WDBJ 7 morning news for 08/07/02

[Van-Dam]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

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

More closing arguments today in the trial of David Westerfield.
He's accused of taking seven- year- old Danielle Van Dam from her bedroom in the middle of the night and killing her.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-San Diego, CA;]

Westerfield's attorney made an emotional appeal to a San Diego jury, telling them to vote their conscience.
Meanwhile, prosecutors finished their closing arguments earlier yesterday afternoon, hammering at the physical evidence against Westerfield.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=They found her]
((JEFF DUSEK/PROSECUTOR:THEY FOUND HER HAIR, DANIELLE VAN DAMME'S HAIR IN HIS BED. ON THE TOP, ON THE BOTTOM SHEET. PROOF BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT? PROOF BEYOND A POSSIBLE DOUBT." ))
[SUPER=01-Jeff Dusek/Prosecutor;]
[RUNS=:08]
[OUT Q=a possible doubt.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Police also found Danielle's blood in Westerfield's home and trailer.
They jury has heard from nearly 100 witnesses.
If convicted, Westerfield could get the death penalty.
(------------)

[11West-Nile]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=02-33 TC06:37]
[GRAPHIC=West Nile Virus]

There are no NEW confirmed cases of West Nile Virus in western Virginia, but health officials were fielding numerous reports of dead birds.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Many of those birds will be evaluated. Local health officials also have plans to work with the Virginia Tech Department of Epidemiology to test adult mosquitos for the presence of the virus.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=With the positive crow ]
((DICK TABB/ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH MANAGER; WITH THE POSITIVE CROW IN PATRICK COUNTY, AWARENESS IS DEFINITELY UP AND WE'VE GOTTEN MANY REPORTS OF DEAD BIRDS. I THINK TODAY WE'VE GOTTEN NINE BIRDS COLLECTED, WHICH IS DEFINITELY A SPIKE.))
[SUPER=01-Dick Tabb/Environmental Health Manager;]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=which is definitely a spike.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

West Nile Virus hasn't been detected in the Roanoke Valley, but health officials say it's probably just a matter of time before cases are confirmed here.
(------------)

[WIPE WIPE WIPE WIPE]

[11Nile-Richmond]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=02-23 TC1:05:27]
[GRAPHIC=]

[WIPE WIPE WIPE WIPE]

(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The arrival of West Nile virus in the region is no reason to panic...so says state health officials.
The virus has been blamed for at least 20 deaths in the country since it first appeared in New York three years ago.
State health officials say despite the virus' deadly potential, most people bitten by an infected mosquito don't even become sick.
They're asking residents who find dead birds on their lawn, not to panic.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 13:47:04]
[IN Q=WE'VE HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE CALL]
[SUPER=01-Bruce Gaines/Virginia Department of Health]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU WEST NILE VIRUS.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Health officials do recommend wearing gloves and double-bagging when disposing of any dead bird.
(------------)

[5-Taliaferro]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=502-01 2:01:13]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A final salute yesterday to the man who helped Salem become the "City of Champions"...
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem;]

About 200 people showed up to pay their last respects to former mayor Jim Taliaferro.
The 22-year leader of City Council was buried in Salem's East Hill Cemetery yesterday morning.
Taliferro died Saturday at the age of 66, after a battle with liver cancer.
At his funeral, he was remembered as a man who got things done for Salem, as well as a family man and avid sportsman.
(///// SOT /////)
[BUMP SOTS]
[IN Q=I call him]
[SOT 1:44:36 - :51]
((KELVIN BOLWES/SALEM AVALANCHE OWNER: I CALL HIM A LEADER. THAT'S WHAT HE WAS ... HE JUST GOT THINGS DONE. AND HE DID SO MANY THINGS. YOU CAN TELL BY THE COMPLEXES THAT WERE SO RIGHTFULLY NAMED AFTER HIM. AND HE DID IT WITHOUT PUTTING THE CITY IN DEBT.))
[SOT 1:40:46 - :54]
((HOWARD PACKETT/SALEM COUNCILMAN: I THINK HE SORT OF MADE US WHAT WE ARE TODAY. SALEM'S UNIQUE AND JIM SORT OF MADE US THAT WAY. THERE WERE A LOT BEFORE HIM AND A LOT AFTER HIM, BUT HE WAS A UNIQUE PERSON.))
[SUPER=01-Kelvin Bowles/Salem Avalanche Owner; :00]
[SUPER=01-Howard Packett/Salem Councilman; :16]
[RUNS=:23]
[OUT Q=a unique person.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Taliaferro's contributions will be felt for decades to come.
He's credited with helping make Salem's school system independent and with getting the city's baseball and football stadiums built.
They were renamed in his honor back in March.
(------------)

