WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 09/17/02

[7-11Drought]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=02-28 TC1:14:10]
[GRAPHIC=Drought]
The weekend rain merely put a dent in our water problems - The National Weather Service says the rain we got is not nearly what we need.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;]

The Weather Service reports about one to three inches of rain fell across the area over the weekend-- enough to help the drought situation short-term, but, not nearly enough to make it go away.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 3:21]
[IN Q=we're looking]
((STEVE NOGUEIRA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: WE'RE LOOKING AT MANY MANY MONTHS OF BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL, THE ONLY WAY WE'RE GOING TO STRAIGHTEN THAT OUT IS WITH MANY MONTHS OF ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL.))
[SUPER=01-Steve Nogueira/National Weather Service;]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=normal rainfall]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Officials say over the last 20-months, the total rainfall for our area is about 32-inches below the average.
But, because we've been in a dry period for so long, they say we should enter a wetter period sometime in the near future, possibly this winter.
(------------)

[WIPE WIPE WIPE WIPE]

[7-11Cove]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=02-35 TC31:22]
[GRAPHIC=None]

[WIPE WIPE WIPE WIPE]

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Carvins Cove]
Meanwhile, Carvins Cove has lost 77 percent of its capacity. It is holding steady at 33-point-2 feet below the top of the dam.
Officials say the rain the past couple of days may bring the cove's feeder creeks up a bit.
So, the water level in the reservoir could go up slightly.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[SS=Water Restrtictions]

Meanwhile, city officials say they don't anticipate tougher water restrictions.
City manager Darlene Burcham told city council today she is impressed with residents' conservation. And she said the city continues to develop other sources of water.

[7-11Officer-Hit]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=02-]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Police are looking for the driver who struck a Roanoke City officer with his vehicle last night.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Officers were responding to a shooting call at a home in the 18-hundred block of Center Avenue Northwest around 10:30 last night.
Police were at the front and back of the house when a car pulled into the driveway.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The officers told]
((LT. BILL BEASON/ROANOKE POLICE DEPT.; THE OFFICERS TOLD HIM THEY WOULD LIKE TO TALK TO HIM A MINUTE. HE GOT BACK INTO THE CAR, PUT IT IN GEAR AND DROVE DIRECTLY AT THE THREE OFFICERS WE HAD BACK THERE. AT THAT TIME, ONE OF OUR OFFICERS WAS STRUCK IN THE LEG.))
[SUPER=01-Lt. Bill Beason/Roanoke Police Dept.]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=was struck in the leg.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The driver hit another car parked near the house and took off.
The officer who was hit was not seriously injured, though he was taken to an area hospital.
The shooting call turned out to be a false report.
(------------)

[7-Bassett]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-23 TC1:54:43]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A big promotion for a local company has some people sitting pretty.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bassett;]
Yesterday Bassett Furniture introduced "The Big Chair"- a new promotional tool. The chair will travel the country to openings of Bassett Furniture Direct stores. Its first stop this weekend is Texas, where four stores are opening. The chiar is big-- it weights five thousand pounds.
It took ten people five months to make it. This is not the first time Bassett has built big.... in 19-58 it created a big chair for a customer. It still stands in Washington D.C.
(------------)

[45-11Missing-Girl]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=02-36 TC43:25]
[GRAPHIC=Jennifer Short]
Authorities in Henry County are asking for the public's help to find a man they say harassed Jennifer Short's mother.

Investigators say a man confronted Mary Short while she was working at Pluma ten years ago... and that the man had to be forcibly removed.
They NOW say the man was spotted outside the plant several other times in a white pickup truck.
Employees didn't remember his name, but they helped create two sketches of the man.
Those are not being made public.
(+++++++++++)
[TAKE PINNACLE]
If you have any information, you're asked to call 276 - 638 - 8751.
Meanwhile, authorities say an obscene answering machine message is apparently NOT related to the murders OR the kidnapping.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The obscene message was left on the family's answering machine for Mary Short two days before the couple was killed and their daughter was snatched from her bed.
[SUPER=04-File Tape;]

Sheriff Frank Cassell would not disclose WHO left the message... but says investigators identified the person through phone records.
Cassell says the caller has been ruled out as a suspect.
(------------)

[45-Campbell-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Invest.]

A third suspect has been taken into custody for the murder of a Campbell County man last month.
Authorities arrested a 17-year old male yesterday morning.
Theycharged him with murder and the use of a firearm in the killing of 26-year old Tony O'Brien Stone August 13th.

Two other men have also been charged with Stone's murder.
Authorities say the motive appears to have been robbery.

