WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 04/01/03

[7-VO-Lalush]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=03]
[GRAPHIC=Lalush 2065]
A Marine from Botetourt County has become the first from the News 7 viewing area to become a casualty of the war in Iraq.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Sergeant Michael Lalush of Troutville was killed Sunday in a Huey helicopter crash in Southern Iraq. The 23 year was born in California but moved to Troutville with his family, while in high school. Lalush graduated from Lord Botetourt in 1997 and immediately began his career with the Marines. Last night, NEWS 7 spoke with Lalush's parents who say their son "loved the Marines and his country and felt he was doing the right thing."
(------------)
[anchor=Kimberly]
[SS=HOLD]
Mike Lalush would have turned 24 in just a few weeks. He leaves behind his parents and a sister.

[7-11Pilot]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=none]
A very important message is going out to customers who purchased kerosene from a Botetourt County service station. Officials with Petroleum Transport company say one of their drivers put gasoline into the kerosene tank at the Pilot Truck Stop in Troutville. Anyone who purchased kerosene within the last 24 hours is urged to bring the contents back to the service station. If you light a kerosene heater containing gasoline-- the heater could explode.

[7-11Power-Outage]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-08 TC48:38]
[GRAPHIC=None]

American Electric Power crews are making progress, but it could be midnight Wednesday before all customers get their power back.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski;]
Just over 11-thousand are still without service due to the wet, heavy snow delivered by Sunday's storm. A-E-P says more than 300 workers are fixing snapped lines throughout the region. They're dealing with widely scattered outages as well as downed trees and limbs on power lines.
The company is asking customers still without power to call in, if they haven't reported the outage for a while. At the height of the outages, almost 60-thousand residents in Southwest and Central Virginia were without service.
(------------)

[7-11RSO]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=03-10 TC31:16]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Fans of the Roanoke Symphony are hoping for an encore of the orchestra's first 50 years.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

The Symphony celebrated its Golden Anniversary last night at a packed Roanoke Civic Center Auditorium.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=NAT MUSIC]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=nat clapping]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The Symphony held its very first performance 50 years ago last night.
Other anniversary performances are scheduled for Staunton, Blacksburg and Lexington.
(------------)

[45-VO-Lalush]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=03]
[GRAPHIC=Lalush 2065]

The war in Iraq has claimed the life of a Marine from Botetourt County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Sergeant Michael Lalush of Troutville was killed Sunday in a Huey helicopter crash in Southern Iraq. The 23 year was born in California but moved to Troutville with his family, while in high school. Lalush graduated from Lord Botetourt in 1997 and immediately began his career with the Marines. Last night, NEWS 7 spoke with Lalush's parents who say their son "loved the Marines and his country and felt he was doing the right thing."
(------------)
[anchor=Kimberly]
[SS=HOLD]
Mike Lalush would have turned 24 in just a few weeks. He leaves behind his parents and a sister.

[45-11Missing-Child]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=02-53 TC2:05:40]
[GRAPHIC=Logan Bowman]

Charges in the Logan Bowman case have now been forwarded to a grand jury.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Independence;]
Yesterday, a judge ruled that there is enough evidence against the missing five-year-old's mother and her former live-in boyfriend. Cynthia Davis and Dennis (Skim-er-horn) Schemerhorn have both been charged with two counts of felony child neglect. Authorities say the two gave conflicting stories about Logan's disappearance and, at one point, failed to seek medical attention for the boy when he suffered water burns. However, their attorneys say the charges are weak.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 3:06]
[IN Q=WE DON'T HAVE]
(( JONATHON VENZIE/DAVIS' ATTY: WE DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW EXTENSIVE IT WAS OR ANYTHING ELSE. THEY'RE ASSUMING THERE WILL BE MORE INFORMATION OR MORE PREPARATION BY THE COMMONWEALTH FOR TRIAL WHEN THEIR BURDEN IS HIGHER, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY AN INTERESTING QUESTION. 3:23))
[SUPER=01-Jonathon Venzie/Davis' Attorney;]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=AN INTERESTING QUESTION. ]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Logan has been missing since January. Authorities say they are still treating his disappearance as a missing person's case, even though they believe he may be dead.
(------------)

