[1-News-Head]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
Still reeling from school closing and consolidations, Henry County schools factor in the loss of Pillowtex.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
And another 4-H camp counselor's charged with assaulting young campers.
(------------)
[Sports-head]
[ANCHOR=travis]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Tonight in sports, the Hokies hit the practice field for the first time, the Martinsville Speedway gets a spring race sponsor 8 months in advance,
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
and the Salem Spartans set out to regain their old form after a 500 season in 2002.
(------------)
[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Leo]
[SS=None]
The sloppy wet weather continues but more sunshine should peak out as we head through the weekend. I'll have your forecast..
[Video-Open]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=Video Open]
[GRAPHIC=News7at6]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
More budget cuts in Henry County Schools.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
Officials are taking action today to cut hundreds of thousands of dollars just weeks before a new school year begins.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
Good evening, I'm Shannon Young.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
And I'm I'm Keith Humphry.
[Henry-School]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-SHOT]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=03-22 TC=1:31:23]
[GRAPHIC=none]
The school system was already facing one half million dollars in cuts for the upcoming school year.
Then came the news that Pillowtex would close.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-shot]
The county will lose a significant amount of revenue because of the closure and the school system will feel the brunt of it.
[TAKE NEWS 7 AT 6 IN BAM]
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith and Shannon/Rachel in BAM]
Rachel Cannon was at today's school board meeting and has more on the additional cuts. Rachel?
Keith and Shannon, budget cuts are nothing new to the Henry County school system.
[LIVE=Rachel/FULL]
[SUPER=@Rachel1; ]
But the latest round will be significant and painful.
With the school year being so close, the school board said today instruction will take a hit.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=HAVING TO DEAL WITH]
[SUPER=01-Sharon Dodson/Henry Co. School Superintendent; :00]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.; :04]
[SUPER=01-J. Kelly Cecil/Henry Co. School Board Member; :42]
[RUNS=1:20]
[OUT Q=NEGOTIATE SOME MORE.]
((
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:11:02]
[IN Q=having to deal]
((SHARON DODSON/HENRY CO. SUPERINTENDENT; HAVING TO DEAL WITH BUDGET REDUCTIONS IT'S A REAL CHALLENGE.))
[OUT Q=CHALLENGE.]
It's a challenge the Henry County School Board is meeting in a number of ways.
The majority of the cuts, more than three hundred thousand dollars, is from leaving open positions vacant and reassigning personnel.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:11:47]
[IN Q=we've been ]
((SHARON DODSON/HENRY CO. SUPERINTENDENT; WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ADJUST OUR STAFF CONSISTENT WITH STUDENTS WE KNOW WHO WILL BE ATTENDING.))
[OUT Q=ATTENDING]
Officials say three schools will lose one teacher each.
At the elementary level, the art music and physical education departments will be reduced by 5 and a half positions.
But Superintendent Dodson stresses employees are not being laid off.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:12:08]
[IN Q=we were ]
((SHARON DODSON/HENRY CO. SUPERINTENDENT;WE WERE ABLE TO GENERATE SOME SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS BY NOT FILLING POSITIONS AND DOING TRANSFERS.))
[OUT Q=TRANSFERS.]
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:15:43]
[IN Q=YOU CAN'T]
((J. KELLY CECIL/HENRY CO. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER; YOU CAN'T KEEP CUTTING WITHOUT COMPROMISING BUT WE'RE STILL GOING TO SOL ACCREDITED AND OUR STUDENTS ARE STILL GOING TO GET A GREAT EDUCATION IN HENRY COUNTY.))
[OUT Q=HENRY COUNTY]
Declining enrollment in the county is also providing another option to slash the budget.
Officials say with fewer students it can stop renting classroom space in places like the Fieldale Community Center.
A savings of thousands. The final cut is in field trip spending.
But even all this comes short of the six-hundred thousand the county wanted to board to find in the budget.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:12:59]
[IN Q=WE NEED]
((SHARON DODSON/HENRY CO. SUPERINTENDENT; WE NEED TO SHARPEN OUR PENCILS AND TALK WITH THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATION AND COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND NEGOTIATE SOME MORE.))
[OUT Q=SOME MORE.]))
[LIVE=Rachel/FULL]
Dodson says these additional cuts will have no affect on the impending school cosolidation in the county.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith, Shannon/Rachel in BAM;]
Keith and Shannon, as you know last month the school board voted to close five schools and consolidate several others.
That begins next fall.
[4H]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-31 TC-41:08]
[GRAPHIC=4H]
ANOTHER counselor is charged with abusing kids at Smith Mountain Lake's 4-H Camp.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :24 + pad]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co./File;]
THIS one is from a Rockingham County 4-H group that camped there the week of June 17th.
