WDBJ 7 news at 5 for 03/02/04

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[VO-NAT]

Today on News 7 at 5, students mourn the loss of three friends in an automobile accident in Bedford County.
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Also a investigation reveals more details about a Roanoke teacher who took his own life last year.
[Weather-Head]
[ANCHOR=Robin]
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Temperatures stay well above seasonal norms for the rest of the week, with some showers tossed in. Details coming up.

[Medical-Head]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
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[ENG#=2]

Explosions kill more than 140 people in Iraq.
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[VO-NAT]
NASA makes an exciting discovery on the planet Mars.
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[ANCHOR=Shannon]
Plus the Senate gives Democrats a win on gun control, but it doesn't last. News 7 at 5 is next.

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[ANCHOR=Jean]
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[SOT]
[IN Q=Let us hope]
(( LET US HOPE THE FINAL CHAPTER IN THIS TRAGEDY HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN. LET US HOPE THAT RON MAYFIELD'S DEATH WILL NOT BE IN VAIN. ))
[RUNS=:09]
[OUT Q=will not be in vain.]
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[VO-NAT]

The suicide of a Roanoke teacher brings an investigation and a call for change.
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[5-Mayfield]

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[TAPE#=504-03 3;41]
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Good evening. I'm Shannon Young in for Jean Jadhon.
Ron Mayfield took his own life in October, after being accused of assaulting a student, and being placed on leave.
His death has raised questions about the way allegations of abuse are handled. Today the family's attorney called for "a thorough examination" of the school system's policies and procedures.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Shannon/Joe on BAM;]

Joe Dashiell is here with more on the investigation.
[LIVE=Joe/FULL]
[SUPER=@Joe1;]

Shannon, Frank Rogers says the portrait that family, friends and fellow teachers painted was of a compassionate teacher respected by his students and co-workers, and not someone with a history of psychological problems.
[ENG#=4]
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[SOT]
[IN Q=I am satisfied from my investigation]
[SUPER=01-Frank Rogers/Mayfield Family Attorney; :00]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :21]
[SUPER=04-Oct. 16, 2003; :32]
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[OUT Q=senseless tragedy that occurred in this case.]

(( [SOT]
[IN Q=I am satisfied from my investigation]
((I AM SATISFIED FROM MY INVESTIGATION THAT RON MAYFIELD'S TORMENT WAS DUE SOLELY TO THE ACCUSATIONS MADE AGAINST HIM AND THE EVENTS WHICH FOLLOWED. THERE IS NOTHING THAT I FOUND IN RON MAYFIELD'S HISTORY TO SUGGEST TO THAT HE WAS PRE-DISPOSED TO SUICIDAL NOTIONS.))
[RUNS= :20]
[OUT Q=predisposed to suicidal notions.]

Frank Rogers says he believes all three investigations by the school system, child protective services and police would have concluded favorably for mayfield, and would have cleared his return to the classroom.
But the teacher did not know that when he jumped to his death from the Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge over the Roanoke River.
Rogers urged school officials to review a policy that isolates a teacher on administrative leave, when in the vast majority of cases, the allegations are unfounded.
[SOT]
[INQ=We do not advocate]
((WE DO NOT ADVOCATE CHANGE SIMPLY FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE AND I STAND BEFORE THE FMAILY THIS MORNING ON THEIR BEHALF ASKING FOR A THROROUGH EXAMINATION OF ALL OF THESE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES. CHANGE SHOULD OCCUR WHERE INDICATED AND EFFORTS TAKEN TO AVOID THE SENSELESS TRAGEDY THAT OCCURRED IN THIS CASE.))
[RUNS= :21]
[OUT Q=senseless tragedy that occurred in this case.]))

[LIVE=Joe /FULL]

Rogers said the city schools and police department cooperated fully with his investigation and two school board members attended the news conference this morning.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Shannon/Joe;]

Shannon, they said they were impressed by Rogers' review, and we'll hear from them tonight on News 7 at Six.

[5-Bedford-Accident]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
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A number of communities are pulling together after a car accident killed three-teens in Bedford County.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co.]
This was the scene on route 619 just before eight o'clock last night. Police say a car driven by 17-year-old "Ginny" Dawn Creasy, went off the road, overcorrected and hit a Jeep Cherokee head-on. Creasy, 16-year-old Barbara "Janae" Mills and 16-year-old Michael A. Williams were pronounced dead at the scene. The two girls attended Staunton River High school. School officials say they were popular with their classmates and were involved with extracurricular activities.
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[SOT@4:31:19]
[IN Q=This is a tremendous...]
((CHERIE WHITEHURST, PRINCIPAL: THIS IS A TREMENDOUS LOSS FOR OUR SCHOOL. WE ARE GOING THROUGH THE GRIEVING PROCESS RIGHT NOW. ON CAMPUS THERE ARE A LOT OF TEARS, LOT OF HUGS, PEOPLE JUST PULLING TOGETHER IN A PHENOMENIAL WAY.))
[SUPER=01-Cherie Whitehurst/Principal]
[RUNS=:24]
[OUT Q=... A PHENOMENIAL WAY.]
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[VO-NAT]
The third student, Michael Williams went to Patrick Henry High School. The principal there says he was a good kid, who loved school, and had lots of friends.
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[ANCHOR=Shannon]
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An accident reconstruction team will be out on the scene Thursday morning to investigate.

