[News-Heads]

[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]

Up next on News 7--

A new batch of reservists left the Star City this morning.
Roanoke's National Guard 229th Chemical Company has been called up to active duty.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


And, children of all ages are mourning the loss of a public television icon and good "neighbor" Mr. Rogers.
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[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=LEO]
[SS=None]

A winter storm warning remains in affect as sleet, snow and heavy freezing rain toward southside continues to fall making area roads very slick.. I'll have you forecast.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY 2-Shot]


News 7 at Noon starts right now...

[Video-Open]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=none]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


A cocktail of snow, sleet, and freezing rain are the ingredients for slippery travel.
(----------)
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]


Good Afternoon, I'm Kimberly McBroom.
The winter weather keeps coming, with no relief in sight for the next several hours.
Let's join Metereologist Leo Hirsbrunner now, who's in the weather center with an update.

[Day-Snow]


[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-07 ]
[GRAPHIC=Winter Weather]


The mix of sleet and rain is a nuisance, but it's not causing any major problems on the roads.
VDOT is cautioning motorists to be careful because road are still slick in many spots.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Kimberly/Marya PATIO CAM;]


Marya Jones has been checking conditions around the area and joins us with more.
Kimberly, the major roads are mostly clear now, but the minor roads are still coated in ice and slush.
[LIVE=Marya /FULL]
[SUPER=@Marya1;]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]


But with a snow and sleet getting to be a regular event, a lot of people feel that winter has worn out its welcome.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=NATS shoveling]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
[SUPER=07-Andre Bruno-Deston; QUICK!]
[SUPER=07-Martha Wilcox;]
[SUPER=01-Jerry Shepherd/Home Depot Manager;]
[RUNS=:00]
[OUT Q=driveways or sidewalks.]
(((///// SOT /////)
[SOT]

((NATS: SHOVELING.))
[runs=:02]


The ice meant another day off for Roanoke school kids ... but city employees like Andre Bruno-Deston still had plenty to do.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 2:55:08]

(( I SHOVEL EVERY 30 MIN., THEN TAKE A BREAK. EVERY 30 MINUTES, TAKE A BREAK. ))
[runs=:04]
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]

((nats: scraping windows.))
[runs=:02]


The weekly snow removal ritual is getting to be all-too familiar for Martha Wilcox, who was heading off to work and dropping he daughter off at her parents.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 2:53:00]

(( YOU HAVE TO FIND A BACKUP IF DAYCARES ARE CLOSED... SO I'M FORTUNATE THAT MY FAMILY LIVES HERE SO I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT. ))
[runs=:12]


Interstates and main roads appear to be mostly clear ... but secondary roads are coated with slush and ice.
At Roanoke's Home Depot, there's plent of signs of spring, but not much left to combat the ice.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT ]

((JERRY SHEPHERD: WE'RE OUT, TOTALLY OUT.... ICE MELT DUE IN 2:00. SNOW SHOVELS WE CAN'T GET. PEOPLE RIGHT NOW BUYING ROCK SALT OR SOFTENERS TO PUT ON THEIR DRIVEWAYS OR SIDEWALKS.))
[runs=:14]))
[LIVE= Marya /FULL]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]


At the Roanoke Regional Airport, flights ARE getting in and out and planes are being de-iced, but if you're traveling by plane today, you'll want to check with your airline to make sure it's getting out on time.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Kimberly/Marya;]


Kimberly?

[Mister-Rogers]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Over the years, millions of children wanted to be his neighbor.
Fred Rogers, the man best known as "Mr. Rogers" died this morning of stomach cancer at the age of 74.
Michael Okwu takes a look back at the career of a children's broadcasting legend.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=04-"Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" - PBS; :00]
[SUPER=04-Public Service Announcement; 1:41]
[SUPER=04-Disney Channel; 2:35]
[SUPER=01-Michael Okwu/Reporting; 2:46]
[RUNS=3:00]
[OUT Q=be my neighbor.]

