WDBJ 7 news at 6 for 02/28/03

[1-News-Head]

[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Governor Warner goes fishing for funding after multiple storms leave many Virginians soaked and broke.
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[VO-NAT :05]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
And, the one that got away was a train in the New River Valley.
(------------)

[Sports-Head]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Tonight on News 7 Sports - tow local refs are in the spotlight in the this week's Atlantic Coast Connection. Plus, the Roanoke College women have advanced to the ODAC title game.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
and the Cave Spring volleyball team beats Martinsville and immediately heads north for another state match later tonight.
(------------)

[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Robin]
[SS=None]

On this day of significant snow and ice melting, we will test your memory on the winter so far in Roanoke. We also have a relatively tame weekend forecast.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 4-Shot]

News 7 at Six is next.
[Video-Open]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=Video Open]
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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

Two weeks of flooding, snow and damaging ice have left Virginians hurting.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Now the state hopes to get a helping hand from President Bush.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Ketih 2-Shot]

Good evening, I'm Keith Humphry.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

And I'm Shannon Young.
[Warner-Flood]
[NEWSCAST=6 p.m.]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=03-03 TC59:19]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

Virginia is hoping the federal government will help pay for storm damage to the Commonwealth.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
(--------------)
[VO] In a letter, Governor Mark Warner today asked President Bush to issue a disaster declaration and provide federal assistance to the Roanoke Valley, Southwest and Northern Virginia. Warner says the state spent 37-million dollars on snow-removal alone. Other damage estimates from flooding, snow and ice are still being tallied.
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[Danville-Ice]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-02 TC47:18]
[GRAPHIC=wInter Weather]

For southside residents, the latest damage comes in the form of ice.
The winter storm that passed through the area yesterday left a thick layer that claimed trees and power lines, and many residents are still without electricity tonight.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith & joeD /Newsroom Pod;]

Joe Dashiell has just returned from the Danville area, and has more on conditions there.
[LIVE= JoeD /FULL Newsroom Pod]
[SUPER=@Joe1]

Keith, officials in Danville have declared a local emergency as a result of the storm. At one point four to five thousand customers of Danville Power and Light did not have service.
The situation is improving, but it's going to take some time for crews to get everyone back on line.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=OPENS WITH NAT SOUND]
[SUPER=03-Pittsylvania Co.; :00]
[SUPER=03-Danville; :14]
[SUPER=01-Frank Stump/Ringgold Resident; :27]
[RUNS=:35]
[OUT Q=we don't have none.]
(([NAT SOUND OF ICE FALLING]
Rising temperatures took care of some ice that coated southside over night.
But the broken tree limbs and downed power lines were a different story.
In the city of Danville, the storm claimed more than 240 major trees...
Many more in outlying areas.
Ringgold Resident Frank Stump, and his neighbors on hundred acre road have been without power since Thursday afternoon.
[SOT 01:01:59]
[IN Q=We done called]
[RUNS= :09]
[OUT Q=we don't have none.]))
(-------------)
[LIVE= JoeD /FULL Newsroom Pod]

Crews have been working around the clock since the storm hit, and by mid-afternoon Danville Power and Light had reduced its outtages to about 2000 customers. The utility hopes to have service restored to a majority of those customers by seven o'clock tonight.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith & JoeD /Newsroom Pod;]

But Keith, the area from Danville to South Boston was especially hard hit. Though utility employees and contract crews are out in force, it may be some time before they can restore service to everyone.

[81-Accidents]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=eha]
[TAPE#=03-05 TC19:34]
[GRAPHIC=I-81]
Traffic moved slowly on 81 today because of accidents and roadwork.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem]
Vehicles were backed up several miles due to an accident involving a truck and car near the Dixie Caverns exit.
The backup caused other minor accidents along 81 but no one was injured. V-dot worked to patch potholes in the northbound lanes near Dixie Caverns until 6:00 tonight. Over the next few days, the agency will continue to work near exit 150, then down the southbound lanes.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[SS=HOLD]
Traffic was also slow in Rockbridge County. A tour bus holding only one passenger slid into the median at milemarker 187 near Lexington.
The wreck was cleared up around 5:00.

