WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 01/28/03

[7-11Wythe-Plant]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=02-50 TC57:55]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The state says more research is needed before Duke Energy can move forward with its plans to build a proposed power plant in Wythe County.
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]
The company wants to build the natural- gas fired plant next to the New River Trail State Park. A hearing examiner with the State Corporation Commission is concerned with Duke's plan to use an abandoned mine as a source of cooling water for the facility's gas turbines.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[ss=None]
The water would come from the Austinville Mine which has been closed for 20- years. According to the state, the water is contaminated with excessive levels of zinc and lead. The hearing examiner would also like more research on the economic impact the 250- million dollar facility would have on the area.

[7-11Boty-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-03 TC24:37]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Fire]

Authorities are still trying to find out what caused a deadly house fire in Botetourt County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :19]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co.;]
Officials say the bodies of a man and two children were pulled from this house on Catawaba Road. Fire engulfed the log home around two yesterday morning. Cold air and wind made the blaze difficult to battle. A woman who lives across the street says the family re-located to the area from Texas about a month ago.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:04:27]
[IN Q=it was]
((ANNETTE SUMPTER/NEIGHBOR; IT WAS YELLOW AND ORANGE SO I CALLED 9-1-1 AND I WOKE MY HUSBAND UP AND I RAN IN THE YARD BUT IT WAS TOO LATE, TOO MUCH SMOKE TOO MUCH FIRE TO MANY FLAMES IT WAS THE WORST FIRE I EVER SAW.))
[SUPER=01-Annette Sumpter/Neighbor;]
[RUNS=:17]
[OUT Q=I EVER SAW.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Fire officials are still investigating the cause and are not releasing identities until autopsies are done. The man's wife and mother of the children was in Texas at the time of the blaze. Officials say she has been notified and is on her way to Virginia.
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[7-11Tech-Simulator]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=502-05 TC2:06:25]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Imagine a driving test that doesn't require a car...
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;]

That is something researchers at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia hope will one day be possible with a new driving simulator.
The simulator uses a 50-inch plasma screen to create a virtual driving experience.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 57:07]
[IN Q=THE SIMULATOR]
((JOHN CASALI/VT INDUSTRIAL & SYSTEMS ENGINEERING: THE SIMULATOR ALLOWS YOU TO PRESENT THAT DRIVING SCENARIO TO A PERSON BEING TESTED AND ACTUALLY MEASURE THIER PERFORMANCE TO SEE HOW WELL THEY'VE DONE. AND THEN YOU CAN DEVELOP A PASS, FAIL CRITERIA THAT WOULD DETERMINE IF THEY SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO FORWARD WITH THEIR LICENSE 57:25))
[SUPER=01-John Casali/VT Industrial & Systems Engineering;]
[RUNS=:18]
[OUT Q=WITH THEIR LICENSE]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Researchers say, for now, the simulator will be used at U-V-A to test drivers' reactions to dangerous situations.

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

[45-11XGR]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=02-54 TC26:57]
[GRAPHIC=I-73]

Southwest Virginia lawmakers are not seeing eye-to-eye on a bill to help property owners along the proposed route for Interstate 73.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape]

I-73 is projected to cut through Roanoke City, as well as Roanoke, Franklin and Henry Counties.
With construction still years away, Rocky Mount Delegate Allen Dudley says property owners along the proposed route who want to sell may be unable to.
So Dudley wants to use federal funds to begin buying right-of-ways along the corridor.
But Roanoke lawmakers say there may not be enough money to go around.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 01:36:44]
[IN Q=THE EVIL HERE IS]
((DEL. CHIP WOODRUM/D-ROANOKE: THE EVIL HERE THOUGH IS YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE SOME PEOPLE SOME MONEY WHO WANT IT BUT OTHERS WHO MIGHT WANT IT ARE GOING TO BE DENIED. YOU'RE CREATING A TERRIBLE PROBLEM.)) ((DEL. WARD ARMSTRONG/D-MARTINSVILLE: TO THE EXTENT THERE'S ANY MONEY AVAILABLE AND TO THE EXTENT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SELL THEIR LAND, THEY SHOULD BE PERMITTED TO DO SO.))
[SUPER=@Woodrum; :00]
[SUPER=@Armstrong; :11]
[RUNS=:22]
[OUT Q=PERMITTED TO DO SO.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The House of Delegates approved the bill yesterday.
But it is still uncertain whether federal funds for the pilot project will be available.
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[45-Abortion-Bills]

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

Bills to require parents' consent for underage girls to have abortions and three other abortion-related bills easily cleared the first hurdle in the General Assembly.
The measures that would restrict abortion sailed through the House Courts of Justice Committee yesterday.

