WDBJ 7 news at 6 for 11/18/04

[1-News-Head]

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[ENG#=1]
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Jean 2-Shot]
A tale of two toddlers. One back in his grandmother's arms after an uncertain odyssey.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
The other equally heart wrenching in exactly the opposite way.

[Sports-head]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
[ENG#=2]

In sports, the 15th rated Hokies have the country's attention for their 7:45 date with Maryland tonight, reports to come from Blacksburg, words from the Dazzle
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[VO-NAT]

and Emory and Henry head football coach Lou Wacker announces he is stepping down.
(------------)

[WX-Head]
[ANCHOR=Robin]
[SS=None]

Spotty showers today to go along with mild November temperatures. More rain showers in the forecast. Details ahead.
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[ANCHOR=Jean 4-Shot]

News 7 is next.
[Video-Open]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=Video Open]

[ENG#=3]
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 10:22:24]
[IN Q=It's been real]
((IT'S BEEN REAL STRESSFUL, IT REALLY HAS, NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS WAS STRESSFUL, BUT KNOWING THAT HE'S HERE THAT'S WHAT'S MAKING ME HAPPY.))
[RUNS=09]
[OUT Q=making me happy.]
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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Jean 2-Shot]

One family is rejoicing tonight ... while another is grieving.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Two separate searches for two missing boys ... have entirely different endings.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

Good evening, I'm Keith Humphry.
[ANCHOR=Jean 2-Shot]

And I'm Jean Jadhon.

[Stevens]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=04-50 TC15:00]
[ANCHOR=Jean 2-Shot]

We begin tonight in Danville, where a two-year-old boy is back home with his grandmother ... four days after police say his parents abducted him.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

The publicity from a nationwide Amber Alert apparently helped bring A'Mario Stevens back home.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith-Jean & Steve/Microwave;]

Steve Smallshaw is in our Lynchburg newsroom tonight to tell us how it all happened.
[LIVE=Steve/FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=@ssm1]
[SUPER=05-Lynchburg]

Keith, Jean ... police say it was a combination of media attention and pressure from law enforcement that apparently convinced A'Mario's father to return the boy to his legal guardian early this morning.
[ENG#=4]
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=natsot]
[SUPER=03-Danville; :00]
[SUPER=01-Sharon Dickerson/Grandmother; :30]
[SUPER=01-Lt. Mike Mondul/Danville Police Department; 1:03]
[RUNS=1:18]
[OUT Q=bye-bye right now. (2nd time) (kisses him)]
(( [natsot 10:24:34]
((A'MARIO GIVE ME FIVE ... ALL RIGHT.))
[RUNS= 03]

To look at him now, you could never tell 2-year-old A'Mario Stevens had been the subject of an intense manhunt for the past four days.
Police say A'Mario's parents orchestrated his abduction from his grandmother's home Sunday ... she's had legal custody of him for the past year.
Sharon Dickerson had spent three anxious days wondering where A'Mario was ... until the boy's father called around 6:30 this morning and told her A'Mario was on her front porch.
[SOT 10:23:11]
((SHARON DICKERSON/GRANDMOTHER: WHEN I GOT THE CALL I WAS JUST IN SHOCK. AND I PEEPED OUT THE WINDOW, I DIDN'T SEE HIM AT FIRST, AND I WENT TO THE OTHER SIDE AND I SAW HIS LITTLE FEET SWINGING. I COULDN'T GET THE DOOR OPEN FAST ENOUGH AND I PICKED HIM UP AND I WAS JUST EXCITED AND WE WAS JUST HUGGING AND KISSING AND JUST THANKING THE LORD THAT'S HE'S SAFE.))
[RUNS= 19]
[OUT Q=that's he's safe.]

