WDBJ 7 news at Noon for 10/30/03

[News-Heads]

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[VO-NAT]

Light rain and fog are put a damper on some of the flames in Southern California, but firefighters still have an uphill battle.
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[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]

And, starting next year, it'll take a lot more paperwork to obtain a Virginia driver's license.

[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Leo]
[SS=None]
Not a cloud in the sky this afternoon, and temperatures continue rise. The details on what looks to be an unseasonably warm weekend coming up in just a bit.
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[ANCHOR=KIM 2-Shot]

[Noon-open]
[SUPER=#4054; News 7 Headline Banner]
[SUPER=@Kimberly1;]
[SUPER=@Brent1;]

[Video-Open]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
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[VO-NAT]

The wildfire watch goes on in both California and Colorado, where rain and sleet are helping to dampen the flames northwest of Boulder.
In Southern California, the death toll now stands at 20.
The blazes have burned down more than 26- hundred homes and more than half a million acres, but firefighters are getting some help from the weather.
Light rain is starting to fall, and the temperatures are becoming milder.
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[Wildfires]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=Wildfires]

Good Afternoon, I'm Kimberly McBroom.
Mother Nature is becoming more friendly to firefighters working the San Bernardino Mountains.
But that's only one of the areas coping with the massive wildfires.
Drew Levinson is in San Bernardino County this afternoon, and joins us now with the latest on all of the fires.
[LIVE=NEWSPATH/FULL]
[SUPER=01-Drew Levinson/CBS News;]
[SUPER=05-San Bernardino Co., CA;]
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Dennis Cross/Firefighter;]
[SUPER=01-Drew Levinson/CBS News;]
[SUPER=05-San Bernardino Co., CA;]
[RUNS=:00]
[OUT Q=back to you.]

(( IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 12 MAJOR FIRES ARE BURNING OUT OF CONTROL.... NEARLY THREE THOUSAND HOMES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED.
FLAMES NOW STRETCH NEARLY A THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. THEY'RE RACING THROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS - UNCHECKED - AS FIREFIGHTERS MUST CHOOSE THEIR BATTLES. SOME AREAS ARE DEFENDED...WHILE OTHERS MUST BE SACRIFICED FOR THE GREATER GOOD.

SOT: DENNIS CROSS/FIREMAN "IT'S VERY DANGEROUS CONDITION, MAKE SURE
SAFETY IS NUMBER ONE...DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO CONTROL THE FIRE, BUT THERE ARE SITUATIONS WE JUST CAN'T PUT MANPOWER INTO."

(STANDUP BRIDGE)
FIRE CREWS CONTINUE TO HOPE THE WEATHER WILL GIVE THEM A BREAK. SO FAR IT HAS NOT COOPERATED. NOW, PACIFIC OCEAN WINDS HAVE REPLACED THE SANTA ANA'S -- PUSHING THE FLAMES IN NEW DIRECTIONS.

(..fire crews)
IN THE MOUNTAINS, FIRES ARE BEARING DOWN ON RESORT COMMUNITIES. THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN CHASED OUT. AND CREWS ARE NOW KEEPING AN EYE ON A DEAD LINE OF HIGHLY FLAMMABLE TREES IN THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS. IF THE FLAMES REACH THAT ZONE, THEY SAY THE RESULTS COULD BE APOCALYPTIC.

(nats..fires)
YESTERDAY, THE RAGING WILDFIRES CLAIMED THE LIFE OF A FIREMAN BATTLING THE BLAZE IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY... 38 YEAR OLD STEVE RUCKER IS THE FIRST TO GO DOWN IN THE LINE OF DUTY.

