WDBJ 7 morning news for 06/12/04

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[ANCHOR=Joy]

[NEWSCAST=Sat Am]
[WRITER=jen]
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[ENG#1]
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[VO-NAT]
Coming up on News 7 Saturday Morning....... The Star City pays tribute to a fallen President. And...
[ENG#2]
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[VO-NAT]
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[SOT]
[IN Q=a week of national mourning;]
((A week of national mourning ends with a sunset funeral. Former President Reagan is laid to rest. I'm Jennifer Donelan in Simi Valley, California. An emotional farewell, coming up.))
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[OUT Q=an emotional, coming up;]
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[ANCHOR=Joy]
We will have more on those stories in just a few minutes. [2-shot toss to Hello]

[Reagan]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
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[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Reagan]
[ENG#=3]

A week long memorial for President Ronald Reagan ended yesterday as he was laid to rest in the state he called home.

Jennifer Donelan has more.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=The sun has set on the 40th]
[SUPER=03-Simi Valley, CA; :00]
[SUPER=01-Michael Reagan/Son; :18]
[super=01-Jennifer Donelan/CBS News; 1:29]
[RUNS=1:47]
[OUT Q=JD, CBS News, Simi Valley]
((The sun has set on the 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan. He was laid to rest at the Reagan Presidential Library on Friday. The final services were attended by close friends and family members who paid a touching tribute to their father.

SOT: Michael Reagan

(Nats: Band)

The ceremonies concluded to the strains of "God Bless America" as a steady stream of visitors strolled past his final resting place. Celebrities, dignitaries and more paying their last respects to the man who touched so many lives.

(Nats: Andrews Air Base)

Mr. Reagan's body began its last journey across the nation from Andrews Air Base outside Washington. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan clung to the arm of her military escort as the casket was loaded aboard a Presidential jet that disappeared into cloudy skies for the final trip home.

(Nats: Jet)

Earlier, a congregation of global leaders gathered in Washington for state funeral service befitting one of their peers. The National Cathedral was graced with four living ex-presidents and lifelong friends. In his eulogy, President George Bush summed up his impressions of the fallen leader.

SOT: President Bush
"He showed us what a president should be and what a man should be."
President Reagan leaves behind a legacy of melting the Cold War after retreating from the public eye with a famous letter just ten years ago. Now his life has come full circle, his body laid to rest among the California mountains that he called home.
Suggested Donelan Close: California service started late due to the slow processioni to the Library. His gravesite here is expected to become a popular tourist destination.))

[11Local-Reagan]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
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[WRITER=jus]
[TAPE#=04-20 TC33:39]
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[ENG#=4]

Tributes for the 40th president were held in the Roanoke Valley last night.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=NAT SOUND OF AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL]
((NAT MUSIC))
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
[RUNS=:04]
[OUT Q=with brotherhood.]
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[VO-NAT]

More than fifty people attended a memorial service at Saint John's Episcopal Church in Roanoke.
The service included several patriotic songs and remarks by Mayor Ralph Smith as well as a Hollins professor who worked in the president's administration.
There were also written statements read from Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Senator George Allen.
Those attending were encouraged to sign a condolence book.
It will eventually be mailed to Nancy Reagan.
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[11C'burg-Shooting]

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[TAPE#=04-16 TC1:14:12]
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[ENG#=2]

Friends and family gathered to remember the life of slain teen Edward Bertrand in Christiansburg .
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[VO-NAT]
The 15- year- old was shot in the garage of a Christiansburg home on Tuesday and later died from his injuries.
[SUPER=03-Christiansburg;]
His friends and family remember him as a vibrant young man who always put other before himself.
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[SOT 6:42:30]
[IN Q=He just was always very respectful]
[SUPER=01-Rev. Paul deGastyne/Christian Growth Center;]
[RUNS=09]
[OUT Q=with young people today]
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[VO-NAT]
Bertrand had just completed the 8th grade at Christiansburg Middle School. Dozens of his classmates and teachers showed up to say goodbye. Reverend Doug Martin hopes they'll focus their energies on the future.
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[SOT 6:41:47]
[IN Q=There's hope, hope for a better tomorrow]
((REV. DOUG MARTIN))
[SUPER=01-Rev. Doug Martin/Christian Growth Center;]
[RUNS=07]
[OUT Q=good things in our lives]
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[VO-NAT]
Donations to help the family wtih funeral costs can be delivered to the "Christian Growth Center" in Christiansburg.
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[Iraq-Death]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=sat am]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Iraq]
[ENG#=3]

