WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 02/17/04

[cutopen]

[SUPER=@Kimberly1;]

[7Wx-Headline]
[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Mornin' Report]
Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom. A few areas could see snow accumulations later today, and snow showers are possible over a wider region. Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner has your full forecast coming up after the news.

[7-77-Accident]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=I-77 Accident]
[ENG#=None]

A deadly accident on Interstate 77 early this morning--
Police say it happened just before 2-30 on Northbound 77 in Carroll County.
They say a Chevy Blazer rear- ended a pick-up truck.
Both vehicles went over the guardrail and down a steep embankment.
A passenger in the Blazer was killed.
The driver was taken to Bristol Regional Hospital.
Meanwhile, crews are working to clean up after another accident on I- 77 this morning.
(+++++++)
[Take Accident Map FS]
Authorities say a tractor- trailer ran through the flare line and hit a Piper's Gap ambulance and a fire truck.
They say the driver then hit ANOTHER tractor trailer. V-DOT reports the accident is still blocking one northbound lane at milemarker 21.
That's between the Hillsville exit and I-81.
Officials say the other lane should be open within the hour.
(------------)

[7VOB-81-Tolls]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Morning]
[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=81 Improvements 4242]
[ENG#=1]

Turning to I-81, both cars and trucks may one day have to pay for travel on Virginia's longest Interstate, but short trips might not require a stop at the toll booth.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co.]

On Friday, a state advisory panel recommended moving forward with a proposal by Star Solutions.
The plan would create separate lanes for cars and trucks.
To help pay for the 10 billion dollars worth of improvements, motorists and truckers would be charged a toll.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 1:03:10; 1:13:21]
[IN Q=We probably do a lot]
((WILLIE KNOX/TRUCK DRIVER: WE PROBABLY DO A LOT MORE WEAR AND TEAR ON THE ROAD THAN CARS ACTUALLY DO BUT ALL OF US TRAVEL TO GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B TO GO WHERE WE'RE GOING SO I THINK WE SHOULD WE SHARE AS FAR AS WHAT IS GOING FOR THE TOLLS.)) ((LORETTA LAMBERT/SALEM MOTORIST: WE TRAVEL IT USUALLY ON SUNDAYS HEADING OUT TO CHURCH. WE HEAD DOWN THE INTERSTATE.
DEPENDING WHERE IT IS WE'LL PROBABLY GET HIT WITH IT GOING DOWN AND GOING BACK.))
[SUPER=01-Willie Knox/Truck Driver; :00]
[SUPER=01-Loretta Lambert/Salem Motorist; :13]
[RUNS=:21]
[OUT Q=GOING DOWN AND GOING BACK]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

But Star Solutions says it has no plans to charge local traffic on I-81, just long distance.
V-Dot's comissioner must now decide whether to move forward with Star Solution's proposal.
(------------)

[7-11Rock-Slide]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-In]
[WRITER=sba]
[TAPE#=04-02 TC47:36]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG#=3]
On route 220, meantime, crews will try to finish cleaning up a rock slide today in Iron Gate.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Iron Gate]
Traffic was at a standstill Sunday morning when about 50-tons of rock crashed down on the roadway - including these two 20-ton boulders. No one was seriously injured, but it's the third reported slide in the past week. Iron Gate's Mayor Alan Williams says they've been lucky no has been injured as nearly 10-thousand vehicles travel that section of roadway a day.
(------------)

[7WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=Leo]
[NEWSCAST=cut -ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

[LEO IN CHROMAKEY]

WEATHER PRO

[Desk 2-Shot=Kim and Leo]

(Good Bye!)

[7Goodbye]

[ANCHOR=KMC-LEO]
[NEWSCAST=cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

[Desk 2-Shot]

[SUPER=@Leo1;]

(AD-LIB Bye)

[SUPER=#4057; Copyright]

[cutopen]
[SUPER=@Kimberly1;]

[55-WXHeads]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Mornin' Report]

Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom......
Don't be surprised to see some snow showers today.
But most of the heaviest stuff will be in eastern parts of the viewing area.
Metereologist Leo Hirsbrunner has details, up next.

[55-77-Accident]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=I-77 Accident]
[ENG#=None]

Not one, but TWO accidents this morning on Interstate 77 claimed one person's life and caused some traffic delays.
A passenger was killed when a Chevy Blazer rear-ended a pick-up truck just before 2-30 this morning on Northbound 77 at milemarker 22 in Carroll County.
Both vehicles went over the guardrail and down a steep embankment.
(+++++++) [Take Accident Map FS] While state police were working on THAT accident, a tractor- trailer ran through the flare line and hit an ambulance, a
fire truck, and another tractor trailer.
No one was injured in the second accident, but it did block both northbound lanes of traffic for a while.
All lanes are now open.
(------------)

[55VT-Student]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Virginia Tech]
[ENG#=None]

Officials at Virginia Tech say a freshman collapsed and died yesterday after a work-out with his rowing team.

The university's web site says Clayton William Waterfield of Redmond, Washington had just completed a run with the team when he collapsed at War Memorial Gym.
Tech officials say Waterfield went into cardiac arrest, and was pronounced dead a short time later at Montgomery Regional Hospital.