A'Mario appeared to be no worse off for his ordeal ... but plenty of questions remain about where he's been and who he was with for the past four days.
Investigators say they'll give him some time to adjust before they start asking questions.
[SOT 10:20:08]
((LT. MIKE MONDUL/DANVILLE POLICE: WE'RE GOING TO PUT FORTH AN INTENSE EFFORT TO TRY TO FIND THE FATHER, TO TRY TO FIND THIS UNKNOWN FEMALE SO WE CAN BRING CLOSURE TO THIS CASE. CERTAINLY AGAIN, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT A'MARIO IS HOME AND SAFE AND THAT WAS OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.))
[RUNS= 11]
[OUT Q=number one priority.]
[NATSOT 10:26:47]
((I .. GO .. BYE . WE'RE GOING BYE-BYE RIGHT NOW, WE'RE GOING BYE-BYE RIGHT NOW (kisses him) ))
[RUNS= 05]
[OUT Q=(grandmom kisses boy)] ))
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[LIVE=Steve/FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Lynchburg;]

Police are still trying to track down the father, Lamarcus Childress, and an unidentified woman who apparently helped with A'Mario's abduction.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Keith-Jean & Steve/Microwave;]

His mother will be arrested when she leaves the hospital.

[Gretna-Drowning]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=04-33 TC2:04:32]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG#=1]

A much more tragic ending to the search for another small boy today ... this one in Pittsylvania County.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pittsylvania Co.]

Around ten this morning, three-year-old Darrius (dah-REESE) Robertson apparently wandered away from his home on Farmers Mountain Road.
Volunteers and tracking dogs were called in and spent several hours combing the area.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 18:25:59]
[IN Q=We also got]
((MAJOR GARY GOODSON/PITTSYLVANIA CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: WE ALSO GOT IN TOUCH WITH VIRGINIA STATE POLICE, THEY BROUGHT IN A HELICOPTER FLARE UNIT AND THEY FLEW THE FULL PERIMETER BUT WERE NOT ABLE TO SEE ANYTHING. AND APPROXIMATELY ONE THIRTY THIS AFTERNOON, DEPUTIES CHECKING THE CREEK BANKS PROBABLY ABOUT AN AIR MILE FROM THE RESIDENCE FOUND THE CHILD IN A DEEP POOL OF WATER.))
[SUPER=01-Maj. Gary Goodson/Pittsylvania Co. Sheriff's Department]
[RUNS=19]
[OUT Q=pool of water.]
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[VO-NAT]

Goodson says it doesn't appear any foul play was involved in the boy's death.
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[Beamer]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=04-43 TC29:14]
[GRAPHIC=Frank Beamer]

Frank Beamer and the Hokies arrived at Lane Stadium at 5:30 to begin final preparations for their game with Maryland.
This will be one of the toughest games Beamer has ever coached in 18 seasons at his alma mater. His mother passed away today at the age of 86.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Jean & Mike/Microwave;]

Mike Stevens is outside Lane Stadium with more.
[LIVE= Mike /FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=@mike1;]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg]
(adlib)
((ROLLCUE:.his mother's final wishes.))
[ENG#=2]
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Hillsville/2000; :00]
[SUPER=01-Dennis Semones/Frank's Brother-in-law; :10]
[SUPER=01-Billy Hite/VT Associate Head Coach; :31]
[SUPER=01-Danny Pearman/VT Tight Ends Coach; :52]
[SUPER=01-Seth Greenberg/VT Mens Basketball Coach; 1:10]
[RUNS=1:28]
[OUT Q=experienced in my life time.]
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[LIVE= Mike /FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]
(adlib)
[DOUBLE BOXES= & Mike/Microwave;]

[VMI-Death]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=Iraq Casualty]
A graduate of Virginia Military Institute has been killed in Iraq.
(++++++)
[TAKE WULLENWABER APRISA FS] 24-year old First Lieutenant, Luke Wullenwaber (wuhl-en-way-ber) died Tuesday when a car bomb exploded beside his military vehicle near Fallujah. Wullenwaber- a 2002 graduate of V-M-I, was from Lewiston, Idaho. His brother is a First Classman at the Institute.
(-----------)
[ANCHOR=Jean]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]
Wullenwaber is the fifth alumnus of V-M-I to be killed in the War in Iraq.

[L'burg-Jobs]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Big announcements for Lynchburg's economy today.
New Jersey-based C-D-G Management says it will open a call center in a vacant building downtown that will employ about 200 people.
And a 3-million-dollar expansion by RiversEdge Furniture figures to more than double the company's current workforce of 22 employees.