Franklin County Sheriff Quint Overton says 18-year-old William Hayes Smith is charged with assault and battery on two 10-year-old campers and one 9-year-old. All were from Rockingham County.
The campers told investigators Smith put them in headlocks, bent their fingers backward and hung one of them upside down by the ankles.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[GRAPHIC=none]
This latest arrest is unrelated to charges against volunteer counselors from Bedford County who camped there two weeks later and allegedly staged fights between kids.
[Knox]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Cecil Knox]
The judge in the case of Doctor Cecil Knox will not order the defense to turn over a list of people who've donated to the doctor's legal defense fund.
The prosecutor wanted to see if potential jurors and witnesses had been asked to give money to the Knox defense fund. But Judge Sam Wilson says the lawyers can ask jurors and witnesses about that as the trial gets underway next month.
Judge Wilson has summoned an especially large jury pool to chose from, calling jurors- -not just from Roanoke- -but from the Lynchburg area, as well.
[Clower]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-21 TC-1:28:41]
[GRAPHIC=Clower]
Former Henry County administrator Sid Clower is scheduled for release from prison next month ... but that may not be the end of his troubles with the law.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Campbell Co.;]
The Virginia Department of Corrections says he'll leave the Rustburg Correctional Unit September Second for an appearance in FEDERAL court. His name is not on the court calendar, yet.
[SUPER=03-Henry Co./2002]
However, federal investigators have been looking into Clower's embezzlement of more than 800-thousand dollars in county money.
He could still be indicted for failure to pay taxes on it.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Clower has spent just over one year in prison, since pleading guilty to embezzlement last June.
Once he's released, he's supposed to spend 90 days in a Chatham halfway house, followed by 20 years of supervised probation.
[Identity-Theft]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
Bedford-area businesses are being reminded to be extra careful when it comes to completing sales transactions and approving loan applications.
The people making the purchase may not be who they claim to be.
The warning follows the arrest of 46-year-old Norman Lynwood Haley of Powhatan.
Police say Haley used a false name and social security number to secure loans to buy 120-thousand dollars worth of vehicles from a local car dealership.
Haley was arrested Tuesday and charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses and making false statements to obtain credit.
[Internet-Porn]
[ANCHOR=Shan]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=03-24 TC-1:19:15]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
The dark world of tracking would-be pedophiles who lurk on the Internet has always been dangerous, but a new wrinkle has local law enforcement on the alert.
Bedford County authorities say they were surprised this week to find one suspected predator right in their own backyard.
Steve Smallshaw reports.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=In the five]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co./April, 1999; :00]
[SUPER=01-Mike Brown/Bedford Co. Sheriff; :43]
[SUPER=@ssm2; 1:18]
[RUNS=1:23]
[OUT Q=News7, Bedford County.]
(( In the five-plus years since he started Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, Sheriff Mike Brown thought he had seen just about everything when it came to Internet criminals who prey on children.
Until this week.
On Tuesday, authorities arrested 29-year-old Evan Scott Leisersohm of Springfield on charges of trying to solicit sex from a juvenile on-line.
They say Leisersohm was not communicating with them from a computer in his northern Virginia home.. instead he had traveled to Bedford County and was less than a half mile away from the undercover investigator who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.
He allegedly did it using a cellphone with Internet access.. and that now has police looking over their shoulders.
[SOT 13:51:25]
((MIKE BROWN/BEDFORD CO. SHERIFF: WE ARE THINKING TWICE AND WE'RE BEING VERY CAUTIOUS BECAUSE WITH THIS, WE'RE NOT SURE WHERE THEY ARE, WHERE THEY'RE TALKING TO US.))
[RUNS= 08]
[OUT Q=talking to us.]
Brown says it was just a matter of time before on-line predators figured out how to use the portable technology to their advantage.
It's a reminder, he says, that these criminals will stop at nothing.
[SOT 13:54:59]
((BROWN: AND AGAIN IT GOES BACK TO THAT DRIVE, THAT SEXUAL URGE. IT'S AN URGE THERE THAT THEY'VE GOT TO KEEP ABREAST, THEY KNOW THAT BY UTILIZING THE INTERNET THEY, AND WE'VE GONE OVER THIS SEVERAL TIMES, THERE'S JUST A TREMENDOUS POOL OF VICTIMS OUT THERE.))
[RUNS= 17]
[OUT Q=victims out there.]
And Brown and his team hope to continue acting as the lifeguards.
Steve Smallshaw, News7, Bedford County. ))
[Franklin-Wreck]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=03-29 TC-1:00:03]
[GRAPHIC=Accident]
A two-car crash in Franklin County this afternoon sent two people to the hospital.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co.]
