[1-News-Head]

[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]

Even though many saw it coming, hundreds in Pulaski are preparing to be out of work.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :05]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

And, a new study says Virginia's capital punishment system is fatally flawed.
(------------)



[Sports-Head]


[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

Tonight on News 7 sports Vick returns to practice in Atlanta, Emory & Henry football is about making friends tonight,

(------------)
[VO-NAT]

and Angela Tincher becomes the first James River softball player to sign a division one scholarship papers.
(------------)


[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Robin]
[SS=None]


In a word "windy". Don't leave anything lying around outside. It will get blown away.
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon 4-Shot]


News 7 is next.
[Video-Open]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=Video Open]
[GRAPHIC=News7at6]



(/////SOT/////)
[SOT:2:52:10:00]
[IN Q=It's a sad time]

((JACKIE JONES: IT'S A SAD TIME. CAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GONNA DO. I'M JUST GONNA DEAL WITH IT.))
[RUNS=:06]
[OUT Q=deal with it.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]


Laid off workers in Pulaski look to the future...
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]


While county officials try to decide how to help.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]


Good evening, I'm Keith Humphry.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]


And I'm Shannon Young.
[Renfro-Closing]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=rde]
[TAPE#=03-43 TC49:40]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]


Those officials met this afternoon to brainstorm.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]


Renfro Corporation announced yesterday it would close its Pulaski plant, letting go 315-workers.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith-Shannon & Rachel /Microwave;]


New River Valley Bureau Chief Rachel DePompa joins us from our Blacksburg Newsroom. Rachel, do we know yet, if the workers will see any kind of assistance?
[LIVE= Rachel /FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=@Rachel1]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]


Yes, Keith/Shannon. Congressman Rick Boucher says all 315 workers will be eligible for Federal Trade Readjustment Assistance. So workers can get job retraining and money for health care premiums. And many need all the help they can get.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Nancy Hovack's spent]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski; :00 QUICK!!!]
[SUPER=01-Nancy Hovack/Renfro Worker; :07]
[SUPER=01-Jackie Jones/Renfro Worker; :19]
[SUPER=01-John Hawley/Pulaski Town Manager; :38]
[SUPER=01-David Green/Renfro Corporation; 1:00]
[SUPER=01-Rita Helvey/Renfro Worker; 1:17]
[RUNS=1:32]
[OUT Q=The rest of our lives.]

((Nancy Hovack's spent the last 12 years at Renfro. Like many others, she knew her job was on the way out.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT:2:59:09:00 ]
[IN Q=We all knew]

((NANCY HOVACK: WE ALL KNEW IT WAS COMING.AND IT IS SAD THAT WE'RE LOSING OUR JOBS. WE CAN GO OTHER PLACES AND WE JUST HOPE THERE IS JOBS WE CAN TO TO SUPPORT OUR FAMILIES)) [RUNS:10]
[OUT Q=our families]



(///// SOT /////)
[SOT:2:50:27:00]
[IN Q=We were kind]

((JACKIE JONES: WE WERE KIND OF EXPECTING IT. EVERYTHING'S GOING OVER SEAS, MEXICO, HONDURAS AND INDIA. SO, THAT'S KIND OF PUT A HURTING ON THE JOBS AROUND THIS AREA.)) [RUNS:11]
[OUT Q=this area.]


Nearly 315-people will now be fighting for very limited job openings. That has officials across the New River Valley concerned.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT:3:04:01:00]
[IN Q=This is a loss]

((JOHN HAWLEY:THIS IS A LOSS OF JOBS IN THE TOWN AND OBVIOUSLY AN IMPACT TO THE TOWN FOR TAX REVENUES FOR WATER AND SEWER. BUT ITS AND IMPACT WE SEE TO EVERYBODY, NOT ONLY PULASKI, BUT PULASKI COUNTY.)) [RUNS:12]
[OUT Q=River Valley]


The Renfro company is offering a few transfers to another Plant, but those spaces are limited.
NAT: 3:11:28:00 That's what we're...
Officials are now racking their brains for any way to help.


