WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 07/09/03

[Accident]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Accident]

Traffic is blocked this morning on Route 220, because of an accident involving a tractor trailer and a van just north of Boones Mill .
State Police say the accident happened around 6- 30 this morning, just before the divided highway.
Authorities confirm there IS a fatality.
Meanwhile, all lanes of traffic are blocked.
Authorities are advising motorists to take a different route.
Wreckers are on the way. We also have a news crew on the way.

[7-AM-Drowning]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tha]
[TAPE#=03-]
[GRAPHIC=none]
A man drowned in a Franklin County pond yesterday while fishing with his brother. Sheriff's officials identified the man who died as 40- year old Michael Steven Carr of Bent Mountain.
(XXXXXXX)
[TAKE MAP FULL] The incident happened at a home near Route 612 in Franklin County on Bent Mountain, not far from the Roanoke County line.
(--------)
[vo-nat]
[super=03-Franklin Co.;]
A sheriff's deputy says Carr was fishing at a pond with his brother Troy when he decided to go for a swim around 5- thirty yesterday evening. According to the deputy, Carr could not swim well as he attempted to cross the pond and began yelling for his brother's help. But Troy Carr was also unable to swim.
(//////SOT/////)
[sot 04:40:26]
[in q= He was ]
((MARK SWEENEY/FRANKLIN CO. SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; HE WAS ABLE TO SEE HIM AND THE BROTHER COULDN'T SWIM SO HE YELLED FOR HELP AND A NEIGHBOR EVENTUALLY HEARD HIM AND MET HIM ON THE ROAD HERE AND CALLED 911.))
[super=01-Mark Sweeney/Franklin Co. Sheriff's Department;]
[runs=15]
[out q= called 911]
(-------------)
Members of the Franklin County dive team recovered Michael Steven Carr's body in about 12- feet of water around eight thirty P-M. Sheriff's officials say foul play is not suspected and an autopsy will be performed.
(----------)

[7-11County-Shooting]

[ANCHOR=kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-24 TC41:21]
[GRAPHIC=murder investigation]
More details are emerging about a shooting inside a Roanoke County home yesterday.
(XXXXXXX)
[TAKE MAP FULL]
The killing has shaken the neighborhood just off Garst Mill Road in Southwest Roanoke County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :21]

Police are charging 23-year-old Muhammed Hamid Majeed with first degree murder in the shooting death of 42-year old Christopher Hanes.
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;]
Hanes lived in this house on Larson Lane with his family. According to police, Majeed shot and killed Hanes at the home just before 11 this morning. The shooter and victim know each other through a business relationship.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 03:29:16]
[IN Q=everything is]
((DONNA FURROW/ROANOKE CO. ASST. POLICE CHIEF.; EVERYTHING IS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHY IT DOESN'T APPEAR TO BE A DOMESTIC SITUATION BUT RIGHT NOW WE JUST DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF DETAILS.))
[SUPER=01-Donna Furrow/Roanoke Co. Assistant Police Chief;]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=OF DETAILS.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Friends of Christopher Hanes say he owned several properties in the area and that the shooting involved a security deposit on one of them.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=JEAN]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]
Hanes is well-known in the community and is described as a family man.
This is the first murder in Roanoke County this year. Majeed is expected to be arraigned this week.

[Accident]

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

Traffic is blocked this morning on Route 220, because of an accident involving a tractor trailer and a van just north of Boones Mill .
State Police say the accident happened around 6- 30 this morning, just before the divided highway.
Authorities confirm there IS a fatality.
Meanwhile, all lanes of traffic are blocked.
Authorities are advising motorists to take a different route.
Wreckers are on the way.

