[1-News-Head]

[ANCHOR=Joy]

A family grieves after their missing 5 year old is found dead.
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[ENG#=1]
[VO-NAT]


And more area car dealers go on the move to avoid a merchants tax.
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[Sports-Head]


[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6]
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Tonight in sports, the Express loses a player to start the New Year, the Tech ladies resolve to stay unbeaten, and

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[ENG#=2]
[VO-NAT]


a bowl blitz with 5 games on tap for this first day of the year.
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[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Robin]
[SS=None]


Our short term forecast includes warm showers. The next windy blast will not be here until Tuesday. Details ahead.

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[ANCHOR=Joy 3-Shot]


News 7 is next.
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[ENG#=3]
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 14:40:00]
[IN Q=As anyone here]

((AS ANYONE HERE SHOULD BE ABLE TO APPRECIATE, THEY ARE TOTALLY DISTRAUGHT. THEY ARE ALL FEELING A LEVEL OF GUILT AND DISTRESS, I DON'T ENVY ANY ONE OF THEM, WHAT THEY'RE GOING THROUGH.))
[RUNS=13]
[OUT Q=they're going through.]
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[VO-NAT]


A Halifax County's family's hopes turn to grief as the search for a missing five-year-old boy ends tragically.
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[ANCHOR=Joy]
[GRAPHIC=News7at6]


Good evening, I'm Joy Sutton. Keith and Shannon have the night off.

[Missing-Boy]


[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=03-41 TC1:54:42]
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[ENG#=4]


It was "not" the ending the boy's family or hundreds of volunteers had been hoping for.
A little more than 36 hours after he disappeared, the body of DeAndre Barksdale was found not far from his grandparents' home.
Steve Smallshaw has the story.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The second full]
[SUPER=03-Halifax Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Bob Allam/Search Organizer; :11]
[SUPER=01-Jeff Oakes/Halifax Co. Sheriff; :39]
[SUPER=@ssm2; 1:17]
[RUNS=1:20]
[OUT Q=News7, Halifax County.]

(( The second full day of the search for DeAndre Barksdale began with optimism and more than 150 volunteers ready to hit the woods again in search of the five-year-old boy.
[SOT 11:49:49]

((BOB ALLAM/SEARCH ORGANIZER: WE'RE PLANNING TO BE HERE UNTIL WE FIND HIM OR UNTIL WE'RE TOLD THAT THEY DON'T WANT US HERE ANYMORE.))
[RUNS= 07]
[OUT Q=here anymore.]
[natsot 11:38:26]

((I'D LIKE TO GET US.. IT LOOKS LIKE THE STREAM CROSSES THE ROAD THERE..))
[RUNS= 04]


As organizers deployed searchers in a two-square mile radius around the home, they also began the difficult task of searching nearby ponds and wells.
A four-person dive team from Halifax County had barely spent fifteen minutes in the murky waters of this pond when they were told they could stop.
[SOT 14:37:49]

((JEFF OAKES/HALIFAX COUNTY SHERIFF: AT APPROXIMATELY ONE-FIFTEEN, THE BODY OF DEANDRE BARKSDALE WAS FOUND..))
[RUNS= 07]
[OUT Q=was found.]


Sheriff Oakes says DeAndre's body was found in pretty rough terrain about a mile and a half from where he was last seen.
Oakes say it's apparent the boy died of exposure but isn't sure how long he'd been dead.
The discovery brings to an end what has been a physically and mentally exhausting search for everyone involved.
[SOT 14:38:39]

((OAKES: MY HAT'S OFF TO ALL OF THEM FOR THE LEVEL OF INVOLVEMENT THAT THEY SHOWED THIS COMMUNITY AND THIS FAMILY. IT'S VERY UNFORTUANTE THAT IT ENDED ON THE NOTE THAT IT ENDED ON, BUT THAT'S OFTEN THE CASE WITH THINGS LIKE THIS.))
[RUNS= 13]
[OUT Q=things like this.]


Steve Smallshaw, News7, Halifax County. ))

[Family-React]


[ANCHOR=Joy]
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Relatives say they are relying on their faith to pull them through.
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[SUPER=03-Halifax Co.;]


They say they liked to call DeAndre "God's little preacher."
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[SOT]
[IN Q=You don't find]
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[OUT Q=this through faith.]
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[ANCHOR=Joy]
[SS=None]


Family members also said that contrary to earlier reports, DeAndre did NOT have learning disabilities; he did have a slight speech impediment.