(( PKG

(NATS)

FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS FRED ROGERS INVITED MILLIONS OF CHILDREN TO BE HIS NEIGHBOR. THE PUBLIC TELEVISION SHOW "MISTER ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD" GOT ITS START IN 19-68.

(SOT-)

"IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD"
ALMOST ALWAYS WEARING A SWEATER AND SNEAKERS ROGER'S MESSAGE REMAINED A SIMPLE ONE THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.... TELLING VIEWERS TO LOVE THEMSELVES AND OTHERS. EACH SHOW WOULD TAKE THE AUDIENCE ON A MAGICAL TROLLEY RIDE INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF MAKE BELIEVE. WHICH INCLUDED PUPPETS, ROGERS DOING MANY OF THE VOICES HIMSELF.

(SOT)


ROGERS WAS BORN IN PENNSYLVANIA IN 19-28. WHEN HE FINISHED COLLEGE HE DECIDED TO LAUNCH A CAREER IN THE NEW MEDIUM OF TELEVISION. AFTER A FEW ODD JOBS HE WENT TO WORK FOR THE "CHILDREN'S CORNER" DOING PUPPET VOICES. YEAR'S LATER ROGERS DECIDED TO START HIS OWN SHOW. IN FIVE DECADES "MISTER ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD" WAS WATCHED BY MILLIONS OF CHILDREN AND EVEN BECAME PART OF THE POP CULTURE.

(SOT-EDDIE MURPHY)


ROGERS CALLED EDDIE MURPHY'S SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SPOOF FUNNY AND AFFECTIONATE. IN DECEMBER OF 2000 THE ORDAINED MINISTER TAPED HIS FINAL SHOW. BUT IT CONTINUED IN RE-RUNS. WINNING SEVERAL AWARDS FOR HIS WORK ROGERS ONCE SAID "IT'S NOT THE HONORS AND NOT THE TITLES AND NOT THE POWER THAT IS OF ULTIMATE IMPORTANCE. IT'S WHO RESIDES INSIDE".
ROGERS LEAVES BEHIND HIS WIFE JOANNE, TWO SONS, TWO GRANDSONS AND MILLIONS OF FANS WHO FIND THE NEIGHBORHOOD A LITTLE SADDER TODAY SUSAN MCGINNIS, CBS NEWS, NEW YORK.
))
[Take Web Address Full]
Mister Rogers' website has published a special page today for parents. It suggests ways they can address the topic of Mister Rogers' death with their small children. You can find a link to that page on our website at WDBJ7-dot-com.



[Troops]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=03-07]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Roanoke's 229th Chemical Company is on its way Fort Lee, and from there, it's points unknown.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]

The 229th provides smoke cover to ground troops, as well as decontamination operations in case of a chemical attack.


As approximately 125 men and women prepared for active duty- Terri Fitzwater Palmore and other family members mobilized the chemical companies support group.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=This has been]
[SUPER=07-Terri Fitzwater Palmore;]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=over monthly]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The 229th is one of only six dual purpose chemical companies in the army. They will be on active duty for at least one year with the possibility of another 12 month tour if needed.
(------------)



[Iraq]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]


A lighter color indicates fewer concerns about a terrorist threat.
The Bush administration says it expects the national terror alert to be lowered today from code orange to yellow.

The officials say the conclusion of the Muslim holiday period played a role in the decision.

[Cooper]


[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=]

Cooper Wood Products has been sold.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Rocky Mt.]

The company makes mirror frames and other accessories out of wood. It has been a family-owned business for 50 years.

