[1-News-Head]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
It's been a tough day on local roads.
We'll have the details about two deadly accidents.
(-----------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
Plus, a local post office strives to make April fifteenth a little less taxing.
(-------------)
[Sports-Head]
[ANCHOR=Mike ]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Tonight on News 7 sports - EC Glass's basketball coach steps down, while Al Groh steps up at the Jefferson Center to help some area high school coaches.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
And Ferrum's baseball team heads into the Dixie tournament riding high - ranked 4th in the nation.
(------------)
[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Robin]
[SS=None]
Warm weather fans get an encore performance tomorrow but then go find your windbreakers. We will explain the forecast changes in a moment.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon 4-Shot]
News 7 is next.
[Video-Open]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=Video Open]
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 10:40:10]
[IN Q=We had one vehicle]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=one head on.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
An accident at Smith Mountain Lake claims three lives.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
At least two of the dead are well-known Huddleston residents.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
Good evening, I'm Keith Humphry.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
And I'm Shannon Young.
[Lake-accident]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=03-05 TC1:32:07]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
The accident happened shortly after noon today on one of the many winding, two-lane roads that lead to the lake.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
Hours after the impact rescue workers were still pulling bodies from the wreckage.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co.]
[SUPER=01-Pete Tuck/Local Resident; :17]
[SUPER=01-Sgt. Ken Keesee/Virginia State Police; ]
[RUNS=:00]
[OUT Q=put it together.]
(( Route 626 was still lined with fire and rescue vehicles late in the day. The twisted wreckage cast aside by the impact to opposite sides of the roadway.
Kelli Ann Dellis had been working with her husband, Sherm at the Boat Shop they own nearby. Kelli had taken the Blazer to do a favor for a friend of theirs.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:37:28]
[IN Q=She went down to pick]
[RUNS10]
[OUT Q=this morning.]
45-year old Kelli Ann Dellis and her passenger were both killed. Police are finding it difficult to reach his family.
So we can't fully identify him.
The third victim was the President of the Smith Mountain Lake Ruritan Club. He was the one driving the Ford Pick-up truck.
Though State Police believe ONE of the vehicles crossed the center line, they're not sure which of them was out of the correct lane of traffic.
Sergeant Ken Keesee went up in the state police helicopter to look at the accident from the air and take some pictures, but he's not sure how the wreck occurred.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:41:58]
[IN Q=These are dificult]
[RUNS11]
[OUT Q=put it together.]))
(-------------)
[V/O-NAT ]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
Traffic was re-routed for several hours through private property.
(XXXXXXX)
[WIPE TO PINNACLE Map]
The wreck occurred north of the entrance to Smith Mountain Lake State Park on route 626, south of Mariner's Landing.
(-------------)
[Cycle-Fatal]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=03-02 TC2:02:50]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Accident]
A long-time Campbell County doctor is dead after crashing his motorcycle on Route 460 last night.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Shannon & Steve/L'burg Bureau;]
Steve Smallshaw is in our Lynchburg newsroom.. Steve, what happened?
[LIVE=Steve/FULL L'Burg Bureau]
[SUPER=@ssm1]
[SUPER=05-Lynchburg]
Shannon, as near as police can tell, Dr. Dennis Burns lost control of his bike after hitting some uneven pavement on Route 460.
The question today is whether the road had been sufficiently marked to alert motorists.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Around 11:30]
[SUPER=03-Campbell Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Trooper Jason McCall/State Police; :18]
[SUPER=01-Tim Wiles/VDOT Maintenance Engineer; :48]
[RUNS=1:23]
[OUT Q=I thought at that time.]
(( Around 11:30 Monday night, 52-year-old Dennis Burns was headed home in the westbound lanes of Route 460 in Campbell County.
That's when his motorcycle hit this uneven stretch of pavement near Leesville Road, causing him to lose control and crash.
Burns, who was wearing a helmet, died at the scene.
[SOT 20:31:27]
((JASON MCCALL/VA STATE POLICE: HE HAD GOTTEN INTO A GROOVE WITH THE UNEVEN PAVEMENT, AND FROM WHAT WE'RE GETTING NOW, LIKE I SAID THE INVESTIGATION IS STILL IN PROCESS, HE JUST HIT THAT AND LOST CONTROL OF THE MOTORCYCLE.))
[RUNS= 09]
[OUT Q=of the motorcycle.]
Earlier in the day, VDOT crews had been grinding and patching cracked pavement in the area.. they say they ran out of asphalt just before dark and had to leave one patch unfilled.
That's the one Burns' motorcycle reportedly hit.
VDOT officials say they left two signs and two barrels alerting motorists to the problem.. precautions that had always worked in the past.
