[45-1181-Wreck]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=02-12 TC1:10:34]
[GRAPHIC=81 Accident]
What exactly happened in Wednesday's 40-car pile up in Salem will take a few days to sort out.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;]
Two people remain in the hospital -- one man with a broken collarbone and another with severe cuts to his face.
Six others were treated and released.
Right now, state police attribute the accidents to rain-slicked roads and motorists who were following too close.
They say some motorists may be charged.
Hundreds of other motorists spent hours stuck on the interstate.
V-DOT says that in the future, they'll get advance warning of trouble ahead.
The highway department plans to install several overhead message signs on 81, 581 and 460 by the end of the year.
(------------)
[45-11Warner]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=02-07 TC1:46:00]
[GRAPHIC=None]
You will still be able to get specialized licensed plates in Virginia... despite the recent confederate flag controversy..
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/File Tape]
The state battled the Sons of the Confederate Veterans over the use of the confederate flag logo on the plates... and lost.
Last week the Attorney General's Office decided not to appeal the case further.
Some have been calling for the elimination of the license plates program to prevent future controversy.
[SUPER=04-Yesterday]
Governor Warner said yesterday he has no plans to halt the program because it offers benefits.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:05:37]
[IN Q=SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES DO]
((GOVERNOR MARK WARNER: SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES DO GENERATE FOUR AND ONE-HALF MILLION DOLLARS AND THOSE ARE NEEDED BUDGET REVENUE. AND AS THE U.S.S. COLE SIGNING THE OTHER DAY, THERE ARE CERTAIN AREAS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR MEMORIALIZATION.))
[SUPER=@MarkWarner]
[RUNS=:14]
[OUT Q=APPROPRIATE FOR MEMORIALIZATION.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Warner says he does support improving the process for obtaining the specialty tags.
He thinks members of the General Assembly currently spend too much time reviewing the applications.
(------------)
[45-11Danville-Tourism]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=02-18 TC20:01]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Who should handle tourism in Danville has become a big debate....
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville]
City council held a public hearing on the proposed budget for next year.
One part that's generating a lot of debate is who should handle tourism for the city.
The local Chamber of Commerce is fighting a plan to take all of the city's tourism funding away from the Chamber and give it to the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 12:25:05; 12:20:43]
[IN Q=We feel like tourism]
((BOB CHILDRESS/CHAMBER BOARD MEMBER: WE FEEL LIKE TOURISM SHOULD BE A FULL-TIME RESPONSIBILITY OF SOMEONE WHO THINKS IT, DRINKS IT, EATS IT EVERYDAY AS A OPPOSSED TO BE A LINE ITEM AND PART OF A RECREATION DEPARTMENT.))
((JOHN HAMLIN/DANVILLE MAYOR: WE WILL BE LOOKING AT THAT PROPOSAL AND LOOKING AT WHAT THEY WANT TO OFFER AND THEN COMPARING IT WITH WHAT THE PARKS AND RECREATION AND OUR PRESENT BUDGET SITUATION WOULD DEEM THEM HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE.))
[SUPER=01-Bob Childress/Chamber Board Member; :00]
[SUPER=01-John Hamlin/Danville Mayor; :13]
[RUNS=:23]
[OUT Q=make a choice]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The Chamber is asking for an additional 60 thousand dollars this year added to the 80-thousand the Chamber already receives in tourism funding.
City Council is expected to vote on the proposal at its May 21st meeting.
(------------)
[7-11City-Budget]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=02-08 TC1:46:17]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Three fire department positions will stay in Roanoke's new plan to cut more than a million dollars from its proposed budget.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
The city was already facing a cut in state funding, when officials recently learned that local revenues were lagging as well.
Despite the shortfall, council members moved to reinstate three fire department positions, and they encouraged the city manager to fill vacancies in the police department, if possible.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 03:03:17]
[IN Q=Obviously with less flexibility]
((DARLENE BURCHAM/CITY MANAGER: OBVIOUSLY WITH LESS FLEXIBILITY WE'VE GOT TO CUT SOMETHING, EITHER CUT SOMETHING OR FIND SOME ADDITIONAL REVENUES. AND I DON'T THINK THE LATTER IS GOING TO BE POSSIBLE. ON THE OTHER HAND, I'M APPRECIATIVE OF THE FACT THAT THE BALANCE OF THE BUDGET COUNCIL DID FIND TO BE SATISFACTORY.))
[SUPER=@Burcham]
[RUNS=:19]
[OUT Q=find to be satisfactory.]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[SS=None]
Meanwhile, Council member Bill White says the city must do a better job of collecting and monitoring its local tax revenues. He proposed an audit review board that would examine the city's collections on a monthly basis.