(///// SOT /////)
[SOT:3:08:21:00 ]
[IN Q=What we're trying]

((DAVID GREEN: WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO TODAY IS MEET WITH SOME GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE WHAT ADDITIONAL BENEFITS MAY BE OUT THERE THROUGH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS WELL AS THE STATE GOVERNMENT THAT WE'RE NOT AWARE OF.)) [RUNS:11]
[OUT Q=Aware of today.]


In the meantime 11-Year employee Rita Helvey says she'll take advantage of the new start.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT:2:46:50:00 ]
[IN Q=It gives us]

((RITA HELVEY: IT GIVES US A CHANCE TO FURTHER OUR DEVELOPMENT AND MOVE ON TO SOMETHING BETTER, OTHERWISE WE MAY HAVE BEEN STUCK HERE THE REST OF OUR LIVES.)) [RUNS:13]
[OUT Q=rest of our lives.]))
(-------------)
[LIVE= Rachel /FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]


The Virginia Employment Commision will be at the plant next week to help workers find out what's avaible to them.


[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith-SHannon & Rachel/Microwave;]


Shannon/Keith the plant will officially close on January 10th.


[Picard]


[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=03-39 TC1:33:53]
[GRAPHIC=Chris Picard]


A day after Christopher Picard became a free man, investigators are working to charge him with murder again.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co.;]


A new lead took prosecutor Cliff Hapgood and investigators back to a field in Glade Hill today where they believe Lori Boyd was killed.
The search was sparked by a letter prosecutors received Monday.
The field is where some of Boyd's belongings -- and signs of a struggle -- were found last October.
[SUPER=03-Rocky Mount/Yesterday;]


Christopher Picard lives nearby -- and says he just came across the items and touched them.
The 23-year-old, on trial yesterday for capital murder, was released after prosecutors announced they had new evidence to pursue.
Picard told News-7 he's innocent.
(------------)



[Death-penalty]


[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=03-38 TC1:28:00]
[GRAPHIC=None]


A new study says Virginia's capital punishment system is so flawed it is almost certain that innocent people have been executed.
Meghan Muldoon has more.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=THE RACIAL DISPARITY, THE ECONOMIC DISPARITY]
[SUPER=01-Jack Payden-Travers/Virginians for Altern. to the Death Penalty; :00]
[SUPER=01-Rachel King/ACLU; :28]
[SUPER=01-Steven Benjamin/Criminal Defense Attorney; 1:03]
[SUPER=01-Ellen Qualls/Governor's Press Secretary; 1:20]
[SUPER=@Meghan2; 1:29]
[RUNS=1:34]
[OUT Q=MM, NEWS 7, RICHMOND]
(([SOT 14:15:47]

((JACK PAYDEN-TRAVERS/VIRGINIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY: THE RACIAL DISPARITY, THE ECONOMIC DISPARITY THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISPARITY, THEY ALL STILL EXIST.)) [RUNS:05]

[SOT 02:47]

((RACHEL KING/ACLU: COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL IN VIRGINIA CONTINUE TO BE UNDER-FUNDED AND UNQUALIFIED.)) [RUNS:04]
According to a new report published by the A-C-L-U, these are just some of the problems plaguing Virginia's system of capital punishment.
And the study points to the cases of Roger Keith Coleman and Joseph O'Dell as evidence that the state has already convicted and sentenced to death INNOCENT people.
[SOT 59:30]

((RACHEL KING/ACLU: SIX PEOPLE WITH STRONG CLAIMS OF INNOCENCE HAVE ENDED UP ON DEATH ROW IN VIRGINIA IN THE PAST TWO DECADES. THREE HAD THEIR LIVES SPARED, ONE WAS RELEASED AND TWO WERE EXECUTED.)) [RUNS:10]
The study also shows that defendants standing trial in Danville are thirty times mores likely to be sentenced to death than those in Roanoke.
The report recommends a moratorium on executions as well as better training for appointed counsel in capital cases.