[Tease#1]
[ANCHOR=Jean 2-Shot]
[WRITER=dse]
[SS=NONE]
[ENG#=APRISA]

An area rescue squad may need some help itself.
The latest on the situation in Boones Mill when News 7 returns.
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[SOT]
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((NAT CAR))
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[OUT Q=NAT CAR]
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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

And some local high school students take their training to the track.
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[1st-Wx]

[81-Accident]
(MINI OPEN)
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

An accident on Interstate 81 has closed one lane of traffic.
[ANCHOR=Jean 2-Shot]
(++++++)
[TAKE 81 MAP FS] It happened at mile marker 171, between Buchanan and the Rockbridge County line, shortly after three this afternoon. Authorities say a tractor trailer hit part of an overpass. One northbound lane is shut down.
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[ANCHOR=Jean]
[GRAPHIC=81-Accident]
A V-DOT spokesman says the bridge was damaged- and it's unknown how long the lane will be shut down.

[Boones-Mill]

[ANCHOR=Jean ]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=jbu]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The Boones Mill rescue squad has temporarily been shut down. Franklin County's Public Safety Director says dwindling numbers of volunteers has been a major factor. He says only two certified volunteers remain. Rescue calls in Boones Mill will be handled by the surrounding rescue agencies closest to the scene. The fire department is still taking calls and residents should still call 9-1-1 for help.

[Burcham-suit]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=04-42 TC27:35]
[GRAPHIC=Darlene Burcham]
[ENG#=1]
We'll never know whether Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham was at Tanglewood Mall January 24th, much less whether she might have cut off Bill McClure in her S-U-V.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
McClure related that tale on the Web site "Roanoke Journal." Burcham sued. McClure failed to respond to the lawsuit, so he was in default. Without having to decide whether the underlying story was true, a substitute judge found in Burcham's favor. Judge Charles Flannagan ordered McClure to pay 1-thousand dollars in presumed damages, plus 15-hundred in punitive damages.
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[Stocks]

[ANCHOR=Jean 2-Shot]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Investors welcomed a drop in jobless claims. [TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE]
[RUNS=:30]
[SUPER=x5000;]
[SUPER=440-x/22.98/10572.55/x/4.60/2104.28;]
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]

The DOW gained 23 points today.
The NASDAQ rose five.
[SUPER=271-h/0.23/42.10 /h/1.28/58.70/i/0.01/34.19/h/0.95/97.60/i/0.18/46.41;]
[SUPER=272-h/0.22/42.83/h/0.07/16.63/h/0.02/6.57/i/0.04/66.45/h/0.48/36.83;]
[SUPER=273-h/0.77/12.60/h/0.14/38.88/i/0.19/16.30/i/0.34/33.46/h/0.23/5.59;]
[SUPER=274-i/0.30/16.27/i/0.68/71.42/h/0.15/41.53/i/0.01/52.68/i/0.44/55.80;]
[SUPER=#555; Reset]

[SPONSOR ANNOUNCE]
[COMMERCIAL]

[Methadone-Clinic]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=04-40 TC54:31]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG#=1]

Opponents of a Roanoke methadone clinic say they are preparing to file suit against the company. They say they may name the city as a defendant, too.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Members of the group, Northwest Concerned Citizens, have hired an Abingdon Attorney to represent them.
In a recent letter to the city, he argued that the clinic should be subject to Roanoke's amended zoning ordinance.
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[SOT 11:52:45]
[IN Q=We were praying]
((MARY PAXTON/NORTHWEST CONCERNED CITIZENS: WE WERE PRAYING THAT THEY WOULDN'T PUT IT THERE. BUT SINCE THEY ARE MOVING ON WITH IT, WE WILL FIGHT THEM, AND WE WON'T ALLOW THEM TO PUT IT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.))
[SUPER=01-Mary Paxton/Northwest Concerned Citizens]
[RUNS=:09]
[OUT Q=put it in our neighborhood.]
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[VO-NAT]

The group is also making an appeal for financial contributions to help pay its legal bills.
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[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=None]

This afternoon, CRC Health Corporation Vice President Joe Pritchard indicated the lawsuit will not affect the company's plans to open the clinic.