[5-Iraq]

[ANCHOR=Shan]
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[ENG#=2]

There's a ``prime suspect'' in the bombings in Iraq today that killed at least 143 people.
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[VO-NAT :19]
[SUPER=03-Kerbala, Iraq;]
The explosions ripped through crowds of worshippers in Baghdad and Kerbala on what is the holiest day of the Shiite calendar. An American military commander says the suspect is a Jordanian militant with ties to al-Qaida. U-S officials say he's trying to trigger a civil war between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
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[SOT :54 - 1:05]
[IN Q=It certainly ranks among...]
[SUPER=01-Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt/Deputy Director of Operations;]
((BRIGADIER GENERAL MARK KIMMITT/DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS: IT CERTAINLY RANKS AMONG ONE OF THE DAYS WHERE THE TERRORISTS HAVE DECIDED TO TAKE...TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT...SEND A SIGNIFICANT MESSAGE TO THE COALITION AND TO THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ.))
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[OUT Q=to the people of Iraq.]
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[VO-NAT :13]
It is the bloodiest day in Iraq since the end of major combat. At least seven people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. One is thought to be a would-be suicide bomber whose bomb failed to go off.
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[5-Mars]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
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Scientists examining the work of the Mars rover today revealed even more evidence that there was once water, and lots of it, on the red planet.
Chris Lawrence reports.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Dr. Steve Squires/Mars Exploration Rover Team;]
[SUPER=01-Dr. James Gavin/NASA;]
[SUPER=01-Chris Lawrence/Reporting;]
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[OUT Q=Lawrence, CBS News]

((Like the great explorers who once discovered new lands here on Earth, NASAs rover Opportunity has found Mars to be remarkably similar to home.

(Dr. Steve Squires/Mars Exploration Rover Team)
We have concluded that the rocks here were once soaked with liquid water.
Opportunity landed five weeks ago in the wall of a small crater. When the rover examined rock formations there, it detected evidence of minerals that form in the presence of water meaning the Red Planet was once wet.

(Steve)
The purpose of this mission was to go to Mars and see whether or not it once had habitable environments. We believe at this place on Mars, at some period in time, it was a habitable environment.
That means if life was present when the rocks formed, the conditions would have permitted that organism to flourish.

(Steve)
Now this doesnt mean that life was there. We dont know that.
And each discovery raises new questions about the rocks, and especially the water.

(Dr. James Garvin/NASA)
Are there other examples of it on Mars? Is Mariana the one place where we have this window into that record book of Mars?
The rocks could turn out to be time capsules that captured fossil evidence from millions of years.

(James)
With this first finding from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, is now we finally have one example of stuff we really want to bring home to Earth.
Sometime in the next ten years, NASA will try to land another vehicle to collect those samples and robotically bring them back to labs on Earth. Thats where the larger questions could be answered, including the one in back of every scientists mind: Not so much are we alone now, but did we once have company? Chris Lawrence, CBS News.))

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A Christiansburg man is in custody for allegedly shooting at police. We'll have the details next.
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[VO-NAT]

Plus the Senate gives gun control supporters a victory ... but it doesn't last long.
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[COMM #1]

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[ANCHOR=Jean]
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Pearisburg police officers say they were shot at last night during a high speed chase.
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[Take Charles Edward Morris Pinnacle FULL]
51 year old Charles Edward Morris Junior is facing more than a dozen charges.
Police say the Christiansburg man was driving too fast through downtown Pearisburg, and took off when they tried to pull him over.
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[ANCHOR=Shannon]
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A chase followed down route 460 towards Montgomery County.
Police say Morris fired one round from a shot gun at them.
He's facing several felony and misdemeanor charges.
Morris is being held at the New River Valley Regional Jail without bond.