Advocates seem optimistic that reform is possible in spite of two high profile death penalty cases.
[SOT 14:20:58]

((STEVEN BENJAMIN/CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: THE TRAGEDY OF THE TEN MURDERS INVOLVED IN THE SNIPER TRIALS ADDS EMOTION AND PASSION TO THE SUBJECT OF CAPITAL MURDER BUT IT WILL NOT DEFLECT THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FROM ACTING RESPONSIBLY.)) [RUNS:14]
As for whether Governor Warner intends to halt executions, his office says that idea is already dead.
[SOT 14:40:10]

((ELLEN QUALLS/WARNER'S PRESS SECRETARY: THE GOVERNOR HAS NEVER SUPPORTED A MORATORIUM BECAUSE HE BELIEVES APPROPRIATE SAFEGUARDS ARE IN PLACE ALREADY FOR THE DEATH PENALTY IN VIRGINIA INCLUDING HIS POWER OF EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY.)) [RUNS:09]
Still the debate over the death penalty lives on.
Meghan Muldoon, News 7, Richmond.))

[City-Stadium]


[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-35 TC1:51:59]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Six construction companies have submitted bids to build Roanoke's new stadium and amphitheater, but city officials say the numbers are higher than they had hoped. [***News 7 @ 6 IN MONITOR***]
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith & JoeD /Newsroom;]


Joe Dashiell has more on today's bid opening, and what it means for the controversial project.
[LIVE= JoeD /FULL Newsroom]
[SUPER=@joe1;]


Keith, city officials say they are pleased that six companies, including five local contractors bid on the project.
But the base bids ranged from just over 13 point four million dollars to 14 point five... and for the city that was a disappointment.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=OPENS ON NAT SOUND]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :11]
[SUPER=01-Phil Schirmer/City Engineer; :25]
[SUPER=01-Brian Wishneff/Citizens for a Sensible Stadium Decision; :45]
[RUNS=1:00]
[OUT Q=cut down on some aspect of the project.]

(( [OPEN ON NAT SOUND OF BID OPENING 14:05:14]
[IN Q=R.L. Price construction]

((R.L. PRICE CONSTRUCTION INCORPORATED, BASE BID 14 MILLION.))
[RUNS= :09]
[OUT Q=14 million.]


As Sharon Gentry opened the six bids, a collection of contractors, city officials and reporters tallied the results.
The site work that's now under way came in under budget, and city offiicals had hoped for the same with the construction bids, but that was not to be.
[SOT]
[IN Q=today, we're pleased]

((TODAY WE'RE VERY PLEASED WE GOT THE RESPONSE THAT WE DID. THEY'RE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN WE HOPED FOR OBVIOUSLY, WE NEED TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT OUR BUDGET AND ASSESS WHERE WE WANT TO GO NEXT.))
[RUNS= :10]
[OUT Q=where we want to go next.]


Meanwhile, stadium Opponent Brian Wishneff says the bids support his argument that the city will have trouble completing the project for the 18-million dollars city officials have set aside.
[SOT]
[IN Q=His only choice normally]

((HIS ONLY CHOICE NORMALLY IS TO ADJUST THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT OR THE QUALITY OF THE PROJECT, WHICH MEANS CUT DOWN THE SIZE OR CUT DOWN ON SOME ASPECT OF THE PROJECT.))
[RUNS= :17]
[OUT Q=some aspect of the project.]))
(-------------)
[LIVE= JoeD /FULL Newsroom]


State law allows the city to negotiate with the apparent low bidder, Thor Incorporated. Or the project could be redesigned to bring it under budget.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith-Shannon & JoeD /Newsroom;]


Keith, City engineer Phil Schirmer says his staff will need a week or two to analyze the bids and consider their options.