They're now on their way to a floor vote. [45-11Yopp]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=02-47 TC1:27:37]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A Franklin County woman will not serve prison time for keeping her daughter in a cage.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Rocky Mount/May 2002; QUICK!!!!]

Rosa Yopp was convicted of felony child neglect last month.
Her husband is already serving a year in prison.
In May, investigators found the Yopp's three-year-old daughter caged in the bottom of a bunk bed.
The girl and her sister are now in foster care.
The judge ordered Yopp to have NO contact with them, except under supervision.
(------------)

[45-11Rke-Cement]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Four workers were injured in an accident at the Roanoke Cement plant. It happened Sunday afternoon.
A spokesman for the company that owns the Botetourt County plant says all four suffered burns.
One had burns severe enough to require treatment at the University of Virginia hospital.
The incident has not affected plant operations; it's shut down for an annual overhaul.

[8-11Roanoke-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-02 TC12:03]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Invest.]

A Salem man who was stabbed to death Sunday night was a native of Vietnam. He moved to Roanoke with his wife and son five years ago.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

40- year- old Thanh Quang Ha (TAHN KWANG HA) was stabbed repeatedly during an altercation outside American Nails on Williamson Road.
Danny Zongker says his friend was a respected member of the local Vietnamese community.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 12:04:16]
[IN Q=He know every Vietnamese here]
((HE KNOW EVERY VIETNAMESE HERE. AND HE HANG AROUND LIKE A BROTHER YOU KNOW. HE LIKE A BROTHER. AND I FEEL SORRY FOR HIS WIFE.))
[SUPER=01-Danny Zongker/Thanh Quang Ha's Friend]
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=feel sorry for his wife.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Police have charged 32- year- old (DUHN HWANG FAHM) of Den Hoang Pham of Roanoke with murder.
He is being held in the Roanoke City Jail without bond.
(------------)

[8-11Boty-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-03 TC24:37]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Fire]

Still no word on what led to yesterday's fatal house fire in Botetourt County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :19]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co.;]
Officials say the bodies of a man and two children were pulled from this house on Catawaba Road. Fire engulfed the log home around two yesterday morning. Cold air and wind made the blaze difficult to battle. A woman who lives across the street says the family re-located to the area from Texas about a month ago.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:04:27]
[IN Q=it was]
((ANNETTE SUMPTER/NEIGHBOR; IT WAS YELLOW AND ORANGE SO I CALLED 9-1-1 AND I WOKE MY HUSBAND UP AND I RAN IN THE YARD BUT IT WAS TOO LATE, TOO MUCH SMOKE TOO MUCH FIRE TO MANY FLAMES IT WAS THE WORST FIRE I EVER SAW.))
[SUPER=01-Annette Sumpter/Neighbor;]
[RUNS=:17]
[OUT Q=I EVER SAW.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Fire officials are still investigating the cause and are not releasing identities until autopsies are done. The man's wife and mother of the children was in Texas at the time of the blaze. Officials say she has been notified and is on her way to Virginia.
(------------)

[8-11Wythe-Plant]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=02-50 TC57:55]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The state says more research is needed before Duke Energy gets the green light on plans to build a proposed power plant in Wythe County.
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]
The company wants to build the natural- gas fired plant next to the New River Trail State Park. A hearing examiner with the State Corporation Commission is concerned with Duke's plan to use an abandoned mine as a source of cooling water for the facility's gas turbines.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[ss=None]
The water would come from the Austinville Mine which has been closed for 20- years. According to the state, the water is contaminated with excessive levels of zinc and lead. The hearing examiner would also like more research on the economic impact the 250- million dollar facility would have on the area.
[Mornin' Promo]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
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[SOT]
[IN Q=Tomorrow on]
[RUNS=03]
[OUT Q=News 7 Mornin']
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[VO-NAT]

They're interest in history produced a big screen opportunity. We'll talk to two re-enactors and a historial consultant who helped bring the civil war drama "God and Generals" to life. Their story
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[Closing Animation] [Kim AT DESK] (------------) Tomorrow on News 7 Mornin'.