[5-Super-Tuesday]

[ANCHOR=Shan]
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Ten states are up for grabs in today's Super Tuesday elections to nominate a Democratic candidate for President.
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[VO-NAT :27]
[SUPER=03-New York City;]
Even though the polls show him ahead in New York, California and the other eight states, John Kerry isn't making any victory predictions -- and he's not suggesting that John Edwards leave the race if he fails to win in any of those states today. Kerry also won't say if Edwards or anyone else is under consideration to be his running mate. The two senators broke away from the campaign trail to vote on the gun bill in Washington today.
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[5-Gun-Bill]

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Senate Republicans put a bullet in an election-year bill to immunize the gun industry from lawsuits Tuesday after Democrats amended it to extend an assault weapons ban and require background checks on all buyers at private gun shows.
Teri Okita has more from Washington DCTERMS.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Washington, DC;]
[SUPER=01-Sen. Orrin Hatch/(R) Utah;]
[SUPER=01-Sen. John Kerry/(D) Massachusetts]
[SUPER=01-Teri Okita/CBS News;]
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[OUT Q=CBS NEWS Washington]

((((TRACK: THE GUNMAKER IMMUNITY BILL WAS EXPECTED TO EASILY PASS THE SENATE: IT WOULD HAVE EXEMPTED MANUFACTURERS FROM BEING SUED IF A FIREARM USED IN A CRIME WAS SOLD LEGALLY. BUT AFTER WORKING FOR HOURS AND PASSING A SERIES OF DEMOCRATIC AMENDMENTS.
REPUBLICANS UNEXPECTEDLY TOOK AIM .....VOTED DOWN THE ENTIRE BILL.
DEMOCRATS LOBBIED HARD FOR TWO KEY AMENDMENTS. ONE EXTENDED THE BAN ON 19 TYPES OF MILITARY-STYLE ASSAULT WEAPONS FOR ANOTHER DECADE.
MANY REPUBLICANS THOUGHT THE BAN WAS MEANINGLESS AND DID NOTHING TO MAKE THE STREETS SAFER.

(Super: Sen. Orrin Hatch/R-Utah)
103429 The so-called assault weapons ban has succeeded in only one thing: law abiding men and women precisely because they abide by the law were stripped of some of their second amendment rights.
TRACK: ANOTHER AMENDMENT WOULD HAVE CLOSED THE GUNSHOW LOOPHOLE. IT REQUIRED CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR ANYONE WHO BUYS WEAPONS AT PRIVATE SHOWS.
TRACK: PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS, JOHN EDWARDS AND JOHN KERRY, LEFT THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL ON SUPER TUESDAY TO LOG THEIR VOTES.

(Super: Sen. John Kerry/D-Massachusetts)
SOT: (11:23:46) Gun rights and responsibilities are mainstream, and
thats what we should vote for in the Senate.

(Super: Teri Okita/Reporting)
STANDUP: TO COME Teri Okita, CBS News, Washington.)) ))

[5-Violence]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
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Parents who are considering taking their children to see Passion of The Christ --should think twice.
That's what a local psychologist says --because of the violence in the movie.
[ANCHOR=Shannon 2 shot]

Health Check Reporter Joy Sutton joins us with details
[ANCHOR=Joy 2 shot]

Shannon,
The psychologist says she wouldn't take anyone under the age of 13 to this film.
[ANCHOR=JOY FULL]
[SUPER=@JOY1;]
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She says study after study has shown that watching violence can harm children.
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[IN Q=While some parents may want their children]
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[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;07]
[SUPER=01-Dr. Gudrun Freeman/Family Psychologist;13]
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[OUT Q=some of the effects of it]
(( While some parents may want their children to see Passion of The Christ because of its biblical significance -- family psychologist Gudrun Freeman says viewing it could do more harm than good.
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[SOT9:08:45]
[IN Q=It's a movie that has an impact]
((IT'S A MOVIE THAT HAS AN IMPACT BUT NOT FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN. WE GET A LOT OF YOUNG CHILDREN COMING BACK HAVING NIGHTMARES OR BEING SCARED)) [RUNS07]
[OUT Q=or being scared]

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics watching violence can increase a child's fear that he or she may become a victim. It can also desensitize them to violence or increase their appetite for it on tv and in real life.
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[SOT9:09:46]
[IN Q=We know that the more violence]
((WE KNOW THAT THE MORE VIOLENCE A CHILD WATCHES THE MORE LIKELY THAT CHILD IS TO BEHAVE VIOLENTLY LATER ON)) [RUNS10]
[OUT Q=violently later on]

But if you do decide to take your children, Freeman recommends asking them about their feelings after the film --and then reassure them by saying something a long these lines.
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[SOT9:16:10]
[IN Q=This is what our faith is about]
((THIS IS WHAT OUR FAITH IS ABOUT BUT IT DOESN'T END WITH CHRIST'S DEATH, IT'S ABOUT CHRIST LOVE. AND I THINK THAT AMELIORATES SOME OF THE EFFECTS OF IT)) [RUNS10]
[OUT Q=some of the effects of it]
))
[ANCHOR=Joy Full]

And it's not just about this movie or others on the big screen that parents need to be concerned about. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics the level of violence during Saturday morning cartoons is at least five times higher than during prime time.
[ANCHOR=Shannon/Joy 2 shot]
Shannon,
In fact by the age of 18 the average child will have viewed about 200-thousand acts of violence on television alone.