[7-11Pulaski-School]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-06 TC1:51:30]
[GRAPHIC=NOne]
Some parents in Pulaski County are figthing to keep the doors open at one local elementary school.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :18]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski;]
A petition with 2-hundred signatures asks school officials to re-consider a consolidation plan.
School officials want to close Northwood and Claremont Elementary to build a new facility for all students.
But some Northwood parents say they don't want to lose their small, community school.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 58:18:07 // 1:15:55]
[IN Q=they have]
((DONNA DALTON/CONCERNED PARENT; THEY HAVE VERY SMALL CLASS SIZES THEY GET VERY INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION I THINK MAYBE THE LARGEST CLASS MIGHT HAVE 20-CHILDREN IN IT.))
((DON STOWERS/PULASKI CO. SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT; WE HAVE TO THINK OF ALL OF OUR CHILDREN WE HAVE TO CONSIDER ALL THE CHILDREN IN THE COUNTY AND MAKE DECISIONS THAT ARE EQUITABLE FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN.))
[SUPER=01-Donna Dalton/Northwood Elementary Parent; :00]
[SUPER=01-Don Stowers/Pulaski Co. School Superintendent; :09]
[RUNS=:18]
[OUT Q=ALL OUR CHILDREN.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Stowers says declining enrollment numbers and outdated buildings are why a new facility is a good move.
The school board still has to vote to approve the consolidation plan.
(------------)
[7-Civic-Development]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=New Jobs]
Martinsville has a New Jersey-based teleservice firm to thank for creating 125-new jobs.
Civic Development says it will add 75-positions at its facility on Lavinder Street and 50 more through an affiliate, Millennium Telemarketing.
The city's Economic Development Director, Tom Harned, says the move "confirms to other companies that they can maintain a quality workforce in Martinsville."
[8-11Bridge-Suicide]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-09 TC1:33:26]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The suicide of a Lynchburg woman last year is prompting an investigation into whether health professionals could have done more to prevent it.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
48- year- old Theresa Wilkerson jumped to her death from the bridge last August.
The Department of Rights for Virginians with Disabilities issued a report last week claiming local mental health professionals ignored or misdiagnosed Wilkerson's suicidal tendencies.
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg;]
Now the state Mental Health Department is reopening its investigation into her death.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 20:02:53]
[IN Q=I hope they find]
((DON WILKERSON/SUICIDE VICTIM'S FATHER: I HOPE THEY FIND THE TRUTH. I'D LIKE FOR EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE UNITED STATES TO KNOW... ...GO THROUGH THIS.))
[SUPER=01-Don Wilkerson/Suicide Victim's Father;]
[RUNS=16]
[OUT Q=no more]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Wilkerson's friends and family continue to push the city to erect a higher fence on the Rivermont Bridge to prevent future suicides.
(------------)
[8-7-SCLC-Convention]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=02-16]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The annual Virginia Southern Christian Leadership Conference has been stirred up by the controversey over who is rightfully the president.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Jack Mills who is white claims he's being discriminated because of his race.
[SUPER=03-Danville; ]
But S-C-L-C board members disagree saying his conduct prompted them to dump Mills after first nominating him as president.
Mills contends he is still president elect.
But some SCLC members see it a different way.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 1:00:14]
[IN Q=The board can make a recommendation]
((REV. WILLIAM KEEN/INTERIM SCLC PRESIDENT: THE BOARD CAN MAKE A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE STATE OF OFFICERS FOR AN OFFICE TO BE IMPOSITIONED BUT THAT DOESN'T SECURE YOUR ELECTION. YOU HAVE TO BE ELECTED AT THE CONVENTION BY THE CONVENTION MEMBERS.))
[SUPER=01-Rev. William Keen/Interim SCLC President]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=convention members]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The board has since thrown its support behind Danville's William Keen who is currently the interim president.
S-C-L-C hopes to elect a new president this weekend.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=KIM]
[SS=none]
But Jack Mills is not giving up just yet.
He has filed an injunction to halt the state conference and election.
But there is no indication a judge will actually make a decision before that election which is scheduled to take place Saturday morning.
[8-2Open-House]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Building for the Future]
WDBJ invites you to tour our "Building for the Future" this weekend.
(+++++++)
[Take Open House FS]
Our Digital Broadcast Center Open House runs today from 2 until 9, and tomorrow from 9 until 5.
We'll offer autographs and answer your questions about digital television.
Take I-581 in Roanoke to Hershberger Road West.
(--------------)
by SS