[Tease#1]
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
[SS=NONE]


Attacks against U-S troops and our allies continue in Iraq.
Still ahead on News 7, we'll talk to VMI's Middle East expert to see what might be done to stop them.
(---------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]


Plus some new technology is helping veterans here in the Roanoke Valley.
(----------------)


[Dale-Davis]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=03-36 TC1:28:42]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]


The U-S is striking back at insurgents in Iraq.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Baghdad, Iraq]


In an assault that was heard throughout the Iraqi capital, U-S forces destroyed a building suspected of being a meeting and storage point for those fighting the American occupation.
[SUPER=03-Nassariyah, Iraq]


Attacks against U-S troops have spiked in recent weeks, and today, they also targeted an American ally.
A suicide truck bomber killed 18 Italian soldiers and eight Iraqis at a military police base in Nassariyah.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 3-Shot]


To help us understand what seems like the war after the war, we turn to VMI professor and Middle East expert Dale Davis.
[SUPER=01-Lt. Col. Dale Davis/VMI Dir. of International Programs;]

Colonel Davis, opposition forces attacking Italian troops is designed to peel away allied resolve? [DAVE MAY CALL FOR B-ROLL OVER INTERVIEW]
[RUNS=1:15]
[SUPER=@file;]



[Stocks]


[ANCHOR=Shannon 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Wall Street snapped a three-day losing streak and finished solidly higher. [TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE]
[RUNS=:30]
[SUPER=x5000;]
[SUPER=440-x/111.04/9848.83/x/42.36/1973.11;]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]


The DOW climbed 111 points.
NASDAQ rose 42.
(-------------)

[VO]
[SUPER=271-h/1.46/80.32/h/1.55/50.25/h/0.36/27.50/h/1.03/66.91/h/0.30/75.81;]
[SUPER=272-h/0.30/39.22/h/0.55/16.70/h/0.02/6.67/i/0.18/60.96/h/0.59/28.70;]
[SUPER=273-h/0.15/6.77/h/0.52/39.94/h/0.07/17.93/i/0.10/21.15/h/0.11/6.46;]
[SUPER=274-i/0.02/9.53/h/1.03/69.90//Unchg/32.44/h/0.42/45.76/i/0.32/57.96;]
[SUPER=#555; Reset]


[VA-MRI]


[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=03-40 TC1:09:25]
[GRAPHIC=None]


The Salem V-A no longer has to send veterans to others hospitals to get an M-R-I.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem]


The V-A now has its own M-R-I available to patients five days a week.
Doctors says veterans will have more convenient access to one of the best diagnostic tools.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT10:28]
[IN Q=MRI is a non-invasive.]

((DR. MOHAMMED NASEEM/VA MEDICAL CENTER; MRI IS NON-INVASIVE DON'T HAVE TO DO A BIOPSY MOST OF THE TIME YOU CAN JUST DIAGNOSE BY LOOKING AT THE MRI. AND TREATMENT CAN BE DONE RIGHT AWAY))
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT15:44]
[IN Q=It's been an inconvenience to go]

((LEROY GARRISON/VETERAN; IT'S BEEN AN INCONVENIENCE TO GO TO LEWIS GALE OR ROANOKE MEMORIAL FOR THEM TO HAVE THEIR OWN IT'S KIND OF HELPING ME GET THE REPORTS BACK FASTER HOPEFULLY I GUESS. I'M THINKING THEY WILL SO IT'S NOT JUST A BENEFIT TO ME BUT ALL THE VETERANS ))
[SUPER=01-Dr. Mohammed Naseem/VA Medical Center; :00]
[SUPER=01-Leroy Garrison/Veteran; :09 ]
[RUNS=21]
[OUT Q=but all veterans]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


The M-R-I has been available for a month now. There's already a backlog of patients.
About 70 veterans use this M-R-I every week.
(------------)



[Civic-Center]


[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[NEWSCAST=6 p.m.]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=03-35 TC1:51:59]
[GRAPHIC=none]


By this time next year the Salem Civic Center could be expanding.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :20]
[SUPER=03-Salem/July 5;]

The city is advancing a plan to build expand the fairgrounds with an exhibit hall, ballroom and meeting room on the north end of the facility near Texas Street. The head of the Planning Department says Salem is working with two consultants on the project. Although the issue has yet to go before city council Joe Yates says construction could begin next year.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Shannon]
[SS=None]

Meantime, Salem is hoping to attract at hotel chain to the Civic Center site. Yates says the city would sell two to three acres of the commercially zoned property to a developer if the right deal presented itself.