[SOT 21:48:04]
((TIM WILES/VDOT MAINTENANCE ENGINEER: WE PLACED TWO SIGNS. ABOUT A QUARTER OF A MILE BEFORE THE WORK AREA, WE PLACED AN UNEVEN PAVEMENT SIGN AND THEN JUST A LITTLE WAYS BEFORE THE AREA THAT WAS LEFT OPEN, WE PUT A "BUMP" SIGN. WE ALSO PUT TWO BARRELS OUT THERE TO AGAIN DRAW ATTENTION TO THE AREA.))
[RUNS= 17]
[OUT Q=to the area.]
[SOT 20:31:49]
((MCCALL: THE ONLY THING THEY HAD WAS ONE SIGN, PROBABLY ABOUT TEN FOOT FROM THE ACTUAL GROOVE, THAT WAS THE ONLY SIGN AT THAT POINT. WE CONTACTED V-DOT AND THEY CAME OUT LATER ON THIS MORNING AND SET UP ALL THE CONES AND BLOCKED THE LANE. Reporter: That concerned you enough that you wanted VDOT to come out? YES, SIR IT DID. IT WAS A ROAD HAZARD, I THOUGHT, AT THAT TIME.))
[RUNS= 19]
[OUT Q=at that time.] ))
(-------------)
[LIVE=Steve/FULL L'Burg Bureau]
[SUPER=05-Lynchburg;]
Dr. Dennis Burns was well-known in the Lynchburg area.. he owned two Family Care medical clinics: one in Madison Heights, another on Timberlake Road...
[DOUBLE BOXES=Shannon & Steve/L'Burg Bureau;]
...he also was the on-call medical examiner who often responded to assist police at crime scenes and fatal accidents.
[Bus-Accident]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-10 TC45:57]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A dozen students in Franklin County went to the hospital with minor injuries this morning following a school bus accident in Rocky Mount.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Rocky Mount]
About 60 students were on their way to Benjamin Franklin Middle School and Franklin County High School when their bus hit the back of a pick-up truck.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 01:30:30]
[IN Q=Somebody from an adjacent]
((STEVEN C. OAKES/TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR: SOMEBODY FROM AN ADJACENT PARKING LOT PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE THAT WAS IN THE LEFT HAND LANE. THAT VEHICLE MOVED BACK INTO THE RIGHT HAND LANE AND THE BUS STRUCK THAT VEHICLE IN THE REAR.))
[SUPER=01-Steven C. Oakes/Transportation Director]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=struck that vehicle in the rear.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
A dozen students were taken to the hospital. Most complained of neck and back pain, but school officials did not believe any of the students were seriously injured.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Investigators did not charge either of the drivers involved in the accident, but they were looking for the car that pulled out in front of the truck.
[Roanoke-Fire]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=03-07 TC1:23:54]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]
An apartment caught fire in northwest Roanoke late this afternoon.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
A room on the fourth-floor of Melrose Towers filled with smoke about an hour ago.
Crews had the fire under control within minutes, and were checking some tenants for smoke inhalation.
Others went outside to watch what was going on.
No word on what caused the fire.
(------------)
[Derailment]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=03-04 TC1:25:00]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Equipment failure is to blame for a train derailment earlier this year in Montgomery County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co./February 28;]
The train was carrying coal when 32-cars fell off track in the Ellet Valley.
Norfolk Southern officials say one of the train's wheels broke sometime after it left Bluefield.
No one was hurt.
The derailment happened just two weeks after another train derailed in Pulaski County, near the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.
Operator error caused that accident.
(-------------)
[Tease#1]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
[SS=NONE]
Still ahead on News 7, winter weather damaged area roads.
Now V-Dot's repair efforts are causing traffic headaches.
(---------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
And the Post Office and the I-R-S deal with a flood of last-minute tax filers.
(----------------)
[Taxes]
[NEWSCAST=6 PM]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=03-06 TC1:20:20]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
The big deadline is less than six hours away.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
For many, filing their taxes is no small feat.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
The Roanoke postmaster estimates as many as fifty thousand people will come through the main post office in Roanoke today.
To help ease the stress of filing, the post office has brought in extra help and has set up separate mailboxes for tax returns.
Radio station Q-99 is also on hand to offer free food and massages.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 1:00:44; 56:39]
[IN Q=Do you normally]
((MYRA BRAMMER/LAST MINUTE FILER: DO YOU NORMALLY WAIT TIL THE LAST MINUTE? ABSOLUTELY NOT, I USUALLY HAVE IT IN BY FEBRUARY 15TH. THIS YEAR A LITTLE DIFFERENT? YEAH, A LITTLE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR YES. YOU REGRET THAT? DEFINITELY, ABSOLUTELY.))
((ANNE MURRAY/ROANOKE POSTMASTER: WE SEE LESS TRAFFIC AS THE YEARS GO ON AS WE DISCUSSED EARLIER ABOUT A LOT MORE PEOPLE ARE E-FILING NOW.))
