WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 04/24/03

[7-11Watkins]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-05 TC1:50:57]
[GRAPHIC=Watkins]

It may seem to some people like the war in Iraq is over, but for one Southside family it is still very real.
An Air Force major from South Boston who was missing is now confirmed dead.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=203-Goldsboro, NC]

Some members of Major William Watkins' unit returned to Seymour Johnson Airbase in North Carolina last night.
The Fourth Fighter Wing lost one plane in Iraq.
Major Watkins was the weapons system officer on the F-15 that went down during a combat mission two weeks ago.
He and the pilot were killed.
His family says he lived to serve God, his country and his family.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=Watkins]

Watkins and his wife had an 11-month-old son. They were expecting another child in August.
Arrangements are being made for a memorial service in North Carolina and a burial in South Boston.

[7-11Kaylor]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=03-09 TC58:11]
[GRAPHIC=None]

[TAKE VIDEO]

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
A private burial was held at Arlington National Cemetery for Army Second Lieutenant Jeffrey Kaylor yesterday afternoon. He was killed earlier this month in a grenade attack. Kaylor was a member of Virginia Tech's Corps of Cadets.
[SUPER=203-Blacksburg/File Tape;]
He graduated in 2001. Kaylor is survived by his wife, Jenna, who was also in the R-O-T-C program and graduated the same year. He was 24.
(------------)

[7-11Rke-Shooting]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=503-02 TC11:02]
[GRAPHIC=Shooting]

Roanoke Police are still hoping that someone will come forward with answers to a Montgomery County man's death.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]

51-year-old Richard Anthony Palmer of Riner was found shot to death in his pickup truck at Norfolk Avenue and 12th Street Southwest Tuesday.
His dog was also killed.
Palmer was a school bus driver in Montgomery County.
He had also worked as a sports photographer at the Montgomery County News-Messenger and at the Southwest Times in Radford.
(------------)

[7-11Dan-River]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-19 TC00:12]
[GRAPHIC=Layoffs]
Dan River Incorporated will soon be laying off two-hundred employees.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville/File Tape;]
Danville's largest employer says it's cutting jobs to shift manufacturing efforts to remain efficient and NOT because of a slowdown in orders. The textile company has a workforce of 38-hundred. A total of four shifts are being eliminated including those at an accessory plant, sewing plant and two warehouses. The majority of cuts are to full-time, hourly positions. They'll be effective tomorrow. The company says it's assisting workers in applying for unemployment benefits.
(------------)

[45-11NAFTA]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-06 TC1:33:43]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The textile industry overseas is still creating a lot of competition for our region.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :14]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
Canadian Embassy officials talked about being successful under NAFTA at Roanoke's Kiwanis Club meeting yesterday. They say for companies to succeed, they have to change. One way is to specialize in a high value product.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 03:24:53]
[IN Q=at the end]
((LESLIE THOMAS REISSNER/CANADIAN EMBASSY; AT THE END OF THE DAY MOST WESTERN ECONOMIES ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO COMPETE WHERE THERE IS A VERY HIGH IMPORT OF LABOR. I WAS IN CHINA FOR TWO YEARS THERE IS NO WAY THAT T-SHIRTS ARE GOING TO BE MADE CHEAPER IN NORTH AMERICA WHETHER IT'S CANADA OR THE UNITED STATES.))
[SUPER=01-Leslie Thomas Reissner/Canadian Embassy;]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=OR THE UNITED STATES.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Canadian officials say one way their country has managed to succeed at textile manufacturing is by importing Italian fabric, making suits and exporting them to the U-S.
(------------)

[45-11Covington]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=none]
City leaders in Covington are trying to revitalize their downtown area, and and looking for a state grant to help them do so.
(------------)
[VO-NAT - :26+]
[SUPER=03-Covington;]
The city has applied for a Community Development Block Grant for more than a million dollars. If approved, the money would go towards fixing up second-story apartments, refacing store fronts, and helping with refurbishing a historic bridge. The city is competing with five other localities for the grant, and will know the results by June. Last year, Covington received a smaller grant to help them plan out the city's long range future by identifying improvements that are needed.
(------------)

[45-11Birth-control]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=03-07 TC1:43:55]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Some state-supported schools dispense emergency contraceptives to students.
One Republican lawmaker believes that these actions are quote "irresponsible"
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

Delegate Bob Marshall says Virginia Tech and Radford University are deceiving students by giving out drugs that facilitate a form of early abortion.
He's referring to the morning after pill, called Plan B or Preven, which must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.
Abortion rights supporters say it is a form of birth control, not an abortion.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT ::-]
[IN Q=I THINK THAT'S DELIBERATELY]
((GRACE SPARKS/PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF VIRGINIA:I THINK THAT'S DELIBERATELY BLURRING OF THOSE LINES. THIS IS NOT AN ABORTION PILL. IT DOESN'T WORK IF THE WOMAN GETS A POSITIVE PREGNANCY TEST. IF SHE'S PREGNANT, IT DOESN'T WORK.))
[SUPER=01-Grace Sparks/Planned Parenthood of Virginia;]
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=IF SHE'S PREGNANT, IT DOESN'T WORK]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Last week James Madison University decided to stop dispensing the emergency contraceptive.
Several thousand J-M-U students are protesting the move.
(------------)

[8-11Watkins]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-05 TC1:50:57]
[GRAPHIC=Watkins]

The war in Iraq is winding down, but it's still affecting the lives of a Southside family.
An Air Force major from South Boston who was missing is now confirmed dead.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=203-Goldsboro, NC]

Some members of Major William Watkins' unit returned to Seymour Johnson Airbase in North Carolina last night.
The Fourth Fighter Wing lost one plane in Iraq.
Major Watkins was the weapons system officer on the F-15 that went down during a combat mission two weeks ago.
He and the pilot were killed.
His family says he lived to serve God, his country and his family.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=Watkins]

Watkins and his wife had an 11-month-old son. They were expecting another child in August.
Arrangements are being made for a memorial service in North Carolina and a burial in South Boston.

[8-11Rke-Shooting]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=503-02 TC11:02]
[GRAPHIC=Shooting]

Roanoke Police are looking to the public for information concerning the death of a Montgomery County man.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]

51-year-old Richard Anthony Palmer of Riner was found shot to death in his pickup truck at Norfolk Avenue and 12th Street Southwest Tuesday.
His dog was also killed.
Palmer was a school bus driver in Montgomery County.
He had also worked as a sports photographer at the Montgomery County News-Messenger and at the Southwest Times in Radford.
(------------)

[8-11Harvey]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A former Virginia Tech employee was indicted on embezzlement charges yesterday. 37-year-old Angela Harvey was a program support technician for the university's Foreign Language and Literature Department. Investigators say from 1997 to 2002 she embezzled more than 70-thousand dollars through false reports of overtime and travel reimbursements. Harvey has since been fired. She is charged with three counts of embezzlement.

[8-11Snow-Leopards]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=03-18 TC05:33]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Mill Mountain Zoo is preparing to bid a fond farewell to its snow leopard siblings.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :24]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/March 2002]
In just over a week, Niko and Maya will be honored with a party for their second birthday. Soon thereafter they'll be headed to other zoos, one in Toledo, one in South Dakota, as part of a breeding program for endangered species.
[SUPER=04-May 2001]
The male and female cats are the survivors of three cubs born to Boris and Natasha on May 4, 2001. The elder duo will stay on at the zoo and are expected to breed again next year. (------------)