(nat sot - "steve..was just a great man..")
))

[Garage-Collapse]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tbr]
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Two people are believed injured as part of a parking garage under construction at an Atlantic City, New Jersey casino collapsed this morning.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Atlantic City, NJ;]
The collapse involved a five-story section of a garage being built at the Tropicana Casino and Resort.
Hundreds of workers are on the site, and the city's emergency management department is taking a count to see who's missing.
At least two to four are believed to be missing.
Authorities say they're preparing for the worst, and cadaver-sniffing dogs are being brought in.
But a spokeswoman for the casino says she doesn't know if there are any fatalities.
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[Iraq]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

Another attack has been reported in Iraq today --
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Falluja, Iraq;]

This one happened on a freight train carrying military supplies to U-S troops near Falluja.
Witnesses say the bomb set fire to four shipping containers.
No casualties were reported, but the incident has prompted looting by Iraqis.
[SUPER=03-Tikrit, Iraq;]

Earlier, U-S forces mde several arrests in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.
They were searching for what they call "terrorist cell networks," and detained 10 suspects for questioning.
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[Drivers-License]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Virginians who try to get their driver's licenses for the first time next year will have to provide documents to prove they are in the country and state legally.
Changes in state law following the 9- 11 terror attacks will make first-time applicants produce proof of residence and their social security number.
Several of the alleged highjackers implicated in the plot to crash planes into the Pentagon and New York's World Trade Center had Virginia driver's licenses.
The D-M-V is adding about 26 additional workers to help process driver's license applications.

[6Rice]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-45 TC20:08]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The trial of a man accused of killing two Appalachian Trail hikers was postponed for another nine months.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Charlottesville/April 2002;]

Yesterday, a federal judge postponed Darrell David Rice's trial until August.
The ruling came at the request of prosecutors, who want to re-test physical evidence that suggests ANOTHER man was at the crime scene.
Rice is charged with killing two women at a campsite in the Shenandoah National Park in 1996.
His trial WAS supposed to start LAST week, then NEXT Monday. It's now set to begin August 9th.
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[Goins]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-36 TC1:16:08]
[GRAPHIC=Milen Goins]

Friends of Milen Goins' (Go-enz) say they do not know why he shot and killed his cousin right in front of them.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Fincastle/September;]

But the judge needed no explanation to send first-degree murder charges against him to a December grand jury.
A witness testified that Goins and his cousin had been joking and drinking beer with two friends in their mobile home.
He said Goins left the room, came back with a gun and shot David Bowman in the chest.
Deputies caught Goins in North Carolina three days later and say he tried to get away on the way back to Botetourt County.
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[Bonsack-Homes]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=jda]
[SS=None]

Residents of a neighborhood near the Roanoke County and Botetourt County lines have made a discovery.
They don't live where they thought they did.
For years they believed they were Roanoke County residents.
But it was recently revealed their homes sit across the county line in Botetourt.
As Joe Dashiell reports that complicates things for some parents.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=On school days, a roanoke County bus climbs]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co. ; 00]
[SUPER=01-Heather Simmons/Hill Drive Resident; :13]
[SUPER=01-Dallas Simmons/Hill Drive Resident; :42]
[SUPER=01-Scott Ferguson/Hill Drive Resident; :52]
[SUPER=@Joe1; 1:10]
[RUNS=1:26]
[OUT Q=JD News 7 Botetourt County]

((On school days, a Roanoke County bus climbs Hill Drive.
But come January a year from now students who live here may not be on a Roanoke County bus route any longer.
[SOT 23:12:28]
[IN Q=We have done nothing]
((WE HAVE DONE NOTHING. WE HAVEN'T MOVED. WE JUST WAKE UP THIS MORNING WE'RE ROANOKE COUNTY, AND IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS WE'RE NOT. AND THAT'S HARD TO UNDERSTAND, AND VERY HARD TO EXPLAIN TO OUR KIDS.))
[RUNS= :11]
[OUT Q=very hard to explain to our kids.]