[Night-Out]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-28 TC 25:58]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Some Roanoke neighborhoods are fighting crime by getting together... It was all part of National Night Out.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :18]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
Last night, Roanoke Police sponsored community activities at seven locations. The idea is to support anti-crime activities in hopes that the community can help fight crime in their area. More than 50-people joined in the festivities on Melrose Avenue. Officials say it lets the community know people are working to make the area safer.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 5:17:13]
[IN Q=deter crime]
((ESTELLE H. MCCADDEN/PRES., MELROSE RUGBY NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH; DETER CRIME, DETER DRUGS, WHATEVER, AND THIS IS ONE WAY YOU CAN GET PEOPLE TO KNOW WE ARE HERE, GET THEM TO COME OUT AND SEE WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT AND YOU KNOW THIS MAKES FOR A BETTER, I GUESS TOGETHERNESS. ))
[SUPER=01-Estelle H. McCadden/Melrose-Rugby Neighborhood Watch;]
[RUNS=:14]
[OUT Q=TOGETHERNESS.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The night also gave police officers a chance to get out of their patrol cars and get together with local residents. Officers say interacting with people on that level makes them more accessible.
(------------)

[Twins-Update]

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

Doctors in Los Angeles are optimistic about the future of conjoined twins who survived a 22- hour separation surgery.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Los Angeles, CA;]

They say the one- year- old girls from Guatemala made it through the surgery fine.
But doctors won't know for at least a week if the girls suffered any brain damage.
The twins are in critical, but stable condition at the U-C-L-A Medical Center.
They'll be kept sedated for the next few days.
(------------)

[Marketwatch]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=NET]
[GRAPHIC=Business News]

In business news, Cisco Systems managed to beat the street with its quarterly earnings report.
Alexis Christoforous has that story and more in this morning's Marketwatch.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Alexis Christoforous/Reporting; :00]
[RUNS=1:27]
[OUT Q=your local stocks]
((CISCO SYSTEMS COULD HELP SET THE TONE FOR TECH STOCKS TODAY.

(gr)
AFTER THE CLOSING BELL, THE TECHNOLOGY BELLWHETHER POSTED A PROFIT OF 14 CENTS A SHARE.. 2 PENNIES AHEAD OF ESTIMATES.. SALES WERE IN LINE ... CISCO ALSO UPPED ITS STOCK BUYBACK PROGRAM BY MORE THAN DOUBLE TO 8 BLN DOLLARS.

(oc)
CISCO'S CEO JOHN CHAMBERS CALLED THE FOURTH QTR ANOTHER SOLIDQTR DESPITE THE CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT.

(gr)
ALSO AFTER THE BELL, Prudential Financial the second-biggest U.S. life insurer, said profit fell 62 percent last quarter on investment losses and slumping sales of products linked to stocks.

(oc)
CAN WALL STREET BUILD ON YESTERDAY'S POWERFUL RALLY OR WILL THIS PROVE TO BE ANOTHER FALSE START....
SOME INVESTORS PREDICT THE FEDERAL RESERVE WILL CUT INTEREST RATES POSSIBLY AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK TO PREVENT THE ECONOMY FROM SLIPPING INTO RECESSION. THE MARKET ALSO GOT SUPPORT FROM A SURGING DOLLAR AND BUYING INTEREST IN THE TECH AND FINANCIAL SECTORS.

(gr)
AFTER RALLYING OVER 350 POINTS, THE DOW FINISHED WITH A GAIN OF 230..

(gr)
WHILE THE NASDAQ RACED AHEAD 53 POINTS LED HIGHER BY MICROSOFT

(gr)
AND KEEP YOUR EYE ON MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA... MARTHA STEWART HAS REPORTEDLY REFUSED TO BE INTERVIEWED BY A HOUSE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE INSIDER TRADING REGARDING IMCLONE'S STOCK.

(gr)
TRACK ALL THE PRE-MARKET ACTION AT CBS.MW.COM ... AT THE NASDAQ

(oc)
I'M ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS IN NY.))

(tape tosses to stocks)
[STOCKS] [COMM]

[11L'burg-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-35 TC03:00]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Invest.]

Lynchburg police have nabbed the man they say shot and killed a teenager on the street last week.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

35-year-old Gerald Wayne Hubbard was picked up in the 11-hundred block of Court Street Monday night at the end of a brief foot chase.
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg/Last Week; :08]

Police say Hubbard shot 16-year-old Ronrico Robinson in the head the night of July 30th. Robinson died two days later at Lynchburg General Hospital.
Authorities have not discussed a motive for the killing.
Hubbard is being held without bond on murder and firearms charges.
(------------)

[11Bedford-Fatal]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A go-kart accident took the life of a 10-year-old boy from Roanoke.
State police say Dustin Keith Chittum was riding on a private road near Stewartsville on Monday when his vehicle ran into a parked dump truck.
The boy was critically injured and died a few hours later at Carilion-Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
A five-year-old who was riding with him suffered minor injuries.
Neither child had a helmet on.

