WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 05/29/03

[7-11Festival-Venue]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Festival Venue]

Festival in the Park is heading back indoors.
Organizers have decided to move tomorrow's Celebration Night into the Roanoke Civic Center.
The concert featuring contemporary Christian singer Crystal Lewis was supposed to take place in Victory Stadium.
Civic Center doors will open at 5:30 and the show will start an hour later.
Only 10,500 people will be allowed inside.
Parking may also be limited because the James H. Drew Exposition is set up in the Civic Center parking lot.

[7-11Missing]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jwa]
[TAPE#=03-13 TC1:06:02]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Searchers have taken to the sky in an effort to find TWO people who fell from Pittsylvania County bridges over the last five days.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pittsylvania Co.]

Authorities searched 13 miles of the Staunton River by helicopter after a man was seen falling from the Staunton River Bridge in Hurt Tuesday night.
A boat search was not possible because of debris and dangerous river conditions.
The search lasted more than an hour and could resume today, weather permitting.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Meanwhile, the sheriff's department is still looking for a woman seen going over the railing on Stateline Bridge Road in Cascade over the weekend.
Investigators searched eight miles of the Dan River yesterday after suspending the search Sunday.

[7-11Hidden-Valley]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-11 TC1:29:06]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Roanoke County school officials say a shared football stadium and lighted soccer fields are the best options for two south county high schools.
Critics say the plan represents a broken promise.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./File Tape]

Yesterday, the school construction committee approved a plan that calls for renovations to Bogle Field at Cave Spring Middle School.
With 25- hundred seats on each side, the stadium would serve both Cave Spring and Hidden Valley High Schools.
Soccer games would be played on lighted fields at each high school, and that's the part of the plan now generating complaints.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Lighting wasn't an issue]
((MICHELE MORGAN/HIDDEN VALLEY NEIGHBOR: LIGHTING WASN'T AN ISSUE, BECAUSE WE WERE TOLD THAT THERE WOULD BE NO LIGHTING ON THE FIELDS AT HIDDEN VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL. BOTTOM LINE, WE WERE TOLD THAT.)) ((MIKE STOVALL/ROANOKE CO. SCHOOL BOARD: WE'RE ONCE AGAIN I'M SURE GOING TO HAVE SOME CITIZENS WHO ARE GOING TO DRAG US ACROSS THE COALS FOR THE FACT WE WANT TO PUT LIGHTS ON THE SOCCER FIELDS, BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS WE'RE DOING IT FOR KIDS. BOTTOM LINE.))
[SUPER=01-Michele Morgan/Hidden Valley Neighbor; :00]
[SUPER=01-Mike Stovall/Roanoke Co. School Board Member; :12]
[RUNS=:23]
[OUT Q=we're doing it for kids. bottom line.]
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[VO-NAT]

The school board must still approve the plan, but board members serve on the construction committee, and three out of five supported the proposal yesterday.
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[45-11Warner-budget]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=03-]
[GRAPHIC=none]

The State budget will soon increase.... thanks to the federal government.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

Virginia will receive an estimated 415 million dollars in federal aid as part of President Bush's recent tax cut and spending plan.
Governor Warner says the money represents much-needed revenue as the state deals with a budget shortfall and the additional costs of homeland security.
Warner says the federal money will allow the state to avoid further budget cuts this year.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 16:01:26]
[IN Q=WHILE I'M PLEASED]
[SUPER=@MarkWarner]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=IS NOT GOING TO GO AWAY.]
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[VO-NAT]

The governor says a portion of the money is earmarked for Medicaid.
He says the rest of the money will likely go toward funding education, economic development and law enforcement.
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[45-11Education-Budget]

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

The latest budget from the State Board of Education calls for more assistant principals and a lower minimum student to teacher ratio.
Yesterday, the board gave a tentative O-K to more than 300-million dollars worth of public school improvements.
The changes will be phased in over four years.
A final vote on the recommendations is scheduled for June 25th.
They'll then be forwarded to the Governor and the General Assembly.

