WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 08/06/04

[7Wx-Headline]

[ANCHOR=Kim]

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

Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom......
Mostly sunny and less humid today with cooler high temperatures in the lower 70s.
Metereologist Leo Hirsbrunner has your weekend outlook, coming up next.

[7-11Giles-Assault]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=sba]
[TAPE#=04-23 58:18]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

[ENG#=1]

Three adults are in jail after being accused of drugging and assaulting two 14 year old girls.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Police say 24-year-old Melissa Lynn Blankenship -who was a family friend- picked up the girls to go four-wheeling in the mountains.
[SUPER=03-Pearisburg]
Instead, they wound up at Blankenship's apartment in the 14-hundred block of Wenonah Avenue in Pearisburg. According to the police, that's where Blankenship's boyfriend, 20-year-old Ryan Jackson Craft and 22-year-old Ryan Clay Gilmer were waiting.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT@6:28:33.00]
[IN Q=A family member...]
((RICHARD GAUTIER/PEARISBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT: A FAMILY MEMBER CAME LOOKING FOR THE GIRLS WHEN THEY DIDN'T ARRIVE HOME IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF AUGUST 1ST. SHE WENT TO THE APARTMENT WHERE SHE KNEW THE BLANKENSHIP LADY LIVED AND IN FACT, THEY WERE THERE. SHE INTERRUPTED THE EVENTS THAT WERE TAKING PLACE AND TOOK THE GIRLS TO THE HOSPITAL.))
[SUPER=01-Richard Gautier/Pearisburg Police Department]
[RUNS=:20]
[OUT Q=]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The three face numerous charges including carnal knowledge of a juvenile and abduction. They're being held in the New River Valley Jail without bond.
(------------)

[7-11White/Hardwick-Hoesch]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=04-17 1:42:18]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

[ENG#=2]

A Roanoke landlord who runs a racist website failed to convince a judge yesterday to issue an injunction against one of his accusers.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
Bill White said the woman has been harassing him, trespassing and vandalizing his property and leaving threatening telephone and e-mail messages. Erica Hardwick-Hoesch flatly denies making any threats. Though White says she just can't accept the end of their relationship, SHE denies there ever was one.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 9:55:20]
[IN Q=Bill White, for once]
((BILL WHITE, FOR ONCE IN HIS LIFE, IS SCARED. HE CAN'T HIDE BEHIND HIS MONEY AND USE HIS MONEY TO IMPOSE RACISM AND HIS RACIST WAYS ON PEOPLE WHEREVER HE PLEASES NOW. HE'S ACTUALLY BEING PUT IN THE LIGHT FOR DOING SO. AND I THINK HE'S FRIGHTENED.))
[SUPER=07-Erica Hardwick-Hoesch]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=think he's frightened.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Though the judge declined to issue an injunction, he did advise Hardwick-Hoesch to stay off White's property. The two are due in court Monday on cross criminal warrants.
(------------)

[7-11Fire-Training]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=04-22 1:28:25]
[GRAPHIC=None]

[ENG#=3]

Before Lynchburg's old Human Services building is torn down, it'll be used as the city's fire training facility.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

The Lynchburg fire department and Centra Health announced a deal that will allow firefighters to spend six days training inside the structure.
Fire officials say it's a chancefor them to practice without worrying about damaging a building.
The building is being torn down this fall to make way for Centra Health's new cancer treatment center.
(------------)

[55-WXHeads]

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

Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom......
Starting off rather cool, then we'll see daytime highs warming into the lower 70s this afternoon.
The sunshine should stick around for the weekend.
Metereologist Leo Hirsbrunner has more on that, coming up.

[55-6Kaine]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=04-18 1:59:58]
[GRAPHIC=Tim Kaine]

[ENG#=1]

Virginia's Lieutenant Governor says the unemployed aren't the only people without health insurance.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
Tim Kaine visited the Kuumba (KOOM-buh) Community Health and Wellness center in Roanoke yesterday. It's a non-profit health care provider that serves all patients, regardless of income, or whether they have insurance.
Kaine says the center is a model for a state where one in 7 residents does not have access to insurance.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT - 16:23]
[IN Q=A lot of people have...]
((LT. GOV. TIM KAINE; A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE A STEREOTYPE THAT A LOT OF THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE INSURANCE, MAYBE THEY DON'T WORK. WELL, 75% WORK FULL TIME OR LIVE WITH SOMEONE WHO WORKS FULL TIME, SO IT IS A PROBLEM THAT IS VERY ACUTE FOR WORKING PEOPLE.))
[SUPER=@kaine;]
[RUNS=12]
[OUT Q=acute for working people.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Kaine says he will be talking to legislators this fall about giving tax breaks to small businesses that give their employees health insurance.
(------------)

[55-6Economic-Strategy]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=04-19 1:52:07]
[GRAPHIC=None]

[ENG#=2]

