WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 02/12/03

[7-11County-Supers]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=02-49 TC1:32:32]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The Roanoke County Supervisors have approved ten additional positions for the county's fire and rescue department.

The decision will bring career personnel to Catawba, and add to the staffing at Hollins.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.]

Butch Church argued that Catawba deserved a shorter response time than crews based at Mason's Cove are able to deliver.
And Richard Flora said the Hollins station needs help because it's now the busiest in the county.
The supervisors ultimately approved the equivalent of ten full time positions... making permanent four positions assigned to Mason's Cove last May, adding three new career staff at Catawba, and another three to help Hollins meet heavy demand.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 03:20:47]
[IN Q=This is not political]
((BUTCH CHURCH/ROANOKE CO. SUPERVISOR; THIS IS NOT POLITICAL. THIS IS FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE. I DON'T CARE IF YOU PUT US ALL OUT IN A FIELD AND DON'T GIVE US TERRITORY AT ALL. WE'RE TAKING CARE OF THE PEOPLE.))
[SUPER=@Church;]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=taking care of the people.]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The additional help won't arrive quickly.
The county must hire recruits and send them to the training academy.
It could be late fall before they are on the job.

[7-11Derailment]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=03-02 TC24:18]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A train derailment in Pulaski County leaves Norfolk Southern investigators searching for a cause.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski Co.;]
It happened around three-thirty yesterday morning near the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. The train was carrying limestone and grain, when 13-cars and three locomotives fell off the track. Haz-mat crews were called to clean up a small oil leak, but officials say overall the accident did NOT cause any serious health concerns. The two people operating the train were slightly hurt and taken to a local hospital where they were treated and released. Officials say they have no reason to believe the derailment was a terrorist attack.
(------------)

[7-11XGR]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=02-51 TC1:22:02]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A bill to toughen Virginia's seat belt laws is getting another chance behind the wheel.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

The House Transportation Committee voted 11 to 10 yesterday to make failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense.

That means the police can stop and ticket you for not buckling up.
Currently, they can only do that if you're pulled over for something else.
The primary seat belt law had been defeated by the same committee earlier in the session.
The bill also increases the penalty for failure to wear a seat belt.
The legislation now goes to the floor of the House of Delegates for a vote.
(------------)

[45-11Diesel-Fuel]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=02-47 TC1:48:16]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A drastic increase in diese1 prices has some truck drivers asking questions.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :21]
[SUPER=03-Troutville;]
Local truck stops are charging close to "a dollar seventy" a gallon with bulk fuel rates at about a dollar sixty-six.

This time last year, truckers were paying about a dollar fifteen.
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
The fuel manager with a Roanoke trucking company says the price of diesel has gone up 20-cents over the past three days. The hike has some drivers talking about going on strike.
(///// SOT at :21 /////)
[SOT 1:04:43-1:05:05]
[IN Q=You have owner/operators...]
((CHARLIE STEVENS/FLEETMASTER EXPRESS FUEL MANAGER: YOU HAVE OWNER/OPERATORS THAT ARE PRETTY MUCH A BUSINESS THEMSELVES... IF THEY DECIDE TO STOP RUNNING, THEY'RE GONNA STOP RUNNING. AS FAR AS US, AS A COMPANY, I DON'T THINK IT'S ANY BIG POSSIBILITY 'CAUSE WE PAY FOR THE FUEL SO IT'S NOT COMING OUT OF THEIR POCKETS, IT'S COMING OUT OF OURS.))
[SUPER=01-Charlie Stevens/Fleetmaster Express Fuel Manager;]
[RUNS=:22]
[OUT Q=coming out of ours.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT :10]
Still, Stevens says, should the price of diesel continue to climb, Fleetmaster may have to raise the fuel surcharge it passes onto its customers.
(------------)

[45-Child-Abuse]

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

A Roanoke woman faces two counts of child abuse after her children were found with illegal drugs in their systems.