[Tease2]

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Coming up a little later, one of major league baseball's most controversial owners has passed away.
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[VO] Also students across the region and around the world celebrate the birth of Doctor Seuss.
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[COMM#2]

[5-Reading-Day]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
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[ENG#=1]

The Cat and the Hat was back in the spotlight today.
Dr. Seuss's famous book is one of thousands being read to children across the nation.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Giles Co.]

Schools across the Roanoke and New River Valley's celebrated "Read Across America."
It's a national event to encourage children to pick up more books.
Students at Eastern Elementary School in Giles County also marked the 100th birthday of Dr. Seuss himself.
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[SOT:1:1517:00]
[IN Q=Reading is the]
[SUPER=01-Brenda Hayes/Principal;]
((BRENDA HAYES: READING IS THE FOREFRONT OF WHAT WE DO HERE AT SCHOOL SO WE WANT TO PROMOTE THAT ACTIVITY AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE DO HERE AT SCHOOL))
[RUNS=:09]
[OUT Q=here at school (DOUBLE OUT)]
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[VO-NAT]

Several schools had guest readers like our own New River Valley Bureau Chief Rachel DePompa.
Coming up tonight at 6:00 we'll tell you how students at Eastern Elementary used the national reading day to help a Radford domestic violence shelter.
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[Tease#3]

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Still to come on the newscast,
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[VO-NAT]
It's probably a bittersweet victory, but Pete Rose finally makes "A" Hall of Fame.
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[COMM#3]

[S5-South]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
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Good afternoon everybody and welcome to your Tuesday evening. The March Madness begins tonight for three men's college teams from the area as the Big South men's tournament opens.

This year the tournament is being played on a variety of campus sites. That means the top seeded Liberty men will be at home at Vines Center as long they keep winning. Tonight, LU hosts Charleston Southern in the opening round of play.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=WELL, IT'S]
[SUPER=01-Randy Dunton/Liberty Head Coach; :00]
[SUPER=01-David Dees/Liberty Forward; :25]
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[OUT Q=...NC DOUBLE A TOURNAMENT."]
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[talent=mike]
[graphic=bam]
That game tips-off tonight at 7, VMI is on the road for its quarterfinal game at High Point, and Radford is also traveling - playing at Coastal Carolina.

[S5-Curtis]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
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[ENG#=2]

The Virginia Cavaliers are home tonight at University Hall taking on 11th ranked Wake Forest. The Cavs have won three of their last four games and have improved their overall record to 15 and 10. Tonight's game tips-off at 7. Also, tonight the Tech women play their final home game of the regular season. Bonnie Henrickson's club hosts St. John's in a 7pm tip-off. Coming up tonight at the top of the hour we'll get reacquainted with former Patrick Henry high school star Curtis Blair - who is an up and coming official working the Big South, the Colonial and the NBDL with his sights set on the ACC.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=MY MAJOR...]
[SUPER=01-Curtis Blair/NCAA & NBDL Official; :00]
[RUNS=:27]
[OUT Q=...right now."]
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[vo nat con't] We'll have much more with Curtis tonight on News 7 at Six.
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[S5-Stuff]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
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Finally tonight - one of baseball most controversial figures has died.

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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-MLB; :00]
Marge Schott - the Cincinnati Reds long term majority owner passed away today at the age of 75. She was often known for her chain smoking and her inappropriate remarks. But those who knew her well say she was a generous person often supporting charitable cause anonymously.
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[TALENT=MIKE]
[GRAPHIC=BAM]
More Reds news in just a moment when Shannon Returns. Take care everybody. [GO TO BREAK]

[5Marketwatch]

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On Wall Street today, investors were in a selling mood as they gave back most of yesterday's gains. Alexis Christoforous has more.
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[SUPER=01-Alexis Christoforous/CBS Marketwatch;]
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[5-Rose]

[ANCHOR=Shannon]
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[ENG#=2]

Pete Rose is being inducted in the Hall of Fame.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape;]

But it's not the Major League Baseball shrine.
Rose is going into the Hall of Fame for the former World Wrestling Federation.
The New York Times reports that Rose will be inducted into the W-W-E Hall on March 13th.
The All-time hits king took part in three Wrestlemania events between 1998 and 2000. The Times' quotes W-W-E chairman Vince McMahon as saying Rose, ``has a deep, abiding respect for what we do.''
It should be mentioned that Rose is being paid for his appearance at the event.
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