[45-11Kilgore-Gangs]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=03-12 TC1:12:02]
[GRAPHIC=Jerry Kilgore]

Attorney General Jerry Kilgore says its time to fight back against gang violence.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

Kilgore is creating a task force to combat growing gang violence in the state.
The Attorney General pointed to the recent gang-related murder of a Rockbridge County man as evidence that it is not just an urban problem anymore.
He says gang activity is happening all across the state.
The task force will look at increasing penalties for gang involvement and creating an automated system to track gangs.
Kilgore also wants the group to develop school programs to help steer children away from joining gangs.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 10:41:55]
[IN Q=WE HAVE A GANG PROBLEM]
((ATTORNEY GENERAL JERRY KILGORE: WE HAVE A GANG PROBLEM IN VIRGINIA. THE REALITY IS THAT WHERE THERE ARE DRUGS AND ILLEGAL GUNS -- THERE ARE GANGS. THE BREAKDOWN OF THE FAMILY IS INEVITABLE WHEN GANGS ARE ALLOWED TO FLOURISH.))
[SUPER=@Kilgore]
[RUNS=:14]
[OUT Q=GANGS ARE ALLOWED TO FLOURISH.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Kilgore says the task force will include law enforcement officials, prosecutors and community leaders.
He says they will begin meeting this summer.
(------------)

[8-11Festival-Venue]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Festival Venue]

Festival in the Park is heading back indoors.
Organizers have decided to move tomorrow's Celebration Night into the Roanoke Civic Center.
The concert featuring contemporary Christian singer Crystal Lewis was supposed to take place in Victory Stadium.
Civic Center doors will open at 5:30 and the show will start an hour later.
Only 10,500 people will be allowed inside.
Parking may also be limited because the James H. Drew Exposition is set up in the Civic Center parking lot.

[8-11Axiom]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-17 TC33:01]
[GRAPHIC=Business News]
A promising jump start for Martinsville's sluggish economy is now on hold.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville/December;]
Axiom Technologies is delaying its move into its intended headquarters, the former Coca Cola plant. Last December, economic development officials along with Governor Mark Warner welcomed the start up communications component company to Virginia. Officials said it meant a five-million dollar investment and 250-jobs for the area. A release from the city says national economic conditions have slowed the company's financing but that it will be working to keep the deal alive. State and local grants for the project had not been spent and Axiom has offered to reimburse the city about seven-thousand dollars for engineering work.
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[8-11Hooker-Furniture]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=02-37 TC34:11]
[GRAPHIC=Business News]

The closing of a furniture plant in North Carolina will mean more work in Roanoke and Martinsville.
Hooker Furniture announced yesterday it will shut down its plant in Kernersville, North Carolina this summer.
About 270 employees will lose their jobs.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville/File Tape]

The company will shift production to its remaining plants in Martinsville and Roanoke, as well as two locations in North Carolina.
Hooker blames the closings on the economic dowturn and a flood of lower-priced imported products.
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[8-11Tech-Airport]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=03-09 TC2:00:39]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The flight school at Virginia Tech is being permanantly grounded.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;]
The school's Airport says it will officially end its flight training program on Saturday. The decision comes after the university announced two years ago it was getting out of the airport business.
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[SOT 352]
[IN Q=when virginia tech]
((STEVE MOURAS/DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION: WHEN VIRGINIA TECH GOT OUT OF THE AIRPORT BUSINESS WE REALLY DIDN'T THINK THAT IT WAS SOMETHING THAT COMPLIMENTED THE UNIVERSITY'S GOAL AND FOCUS AT THAT TIME.))
[SUPER=01-Steve Mouras/Virginia Tech Director of Transportation;]
[RUNS=11]
[OUT Q=at that time]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Virginia Tech now operates the airport through a partnership with Montgomery County, Blacksburg, and Christiansburg. Its flight training program began during World War Two, when the R-O-T-C trained pilots for combat. Eventually it opened to the public, where it has since averaged about 25 students per year. (-----------)