On Sunday, 32-year old Tonya Gordon was having a dispute with a male acquaintance in the presence of her 3-year-old and 5-year-old sons when the police were called.
Officers confiscated drug paraphanalia and cash.
Child protective services placed the children in foster care, and they're said to be doing fine.
Gordon was also charged with obstruction of justice and possession of a controlled substance.
She was released on a three-thousand dollar bond, with a trial date in April.

[45-11Welfare-Fraud]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-]
[GRAPHIC=None]

It's reportedly been years since a welfare fraud case has been prosecuted in the city of Lynchburg. That changed yesterday in circuit court.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

56-year-old Cheryl Yvonne Mays pleaded guilty to receiving more than two thousand dollars worth of food stamps she wasn't entitled to.
Fraud investigator Deborah Matteucci (mah-TOO-chee) says cases like this can be labor intensive and difficult to present to a judge or jury.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 22:35:27]
[IN Q=The mechanics of]
((DEBORAH MATTEUCCI/WELFARE FRAUD INVESTIGATOR: THE MECHANICS OF IT AND ACTUALLY GETTING EVERYTHING THE WAY IT NEEDED TO BE FOR THE COURT CASES ENUMERATED, COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE, THERE WASN'T ANYTHING AS A PROTOTYPE SO IT WAS INVENTING THE WHEEL AND IT TOOK A BIT LONGER.))
[SUPER=01-Deborah Matteucci/Welfare Fraud Investigator]
[RUNS=13]
[OUT Q=a bit longer.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Matteucci has been investigating welfare fraud for three years.
This was her first case to go to court.
Mays will be sentenced in April.
(------------)

[8-11Derailment]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=03-02 TC24:18]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Investigators from Norfolk Southern are still trying to determine the cause of a train derailment in Pulaski County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski Co.;]
It happened around three-thirty yesterday morning near the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. The train was carrying limestone and grain, when 13-cars and three locomotives fell off the track. Haz-mat crews were called to clean up a small oil leak, but officials say overall the accident did NOT cause any serious health concerns. The two people operating the train were slightly hurt and taken to a local hospital where they were treated and released. Officials say they have no reason to believe the derailment was a terrorist attack.
(------------)

[8-11Poindexter]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=02-53 TC46:49]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Invest.]
Jermaine Poindexter was identified as a suspect in last year's fatal fire at Hurt Park. And it was the suspects mother who identified him.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/May]

The victim, Alice Diane Jackson, was found dead inside her apartment on 18th Street with her hands bound behind her back.
Her two young children later died of smoke inhalation. An affidavit filed in federal court yesterday says Poindexter's mother, Peggy Helms, came forward within days of the fire, saying her son was responsible.
The A-T-F also credits her with providing information that led to Poindexter's arrest last month in Louisville.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[SS=HOLD]
Yesterday, her other son allegedly threatened to burn down her home and kill her. He'll appear before a U-S Magistrate today.

[8-AM-City-Schools]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Snow days will no longer mean that after school activities are cancelled in Roanoke.
The Superintendent...
(------------)
[VO-NAT :19]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]

...of Schools changed a blanket cancellation policy when it comes to weather and after school activities. The long-time policy said when classes were canceled, activities would automatically be postponed. But with many recent snow days, the Superintendent proposed it be changed and with no opposition, it went into effect.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 15:01:21]
[IN Q=what we're]
((ANNIE HARMAN/ROANOKE SCHOOLS STUDENT SERVICES; WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS A GAME BY GAME, ACTIVITY BY ACTIVITY CANCELLATION WITH WE'LL HAVE TO DETERMINE HOW THE ROADS ARE HOW THE PARKING LOTS ARE THE SIDEWALKS WHAT FUTURE ROAD AND WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE.))
[SUPER=01-Annie Harman/Roanoke Schools Student Services;]
[RUNS=:14]
[OUT Q=CONDITIONS ARE]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Other factors are how far a team may have to travel, if a school is on a major interstate or side road and the cancellation policy at that facility. The Superintendent is also considering how to make up missed class time due to snow days. He says it may involve having school over Spring Break.
(------------)