[Sports Tease]


[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

Coming up tonight on the Big 7 - its national signing day for high school athletes. Michael Vick is back at practice,
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

and we'll head to Emory and Henry where a couple of former Friday Football Extra player of the week have forged a unique relationship.
(------------)



[S-Tincher]


[ANCHOR=mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-157 TC11008]
[GRAPHIC=Angela Tincher]


One of Southwest Virginia's most dominant pitchers made her college choice official today.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Buchanan; :00]


James River's Angela Tincher inked her letter of intent to play for the Hokies next season. Tincher donned a Virginia Tech sweatshirt for the occasion. The senior fireballer led the Knights to a state title last year with a record of 23 and 1, striking out 225 batters. She becomes the first ever player from James River to sign a Division One scholarship.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Angela Tincher/Signs with Virginia Tech; :00]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=where I wanted to go."]
(---------------)



[S-Sign]


[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-153]
[GRAPHIC=TECH HOOPS]


The Hokies also got two women's basketball signees today. Brittany Cook from Narrows and Mercer Christian joins Bonnie Henrickson's squad along with former Appalachia star Roshana Jackson. Both are six-feet tall. Seth Greenberg also inked a pair in 6-3 Marquie Cooke from Suffolk and 6-6 Justin Holt from Tacoma, Washington.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-Last Season; :00]

Radford high school star Darris Nichols also officially inked his letter of intent today. He will play his college ball for the West Virginia Mountaineers. He averaged over 20 points a game last season.
(------------)



[S-Woods]


[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-162 14:04]
[GRAPHIC=FFE]


Emory and Henry's football roster has two former Friday Football Extra players of the week in Andy Mullins and Todd Woods. Steve Mason tells us how competition between the two had to take a back seat to friendship.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Emory/Last Saturday; :00]
[SUPER=01-Todd Woods/3rd in ODAC in TD Passes with 12; :13]
[SUPER=@Steve1; :46]
[SUPER=01-Lou Wacker/22nd Season as Wasps Head Coach; 1:00]
[RUNS=1:38]
[OUT Q=...News 7 sports"]
(---------------)


((In nine games Woods has 12 touchdown passes and is averaging about 195 yards per contest, second in the ODAC. But even the well prepared Radford Bobcats Norm Lineburg product has struggled with college football. ((:))
He's also picked up one interesting habit. Woods keeps his mouth piece around his ear. He first observed senior quarterback and former Salem star Andy Mullins doing it. ((:))
Their friendship has grown and Woods has been forced to grow up quickly. ((STEVE MASON:IF STARTING AS A FRESHMAN WASN'T HARD ENOUGH, WOODS HAD TO DEAL WITH SOMETHING MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN COMPETING FOR A JOB. ANDY MULLINS WAS TRYING TO COPE WITH THE PASSING OF HIS MOM AFTER A LONG FIGHT WITH LOU GEHRIGS DISEASE. MULLINS PLAYED AS LONG AS HE COULD BUT HAD TO STEP AWAY FROM THE GAME FOR HIS FAMILY AND IN THE PROCESS, WOODS BECAME THE WASPS STARTER.)) ((LOU WHACKER/22ND SEASON AS WASPS HEAD COACH:)) ((:)) Woods broke the ODAC record for passing yards in a game when he dropped 488 on Hampden-Sydney. But his Wasps are 4 and 5. ((:))
The Wasps will try and finish at 500 Saturday at Guilford. Steve Mason News 7 sports.))

[S-Vick]


[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-150 12832TC]
[GRAPHIC=VICK]

Michael Vick returned to practice today for the first time since breaking his leg back in the preseason.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Flowery Branch, GA; :00]

There's a chance that Vick will dress for the Saints game this weekend, but there is virtually no chance he will play.

If all goes well, he could make his first start of the season against Tennessee the following week.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=BITE]
[SUPER=01-Michael Vick/First Practice Since August 16th; :00]
[RUNS=:15]

(-----------) [OUT Q=...A GOOD THING."]
by SS