The accident on the Booker T. Washington highway shut down one lane for about 45 minutes.
State police say 26-year-old Amanda Austin of Rocky Mount was trying to make a left onto Hardy Road.
She turned in front of a car driven by 79-year-old Wallace Roope, also of Rocky Mount.
Roope's Cadillac hit Austin's Cherokee on the passenger side and knocked it out of the road.
Police charged Austin with failure to yield.
Neither driver was wearing a seat belt; their injuries did not appear to be critical.
(------------)
[Tease#1]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
[SS=NONE]
Even though portions of Spring and Summer were washed out, water supplies could still dry up.
That story still ahead on the newscast,
(---------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
and also, Rockbridge County is known for homes with historical significance, but it's a rare occurrence when one of them hits the open market.
(----------------)
[Water-Study]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=eki]
[TAPE#=03-32 TC-19:54]
[GRAPHIC=none]
You may be sick of all the recent rain, but officials say we still haven't received enough to avoid future droughts.
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
The Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission said today the area could face a shortfall of nearly 10 million gallons a day by the year 2020.
Members also believe the rapid growth in the Valley means an adequate water supply is even more important.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 16:25:03-16:25:12]
[IN Q= You have to be...]
((PAM KENEL/BLACK & VEATCH PROJECT MANAGER: YOU HAVE TO BE CONCERNED WITH ADEQUATE PUBLIC SAFETY. AND WATER SUPPLY WE TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. ITS SO IMPORTANT TO NOT ONLY OUR PERSONAL LIVES BUT OUR BUSINESS LIVES.))
[RUNS=:09]
[SUPER=01-Pam Kenel/Black & Veatch Project Manager;]
[OUT Q=but our business lives.]
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]
Now the Commission is offering alternative solutions.
One option is to pipe in water from Smith Mountain Lake.
That cost of doing so could be more than 100 million dollars.
(------------)
[Blacksburg-School]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=03-33 TC-11:16]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Some parents are hoping to keep the Catholic school tradition alive in the New River Valley.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg;]
The Catholic Diocese announced it was closing Saint Mary's Elementary School in Blacksburg because of low-enrollment.
Saint Mary's Church began offering Kindergarten through fifth-grade classes in 1998 and was the only Catholic school in that area.
But, some parents say instead of focusing their energy on SAVING the school, they decided to just open a new one.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 2535]
[IN Q=we have]
((JULIA WHARTON/FORMER ST. MARY'S P.T.O PRESIDENT: WE HAVE THE BASE. WE HAVE THE TEACHERS. WE HAVE THE DESIRE AND WE'RE READY TO GO.))
[SUPER=01-Julia Wharton/Former St. Mary's P.T.O President;]
[RUNS=06]
[OUT Q=ready to go]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Wharton says they hope to open the new school inside the old Blacksburg Middle School.
It will be called Saint John Neumann Academy, after the founding father of Catholic education.
Classes are scheduled to begin September Third.
(------------)
[KBToys]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6 PM]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=03-20 TC-1:59:47]
[GRAPHIC=New Jobs]
A southside company is hoping for a holly jolly Christmas this year.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pittsylvania Co./December 2002]
K-B Toys plans to immediately hire 75 seasonal customer service specialists to answer phone calls and e-mail during the holiday shopping season.
The company will hold a job fair this Saturday from nine until two at its distribution center on Route 29 in Blairs.
K-B toys also plans to hire an additional 13-hundred holiday workers in September.
(------------)
[Short-Bridge]
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-30 TC-1:18:03]
[GRAPHIC=Jennifer Short]
The bridge where the remains of Jennifer Short were found may soon become an official memorial.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Rockingham Co., NC/July 22;]
Jennifer's relatives want the bridge near Stoneville, North Carolina, to be named in her honor.
The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution supporting the idea Tuesday but it still has to be approved by the state highway department, which could take several months.
Jennifer was snatched from her home on August 15th last year. Her parents were found murdered.
Almost a month later, her remains turned up in a creek bed by the Grogan Road bridge.
(------------)
[Thorn-Hill]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-23 TC-1:23:49]
[GRAPHIC=none]
One of Rockbridge County's most historic homes has been in private hands for more than 200 years, and rarely open to the public.
Thorn Hill Estate is now on the market, with an open house scheduled this weekend...
and Joe Dashiell reports the home has stories to tell.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Impressive from a distance]
[SUPER=03-Rockbridge Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Anne Mason Taylor; :10]
[SUPER=01-Pamela Simpson/W&L Professor; :36]
[RUNS=1:23]
[OUT Q=JD News 7 Rockbridge County]
((Impressive from a distance, Thorn Hill is equally striking up close...
From the Georgian architecture... to the intricate interiors.