Because of a mistake made many years ago, fifteen families have been paying Roanoke County taxes, receiving Roanoke County services, voting in Roanoke County elections, attending Roanoke County schools.
But as property owners built additions, and others considered subdividing their land, it became apparent the homes were actually in Botetourt.
[SOT]
[IN Q=We want the kids to grow and prosper]
((WE WANT THE KIDS TO GROW AND PROSPER IN THE COMMUNITY AND ATTEND THE SCHOOLS THEY STARTED IN WITHOUT DISRUPTION.)) (( IT'S VERY HARD ON THEM. THEY KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING. THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND, AND MY SON IS STUDYING GOVERNMENT AT THIS TIME AND HE'S VERY PUZZLED WHY ITS BEING HANDLED LIKE THIS.))
[RUNS= :22]
[OUT Q=why it's being handled like this.]

Parents have been frustrated in their efforts to find a solution, but that may be changing. [STAND-UP CLOSE]
Officials from both Roanoke and Botetourt Counties have scheduled a community meeting for December third at the Blue Ridge Library, and they've invited school board members to attend.
Residents hope the meeting will provide some of the answers they've been asking for.
Joe Dashiell News 7 Botetourt County))

[WX-Tease] ((KIM TOSS TO BRENT)) [10/28/2003]
[SS=NONE]
BRENT in WX-CENTER
[WXPRO/FULL] SAT RADAR STORY

[SS=NONE]

(BRENT TOSS to KIM)

[Tease1] [HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

A teenager is critically injured after someone else's Halloween prank goes wrong. We'll have the details after the break.
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[VO-NAT ]
Plus at least two people are injured after a factory closes in Indiana.
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[music up full] [comm1]

[Plant-Explosion]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
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[GRAPHIC=Explosion]

At least two people are injured following an explosion at an aluminium casting plant in Indiana.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Huntington, IN;]

Flames lit up the sky last night at the plant, about 20 miles southwest of Fort Wayne.
Some workers reportedly suffered burns and were taken to an area hospital.
The plant employs about 500 people who make aluminum automotive wheels.
As a precaution, police shut down three miles of the road. The cause of the blast is still under investigation.
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[Pumpkin-Ax]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A Delaware teenger won't be enjoying this Halloween, after someone threw a pumpkin at him from a speeding car.
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[VO-NAT]

Police say 15- year- old Danny Hill suffered critical injuries when a flying pumpkin hit him as he was walking down the street last Sunday.
[SUPER=03-Camden, DE;]

Hill's been in intensive care ever since with a ruptured spleen and live, and a bruised lung.
His mother says her son is lucky to be alive.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=If they were going]
((POLLY STEENHAGEN/VICTIM'S MOTHER: IF THEY WERE GOING FIFTY MILES-AN-HOUR, UM, A PUMPKIN LIKE THAT HITTING SOMEONE WOULD BE LIKE TAKING A FOUR-HUNDRED POUND WRECKING BALL AND SWINGING IT INTO SOMEONE'S STOMACH. ))
[SUPER=01-Polly Steenhagen/Victim's Mother;]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=someone's stomach.]
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[VO-NAT]

Steenhagen says she thinks was a Halloween prank gone wrong.
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[Columbine-Folo]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

A Colorado sheriff says authorities knew about the violent nature of two teen-agers before they carried out the Columbine High School massacre.
He says the students who gunned down 12 classmates and a teacher had bragged about making pipe bombs two years earlier.
Rick Sallinger has more.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=04-File Tape; :00]
[SUPER=01-Ted Mink/Jefferson Co., CO Sheriff; :22]
[SUPER=01-Bruce Beck/Victim's Stepfather; :44]
[SUPER=01-Judy Brown/Columbine Parent; 1:05]
[SUPER=01-Sue Petrone/Victim's Mother; 1:22]
[SUPER=01-Rick Sallinger/Reporting; 1:27]
[RUNS=1:39]
[OUT Q=CBS News, Golden, CO.]
((

NEARLY TWO YEARS BEFORE AMERICA'S WORST SCHOOL SHOOTING LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES RECEIVED A TIP ABOUT THE EVENTUAL KILLERS.
SOMEONE NOTIFIED DETECTIVES THAT DYLAN KLEBOLD AND ERIC HARRIS WERE UP TO NO GOOD.
THEY DIRECTED INVESTIGATORS TO HARRIS' COMPUTER WEB SITE..MARKED SECRET..
IT TOLD OF BOMB MAKING ACTIVITIES BY THE TWO.