[SUPER=01-Myra Brammer/Last Minute Filer; :00]
[SUPER=01-Anne Murray/Roanoke Postmaster; :12]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=are e-filing now]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The I-R-S estimates that nearly three million people have filed electronically so far this year.
If you are on one of those who still prefers the old fashioned way, the main post office on Rutherford Avenue in Roanoke will be open until midnight tonight.
(------------)
[Philip-Morris]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=Business News]
Attorney General Jerry Kilgore says Philip Morris made its payment to Virginia on time.
The cigarette maker paid the commonwealth 53-million dollars today as part of the national tobacco settlement.
The tobacco giant said it might miss the payment if forced to pay a 12-billion dollar bond in a lawsuit in Illinois.
But an Illinois judge yesterday agreed to accept an existing bond worth about SIX billion.
[Croptech]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-03 TC2:05:18]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]
A bankrupt biotech company that works with tobacco is being kept alive with a bank loan.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/File Tape;]
CropTech has been granted a one-hundred thousand dollar secured bank loan by a federal bankruptcy judge.
The company develops genetically modified tobacco for medicine and is based in Blacksburg.
Officials planned to move operations to South Carolina but that had been put on hold because of financial problems.
The company was given the loan in bankruptcy court because it's in talks with a potential buyer.
(------------)
[Hudson]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=02-51 TC1:16:43]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A man who admits to killing his neighbors in Halifax County will learn his fate on Thursday.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
James Bryant Hudson has pled guilty to killing his neighbor Walter Stanley Cole, his brother Thomas Cole, and Pasty Cole.
He pled guilty to two counts of capital murder and one count of first degree murder.
[SUPER=03-Halifax Co./July]
Prosecutors say the murders stemmed from years of controversy over a private access road.
Commonwealth's Attorney John Greenbacker is asking for the death penalty.
At a hearing this morning, the judge said he'll announce on Thursday whether Hudson will get life or be put to death.
(-------------)
[Stocks]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Disappointing earnings reports from General Motors and Bank One slowed Wall Street today.
[TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE]
[RUNS=:30]
[SUPER=x5000;]
[SUPER=440-x/51.26/8402.36/x/6.06/1391.01;]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
The DOW gained 51 points.
NASDAQ rose six.
(-------------)
[VO]
[SUPER=271-i/0.09/47.85/h/0.97/32.45/h/0.28/24.71/i/0.31/67.78/h/0.68/72.68;]
[SUPER=272-i/0.14/7.79/i/0.06/6.02/h/0.76/57.96/h/0.21/40.75/h/0.54/28.30;]
[SUPER=273-h/0.14/4.90/i/7.17/28.90/h/0.19/14.30/i/0.08/19.78/h/0.06/4.88;]
[SUPER=274-i/0.19/7.54/h/0.69/56.58/i/0.18/34.54/h/0.46/36.59/h/1.12/55.29;]
[SUPER=#555; Reset]
[Child-Abuse]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-01 TC1:59:45]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Labels stick. That's the message a new public awareness campaign is sending.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :16]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
The campaign by the Advertising Federation focuses on how verbal abuse harms children.
It features ads that will be seen on billboards, buses and television commercials.
The message for parents is that nicknames stick with children and can harm their self esteem.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:33:36]
[IN Q=these little]
((CHRIS HENSON/ADVERTISING FEDERATION OF ROANOKE VALLEY; THESE LITTLE THINGS THAT YOU SAY THAT YOU DON'T MEAN THAT MAYBE YOU DON'T EVEN FEEL BUT ARE JUST SAYING OUT OF FRUSTRATION CAN HANG WITH A KID FOR A LONG TIME SOMETIMES EVEN FOR A LIFETIME.))
[SUPER=01-Chris Henson/Advertising Federation of Roanoke Valley;]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=FOR A LIFETIME.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The campaign was developed for the Children's Advocacy Center to be used during April, which is Prevent Child Abuse Month.
Some of the children featured in the new advertising campaign are from the Roanoke Valley.
(------------)
[Potholes]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6 p.m.]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=03-09 TC46:36]
[GRAPHIC=None]
If you're driving from Christiansburg to Blacksburg VDOT wants you to get creative in picking a route.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :11]
[SUPER=03-Christiansburg;]
The Department of Transportation is paving sections of the area around Cambria and Franklin Streets in Christiansburg.
While the roads are still open, the agency says traffic could easily snarl.
(///// SOT at :11 /////)
[SOT 17:08:43-17:08:57]
[IN Q=there are some pretty significant traffic delays...]
((JASON BOND/VDOT: THERE ARE SOME PRETTY SIGNIFICANT TRAFFIC DELAYS. WE HAVE POLICE DIRECTING TRAFFIC, WE HAVE MESSAGE BOARDS DIRECTING TRAFFIC. IT WOULD REALLY HELP US OUT IF PEOPLE WOULD JUST AVOID THAT INTERSECTION.))