[DanChem]


[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
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[GRAPHIC=DanChem Strike]


About 70 employees of a Danville company are starting the new year on the picket line.
Workers at DanChem (Dan-KIM) Technologies went on strike after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract.
The union members walked out in a dispute over health insurance, overtime and a proposed wage freeze.
A company spokesman says they made a fair proposal and that a strike would be unfortunate.
DanChem (Dan-KIM) makes custom chemicals for use in food additives and the textile industry.

[Amherst-Tax]


[ANCHOR=]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
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Now you see them, now you don't.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Amherst Co.]


That was the case in Amherst County today where car dealers moved their inventories out of the county for the day.

It's all part of a protest of the county's annual merchants tax which is levied on inventory that is physically in the county on New Year's Day.
Dealers say the tax hits them the hardest because their stock sells more slowly and is higher priced.
The cars were moved to the lot of the old Ericcson property in Lynchburg, which does not have a merchant's tax.
The dealers are paying Jerry Falwell Ministries a fee to store the cars.
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[NAACP]


[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-45 TC1:35:24]
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An annual celebration brought news of new leadership for the Roanoke branch of the N-Double- A- C- P.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]


President Brenda Hale made the announcement this afternoon as members of the civil rights group gathered for the annual Jubilee Day program at Price Memorial Church.
Hale says she will complete her term, but says health problems will force her to step down at the end of the year.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 16:23]
[IN Q=I feel that we've]

((BRENDA HALE: I FEEL THAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED SOME TREMENDOUS GOALS AS FAR AS RELATIONSHIPS IN HELPING INDIVIDUALS WITH THEIR WORK RELATED PROBLEMS, GOING TO COURT WITH PEOPLE, ALL THE THINGS THAT THE BRANCH IS DOING WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THAT, BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT AND I THINK THAT WE'RE MAKING A DIFFERENCE.))
[SUPER=01-Brenda Hale/Roanoke NAACP President]
[RUNS=:19]
[OUT Q=we're making a difference.]
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[ANCHOR=Joy]
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Hale was elected President of the group in November 2000.
She plans to endorse a slate of candidates before elections later this year.

[Tease#1]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[SS=NONE]
[ENG#=V10]


Ahead on News 7... a look back at the biggest stories of 2003.
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[VO-NAT]


And an area pastor reflects on his trip to war-torn Iraq.
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[1st-Wx]
[Iraq-Fuller]

(NO MINI)



[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=03-44 TC1:28:53]
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A Roanoke pastor who visited Iraq in November hopes to return in 2004.
And the Christian mission group he directs is now planning to establish an orphanage there.
Today, Joe Dashiell sat down with Dave Fuller to discuss his recent trip, and his hopes for the new year.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=A lot has happened]
[SUPER=01-Dave Fuller/Roanoke Pastor; :12]
[SUPER=04-"Answering the Call" Video; :26]
[SUPER=@Joe2; :38 quick]
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[OUT Q=JD News 7 Roanoke]


((A lot has happened in Iraq since Dave Fuller returned from a ten-day mission to the region in mid-November.
Continuing violence, and most notably the capture of Saddam Hussein...
[SOT]
[IN Q=We had kind of joked]

((WE HAD KIND OF JOKED BEFORE WE LEFT THINKING WE WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE TO RAISE FUNDS FOR ANSWERING THE CALL, ALL THESE THINGS WE WANT TO DO, IF WE COULD JUST FIND SADAAM HUSSEIN. WELL APPARENTLY WE WENT RIGHT BY HIS HIDE OUT BUT WE DIDN'T SEE HIM, SO WE'RE STILL IN THE FUNDRAISING BUSINESS.))
[RUNS= :15]
[OUT Q=still in the fundraising business.]