[45-11Squad-Checks]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=03-04 TC57:24]
[GRAPHIC=None]
According to new state legislation, your local rescue squads must now perform a criminal background check on prospective volunteers.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co./File Tape]

In many localities, squads already do.. but the practice is not uniform, and the information is not necessarily kept private.
So Bedford County is drawing up an ordinance that would require checks on both current and prospective volunteers for the local rescue squads and fire departments.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:36:04]
[IN Q=In a smaller]
((JACK JONES/EMERGENCY SERVICES COORDINATOR: IN A SMALLER COMMUNITY WE'RE PRETTY FORTUNATE BECAUSE PEOPLE ALL KNOW EACH OTHER SO THEY KNOW WHO S PERHAPS BELONGING THERE AND WHO IS NOT. IN THE OTHER AREAS OF THE STATE WE'RE LOOKING AT WHERE IT'S A TRANSIENT POPULATION, SO PEOPLE JUST DO NOT KNOW THE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE COMING IN.))
[SUPER=01-Jack Jones/Emergency Services Coordinator]
[RUNS=16]
[OUT Q=that are coming in.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Jones says he doesn't anticipate the background checks will deter anyone from wanting to volunteer.
(------------)

[8-VO-Lalush]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=03]
[GRAPHIC=Lalush 2065]
A Marine from Botetourt County has become the first from the News 7 viewing area to become a casualty of the war in Iraq.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Sergeant Michael Lalush of Troutville was killed Sunday in a Huey helicopter crash in Southern Iraq. The 23 year was born in California but moved to Troutville with his family, while in high school. Lalush graduated from Lord Botetourt in 1997 and immediately began his career with the Marines. Last night, NEWS 7 spoke with Lalush's parents who say their son "loved the Marines and his country and felt he was doing the right thing."
(------------)
[anchor=Kimberly]
[SS=HOLD]
Mike Lalush would have turned 24 in just a few weeks. He leaves behind his parents and a sister.

[8-11Pilot]

[8-11Power-Outage]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-08 TC48:38]
[GRAPHIC=None]

American Electric Power crews are making progress, but it could be midnight Wednesday before all customers get their power back.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski;]
Around 96- hundred people are still without service due to the wet, heavy snow delivered by Sunday's storm. A-E-P says more than 300 workers are fixing snapped lines throughout the region. They're dealing with widely scattered outages as well as downed trees and limbs on power lines.
The company is asking customers still without power to call in, if they haven't reported the outage for a while. At the height of the outages, almost 60-thousand residents in Southwest and Central Virginia were without service.
(------------)

[8-11Estate-tax]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=03-02 TC1:39:44]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Members of the state's General Assembly who support repealing Virginia's estate tax believe that the vote to override the governor's veto this week will be a close one.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

Warner vetoed a Republican-backed bill to eliminate the inheritance tax.
He needs only two lawmakers to switch sides for his veto to stand.
Patrons of the estate tax repeal warn that those changing their votes could suffer on election day.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 11:32:43]
[IN Q=AS THOSE SENATORS WHO ARE REFLECTING]
((AS THOSE SENATORS WHO ARE RELECTING ON WHETHER OR NOT TO CHANGE THEIR VOTE THEY NEED TO REFLECT ON WHAT THE REACTION OF THE CONSTITUENCY IS GOING TO BE FOR SOMEONE WHO FLIP-FLOPS THEIR VOTE BECAUSE POLITICAL PRESSURE HAS BEEN ASSERTED ON THEM.))
[SUPER=01-Sen. Tommy Norment/(R) Williamsburg]
[RUNS=:14]
[OUT Q=BEEN ASSERTED ON THEM.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The governor also vetoed a bill creating a "Choose Life" license plate.
And he altered two anti-abortion measures.
Republicans have a chance to undo all that during Wednesday's veto session. (------------)