Southwest Virgnia's economy still has a long way to go to catch up to the rest of the nation.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
That's according to a progress report from the Fifth Planning District Regional Alliance. Two years ago, the group started looking at ways to make the region more competitive in the global economy. Members found that the area is falling behind state and national averages in wages, manufacturing, and education.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT - 9:23]
[IN Q=We didn't get into...]
((VICTOR IANNELLO/5TH PLANNING DISTRICT ALLIANCE CHAIRMAN; WE DIDN'T GET INTO THE SITUATION WE'RE IN OVERNIGHT, IT WAS A GRADUAL DECLINE, AND THE MOVE OUT OF THAT IS GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME TO HAPPEN. BUT WE THINK THE STRATEGIES ARE GOING TO ACCELERATE THAT AND REALLY SET THE STAGE WHERE WE CAN MOVE FORWARD.))
[SUPER=01-Victor Iannello/5th Planning District Alliance Chairman;]
[RUNS=16]
[OUT Q=we can move forward.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The report did say that progress is being made, especially in connecting parts of the region, and in marketing the area.
(------------)

[55-11VA-Farmland]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=mmu]
[TAPE#=04-21 1:06:49]
[GRAPHIC=None]

[ENG#=3]

State officials say a rapidly growing population is threatening the Commonwealth's 39 billion dollar agriculture industry.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]

Virginia has lost nearly 45-thousand acres of farm and forest land every year since 1997.
Many of those acres have been paved over to make way for shopping malls, subdivisions or gas stations.
State officials say that in addition to the aesthetic and environmental benefits of farmland, there is also a cost savings.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 13:02:58]
[IN Q=WHEN YOU PUT IN HOUSES AND YOU]
((CARLTON COURTER/VA AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER: WHEN YOU PUT IN HOUSES AND YOU HAVE SCHOOLS, AND YOU HAVE SEWER AND INFRASTRUCTURE, RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT ENDS UP COSTING A LOCALITY, CITY OR STATE, MORE THAN IT BRINGS BACK IN TAX RECEIPTS.))
[SUPER=01-Carlton Courter/Virginia Agriculture Commissioner]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=IT BRINGS BACK IN TAX RECEIPTS.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Homebuilders and developers blame the loss of farmland on the state's rising population.
And they point out that modern techniques now allow farmers to grow more on less land.
(------------)

[8Wx-Headline]

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

Good morning, I'm Kimberly McBroom......
Plenty of sunshine today, with unseasonably cool temperatures.
Highs only reaching the lower 70s.
Metereologist Leo Hirsbrunner has the complete weekend forecast, coming up.

[8-11School-Resource]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=jwi]
[TAPE#=04-25 1:01:42]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

[ENG#=1]

The former supervisor of Roanoke's School Resource Officers has filed a grievance against the city for what he believes is a biased performance evaluation. Sergeant Manuel Bocanegra was reassigned to a patrol unit last week.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/Monday;]
As part of the city's new geographic policing initiative, School Resource Officers will now report to the lieutenant in charge of their geographic zone. That has parents like Alice Hincker upset. She says school resource officers should be designated as a special unit and fears the program will suffer under the new policing system.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 2:16:49]
[IN Q=My concern is that]
((ALICE HINCKER: MY CONCERN IS THAT THE PLAN IS TO PUT THE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER PROGRAM UNDER THAT SYSTEM AND IN DOING THAT THEY'RE PLANNING TO BREAK UP THE PROGRAM BASICALLY. IT WILL BE DIVIDED AND THE SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES WILL GO TO WHOEVER IS SUPERVISING THAT ZONE ON THAT PARTICULAR DAY.))
[SUPER=01-Alice Hincker/Concerned Parent;]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=that particular day]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Hincker says she plans to ask City Council to step in and prevent the S-R-O program from being placed under the new geographic system.
(------------)

[8-11Giles-Assault]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=sba]
[TAPE#=04-23 58:18]
[GRAPHIC=None]

[ENG#=2]

Three adults now wait in jail for their first hearing after being charged with the sexual assault of two teenage girls.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Police say 24-year-old Melissa Lynn Blankenship -who was a family friend- picked up the girls to go four-wheeling in the mountains.
[SUPER=03-Pearisburg]
Instead, they wound up at Blankenship's apartment in the 14-hundred block of Wenonah Avenue in Pearisburg. According to the police, that's where Blankenship's boyfriend, 20-year-old Ryan Jackson Craft and 22-year-old Ryan Clay Gilmer were waiting.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT@6:28:33.00]
[IN Q=A family member...]
((RICHARD GAUTIER/PEARISBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT: A FAMILY MEMBER CAME LOOKING FOR THE GIRLS WHEN THEY DIDN'T ARRIVE HOME IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF AUGUST 1ST. SHE WENT TO THE APARTMENT WHERE SHE KNEW THE BLANKENSHIP LADY LIVED AND IN FACT, THEY WERE THERE. SHE INTERRUPTED THE EVENTS THAT WERE TAKING PLACE AND TOOK THE GIRLS TO THE HOSPITAL.))
[SUPER=01-Richard Gautier/Pearisburg Police Department]
[RUNS=:20]
[OUT Q=]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
The three face numerous charges including carnal knowledge of a juvenile and abduction. They're being held in the New River Valley Jail without bond.
(------------)

[8-VO-Economic-Strategy]

[ANCHOR=Kim]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=04-19 1:52:07]
[GRAPHIC=None]

[ENG#=3]

Southwest Virginia is making economic progress -- but still has a long way to go.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
That's according to a progress report from the Fifth Planning District Regional Alliance. Two years ago, the group started looking at ways to make the region more competitive in the global economy. Members found that the area is falling behind state and national averages in wages, manufacturing, and education. The report did say that progress is being made, especially in connecting parts of the region, and in marketing the area. (------------)