James Hurd and Wayne Pickurel of a rival company called Real Wood have bought out Cooper. Bill Cooper intends to continue operating Cooper Classics in Wood along with his brother Ashley. In a news release issued this morning, BILL Cooper is quoted as saying, "the employees and community will be well served by the change." It takes effect March first.
(------------)


[Tease1] [HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]


The plans for the next generation of World Trade Centers are unveiled in New York. We'll take a look after the break.
(--------------)
[VO-NAT ]


Plus an explosion in a gas main leaves dozens of people homeless.
(---------------)

[music up full] [comm1]


[South-Korea]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Now that he's started the job, South Korea's new Prime Minister is vowing to work with the U-S to solve the nuclear standoff with North Korea peacefully.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Seoul, South Korea;]


The announcement comes after a report that the North has re- started its nuclear reactor.
U-S officials say the re- activation of a five- megawatt reactor could be the first step toward producing nuclear weapons.
But the South's prime minister says he can't yet confirm that the plant is back on line.
(------------)



[Gas-Explosion]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=Explosions]


An explosion in New Jersey this morning occurred when an out-of-control car crashed into a gas main.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Perth Amboy, NJ;]


Five people were slightly injured, including firefighters and gas company workers.
Nearly 60 others were left homeless.
The early- morning explosion triggered a large fire.
Service on nearby rail lines was suspended for a couple of hours, as inspectors checked the tracks for damage.
The blaze also destroyed a four-story building that housed a coin-operated laundry and several apartments
Authorities say the cause of the car crash is under investigation.
(------------)



[WTC-Plans]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


The World Trade Center site will rise again--
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-New York, NY;]


New York City officials today unveiled a nearly 18- hundred- foot tall angular spire to replace the fallen twin towers.
The winning design by architect Daniel Libeskind (lee-buh-skind) was said to be the personal favorite of Governor George Pataki.
It'll have 70- stories, with gardens in the space above office level.
The cluster of buildings will preserve the "footprints" of the twin towers, and include a memorial to the 28 - hundred people who died in the World Trade Center attack.
(------------)



[Blake]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Nearly two years after his wife's murder, actor Robert Blake will be back in a California courtroom today, as his preliminary hearing continues.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Van Nuys, CA/Yesterday;]


Some of yesterday's most damaging testimony came from a private investigator Blake had hired.
He testified that the actor had discussed killing his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=All I can tell you]

((THOMAS MESEREAU, JR./BLAKE'S ATTORNEY:ALL I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT WE WERE GOING TO CONTINUE TO SHOW CREDIBILITY PROBLEMS WITH THIS CASE, WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE THEY DON'T HAVE THE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH. AND WHEN THINGS ARE OVER, MR. BLAKE IS GOING FREE BECAUSE HE IS NO MURDERER" ))
[SUPER=01-Thomas Mesereau, Jr./Blake's Attorney;]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=no murderer]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


The prosecution, meanwhile, played a tape of an argument Blake was having with Bakley before there were married.
On the tape, Bakely repeatedly refuses Blake's demands that she have an abortion.
A judge will decide today whether the tape can be used as evidence.
(------------)



[6Wu]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=02-49 TC1:55:24]
[GRAPHIC=None]


A man who brought in hundreds, if not thousands, of fake Oakley sunglasses for sale in Southwestern Virginia was sentenced yesterday.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Po Hong Wu was the supplier of counterfeit goods sold at "Happy's Flea Market," and at retailers in Salem, Basset and Chilhowie. The 50-year old Chinese American from New York will be on probation for the next five years, and he'll have to pay a fine of 10-thousand dollars. In addition to the sunglasses, Wu and his associates flooded the market with counterfeit trad mark clothing... some bearing two different brand names on the same article of clothing.
(------------)


[Tease2] [SOFT MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]


Coming up next on the newscast,
(-----------------)
[VO-NAT ]

we'll introduce you to a drink that has more bite than kick.
(-----------------)

[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #2]



[6Bueno-Duarte]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A set of rosary beads dangling from her rear view mirror could cost Josephina Bueno- Duarte ten years to life in prison. The beads would be considered a distraction under state law, and that gave Trooper Gary Meredith probable cause to stop the 49-year old Mexican immigrant.
Hidden in her van he found about 15 pounds of cocaine.
(XXXXXXXX)

[TAKE FULL SCREEN PINNACLE] Bueno-Duarte pled guilty yesterday to transporting the drug.
She'd told the trooper she met a man in a Chicago car wash, who asked her to deliver a package to North Carolina.

