WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 03/04/03

[7-County-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]

In the news this morning, firefighters are working to extinquish a blaze at the Villager Lodge on Thirlane Road.

Few details have been released.
We do have a crew on the scene and we'll pass along additional information as soon as it becomes available.

[7-11Elsakaan]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=03-07 TC36:38]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Suspicious activity at a hydro-electric dam in Tennessee has led to two arrests here in Roanoke. After a police officer saw a Middle Eastern man taking pictures of a dam near Knoxville, an all-points bulletin was issued for the photographer and his brother.
The two men were wanted for document fraud charges.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Ahmed Muhammed (El-sa-kahn) Elsakaan , also known and Ahmed Mostafa, and his brother, Hatem Elsakaan- both in their 20's- are both in the Roanoke city jail.
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Hatem Elsakaan was arrested at the city bus station and was carrying his brother's passport.
The brothers have been wanted since August for allegedly using fake I-D's to get Virginia drivers licenses.
(------------)

[7-11Protest-Play]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=dgr]
[TAPE#=03-06 TC23:05]
[GRAPHIC=none]

Anti-war activists are using a century old play to bring their message to the public.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

Actors from across the world are participating in the (Liss-is-strata) Lysistrata Project, including some at Randolph Macon Woman's College.
They are performing a version of the comedy, Lysistrata, written by Greek dramatist Aristophanes.
In the play, the women of opposing sides during the Peloponnesion war agree to withhold sex as a means to get the men to stop the war.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT-1:22:02]
[IN Q=A LOT OF WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO]
((A LOT OF WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO IS SAY THAT EVEN SMALL UNPUBLICIZED READINGS IF WE'RE ALL DOING IT AT THE SAME TIME AND HAVING A SENSE OF DOING IT AT TEH SAME TIME AS OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAT GIVES US AN IDEA WE ACTUALLY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE))
[SUPER=01-Amy Cohen/Classics Professor]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=CAN ACTUALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The play is being performed in nearly sixty countries with over one thousand people taking part, hoping to make thier voices heard in opposition to a U-S led war in Iraq.
Here at home, those concerned about the looming war took the stage at Randolph Macon.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT-1:22:52]
[IN Q=A LOT OF PROTESTS BY COMMON PEOPLE]
((A LOT OF PROTESTS BY COMMON PEOPEL HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY THINGS ARE HAPPEING ITERNATIONALLY. SO I'M HERE USING MY VOICE AS ASOMEONE WHO THINKS THIS IS AN IMPORTANT WAY TO SEND A MESSAGE))
[SUPER=01-Bradley Bullock/Sociology Professor]
[RUNS=16]
[OUT Q=SEND A MESSAGE TO OUR LEADERS.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

About thirty five people showed up for the performance.
Those involved say the play gets communities talking about what should be done.
(-------------)

[45-Lodge-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]

A fire forced the residents of a lodge to evacuate this morning.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./This Morning]
Firefighters were called to the Villager Lodge Extended Stay on Thirlane Road. A firewall kept the blaze contained to one room. No one was injured. The cause is under investigation.
(------------)

[45-6-Kilgore]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=cpa]
[TAPE#=03-04 TC25:22]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Some lawmakers say they can do their part to fight terrorism -by not allowing illegal immigrants to get a Virginia drivers license.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]

Attorney-General Jerry Kilgore and Seventh District Congressman Eric Cantor yesterday urged Governor Warner to sign two sets of bills passed this year by the General Assembly.
Both deal with illegal immigrants.
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/November 2002;]

One set of bills would prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining a Virginia driver's license.
As for legal immigrants, the bills would not let their licenses remain valid beyond the expiration of their current legal status.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="All 19 terrorists..."]
[SUPER=01-Rep. Eric Cantor/(R) 7th District;]
[RUNS=14-sec]
[OUT Q="...Department of Motor Vehicles"]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/September 2002;]

The other set of bills would also make the immigrants ineligible for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities.
(------------)