A senior official of Iraq's foreign ministry was assassinated today.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Baghdad, Iraq]

Gunmen ambushed Bassam Salih Kubba (BAH-sam sah-LIH KOO-'bah ) as he traveled to his Baghdad office.
Kubba is the first senior official to be assassinated in Iraq since the new intern government took office this month.
The attack happened in the Sunni Muslim neighborhood where support for Saddam Hussein is strong.
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[Nichols-Jury]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=sat am]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]
[ENG#=4]

Jurors in the Terry Nichols trial could not reach a unanimous decision yesterday on whether he should face the death penalty for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
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[VO-NAT]
That means Nichols will live. Now a judge will have to decide his fate. Nichols faces either life in prison WITH or WITHOUT parole. He will be sentenced in the next 60 days. Only the jury has the power to sentence Nichols to death. Nichols was convicted by the same jury on 161 counts of first degree murder in the 1995 bombing of the federal building.
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[11Burcham-suit]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=04-13 1:24:25]
[GRAPHIC=Darlene Burcham]
[ENG#=1]
City Manager Darlene Burcham is demanding 20-thousand dollars from a Roanoke man she says defamed her online.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.]
Bill McClure wrote a story that appeared on the Web site "Roanoke Journal -dot- com." He recounted an incident where he says another motorist cut him off in the parking lot at Tanglewood Mall. He now concedes that the tag number on the vehicle doesn't match the city-owned vehicle Burcham drives, but McClure says she hasn't proven to his satisfaction that it wasn't her behind the wheel.
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[SOT 11:47:07]
[IN Q=That's how strongly]
((THAT'S HOW STRONGLY THAT I FEEL THAT THE PERSON I SAW WAS HER. YOU HAVE TWO PRETTY STRONG-WILLED PEOPLE IN THE SITUATION. And neither one of you is likely to back down? I DON'T SEE THAT HAPPENING.))
[SUPER=01-Bill McClure/roanokejournal.com]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=see that happening.]
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[VO-NAT]
In her lawsuit, Burcham flatly denies she was in the Tanglewood Mall parking lot that day. She's seeking 20-thousand dollars in damages.
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[11Amherst-Robbery]

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Amherst County officials are looking for the woman who held up a bank there yesterday.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Amherst Co.]

Authorities say around 4:30, a woman walked into the B-B-and-T in Madison Heights and handed the teller a note claiming she had a gun and a bomb.
The woman ran away with an undisclosed amount of cash.
She's described as an African-American about 5-foot-3, medium build and 30 to 40 years old.
She was wearing a camouflage shirt, white shorts and a white fishing-style hat.
Anyone with information about the crime should call the Amherst County Sheriff's Department.
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[Focus-Health]

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[JOY ONE SHOT]
For a child with Attention Deficit Disorder or any other behavioral or mood problem, there are natural treatment options - that include diet and other lifestyle changes. [JOY/GUEST TWO SHOT]
[SUPER=01-Susan Boyes/Licensed Professional Counselor]

Here to tell us more about that and an upcoming program on the topic, is Susan Boyes, a licensed professional counselor with the Mannasas Group.
(+++++++++++)
[TAKE INFO BOARD FS] The program will be held at the Salem Family YMCA on the Elizabeth Campus on Wednesday from 7 to 8pm.
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[ANCHOR=JOY]
Don't go away. News 7 Saturday Morning will be right back.

[bump][Decor-More]

[ANCHOR=Brent]
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[WRITER=jen]
[TAPE#=Decor and More ]
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If you're bored with brass, don't bag your decorations... just spray them with silver! See what a difference it makes
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[TAKE Decor FS]
in today's Decor and More.
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[TAKE DECOR WEBADDRESS FS - 2:20]
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[tape tosses to bump]

[Love-Arrest]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=sat am]
[WRITER=jsu]
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[ENG#=]

Rocker Courtney Love is in trouble with the law again.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape]

Love faces a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon. She's accused of hitting a woman with a liquor bottle at the home of her former manager on April 25th.
Love is out on 55-thousand dollars bail. Her arraignment is scheduled for July 9th. Love already faces assault and drug charges in three other incidents that date back to October of last year.
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[5-Academy-Arts]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
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[TAPE#=504-05 53:10 ]
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After a nationwide search, Lynchburg's Academy of Fine Arts finally has a new executive director on board.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

