNBA pre draft camp which runs from April 11th through the 13th.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/Hokies vs. Huskies; :00]
WNBA coaches will evaluate Hicks and the other players attending. Hicks was a third team All-Big East selection for the Hokies this season. She completed her college career with one thousand, 92 points and a school record 157 three pointers. She averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds over four years.
(------------)
[S-Kodak]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-110]
[GRAPHIC=TEXAS]
After a week off the Winston Cup circuit returns to action in Roanoke, Texas later this week.
[GRAPHIC=MARTINSVILLE]
Earlier in the week a number of teams tested at Martinsville including Mike Skinner and the Abingdon based Morgan McClure race team.
A team that has struggled mightily the last three seasons, and is trying to recover.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=I SEE LIGHT...]
[SUPER=01-Mike Skinner/31st In Points Standings; :00]
[RUNS=:43]
[OUT Q=...LITTLE TIME."]
(--------------)
by SS