[220-Accident]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=03-01 TC37:34]
[GRAPHIC=]

[TAKE VIDEO]

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/Last Night]

V-DOT doesn't think last night's tractor-trailer accident in Roanoke caused any structural damage.
The rig hit a patch of ice and crashed through a guard rail on Route 220, just south of the Elm Avenue Exit.
V-DOT says the driver may have to pay for the damage.
(------------)

[Derailment]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=02-48 TC2:01:46]
[GRAPHIC=Train Crash]

Norfolk Southern officials are investigating yet another train derailment the the New River Valley.
(XXXXXXXX)
[TAKE FULL MAP] This one happened just before ten this morning in Ellet Valley.
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[DOUBLE BOXES=Myranda & Keith/Microwave;]
New River Valley Bureau Chief Myranda Stephens joins us now with the details. Keith, officials say the train was headed to Norfolk,
[LIVE=Myranda/FULL]
[SUPER=@Myranda1;]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg]
when 32-cars loaded with coal fell off the track.
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[****MYRANDA'S MIC HOT****]
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co.;]
A two-man crew was operating the 160-car train. No one was hurt, but police have blocked off Route-603 for cleanup. They say they hope to have the area reopened by midnight. This is the second Norfolk Southern train derailment in the past two weeks.
[SUPER=03-Pulaski Co./February 11;]
The other happened in Pulaski County, near the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. The cause of that is still under investigation.
(------------)
[LIVE=Myranda/FULL]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]
A spokesperson for Norfolk Southern says there is NO reason for folks to be alarmed by the fact that the incidents follow each other so closely.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Myranda & Keith/Microwave;]
They say in both cases, it appears there was NOT any outside interference or reason to believe they were terrrorist attacks.

[Tease#1]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
[SS=NONE]

New developments in the case of a missing Grayson County boy.
That's still ahead on News 7.
(---------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

And we'll look into whether pay is creating policing problems in the Hill City.
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[Eminent-Domain]

[ANCHOR=Keith ]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=02-53 TC1:15:48]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The fight over a new natural gas pipeline across Southside has moved from regulatory approval to the condemnation of private property.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=01-Kent Wise/Landowner; :34]
[SUPER=01-Gretchen Krueger/Duke Energy Spokeswoman; :52]
[RUNS=1:22]
[OUT Q=a jury decide.]
(( Nearly 100 landowners attended the first hearing in federal court, some traveling 80 or 90 miles to get here. Most of these people realize there's not much they can do to stop East Tennessee Natural Gas from completing what it calls the Patriot Pipeline. The 94-mile long pipeline from Wytheville- -through Carroll, Patrick and Henry Counties- -is due to start pumping natural gas by 2005. The vast majority of the private property owners along the route have settled on a price to sell their land or to let the company use part of it. Sixty eight landowners have not. Kent Wise is one of them.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 16:28:40]
[IN Q=]
((IF EAST TENNESSEE GETS THE RIGHTS TO OUR PROPERTY, THEN THEY CAN JUST DELAY THESE PROCEEDINGS OUT IN COURT BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO REASON TO SETTLE NOW.)) [RUNS09]
[OUT Q=settle now.]
The issue is "immediate possession." The gas company wants the court to give it access to begin survey work and plot the position of the pipeline.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 16:34:40]
[IN Q=We have been working]
((WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH THESE LANDOWNERS FOR A YEAR AND A HAVE NOW, WORKING WITH THEM, NOT IN SURVEYING, BUT IN HELPING THEM DETERMINE WHERE THE PIPELINE WOULD BE LOCATED ON THEIR PROPERTY. OBVIOUSLY IF WE CAN'T GET ON THEIR PROPERTY, THEN THAT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT.)) [RUNS:13]
[OUT Q=bit more difficult.]
East Tennessee Natural Gas has deposited more than 1-point-3 million dollars with the court to compensate property owners for use of their land. The judge indicated today that he'll most likely appoint a single set of commissioners to determine how that money would be divided up, rather than having a jury decide.))

[Missing-Child]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=02-49 TC1:58:38]
[GRAPHIC=Logan Bowman]
More charges have been filed in the Logan Bowman case.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Grayson Co./File Tape;]
Grayson County authorities have now charged the mother of the missing child and her ex-boyfriend with felony child neglect.
Cynthia Davis was already in jail on a child endangerment charge.
Dennis Schemerhorn had been out on bond on the same charge, but was arrested last night.
Both are scheduled for a preliminary hearing in juvenile court on Monday.
Logan Bowman has been missing since January, and officials believe he may be dead.
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[Knox]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=Cecil Knox]
There's a new date for the trial of pain specialist Cecil Knox. His case had been set to begin last month, but Knox developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma and was too ill to attend hearings in court. If the 53-year old physician is well enough, the trial will begin September 8th. Knox is charged with racketeering and the illegal distribution of OxyContin.