[SOT]
[IN Q=A wonderful gift]
((A WONDERFUL GIFT ABOUT THORN HILL ARE THE WONDERFUL MOULDINGS THAT YOU SEE. THERE ARE SEVEN LAYERS OF CROWN MOULDING. THEY ARE ALL ORIGINAL. AND FOR EXAMPLE, THE OPEN PEDIMENT DOORWAY WE BELIEVE THAT THESE WERE DONE BY ENGLISH CRAFSTMEN WHO WERE TRAINED IN EUROPE.))
[RUNS= :17]
[OUT Q=who were trained in Europe.]
Anne Mason Taylor lived here for five years, but now she's looking for a buyer.
Thorn Hill is listed with James Moore Real Estate for 795- thousand dollars.
[SOT]
[IN Q=It's a national historic]
((ITS A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK. IT'S ON THE STATE AND NATIONAL REGISTERS ITS AN EXTERMELY IMPORTANT HOUSE BOTH ARCHITECTURALLY AND HISTORICALLY IN TERMS OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THERE AS WELL, SO IT'S AN IMPORTANT HOUSE THAT WE REALLY VALUE HERE.))
[RUNS= :14]
[OUT Q=that we really value here.]
Among those who lived there is Colonel John Bowyer who fought in the revolutionary war before building Thorn Hill. During the Civil War, Matthew Paxton was a leader of the Stonewall Brigade, shot and killed at Chancellorsville.
[SOT]
[IN Q=And Mrs. Paxton]
((AND MRS. PAXTON WAS STANDING RIGHT HERE ON THE VERANDA OF THORNHILL ONE DAY, WHEN SHE SAW HER MOTHER AND HER MINISTER WALKING UP THE RIDGE UNDER THIS GROVE OF TREES AND SHE INSTANTLY FAINTED BECAUSE SHE SADLY KNEW WHY THEY HAD COME.))
[RUNS= :14]
[OUT Q=why they had come.]
With Thorn Hill now on the market, Anne Taylor hopes others will come this weekend and consider making Rockbridge County history their home.
Joe Dashiell News 7 Rockbridge County.))
(++++++++)
[TAKE WDBJ7.COM FS]
[anchor=Keith]
For more information on Thorn Hill, and the open house Sunday Afternoon, visit our Website at WDBJ7.com, and click on "Websites in the news".
(++++++++)
[Sports tease]
[ANCHOR=travis]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Coming up, Vick, Randall and friends get down to business in Blacksburg, the Salem Spartans get the Friday Football Extra cameras all to themselves,
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
and the Martinsville Speedway now has big dollar sponsors for each of its two Winston Cup events.
(------------)
[S-Tech]
[ANCHOR=travis]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-159]
[GRAPHIC=Virginia Tech]
The Virginia Tech Hokies opened football practice this afternoon as the skies cleared just in time for the team to set up shop outside. Mike Stevens and photographer Greg Moore have a look at day number one.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg; :00]
[SUPER=01-John Ballein/VT Director of Football Operations; :26]
[SUPER=01-Marcus Vick/Redshirt Freshman Quarterback; :39]
[SUPER=01-Bryan Randall/Junior Quarterback; :56]
[SUPER=@mike1; 1:07]
[RUNS=1:58]
[OUT Q=News 7 Sports."]
(---------------------)
[S-Salem]
[ANCHOR=travis]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-154 TC1113]
[GRAPHIC=Friday Football Extra]
Salem Head Football Coach Willis White is set to embark on his 21st season on the sidelines, and tonight our Friday Football Extra spotlight is on the Spartans.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem; :00]
The light was pretty dim at times last season as Salem finished 2002 with a 5 and 5 record. But White welcomes back 14 starters from that club. And "hunger" has been a buzz word in the opening week of practice.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Willis White/Spartans Head Coach; :02]
[RUNS=:21]
[OUT Q=that's what you want."]
(-------------------)
[S-Advance]
[ANCHOR=travis]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-153]
[GRAPHIC=Martinsville Speedway]
Last year the Martinsville Speedway was without a race sponsor for both of its Winston Cup events, but suddenly the track is flush with sponsorship dollars.
[GRAPHIC=SUBWAY 500]
Subway signed on to sponsor the October Cup event at the track several months ago.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
And today at the Hotel Roanoke, Advance Auto Parts announced that it has decided to sponsor the spring races at the track for the next three years.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Clay Campbell/Martinsville Speedway President; :02]
[SUPER=01-Paul Klasing/Advance Executive Vice President; :23]
[RUNS=:30]
[OUT Q=at this point."]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Advance began its relationship with the Martinsville Speedway way back in 1988 and company officials say the move is a natural progression for the company.
(-------------)
by SS