[55-5XGR]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-In]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=503-04 1:17:56]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG=1]

It's a day of action for members of the General Assembly.
Today's the deadline for each chamber to act on its own bills. Meanwhile, the House of Delegates yesterday surprised many people with a couple of major decisions favoring gay rights.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

The House passed a bill allowing employers to offer health insurance benefits to homosexual partners.
Identical legislation did not even make it out of committee last year.
The House also voted against excluding same-sex and unmarried couples from applying for state mortgage loans.
The Virginia Housing Development Authority used to require borrowers to be married or related but that restriction was repealed last year.
Gay rights supporters say the votes are not just a victory for them because they will benefit all Virginians.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=THEY DO AFFECT OUR COMMUNITY]
((DYANA MASON/EQUALITY VIRGINIA: they do affect our community it is a victory, it is a step but we have a lot more work to do these things affect all of us not just the gay community.))
[SUPER=01-Dyana Mason/Equality Virginia]
[RUNS=:20]
[OUT Q=ALL OF US NOT JUST THE GAY COMMUNITY.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Gay rights supporters say their other priorities include legalizing gay marriage and revoking the state's anti-sodomy law.
(------------)

[55WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=Leo]
[NEWSCAST=cut -ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

[LEO IN CHROMAKEY]

WEATHER PRO

[Desk 2-Shot=Kim and Leo]

(Good Bye!)

[55Goodbye]

[ANCHOR=KMC-LEO]
[NEWSCAST=cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

[Desk 2-Shot]

[SUPER=@Leo1;]

(AD-LIB Bye)

[SUPER=#4057; Copyright]

[cutopen]
[SUPER=@Kimberly1;]

[8Wx-Headline]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=Cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Mornin' Report]
Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom. Winter weather makes another return today, but it shouldn't be as deep or widespread as Sunday.
Meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner has your forecast details in just a few minutes.

[8-77-Accident]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=I-77 Accident]
[ENG#=None]

Two separate accidents overnight on Interstate 77 claimed one person's life and backed up traffic for several hours.
A passenger was killed when a Chevy Blazer rear-ended a pick-up truck just before 2-30 this morning on Northbound 77 at milemarker 22 in Carroll County.
Both vehicles went over the guardrail and down a steep embankment.
(+++++++)
[Take Accident Map FS] While state police were working on THAT accident, a tractor- trailer ran through the flare line and hit an ambulance, a fire truck, and another tractor trailer.
No one was injured in the second accident, but it did block both northbound lanes of traffic until all the wreckage was cleared. All lanes are now re-opened.
(------------)

[8-11Free-Clinic]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=AM CutIn]
[WRITER=rde]
[TAPE#=04-05]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG#=1]

The New River Valley is home to more than 30- thousand people lacking adequate insurance-- or in some cases-- ANY insurance at all.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Christiansburg;]

One reason the Free Clinic of the New River Valley is getting a little bigger.
The clinic just finished 600-thousand dollar renovations on the county's old Social Services building.
After some last touches on electricity and plumbing and a big move today, the free clinic hopes to re-open next Monday.
Last year it served more than 3-thousand families in the region.
Doctors are already expecting a 30-percent increase in patients from last year.
(------------)

[8-11Tuskegee]

[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-In]
[WRITER=cja]
[TAPE#=03-55]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG#=2]
Two of the first African-Americans trained as fighter pilots told their story to a Roanoke audience yesterdday. For Lieutenant Colonel Francis Horne, he remembers a 40-year wait to hear himself called what he'd always been: an American.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
The Tuskegee Airman told his story at the Hotel Roanoke to mark Black History Month.
(///// SOT /////)
[IN Q= I was an]
((LT. COL. FRANCIS HORNE, SR./USA (RET.): I WAS AN AMERICAN BUT NOT WITH ALL THE HYPHENATIONS. I WAS AN AMERICAN WITH AFRICAN HERITAGE JUST LIKE AMERICANS WITH EUROPEAN HERITAGE OR HISPANICS, AND TO ME THAT BECAME THE STRENGTH OF AMERICA.))
[SUPER=01-Lt. Col. Francis Horne, Sr./U. S. Army (Ret.)]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q= strength of America.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Fellow Tuskegee Airman Grant Williams, Sr. says he's also proud to be part of the unit's history.
(///// SOT /////)
[IN Q=Having been a]
((CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT GRANT WILLIAMS,SR/USAF (RET.): HAVING BEEN A PART OF THE ACTUAL INCIDENT MAKES ME PROUD TO BE ABLE STILL TO TELL THE STORY, SO PEOPLE WILL BE MADE AWARE OF IT.))
[SUPER=01-Mstr. Sgt. Grant Williams, Sr./U. S. Air Force (Ret.)]
[RUNS=:12]
[OUT Q=aware of it.]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Both men now live in Hampton.

[8WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=Leo]
[NEWSCAST=cut -ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

[LEO IN CHROMAKEY]

WEATHER PRO

[Desk 2-Shot=Kim and Leo]

(Good Bye!)

[8Goodbye]

[ANCHOR=KMC-LEO]
[NEWSCAST=cut-ins]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=none]

[Desk 2-Shot]

[SUPER=@Leo1;]

(AD-LIB Bye)

[SUPER=#4057; Copyright]

[Mornin' Promo] [ANCHOR-Kim] [Animation]
(///////SOT///////)
((Tomorrow on News 7 Mornin'.))
[RUNS=03]
(-------------)
[Kim on Camera] A group of Glenvar students will show off their talent this weekend. They're taking part in the performing arts school's first public performance. Steve Pardon has a preview.
(------------)
[Animation full] Tomorrow on News 7 Mornin'.