The A-F-A was formed last year when the Academy of Music and the Fine Arts Center merged.
Today, they announced the hiring of Richard Kordos (CORE-diss) as the group's new executive director.
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[SOT 10:25:05]
[IN Q=The new Academy]
((RICHARD KORDOS/NEW AFA EXEC. DIRECTOR: THE NEW ACADEMY FOR FINE ARTS WILL BE A PLACE OF TRAINING, IN AND EXPOSURE TO THE VARIED DISCIPLINES OF THE FINE ARTS, GUIDED BY ARTISTS OF NOTE, WITH A COMMITMENT TO WORKING TOWARD DISCOVERY, EXCELLENCE AND BEAUTY. ))
[SUPER=01-Richard Kordos/New Executive Director]
[RUNS=23]
[OUT Q=excellence and beauty.]
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[VO-NAT]

Kordos has 30 years' experience in acting and producing.
He most recently ran his own casting company in Los Angeles.
Kordos says construction on the A-F-A's new studio theater on Commerce Street is on schedule and should be finished this fall.
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[MN-Tornado]

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A tornado hit parts of Minnesota last night.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Leroy, MN]

Leroy was one of the areas with the most damage. The twister left a path of destruction there, but fortunately no was injured. City officials say then the rain came causing flooding in some areas. The city is now bracing for more severe weather.
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[wx next]

[Tease#2]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat Am]
[WRITER=jen]
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[BOTH MICS HOT]
[eng#=v10]
Coming up - Gay activists boycott the Commonwealth because of the state's stance on same-sex unions
[ANCHOR=Brent]
and
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[VO-NAT]

some Henry County students seniors say goodbye to more than high school, they usher out the end of an era.
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[lotto] [Break]

[11Gay-Boycott]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
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[WRITER=dse]
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Gay activists are calling for an economic boycott of Virginia in response to a new law that could nullify partnership contracts between same-sex couples.
A Seattle couple has started a Web site which encourages people NOT to buy products from Virginia-based companies or visit the state.
Another group is developing a possible boycott of the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of Jamestown in 2007.
The new law is an amendment to the state's Affirmation of Marriage Act, which prohibits civil unions and other arrangements that bestow the privileges of marriage.

[Biz-Review]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=dgr]
[TAPE#=Biz Review ]
[GRAPHIC=Business Review]
[eng#=1]
In business news this week, one of Lynchburg's biggest employers will spend 20 million dollars to build a new pump motor service center. A handful of technicians will refurbish and upgrade contaminated pumps and motors from nuclear power plants in the 70 thousand square foot facility. Plus two more plants close in the region. Donald Graham has more in News 7's Business Review.
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[SUPER=03-Galax/File Tape; 05]
[SUPER=03-Danville/1999; :34]
[SUPER=19-Donald Graham/Reporting; :50]
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(([MUSIC AND GRAPHICS]
[TAPE#=04-25 TC06:20]
151 people are losing their jobs at the Webb Furniture plant. Company officials blame the layoffs on competition from cheap imports from China. Congressman Rick Boucher says all the workers will be able to get federal help with job retraining and health care premium payments. Webb furniture is one of three Galax Companies that signed a national petition last year to stop so-called illegal dumping of China imports. The Department of Commerce is expected to rule on the petition later this month. [MUSIC AND GRAPHICS]
[TAPE#=04-22 TC21:38]
A world-wide company based in Danville will shut down production in its home town.
Dimon blames changing economic conditions in the tobacco industry. The company says it expects to end production at its Danville facility next March. More than 500 jobs will be lost. The move is part of a larger corporate restructuring plan in response to changing economic conditions on the five continents in which Dimon does business. The production shutdown will not affect the company's administrative operations in Danville. For News 7, I'm Donald Graham and that's Business Review. [MUSIC AND GRAPHICS]))

[11May-Revenue]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=dse]
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[GRAPHIC=VA Budget]

State tax collections continued strong in May and kept the state on track to end the year millions of dollars in the black.
The continued growth, particularly in sales taxes, reflects a solid economic recovery in Virginia. But it also provokes political disputes about the need for 1-point-4 billion dollars in new taxes the General Assembly approved in April.
It's the third straight month that revenue collections exceeded the state's official expectations.