[6-KB-Toys]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-19 TC1:42:10]
[GRAPHICN=New Jobs]

If you've got some spare time this holiday season, and you'd like to put some spare CHANGE in your pockets, K-B Toys may have the answer.
Steve Smallshaw reports.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=One year after]
[SUPER=03-Pittsylvania Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Ralph Wear/Fulfillment Center Director; :30]
[SUPER=01-Dan Sleeper/Pittsylvania Co. Administrator; 1:10]
[SUPER=@ssm2; 1:28]
[RUNS=1:31]
[OUT Q=News7, Pittsylvania County.]
(( One year after they first moved to Pittsylvania County, K-B Toys is ready to become one of the area's biggest employers.. at least for the next few months.
With the Christmas shopping season fast approaching, K-B Toys needs help.
[natsot 18:06:12]
((AND REALLY, WE ARE SANTA'S LITTLE HELPERS HERE..))
[RUNS= 04]

Last year, they hired 800 seasonal workers to process and ship Internet and phone orders for toys.. this year, they're looking for 14-hundred people.
But company officials say finding enough quality employees should be a piece of cake.
[SOT 18:00:13]
((RALPH WEAR/FULFILLMENT CENTER DIRECTOR: THIS AREA IS BLESSED WITH A LOT OF TALENTED PEOPLE AND I DON'T THINK IT WILL BE ANY PROBLEM WHATSOEVER TO HIRE 1400. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE, I MEAN WE THINK THAT THERE'S A GREAT GROUP OF PEOPLE OUT THERE, A LARGE TALENT POOL AND WE'RE LOOKING TO TAP INTO THAT.))
[RUNS= 17]
[OUT Q=tap into that.]

K-B itself has been a gift to the Southside economy.
Until it bought out the bankrupt E-Toys operation, this 450-thousand square foot plant was silent..
[natsot ]
[RUNS= 02]

Now, more than a hundred year-round employees keep the facility humming.
For a community hit hard by recent layoffs, the advent of new jobs, even temporary ones comes as great news.
[SOT 17:56:59]
((DAN SLEEPER/PITTSYLVANIA CO. ADMINISTRATOR: 1400 NEW JOBS IS A LOT OF JOBS, IT'S A LOT OF TRAFFIC, AND THERE'S GOING TO BE A WHOLE LOT OF CARS, VEHICLES GOING IN AND OUT OF 29 HERE, SO THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS WE WANT TO SEE. ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE COMMUNITY MAKES THE COMMUNITY GROW AND WHEN PEOPLE SEE ACTIVITY, THEY HAVE A TENDENCY TO WANT TO MOVE TOWARDS IT.))
[RUNS= 16]
[OUT Q=move towards it.]

Hiring for the new jobs is already underway.
Steve Smallshaw, News7, Pittsylvania County.))

(Kimberly tosses to bump)

[bump-chyron]

[comm #3]

[11Fitzpatrick]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-27 TC36:25]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The Roanoke City Courthouse is once again home to a judge who served on the bench for 25-years...
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
Yesterday, a ceremony dedicated the atrium of the building to Judge Beverly Fitzpatrick Senior.
[SUPER=04-1996;]
Fitzpatrick passed away two years ago at the age of 80. He's remembered as a compassionate judge and strong civic leader. As a judge he founded the honor court - - a program aimed at giving alcoholics a choice of jail or rehabilitation. In his community.... Fitzpatrick is credited with leading the efforts to save the old Jefferson High School by turning it into the Jefferson Center.
(------------)

[CA-Wildfires]

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

A mountain wildfire east of San Diego, California is growing and forcing more evacuations.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Near San Diego, CA;]

The rural town of Warner Springs had to be partly evacuated.
The blaze was 80- percent contained until it jumped the fire line.
The wildfire's burned through 47- thousand acres, and has destroyed 19 homes.
(------------)

[Evans]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

The tiny actor who played Timmy on the soap ``Passions'' has died. An N-B-C spokeswoman says Josh Ryan Evans died during a medical procedure in San Diego. Evans was three-foot-two. He was born with a rare disease that prevented his body from growing. Evans said he saw his size as an asset because it helped people remember him. Evans also played the young Grinch in Jim Carrey's ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' -- and a nine-year-old lawyer on ``Ally McBeal.'' Josh Ryan Evans was 20.

[11Reyes]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-26 TC46:43]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

Nearly five years after his arrest and prosecution, abortion protester John Reyes (RAY-iss) has lost his legal battle with the city of Lynchburg.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg/File Tape]

Reyes was convicted of trespassing during an anti-abortion rally at E.C. Glass High School in 1997.. he appealed his prosecution based on the premise that the city's parade permit law was unconstitutional.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today denied Reyes' claim for nominal damages because his rights were never violated.
City officials say that also means Reyes' attorney cannot recover any of the legal fees spent pursuing the appeal.

(------------)

[11Dog-Attack]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=502-02 TC1:17:11]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Roanoke police say a pit bull was shot and killed after it confronted an animal control officer.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Police say the dog got out of its pen in the 600 block of Madison Avenue Northwest yesterday afternoon and snapped at the officer, pinning him against the wall of a house.
The officer fired twice, wounding the pit bull. The dog died later at an animal hospital.
Police are reviewing a series of complaints involving the dog, and will consult with the commonwealth's attorney about possible charges. (------------)