[45-11Angelone]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=02-33 TC59:42]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The director of the Commonwealth's prison system is calling it quits.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Wise Co./File Tape]

Ron Angelone, the architect of the state's two super-maximum prisons in Wise County, announced his retirement earlier this year.
The often-controversial prison chief has been on the job for eight-and-a-half years.
A department spokesman says Angelone spent the day cleaning out his office and saying goodbye to staff.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 11:25:57]
((ATTORNEY GENERAL JERRY KILGORE: HE'S DONE A FANTASTIC JOB IN REDUCING ASSAULTS ON STAFF AND OUR PRISONS AND MAKING OUR PRISONS THE SAFEST IN THE NATION. THE ESCAPE RATE WAS NEGLIGIBLE IN HIS LAST FEW YEARS IN OFFICE WHICH IS A GREAT RECORD TO LEAVE UNDER. HE'S LEAVING THE DEPARTMENT IN A LOT BETTER SHAPE THAN HE FOUND IT.))
[SUPER=@Kilgore]
[RUNS=:20]
[OUTQ=than he found it.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Angelone plans to remain in Richmond in semi-retirement, perhaps serving as an expert witness and doing part-time work for other prison systems.
Governor Mark Warner's spokeswoman says the governor is "very close" to naming a new prisons director.
(------------)

[8-Rail-Service]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=02-]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Supporters of passenger rail service are crossing their fingers that the TransDominion Express will soon link Bristol and Richmond, Lynchburg and Washington, DCTERMS.
They're lobbying Virginia lawmakers, and also looking toward the Pacific Northwest.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 02:15:54]
[IN Q=It is impressive]
((KAY STRICKLAND/TDE COMMITTEE MEMBER: IT IS IMPRESSIVE HOW THEIR RAIL PASSENGER SERVICE HAS REALLY GROWN IN THE LAST 10 YEARS AND IT'S PROJECTED TO HAVE PHENOMENAL GROWTH.))
[SUPER=01-Kay Strickland/TDE Committee Member]
[RUNS=:09]
[OUT Q=have phenomenal growth.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Backers of the TransDominion Express recently visited Oregon and Washington State to ride the Amtrak Cascades.

The train features modern equipment and european style coaches. And on most trips there are few empty seats.
Passenger rail advocates say the state-financed, Amtrak- operated service is an excellent model for Virginia.
(//////////////////)
[SOT 02:19:39]
[IN Q=They started with one train a day]
((ROBERT MANETTA/CARILION HEALTH SYSTEM: THEY STARTED WITH ONE TRAIN A DAY. NOW THEY'RE MAKING HARD PLANS FOR HAVING ONE TRAIN AN HOUR, GOING ALL UP AND DOWN THAT CORRIDOR. WITH 85 PERCENT OCCUPANCY, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A HELL OF A SUCCESS.))
[SUPER=01-Robert Manetta/Carilion Health System;]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=a hell of a success.]
(----------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Given the state's budget problems, additional funding will be hard to come by next year.
But more planning is required, and advocates believe they will have the support of lawmakers when the funding becom

es available.[8-11Dutch-Inn]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-37 TC21:37]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Earlier this year a fire destroyed a local landmark - now the structure has been rebuilt and is back on its feet once again.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :19]
[SUPER=03-Collinsville;]
Collinsville's Dutch Inn is once again a full service hotel, restaurant and lounge. Parts of the location opened earlier this month.
[SUPER=04-March 2001;]
The Inn was closed for 17-months after a fire last March. Officials say renovations are making the business more modern and more accomodating for larger groups.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 23:08:13 /BUTT/ 23:09:41]
[IN Q=I THINK]
((PAT FLINT/RESTAURANT MANAGER; I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF EXCITEMENT WITH THE REOPENING BECAUSE WE'VE REALLY HAD GREAT BUSINESS. // WE STARTED SELLING GIFT CERTIFICATES LIKE 3 MONTHS BEFORE WE OPENED AND THAT WAS SO ENCOURAGING TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE WERE REALLY READY FOR US TO BE BACK.))
[SUPER=01-Pat Flint/Restaurant Manager; :05]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=US TO BE BACK.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Flint says regular customers are back. The Dutch Inn had been operating in Collinsville for over 30-years. It's back just in time to serve fans coming to Nascar's race at Martinsville in October.
(------------)

[8-Bassett]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Am Cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-23 TC1:54:43]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A big celebration is following a big piece of furniture all over the nation...
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bassett;]
Yesterday, Bassett Furniture introduced "The Big Chair"- a new promotional tool. The chair will travel the country to openings of Bassett Furniture Direct stores. Its first stop this weekend is Texas where four stores are opening. The chiar is big- it weighs five thousand pounds.
It took ten people and five months to make it. This is not the first time Bassett has built big.... in 19-58 it created a big chair for a customer. It still stands in Washington D.C. (------------)