She was pulled over in Wythe County last July.
(-------------)



[Venom-Vodka]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]


A group of Russian herpetologists is preparing a drink that has a special bite.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Novosibirsk, Russia]


It's venom vodka.
They have already been working on the idea for almost 6 years, and are hoping to soon receive their patent.
If it goes through, they plan to mass produce the vodka and bring in revenue for their center which, like much of the post-Soviet scientific community, has faced a tight funding crisis.
The director of the project says the new vodka should be looked on as a health drink.
He says there is not much poison in the drink, but it will have a positive effect on the body.
(------------)



[Stocks]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE# none]
[GRAPHIC=stocks]


On Wall Street at Noon, the DOW was UP 85 points. The NASDAQ has gained 19 points.

[super=460-x/85/x/19;]


[tease3] [SPORTS MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]


Coming up next, the Redskins cut a big name player.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT ]

Plus we'll tell you why a rookie referee is learning turnabout is fair play.
(---------------)

[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #3]



[S-Extra]


[ANCHOR=kim]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=EXTRA & SP-142 TC3841]
[GRAPHIC=none]


Free agency starts on Friday and teams throughout the NFL...
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Landover, MD; :]

.... are cutting players to free up money under the salary cap. The Redskins got rid on running back Stephen Davis.
Davis is the Skins' 3rd all time leading rusher. The team also released Sam Shade and Walter Rasby. Other notable casualties include former UVa star Germaine Crowell and the Steelers cut Kordell Stewart.
(-------------------)
[GRaphic=None]


The Dallas Cowboys are also expected to cut one of the most popular players in team history, as it lets Emmit Smith go after 13 seasons.

[S5-Hoops]


[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-146 35:07]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]


When the weather allows the resumption of regional basketball games - area fans can be certain of seeing a referee, who used to spend his time as a player jawing on the hardwood. Steve Mason gets us up to date with Justin Porterfield, a former Northside point guard.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=@Steve1; :00]
[SUPER=03-Salem; :22]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/1995 Season; :32]
[SUPER=01-Justin Porterfield/High School & College Referee; :40]
[SUPER=03-Charlottesville/This Season; 1:36]
[RUNS=1:53]
[OUT Q=....hometown hoops weekly"]
(----------------)

((STEVE MASON:JUSTIN PORTERFIELD LED NORTHSIDE TO MORE THAN THE VIKINGS SHARE OF STATE TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES. HIS HIGH SCHOOL TALENTS HONED BY VIKINGS COACH BILL POPE TOOK HIM TO THE NEXT LEVEL AT EMORY AND HENRY WHERE HE PLAYED THREE SEASONS. NOW ITS PAY BACK TIME FOR THE PLAYER MOST HIGH SCHOOL REFS REMEMBER FOR HIS GREAT MOVES AND AND AT TIMES ANNOYING MOUTH.))
((Porterfield is not only reffing high school games, but some college. He worked the Roanoke College JV game against Hargrave recently. And wearing the pin stripes has given Porterfield a chance to understand what refs felt when he played. ((JUSTIN PORTERFIELD/HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE REFEREE:))
While Porterfield always gave refs a hard time, he always admired the tough job they did and he has learned he always had it in him. ((:))
Porterfield, whether at Northside or at Emory & Henry, played with fire and was a leader on the floor. Reffing is just an extension of the game he once played. ((:))
Portefield is climbing the referee ranks quickly and will not stop until he reaches his goal.)) ((:)) ((WHILE PORTERFIELD HAS HIS EYE ON THE ACC, HE DOES HOPE TO ONE DAY CALL THE SALEM/NORTHSIDE GAME. STEVE MASON HOMETOWN HOOPS WEEKLY:))
[Quickcast]

[WXPRO/FULL] FINAL LOOK AT THE WEATHER
[REPRS@CL] SUPER=X4031; Fax/Copyright Noon/Weekends [SUPER=X4030; e-Mail/Copyright Noon/Weekends]
by SS