WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 05/20/03

[7-East-Preview]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=03-]
[GRAPHIC=ACC/Big East 6240]
Big East officials will soon go their seperate ways.
The conference meetings are close to wrapping up in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Mike Stevens has a preview of today's events.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT TC 6:25:30]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=@Mike1; :00]
[SUPER=03-Ponte Vedra, FL; :07]
[RUNS=:42]
[OUT Q=see ya then.]

[7-11Ward]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=03-19 TC24:28]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The F-B-I says a Roanoke man held up a local bank, so he could pay back the money he'd taken from his former place of employment.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
After seeing a bank surveillance photo of the robbery suspect on television, 26-year old Benjamin Harrison Ward called an acquaintance.
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/May 7]
Ward was crying, saying he had to commit the robbery to pay a debt. Ward was arrested Saturday night for the armed robbery at the Valley Bank branch on Crystal Spring Avenue. Subway Restaurant manager Rupert Bonhotel told the F-B-I that Ward paid him 16-hundred dollars the day after the robbery.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[SS=None]
Court records indicate Ward also wired his girlfriend 26-hundred dollars.

[7-AMHalifax-School]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=none]
Though residents have been fighting to keep Virgilina Elementry School open, the Halifax County School board decided to close the school in a 5 to 3 vote last night.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Halifax Co./January 2002]

Residents of Virgilina have been fighting for more than a year to keep the school open.
In January of 2002, the school board agreed to allow residents the opportunity to raise enrollment to 120 students for the upcoming school year.
There are currently 101 students at the school and residents claim they have 124 students pre-registered for next year.
But last night, the school board disqualified some of those pre-registerants and Virglinia Elementary will close at the end of the school year. The students will attend either South of Dan or Cluster Springs school next year.
(------------)

[45-East-Preview]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=03-]
[GRAPHIC=ACC/Big East 6240]

Miami holds all the cards, but it seems increasingly clear it won't play its hand this week -- this as the Big East tries to hold itself together. The meetings will likely wrap up today. Mike Stevens has a preview.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT TC 6:25:30]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=@Mike1; :00]
[SUPER=03-Ponte Vedra, FL; :07]
[RUNS=:42]
[OUT Q=see ya then.]

[45-11County-Fatal]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Accident]

Roanoke County police say the teenager who died in a car crash over the weekend was not wearing a seat belt.
17-year-old Hiawatha (High-a-watha) Boyd, Junior was thrown from a sport utility vehicle after it rolled down an embankment early Sunday morning.
Three other people were hurt in the accident on the Poage Valley Road Extension.
So far, no charges have been filed.

[45-11School-Safety]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-08 TC1:55:52]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The Roanoke City School Superintendent has requested an audit of discipline reports, following charges that school officials filed inaccurate information with the state.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Wayne Harris says he welcomes a request from the city school board for more detailed information on the issue. And he says he has asked the State Department of Education to review the discipline data for the last three years.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 30:53]
[IN Q=I have no reason]
((WAYNE HARRIS/ROANOKE CITY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: I HAVE NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT ANYONE HAS ATTEMPTED TO SKEW THE DATA OR MISREPRESENT THE DATA. ANY ERRORS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE, BASED ON WHAT I KNOW HAVE BEEN A LACK OF CLARITY IN WHAT THEY SHOULD BE REPORTING.))
[SUPER=01-Wayne Harris/Roanoke City School Superintendent;]
[RUNS=:21]
[OUT Q=in what they should be reporting.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

School officials recently acknowledged mistakes, and corrected the discipline report for the 2001- 2002 school year.
But some parents have also questioned whether the updated information is correct.
(------------)

[8-East-Preview]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=03-]
[GRAPHIC=ACC/Big East 6240]
Big East officials will soon go their seperate ways.
The conference meetings are close to wrapping up in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Mike Stevens has a preview of today's events.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT TC 6:25:30]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=@Mike1; :00]
[SUPER=03-Ponte Vedra, FL; :07]
[RUNS=:42]
[OUT Q=see ya then.]

[8-11City-Council]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-21 TC10:52]
[GRAPHIC=none]
A veteran of the Roanoke City Council says he's glad to return to his old stomping grounds, and is ready to tackle some new issues.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Bev Fitzpatrick was sworn in yesterday afternoon, replacing Bill Carder.
He says he's pleased Roanoke has made progress toward more regional cooperation, since he left council ten years ago.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 20:28]
[IN Q=Particularly on things]
((BEV FITZPATRICK/ROANOKE CITY COUNCIL: PARTICULARLY ON THINGS LIKE WATER. JUST THE FACT THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT A REGIONAL LIBRARY SYSTEM IN A MEETING LIKE TODAY, WHICH IS REALLY WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE, SAYS THAT WE'RE THINKING DIFFERENTLY AND I'M REAL PLEASED ABOUT THAT.))
[SUPER=01-Bev Fitzpatrick/Roanoke City Council]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=real pleased about that.]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Fitzpatrick last served on city council from 1988 to 1993.
His current term will expire at the end of June next year.

[8-11Police-Memorial]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=03-09 TC1:43:06]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Planning has begun to build a police memorial in Chatham, honoring the five officers who have died in the line of duty there since 1928.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Chatham]

Officials made the announcement during a memorial service yesterday in Chatham.
The design will feature a law enforcement star with six markers... one for each of the fallen officers and another expressing the hope that no other deputies make that final sacrifice.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:24:58]
[IN Q=We hope that]
((VIC INGRAM/PITTSYLVANIA CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: WE HOPE THAT THIS MEMORIAL WILL BRING SOME COMFORT TO YOU IN KNOWING THAT WE ALSO SHARE IN YOUR LOSS. AND TO MR. WILLIAMS, MR. BRYANT, MR. PAYNE, MR. COWARD AND TO FRANKIE: MAY YOU ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED, NOT ONLY BY YOUR FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES, BUT ALSO BY THE CITIZENS WHOM YOU SERVED.))
[SUPER=01-Invest. Vic Ingram/Pittsylvania Co. Sheriff's Dept.;]
[RUNS=18]
[OUT Q=citizens whom you served.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The memorial will cost about 30-thousand dollars to build.
Organizers hope to have it finished by next May. (------------)