[Stocks]

[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Wall Street managed to end a mixed month on an up note. [TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE]
[RUNS=:30]
[SUPER=x5000;]
[SUPER=440-x/6.09/7891.08/x/13.60/1337.54;]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

The DOW rose six points.
NASDAQ rose 14.
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[VO]
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[SUPER=274-i/0.10/9.35/h/0.01/56.25/i/0.27/34.58/h/0.21/35.48/i/0.10/48.06;]
[SUPER=#555; Reset]
[L'burg-Cops]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=02-51 TC1:48:55]
[***ANCHOR TAG***]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Is the city of Lynchburg substituting quantity for quality when it comes to public safety?
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

That's the question being raised by some Hill City police officers who say the city's failure to address pay issues is costing the department experienced officers.
Steve Smallshaw reports.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=When rival gangs]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg/Tuesday; :00]
[SUPER=01-Officer Doug Childress/Lynchburg Police; :18]
[SUPER=01-Kimball Payne/Lynchburg City Manager; :51]
[SUPER=@ssm1; 1:21]
[RUNS=1:33]
[OUT Q=News7, Lynchburg.]
(( When rival gangs gathered to fight at E.C. Glass High School this week, a potentially violent confrontation was quickly subdued because a veteran police officer had been tipped off to the problem and had resources ready.
That same officer left the department the next day for a higher-paying job.
[SOT 1:22:30]
((OFFICER DOUG CHILDRESS/LYNCHBURG POLICE: WHEN YOU HAVE 20-YEAR OFFICERS HERE MAKING A FEW CENTS AN HOUR ABOVE SOMEBODY THAT'S ONLY BEEN HERE TWO YEARS, YOU'RE LOSING THE MOTIVATION OF THOSE OFFICERS. AND THEY'RE LOOKING FOR OTHERS PLACE TO BE.))
[RUNS= 13]
[OUT Q=place to be.]

Thanks to new hires, the department is at full staff, but Childress says you can't replace experience overnight.
City manager Kimball Payne says it's tough to keep experienced officers in a post 9-11 world where private security offers better pay and hours.
A committee is studying the problem, but Payne says answers.. not to mention money.. are at least a year off.
[SOT 3:51:13]
((KIMBALL PAYNE/LYNCHBURG CITY MANAGER: UNLESS WE FIX SOME STRUCTURAL ISSUES, SOME OF THESE RELATIVE PAY ISSUES, I THINK PEOPLE WOULD STILL BE COMPLAINING. BECAUSE IF I PAID EVERYBODY 100-THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR, THEY'D START COMPARING PAYCHECKS AND ARGUE 'WHY DOES THAT GUY GET A HUNDRED THOUSAND AND I'VE BEEN HERE FIVE YEARS LONGER?'))
[RUNS= 15]
[OUT Q=five years longer?]
[SOT 1:18:46]
((CHILDRESS: AND NOW WE'RE AT THIS STAGE AND NOW WE HAVE A BAD BUDGET YEAR AND THEY'RE GOING WELL, THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT. WELL, YOU LET IT GET THIS BAD. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING US IT WILL BE AT LEAST TWO YEARS BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN THINK ABOUT ADDRESSING IT. ))
[RUNS= 14]
[OUT Q=addressing it.]
[Standup ] ((By going public yet again with the salary problem, police officers hope to keep the issue in the public eye.. and create enough pressure to force city council members to address the problem sooner rather than later. Steve Smallshaw, News7, Lynchburg.))
[RUNS= 13]
[OUT Q=News7, Lynchburg.] ))
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[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[SS=None]

Lynchburg's 2004 budget, which city council begins work on next week.. does contain a 2 percent across the board raise for all city employees, including police officers.

[Franklin-DMV]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6 p.m.]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=02-50 TC-1:43:40]
[GRAPHIC=DMV Reopening]

Franklin County is less than two weeks away from getting back its DMV.
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[VO-NAT :27]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co./File Tape;]
The Rocky Mount branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles was among those closed by the state last October because of budget reductions. But last month, after much public outcry, Governor Warner announced the service would be restored. Six offices, including the one in Bedford, were reopened last Friday. The Rocky Mount office will reopen Tuesday, March eleventh. The DMV says all 121-full time employees laid off during the closings have been recalled.
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[Sports Tease]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Coming up tonight on News 7 Sports - Cave Spring advances in state volleyball. The Roanoke women make the championship game at the ODAC.
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[VO-NAT]
And two Roanoke Valley residents are making a living this year getting yelled at by fans from College Park to Tallahassee. Travis Wells explains in this week's Atlantic Coast Connection.
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[S-Volley]