[SUPER=01-Jason Bond/VDOT;]
[RUNS=:14]
[OUT Q=just avoid that intersection.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT :27]
The work should be completed Thursday.
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;]
Earlier today, VDOT crews filled potholes along Interstates 81 and 581 from Ironto to the Botetourt County line and down to the Tanglewood area.
Across the state more than 95-thousand potholes have been repaired this year.
Most appear during the spring when warmer weather hits after the winter freeze, cracking the pavement.
VDOT says this has been the worst year for potholes since the late 1970s.
(------------)
[Sports Tease]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SPORTS TEASE]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]
Coming up tonight on News 7 Sports - some basketball coaches on the high school and college front are on the move.
Plus, the Ferrum's baseball team is flying high.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
And Al Groh slipped into town under the radar last night, to help out some of the area's top high school football coaches.
(------------)
[S-Hoops]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-137 11215tc]
[GRAPHIC=HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS]
On the high school basketball front one coach is leaving tonight, while another is just starting a new job.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-Last Season; :00]
E.C. Glass announced this afternoon that Bill Hodges is stepping down after one season as the Toppers head coach.
Hodges says he just doesn't have the energy any longer to teach and coach full-time.
He's heading to Georgia to teach at a middle school.
Hodges is best known as Larry Bird's college coach when the two were at Indiana State.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=mike]
[graphic=hold high school hoops]
Marty Chandler who has been an assistant at Glass for the past three years has been named the new head coach.
Also, Northside has named Trayce Coe the girls head basketball coach. She replaces Jim Robinson who stepped down last season after coaching Northside since 1997.
[S-Coach]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-139 11735tc]
[GRAPHIC=UNC]
North Carolina's courtship and eventual hiring of Roy Williams has consumed most of the coaching chatter this week, but another hiring of significance for local fans also has taken place.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/February 1998;]
Hilliary Scott, the former E.C. Glass star, has been hired as an assistant coach on the new staff at Penn State.
He joins Ed DeChellis his former boss at East Tennessee State in Happy Valley.
The Lynchburg native was a two time all-American at Roanoke College and later played professionally in Europe.
He has been an assistant college coach for six seasons.
[SUPER=03-Charlottesville/This Past Season;]
Elsewhere, UVa basketball player Jermaine Harper has left the program.
He plans to stay in school through the end of the semester, but coach Pete Gillen confirms that he will transfer.
The six foot three inch sophomore played in 27 games this season, but he was suspended for four games at the start of the season.
He did not attend the team's postseason banquet on Sunday night.
(------------)
[S-Groh]
[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-144 54:34]
[GRAPHIC=UVa]
A February snow storm postponed a UVa football coaching clinic for high school coaches here in Roanoke.
But UVa made up for it day last night at the Jefferson Center. Steve Mason has more.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=01-Al Groh/UVa Head Football Coach; :25]
[SUPER=03-Charlottesville/Spring Football Season; :42]
[SUPER=01-Dave Crist/Blacksburg Head Football Coach; :52]
[SUPER=@Steve1; 1:41]
[RUNS=1:50]
[OUT Q=...news 7 sports"]
(------------------)
((Walk ups were welcome, of course if your job title is high school football coach. After a sandwich and a soda, coaches like Byrd's Jeff Highfill, William Campbell's Brad Bradley, Blacksburg's Dave Crist, George Wythe's Donnie Pruitt, Staunton Rivers Bob Gray and several others feasted on several Al Groh topics ranging from the use of young players to UVa's 2002 season.
((AL GROH/UVA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH :))
But the coaches were content to listen and learn form a coaching staff that, despite starting nine freshman, finishes second in the ACC.
((DAVID CRIST/BLACKSBURG HEAD FOOTBALL COACH:))
Groh also designated part of the evening for his assistant coaches to speak and he had strength Evan Markus, who came form the New Orleans Saints address the audience. Coach Groh feels strongly about his team after 12 of 15 spring practices.))
((:))
((STEVE MASON:))
[S-Panthers]
[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-146 1:01:04]
[GRAPHIC=Ferrum]
Ferrum takes its number four national ranking into the Dixie Conference tournament tomorrow at 10 AM against Shenandoah.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Ferrum]
The Panthers are the top team in the South region thanks to seven seniors.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Abe Naff/2003 Dixie Conference Coach of the Year; :05]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=......great leadership"]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The Panthers are the number one seed in the tourney and face a Shenandoah ace on the mound.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Mickey Russell/1st Team Dixie Conference 2nd Baseman; :00]
[SUPER=01-Neil Zimmerman/2nd Team Dixie Conference 3rd Baseman; :15]
[RUNS=:25]
[OUT Q=.....break that ice"]
(------------)
by SS