[11Henry-Graduation]

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[TAPE#=04-17 TC32:08]
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There was plenty of pomp and circumstance as many high schools held their graduation ceremonies last night.
But in Henry County, it was bittersweet.
Justin McLeod tells us why.
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Ashton Ricks/Fieldale-Collinsville Graduate; :28 (QUICK)]
[SUPER=01-Eric Brennan/Fieldale-Collinsville Graduate; :33 (QUICK)]
[SUPER=01-Oliver McBride/Class of 1966; 1:03]
[SUPER=01-Sharon Dodson/Henry Co. School Superintendent; 1:22]
[SUPER=@justin1; 1:33]
[RUNS=1:41]
[OUT Q=JM, News 7]

((((NAT SOUND OF POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE))
This will be last time you see seniors wearing cap and gowns here at Fieldale Collinsville High School.
This was FC's 39th and final graduation ceremony.
[SOT 4:28:59]
[IN Q=A lot of mixed]
((SHARON DODSON/SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS: A LOT OF MIXED EMOTIONS)) [Runs02]
[OUT Q=mixed emotions]

Mixed emotions that were felt by administrators, faculty, parents, and alumni.
But for the class of 2004, their feelings were more upbeat.
[SOT 4:26:41]
[IN Q=I'm just so happy]
((ASHTON RICKS/FIELDALE COLLINSIVLLE GRADUATE: I'M JUST SO HAPPY. I AM REALLY REALLY HAPPY.)) [Runs04]
[OUT Q=REALLY REALLY HAPPY]
[SOT 4:27:58]
[IN Q=It's a great day]
((ERIC BRENNAN/FIELDALE COLLINSVILLE GRADUATE: IT'S A GREAT DAY. FINALLY GET TO GET OUT OF HERE AFTER 12 YEARS OF SCHOOL IS GREAT.)) [Runs04]
[OUT Q=SCHOOL IS GREAT]
((NAT SOUND OF CEREMONY))
So in a stifling hot gym, Henry County said farewell to its graduates and its school.
One way they did it was through music. ((NAT SOUND OF GRADUATES SONG))
This student wrote a song called the "Last Graduation."
The school also brought in a distinguished guest to give the commencement address.
[SOT 4:31:22]
[IN Q=I was honored to be]
((OLIVER McBRIDE/CLASS OF 1966: I WAS HONORED TO BE PART OF THE FIRST GRADUATING CLASS OF FIELDALE COLLINSVILLE BACK IN 1966.)) [Runs05]
[OUT Q=back in 1966]

That was the beginning and this is the end.
This fall, Fieldale Collinsville will merge with Bassett High School.
It will be a difficult time for many, and although FC will be gone administrators promise it won't be forgotten.
[SOT 4:30:49]
[IN Q=Both schools colors]
((SHARON DODSON/SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS: BOTH SCHOOLS COLORS WILL BE REPRESENTED IN ALL OF THE SCHOOL UNIFORMS AND THE ATHLETIC UNIFORMS. THERE WILL BE A BIT OF BOTH IN EVERYTHING THEY DO.)) [Runs09]
[OUT Q=IN EVERYTHING THEY DO]
[SOT ]
[IN Q=Laurel Park also]
((JUSTIN McLEOD/REPORTING: LAUREL PARK ALSO HELD ITS LAST GRADUATION FRIDAY NIGHT. THE SCHOOL MARKED THE OCCASION BY HAVING A GRADUATE FROM EACH CLASS. JUSTIN McLEOD,NEWS 7.))))

[11Graduations]

[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=syo]
[TAPE#=04-11 TC1:35:34]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG#=2]
While Fieldale-Collinsville and Laurel Park said goodbye to their last senior classes, a Roanoke County high school graduated its *first*.
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((NAT CHEER))
[SUPER=03-Salem;]
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[OUT Q=NAT Cheer]
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[VO-NAT :17]
Hidden Valley held it's commencement excercise at the Salem Civic Center yesterday. The school opened its doors just two years ago. The ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, giving the Civic Center little time to get ready for the next of *five* graduations to take place there yesterday.
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[SOT 2:26:04 - 2:26:24]
[IN Q=We don't have much time.]
((CAREY HARVEYCUTTER/SALEM CIVIC CENTER: WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME. BASICALLY ABOUT 30-MINUTES IS ALL WE HAVE TO CLEAN BETWEEN GROUPS. SO, IT'S A QUICK TURNOVER BUT IT'S EASIER THAN WORKING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AFTER THE BOB DYLAN CONCERT TO GET SALEM HIGH READY THE NEXT MORNING.))
[SUPER=01-Carey Harveycutter/Salem Civic Center;]
[RUNS=:20]
[OUT Q=to get Salem High ready the next morning.]
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[VO-NAT :11]
Before Friday, the Salem Civic Center had held up to three graduations in one day. Along with Hidden Valley, yesterday's festivites were conducted by Glenvar, Cave Spring, Northside and William Byrd.
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