They're still in the fundraising business, because the international relief and missions organization Fuller directs hopes to establish an orphanage in Iraq, and support Christian ministry in the predominantly Muslim country.
And with a new training facility planned in Central America, they're borrowing a page from Osama Bin Laden.
[SOT]
[IN Q=We're talking]

((OUR STRATEGY IN SOME RESPECTS IS NOT MUCH DIFFERENT. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A TRAINING FACILITY THAT TRAINS CHRISTIAN PASTORS, IT TRAINS PEOPLE WHO WILL TAKE THIS MESSAGE OF HOPE, BUT ALONG SOME OF THOSE SAME LINES, SO CELLS CAN BE PLANTED ALL OVER THE MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA, AND EVEN CENTRAL ASIA.))
[RUNS= :23]
[OUT Q=even central Asia.]


Fuller visited with families in Iraq, and surveyed the damage at close range.
On this new year's day Fuller says his thoughts are with the people of that country, and other troubled regions of the world.
Joe Dashiell News 7 Roanoke))

[Stocks]


[ANCHOR=Joy]
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[WRITER=dse]
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The stock market was closed on this first day of 2004.
2003 turned out to be a winning year... the first since 1999.
We'll be right back.
[SPONSOR ANNOUNCE]
[COMMERCIAL]

[Yearender]


[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=03-47 TC1:10:57]
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On this first day of 2004, we are taking a look back at the people and events that made news last year, as chosen by News-7 staff members.
Assignment Editor Joe McKean has our list of the top seven stories of 2003.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=Governor Warner]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/January 2003; :00]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/September; :29]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/February; :47]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/July; :1:05]
[SUPER=03-Salem/January 2003; :1:25]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/June; 2:08]
[SUPER=03-Virginia Beach/September; 2:36]
[SUPER=20-Joe McKean/jmckean*wdbj7.com; 3:05]
[RUNS=3:10]
[OUT Q=McKean, News-7.]


((Governor Warner and the General Assembly managed to balance the state budget last year. But it took cuts in jobs, and services and increases in some fees.
Heading into the next General Assembly, the governor was saying that changing Virginia's tax code was the best answer to the state's budget woes. ((GOVERNOR MARK WARNER: THIS PUTS US ON THE PATH BACK TO FINANCIAL STABILITY.)) [RUNS:03]
Republicans were critical of the governor's ideas, with House leader Morgan Griffith saying it wasn't dead on arrival but was suffering a serious case of the flu.
At number 6 on our list, Carilion's expansion plans.. The 105 million dollar project would make Roanoke Memorial Hospital the second largest in the state, but would turn Community Hospital into a healthcare training facility.
Carilion hopes to win state approval and start construction sometime this summer.
The winter of 2003 brought one batch of snow and ice after another, and came in at number 5 on our list.
But the storms did bring some enough moisture to end the drought.
[IN Q=Well, 'cause it melts slower...]

((HUBERT BOWMAN: WELL, 'CAUSE IT MELTS SLOWER, SOAKS IN THE GROUND BETTER, HELPS THE CROPS, ALOT OF THE TIMES CROPS WILL GROW UNDERNEATH THE SNOW.)) [RUNS:11]
[OUT Q=underneath the snow.]


Making the top four was the continuing controversy over the future of Victory Stadium. City council finally approved plans for a new amphitheater project off Orange Avenue to replace the south Roanoke landmark. Barrels of hazardous waste keep turning up at the new stadium site, as a citizens group tried to bury the project with lawsuits.
The war in Iraq touched the lives of hundreds of people, from reserve units called up, to those relatives and friends of the servicemen from the region who lost their lives. They included Marine Michael Lalush of Botetourt County; Air Force major William Watkins from South Boston; First Lieutenant Joshua Hurley of Alleghany County; Pulaski Army Sergeant Michael Dooley. ((RUSSELL DOOLEY/MICHAEL'S FATHER: HE SAID HE WOULD BE PROUD TO FIGHT FOR HIS COUNTRY. IF HE GOT KILLED, HE WOULD THINK HE WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR AMERICA. HE WAS VERY PROUD TO DO WHAT HE WAS DOING.))
Another story that dominated the headlines in 2003 was Virginia Tech's move to the ACC.
At first the university cried foul over the league's overtures to other schools, but not to them, Tech's president saying at one point that the university has invested too much in the Big East to watch it all be destroyed.
A few weeks later, under pressure from state officials, the ACC had changed its mind, and so had Virginia Tech.
[IN Q=We have a lot]