(SOT) Sheriff Ted Mink-Jefferson County Colorado
"the obvious implications of these documents is that the sheriff's office had some knowledge of eric harris and dylan klebold's activiites in the years prior to the columbine shootings."

ONE WEB SITE PASSAGE OMINIOUSLY WARNED, "We have many enimies in our school, therefor we make many missions."

(SOT) Bruce Beck-Victim's stepfather
"It leaves me knowing if this would have been followed up columbine wouldn't have happend."

A REPORT WAS WRITTEN ON THE TIP..IT WAS FORWARDED TO DETECTIVE JOHN HICKS..THE SAME DETECTIVE WHO RECEIVED ANOTHER TIP MONTHS LATER FROM RANDY AND JUDY BROWN ABOUT KLEBOLD AND HARRIS..BUT HICKS HAS OFFERED NO EXPLANATION AS TO WHAT HAPPEND.

(SOT) Judy Brown-Columbine Parent
"He owes it you know who he owes it to..the families of those who lost children especially."

HARRIS AND KLEBOLD CONTINUED THEIR PREPARATIONS FOR THE MASSACRE INCLUDING FIREARMS TRAINING. THIS SCENE MORE THAN A YEAR AND A HALF AFTER THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT WAS WARNED.

(SOT) Sue Petrone-victim's mother
"i will tell you this totally floored me this morning i mean it's like my son should be alive"
Rick Sallinger-KCNC
(Colorado's attorney general is now investigating why this report was
never disclosed..and if it might have prevented america's worst school shooting..rick sallinger for cbs news golden colorado)
))

[Economy]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The national economy was growing quickly last quarter.
The Commerce Department says the third-quarter gross domestic product expanded at a stunning seven-point-two percent annual rate, the best showing in nearly two decades.
It is also well above analyst expectations, and more than double the rate seen in the previous quarter.
Impressive gains were seen in both consumer and business spending.

[Price's-Fork]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=myr]
[TAPE#=03-33 TC1:48:12]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Montgomery County is turning up the pressure on its new water system.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co.;]
Yesterday the county celebrated the completion of the new Price's Fork water system. Officials demonstrated what the water pressure looked like before at 40-pounds, compared to what it is now at a hundred pounds. About 300-residents in the area have had to rely on a single-well system, after the other became contaminated nearly two years ago. Officials say the new system is more reliable, providing water directly from the New River, rather than local wells.
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[Tease2] [SOFT MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]

Coming up next, Brent will have our Halloween forecast,
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[VO-NAT ]
Plus we'll tell you about the latest baby Beatle as Paul McCartney and his wife welcome a new daughter.
(-----------------)
[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #2]

[McCartney-Baby]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=kmc]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A former Beatle is now singing lullabies--
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape;]

Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills became parents this week.
Their first child together, a daughter named Beatrice Milly was born Tuesday at a London hospital.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The baby]
((CLAIRE HORNICK/HOSPITAL SPOKESPERSON: THE BABY, WHO ARRIVED THREE WEEKS EARLY, WEIGHED IN AT A HEALTHY 7LBS AND BOTH SHE AND MUM ARE DOING WELL. ))
[SUPER=01-Claire Hornick/Hospital Spokesperson;]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=very well.]
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[VO-NAT]

McCartney and Mills said in a statement that they're "ecstatic."
Meanwhile, the baby herself may already have a bit of an issue with the press.
A London newspaper had reported initially that the child was a boy.
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[Weather] [NOON WEATHER] [10/28/2003] [TWO SHOT]

[WXPRO/FULL]

[SUPER=#562;]
[MUSIC UNDER] [COMMERCIAL]

[CK/WXPRO]WEATHER MAPS [WXPRO/FULL] FORECASTS EXTENDED FORECAST

[Stocks]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE# none]
[GRAPHIC=None]

On Wall Street at Noon, the DOW is UP 11 points. The NASDAQ is UP four.