[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-134 TC10739]
[GRAPHIC=BAM]

We begin tonight with state quarterfinal volleyball action between Martinsville and Cave Spring.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./Bulldogs vs. Knights; :00]

The Knights put the wood on the Bulldogs in game one.
Check out Melissa Barry sky for the kill. Cave Spring led 3 to 1 and cruised to the 15 to 1 victory to open the match.
In game two, Sara Lyon gets another point for Tamlyn Tanis and company.
Later, Lyon and Courtney Fitzpatrick team up for yet another block. Cave Spring won the second game 15-6, sweeping the match 2 games to none. Next up, an 8 o'clock date with William Byrd at Broadway.
(------------)
[talent=mike]
[graphic=vhsl]
Cave Spring is now on the road traveling to Broadway high school in Rockingham County to play William Byrd in the semi-finals tonight at 8:30.

[S-Catholic]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS]

The Roanoke Catholic Celtics - winners of three straight Virginia Independent School division two state championships, saw their bid for a 4-peat end this afternoon in the semi-finals in Petersburg. Potomac beat the Celtics 53-to-49 at Richard Bland College.

[S-VHSL]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=BAM]
Cave Spring is playing at Heritage tonight in Region 3 basketball, but the rest of Region 3 is postponed until tomorrow and as a result the semi-finals will now be on Monday night at the Salem Civic Center. Also, Region 3 Wrestling is now a one day event at Heritage starting at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Region 3 cheerleading at Amherst has been moved from tomorrow to next Friday.

[S-Roanoke]

[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-136 TC11420]
[GRAPHIC=ODAC]

And then there were two in the ODAC Women's Basketball Tournament. Randolph-Macon advanced to the title tilt this afternoon by knocking off top seeded Guilford 84 to 73. The Jackets would meet the winner of today's second semifinal between Bridgewater and Roanoke in tomorrow's final.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem/Bridgewater vs. Roanoke; :00]

The Maroons swept the season series with the Eagles.
Bridgewater opened the game on a 5-oh run. Megan Forster from Shawsville spots up and buries the three ball from the wing to get the Eagles party started.
But Roanoke responded with an 11-oh run of its own. Veronica Kelly plays some 'd', comes up with the steal and goes coast to coast for the lay-in and the foul.
[SUPER=33-Bridgewater/55/Roanoke/70/;]
The Maroons then got this triple from Sarah Grimes. Roanoke went on to win 70 to 55, advancing to the title game tomorrow at 2.
(------------)

[S-Refs]

[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-144 TC2255]
[GRAPHIC=ACC 50TH]

The ACC basketball season is in the home stretch, and that means coaches, fans and players are on edge. [GO TO FULL SCREEN 6157] In this week's installment of the Atlantic Coast Connection, Travis Wells chats with two men who feel the frustration regularly - ACC referees.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=@travis1; :00]
[SUPER=01-Roger Ayers/ACC Official; :17]
[SUPER=03-Charlottesville/This Season; :25]
[SUPER=01-Duke Edsall/ACC Official; 1:01]
[RUNS=2:15]
[OUT Q=Atlantic Coast Connection."]
(( Travis: Roger: Duke:
Edsall is a veteran official of 21 years, who called his first Final Four game last season, while Ayers has only worn the striped shirt a short time. In fact, he was calling Roanoke Valley District games in the mid 1990's. But he gradually worked his way up, earning assignments in the Colonial and the Big South. Now he's calling the shots in the ACC, using Edsall as a valuable resource.
Roger: Duke:
Like the players on the floor, for officials a little game preparation goes a long way.
Duke:
The ACC action heats up again this weekend as Wake Forest battles Clemson Saturday at 4. Duke travels to the Big Apple to take on Saint John's Sunday at noon. Travis Wells for the WDBJ Atlantic Coast Connection.))
[Zoo]
[NEWSCAST=6 p.m.]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=03-06 TC22:23]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Employees at Mill Mountain Zoo hope winter is backing off.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
(------------)
[VO-NAT :18]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/File Tape;]
The zoo reopened at noon today after closing Wednesday in advance of the ice and snow. Zoo director, Beth Poff, says the park set a record this year, closing 10-days because of winter weather. (------------) The previous record of nine days was set in 1996 when a massive snowstorm paralyzed the zoo for 5-days in a row.