We also have a news crew on the way.[45-11Baby-Killed]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=03-19 TC1:07:55]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A woman in Lynchburg has been charged with killing a baby who was in her care.
Police were called to the woman's home on Pulaski Street Monday for a seven-month-old who was unresponsive.
The child was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy later determined the child died from a fractured skull.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Police arrested 23-year-old Diane Melissa McDaniel yesteday and charged her with the baby's murder.
The baby died at McDaniels's home.
She's being held without bond in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail.
(------------)

[45-11Tax-reform]

[ANCHOR=kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=03-17 TC1:26:57]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The Commission charged with reforming Virginia's tax code has yet to meet, but it's already stirring up a lot of controversy.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :15]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

Governor Warner intended to talk with members of the Tax Reform Commission later this week in private.
But the Attorney General, the Speaker of the House and the A-C-L-U said the closed-door get-together would violate Virginia's open-meeting law.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT :30:34]
[IN Q=THE LEGISLATORS REQUESTED]
((CARRIE CANTRELL/ATTORNEY GENERAL'S SPOKESPERSON: THEY NEED TO MAKE SOME IMPORTANT DECISIONS OPENLY AND LET THE TAXPAYERS KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT WHEN THEY'RE REFORMING THE TAX STRUCTURE HERE IN VIRGINIA.))
[SUPER=@MarkWarner; :00]
[SUPER=01-Carrie Cantrell/Attorney General's Spokesperson; :10]
[RUNS=:24]
[OUT Q=HERE IN VIRGINIA.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Yesterday, the Tax Reform Commission agreed to open Thursday's meeting to the public.
(------------)

[45-Safety-Corridor]

[ANCHOR=kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=03-30 TC51:03]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A new law designed to make state roadways safer is moving along slower than expected.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co.]

The law designates parts of certain highways as safety corridors.
But before a corridor becomes a reality, officials from V-Dot, D-M-V, and State Police must come up with criteria.
That could take until the end of the year or even longer. The law's chief sponsor says that's too long.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 4:23]
[IN Q=I would hope they]
((JOHN EDWARDS/(D) ROANOKE: I WOULD HOPE THEY WOULD MOVE FORWARD A LITTLE QUICKER THAN THAT. I MEAN THIS IS SERIOUS PROBLEM. STUDIES SHOW WHERE YOU HAVE THESE HIGHWAY SAFETY CORRIDORS ACCIDENTS ARE DOWN, LIVES ARE SAVED SO I WOULD HOPE WE COULD MOVE QUICKER THAN THAT.))
[SUPER=@edwards]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=than that]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Once a corridor is designated and you are caught speeding within this area, you will face heftier fines, as much as 500 dollars.
Signs will be erected warning motorists they are about to enter a safety corridor.
(------------)

[Accident]

We also have a news crew on the way.[8-6-L'burg-Stabbing]

[ANCHOR=kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=03-28 TC19:14]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Lynchburg police are still looking for a man charged with stabbing another man during an argument yesterday afternoon.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

Around 12:15, police say the two men were involved in an altercation inside a home in the 2400 block of Cobbs Street.
51-year-old James Arthur Marshall was cut on the wrist and in the abdomen.
He's still being treated at Lynchburg General Hospital.
Authorities are looking for 53-year-old Warren Haskins.
He's charged with malicious wounding.
(------------)

[8-11Matricardi]

[ANCHOR=kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=03-29 TC18:10]
[GRAPHIC=none]

The former head of Virginia's Republican Party was sentenced yesterday for eavesdropping on Democratic leaders.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

Ed Matricardi will spend the next three years on probation and pay a 5-thousand dollar fine.
Prosecutors had recommended the former political operative pay ten thousand dollars.
Matricardi apologized in court for listening in on the calls by using access codes provided by a disgruntled former Democratic Party employee.
Matricardi's sentence includes 180 hours of community service.
The felony conviction also leaves him unable to vote.
(------------)

[8-11Storm-Damage]

[ANCHOR=kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-31 TC22:35]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Residents of one Montgomery County community are cleaning up after a rare and severe weekend storm.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co.;]

For nearly two hours Sunday, residents along Willis Hollow Road witnessed an unusually strong downpour.
The creek running along their road became a river, washing out roads and driveways.
The National Weather Service says five inches of rain fell on the area in less than 90 minutes.
At least half a dozen public roads were washed out... but most of the damage is already being fixed.
Meteorologists say that just 10 miles to the south there was almost NO rainfall.
(------------)

[8-11Praise-Park]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=03-27 TC22:14]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Last night, Roanoke's young African American community was the target audience of a group hoping to take its message to the rest of the world.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

It was a night of song and prayer in Elmwood Park, organized by the Conference On Evangelizing Black America.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
((NAT MUSIC))
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=I am forgiven]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Praise in the Park wrapped up at midnight.
COEBA is holding its national meeting at the Hotel Roanoke this week. (------------)