[super=460-x/11/x/4;]
[tease3] [SPORTS MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
Coming up in sports, the BCS comes under fire in Washington.
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[VO-NAT ]
And Virginia Tech's head basketball coach is getting ready for the Hokie's first exhibition game on Thursday.
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[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #3]

[Ramirez]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=MLB]

Manny Ramirez received the Silver Slugger Award, then reportedly received a pink slip.
According to reports in the Boston Herald, Ramirez was placed on irrevocable waivers by the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, enabling him to be claimed by any team willing to take on the roughly $110 million owed him over the next five years.
The 31-year-old slugger, who was named one of the American League's top three hitting outfielders earlier Wednesday, is among baseball's best run producers. He is coming off a season in which he hit .325 with 37 homers and 104 RBI's.

[S-BCS]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-150 12330TC]
[GRAPHIC=BCS]

The Bowl Championship Series or BCS was under scrutiny yesterday in Washington - as U.S. Senators told the football powers- that- be that the current system that determines college football's national champion needs to be shutdown and repaired.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Washington, DC; :00]
In fact, Senator Joseph Biden went as far as to say that the BCS and the bowl games need to be eliminated and replaced by a straight playoff format.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=BITE]
[SUPER=01-Sen. Joe Biden/(D) Delaware; :01]
[SUPER=01-Myles Brand/NCAA President; :22]
[RUNS=:40]
[OUT Q=...THE MARKET TESTS"]
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[ANCHOR=MIKE]
[GRAPHIC=BCS]
Tulane President Scott Cowen, who hates the B-C-S system, says that since 1998, the 63 BCS schools have received $450 million bucks from major bowl games.
That's compared to just $17 million for the other 54 division- One football playing universities.

[S-DVD]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-154 5558TC]
[GRAPHIC=TECH/WEST VIRGINIA]

In another note from the Tech-WVU game -
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Morgantown, WV/Last Wednesday; :00]
The Mountaineer Sports Network already has produced a DVD of last week's win over the Hokies. The $15 dollar DVD features the game, the post game lockeroom celebration and a rendition of "Take Me Home Country Roads."
(------------)

[S-Hoops]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-164 TC1050]
[GRAPHIC=Tech hoops]

Virginia Tech head basketball coach Seth Greenberg starts his first season in Blacksburg on Friday night when the Hokies host EA Sports in an exhibition at the Cassell.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg; :00]

Greenberg is Tech's 3rd different coach in the past 6 seasons and the Hokies are anxious to improve on last year's 11 and 18 campaign. There is also some anxiety where guard Carlos Dixon is concerned.
Dixon is coming back slowly from a broken bone in his foot.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Seth Greenberg/Hokies Head Coach; :01]
[SUPER=01-Carlos Dixon/Averaged 15.5 Points Last Season; :22]
[RUNS=:27]
[OUT Q=one day at a time."]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Dixon and Bryant Matthews are the only two seniors on a Hokie club that must grow up quickly.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[RUNS=:24]
[OUT Q=will be that way."]
(------------)

[S-Skins]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-159 12011TC]
[GRAPHIC=REDSKINS]

The Washington Redskins are desperate for help on the defensive line and sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-NFL; :00]
The Skins signed Darrell Russell to a one-year $800 thousand dollar deal yesterday. Russell was reinstated by the NFL after 1� seasons away from the game after he tested positive for the drug Ecstasy. He passed his physical yesterday, and will likely play next week against the Cowboys. He's the 7th tackle acquired by the team since 2002.
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[Quickcast]

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