((CHARLES STEGER/VIRGINIA TECH PRESIDENT: WE HAVE A LOT OF TIES WITH THESE SCHOOLS AND WE THINK THIS WILL ENHANCE THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.)) [Runs04]
[OUT Q=those relationships]


Tech's football team closed out its relationship with the Big East with a 4 and 3 record, losing four of its last five games.
At the top of our list, Hurricane Isabel.
Virginia Beach and the Richmond area bore the brunt of the storm. It did an estimated one-point-six billion dollars damage across the station, destroyed 11 hundred homes and left 33 people dead.
Thousands were without power for days.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=I kinda understand]
[RUNS=09]
[OUT Q=those bad situations.]


And that's a look back at just a few of the top stories from 2003.
Joe McKean, News-7.))

[Sports tease]


[ANCHOR=travis]
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Coming up, a New Year's Day bowl bonanza from the Sunshine State, Bonnie Henrickson and her Hokies look to start 2004 on the right foot, and
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[VO-NAT]


Steve Mason checks in with this week's edition of Roundhouse Wrap-Up.
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[S-Bowls]


[ANCHOR=travis]
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[GRAPHIC=NCAA Football]
[ENG#=1]


Five bowl games dotted the New Year's Day slate today, including the first of the BCS games, the grandaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl where USC leads Michigan 7-nothing in the second quarter. Tonight, Miami and Florida State tangle in the Orange Bowl. Earlier today, it was Florida and Iowa in the Outback Bowl from Tampa.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Tampa, FL/ESPN; :00]


Chris Leak and company led 7-nothing early over the Hawkeyes, thanks to this 70 yard bomb to Kelvin Kight for a TD but it was all Iowa from there.
Quarterback Nate Chandler threw a TD pass and rambled for another.
[SUPER=36-Florida/17/Iowa/37/;]

Fred Russell tallied 150 yards on the ground for the Hawkeyes who won it 37-17.
[SUPER=03-Jacksonville, FL/NBC Sports; :]


In the Gator Bowl, Maryland whipped West Virginia for the second time this season. Scott McBrien, the former Mountaineer threw for a career high 381 yards
[SUPER=36-Maryland/41/West Virginia/7/;]

and 3 scores, including two to Jafar Williams as the Terps hammered WVU 41 to 7.
[SUPER=03-Orlando, FL/ABC Sports; :]


And in the Capital One Bowl, Georgia squandered a 24-nothing lead against Purdue just around the corner from the Magic Kingdom. But the Bulldogs got this one yard score from
[SUPER=36-Purdue/27/Georgia/34/;]

Kregg Lumpkin in overtime to knock off the Boilermakers 34 to 27.
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[S-Round]


[ANCHOR=TRAVIS]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-162 43:06 ]
[GRAPHIC=Round House wrap up]
[ENG#=2]

The Express lost the ECHL's 13th leading scorer in Shawn Limpright to a call up moments after beating Gwinnett last night. But Steve Mason tells us in Round House Wrap Up that Roanoke's new years resolution to win with any line up seems to already be in effect.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=@Steve1; :00]
[SUPER=01-Tony MacAulay/Express Head Coach; :25]
[SUPER=01-Joe Dusbabek/12 Points in Last 10 Games; 1:05]
[RUNS=1:46]
[OUT Q=..steve mason round house wrap up"]
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[S-Bonnie]


[ANCHOR=travis]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=twe]
[TAPE#=SP-154 TC13004]
[GRAPHIC=Tech Hoops]
[ENG#=3]


Tomorrow night the 15th ranked Virginia Tech women put their unbeaten mark on the line at Cassell Coliseum against 6 and 5 Liberty. The Flames are led by 6-9 center Katie Feenstra, but the Hokies will try to match up against the reigning Big South Player of the Year, with four players over 6-3.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Bonnie Henrickson/Tech Head Coach; :00]
[RUNS=:26]
[OUT Q=that alone won't win games for us."]
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[Almanac]


[ANCHOR=Robin]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG#=4]


The weather story for 2003 was one of excess. But in this case, the heavy rain broke the drought and we start out 2004 at normal levels. What's ahead for this month? Leo has some ideas.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=@leo1; :25]
[RUNS=1:06]
[OUT Q=meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner]


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by SS