[45-11City-Council]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-01 TC40:19]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Members of Roanoke City Council have recognized the historical and architectural significance of Fairacres, a landmark of South Roanoke.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Built in 19-15 as a private home, the estate on Avenham Avenue has served the Roanoke Council of Garden Clubs since the 1960s.
But the council recently put the mansion on the market, after officials decided the group could not afford to maintain the property any longer.
City council's resolution will not affect development rights on the property, but the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation hopes it will encourage the current and future owners to make preservation a priority.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=We would like to see]
((ALISON BLANTON/ROANOKE VALLEY PRESERVATION FOUNDATION: WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT IT'S AN ASSET, NOT A LIABILITY. AND WANT TO TURN THE TABLES THAT WAY AND MAKE PEOPLE START TO LOOK AT IT THAT WAY.)) ((CHARLES OSTERHOUDT/GARDEN CLUB COUNCIL ATTORNEY: I KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE WITH SIGNS AND BUMPER STICKERS THAT SAY SAVE FAIRACRES. THERE 'S A GOOD WAY TO SAVE IT, AN INTERESTED BUYER WHO IS WILLING TO PAY A FAIR PRICE AND PRESERVE THE PROPERTY.))
[SUPER=01-Alison Blanton/Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation; :00]
[SUPER=01-Charles Osterhoudt/Garden Club Council Attorney; :11]
[RUNS=:23]
[OUT Q=and preserve the property.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Bids on the property are due by Friday.
(------------)

[8-Lodge-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]

The residents of a lodge were forced to evacuate this morning because of a fire.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./This Morning]
Firefighters were called to the Villager Lodge Extended Stay on Thirlane Road. A firewall kept the blaze contained to one room. No one was injured. The cause is under investigation.
(------------)

[8-1181-Accident]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=02-50 TC1:44:29]
[GRAPHIC=81 accidnet]

A woman attempting to make an illegal U-turn on Interstate-81 is being blamed for an accident involving three vehicles.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :18]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
State Police say Cora Williams was driving her car Northbound when she tried to turn around in the median strip and travel southbound. But when she went in the left lane, a tractor-trailer driver says she slammed on her brakes. His truck hit her and then the truck behind him also crashed.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:06:27]
[IN Q=SHE WAS]
((DANNY DAGGETT/TRACTOR TRAILER DRIVER; SHE WAS GOING TO TURN HERE SHE ALMOST PASSED IT SO SHE WAS GONNA TURN SHE SLAMMED ON HER BRAKES AND I HAD NO CHOICE.))
[SUPER=01-Danny Daggett/Tractor Trailer Driver;]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=HAD NO CHOICE]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The driver of the car, Cora Williams, is being charged with reckless driving. Williams and one of the tractor trailer drivers were treated for non life threatening injuries.
(------------)

[8-11Civic-Center]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=02-54 TC1:39:25]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The Roanoke Civic Center has a new sign designed to let drivers on interstate -581 know about upcoming events.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :30]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
The venue flipped the switch yesterday on its new 20-by-20 foot message board. Members of the Civic Center Commission say they've been discussing the addition for more than a decade. It's expected tens of thousands of drivers will see the sign everyday. IT cost 175 thousand dollars. There had been some concern the sign would distract drivers but, a former member of the Civic Center Commission says, in accordance with V-DOT regulations, the message won't change any more often than every four seconds.
(------------)

[8-11New-Business]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=02-53 TC1:20:18]
[GRAPHIC=New Jobs]
A new company is bringing some much needed new jobs to the Grayson County area.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Independence;]
Yesterday, Governor Mark Warner announced that Harvest Pharmaceuticals will build its corporate office and warehouse in Independence. The three-point-three million dollar investment will create 30-new jobs over the next year and a half. Company officials say they chose Grayson County over other areas because of its reputation.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 59:46]
[IN Q=NINETEEN YEARS]
((RANDAL KIRK/HARVEST PHARMACEUTICALS CHAIRMAN:19-YEARS AGO WE STARTED A BUSINESS IN BLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA CALLED GENERAL INJECTABLE AND VACCINES AND THAT BUSINESS TODAY IS I BELIEVE THE LARGEST PAYROLL IN BLAND COUNTY 59:58))
[SUPER=01-Randal Kirk/Harvest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Chairman;]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=IN BLAND COUNTY.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Kirk says he hopes Harvest Pharmaceuticals will have the same success. He says the facility will begin operations in July. (-----------)