[Victory-Stadium]

[ANCHOR=Jean ]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=04-38 TC1:36:59]
[GRAPHIC=Victory Stadium]
[ENG#=2]
The committee considering the future of Victory Stadium has ordered a study of its structural integrity. Today, some of the companies interested in doing that work took a closer look at the Roanoke landmark.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
Three or four engineering firms were represented at the walk-through, and others can still submit a proposal. The committee wants to know if the stadium is sound, what it would cost to make repairs, and whether the structure can support bathrooms, concession stands, and other facilities on the second level.
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[SOT 06:10:37]
[IN Q=All of us]
((JACK PARROTT/COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: ALL OF US WHO'VE WALKED THROUGH IT SEEM TO THINK THAT THE DEFICIENCIES ARE COSMETIC, BUT WE NEED AN ENGINEERING STUDY TO TELL US THAT FOR SURE.))
[SUPER=01-Jack Parrott/Stadium Committee Chairman;]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=to tell us that for sure.]
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[VO-NAT]
The stadium committee hopes to have a structural engineer on board by mid-January... and a finished report several weeks after that.
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[Sports tease]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]
[ENG#=Aprisa]

Travis Wells will join us from Blacksburg in a few as the Tech/Terps kickoff counts down, Emory and Henry football coach Lou Wacker is retiring
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[VO-NAT]

while the dazzle is just beginning. the NBDL season tips off tomorrow night.
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[S-Hokies]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=SP-173]
[GRAPHIC=tech vs. Maryland]

The 15th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies have the national spotlight all to themselves tonight when they kick it off against Maryland at 7:45 at Lane Stadium.
[DOUBLE BOXES=Steve & Travis /Microwave;]

Travis Wells is in Blacksburg where the party is well underway.
[LIVE= Travis /FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=@travis1;]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg]
(adlib)
((ROLLCUE:...ROCKIN AND ROLLIN))

[ENG#=1]

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Mike Imoh/Va. Tech Tailback; :00]
[SUPER=01-Vincent Fuller/Va. Tech Safety; :23]
[SUPER=01-Ralph Friedgen/Maryland Head Football Coach; :47]
[RUNS=1:00]
[OUT Q=..in the ACC"]
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[LIVE= Travis /FULL Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]
(adlib)
[DOUBLE BOXES=Steve & Travis /Microwave;]

[S-Lou]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-189 9:43]
[GRAPHIC=Emory and Henry]
[ENG#=2]

Emory and Henry head football coach Lou Wacker announced today that he is retiring at the end of the 2004 season.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Emory; :00]

Wacker led the Wasps to a record 11 ODAC championships and took Emory and Henry to the NCAA playoffs five times. He was named conference coach of the year five times over his 23 year career. During the 1990's the team won 37 consecutive home games. During his tenure Wacker produced 30 All-Americans and had nearly a 100 percent graduation rate. Speaking of fine young men, Wasps quarterback and Norm Lineburg Radford high school product Todd Woods broke several ODAC records this year at quarterback and he set two new Emory and Henry records that had stood since 1968.
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[S-Dazzle]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP_187 10:02]
[GRAPHIC=Dazzle]
[ENG#=3]

The Roanoke Dazzle opens the 2004 season tomorrow night at the Roanoke Civic Center against the Fayettville Patriots.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]

While Kent Davison had to cut two Hokies from the roster, he does welcome former Uva star Cory Alexander back to the team and the coach could not be happier.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Kent Davidson/Dazzle Head Coach; :06]
[RUNS=:25]
[OUT Q=..thats a fact"]
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[Arnold-Burton]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=rde]
[TAPE#=04-34 TC1:53:44]
[ANCHOR=Jean 2-Shot]
Some Roanoke County students "sped up" their lesson plan today.
[ANCHOR=Keith 2-Shot]
They finally took a race car-- they built-- for a spin at the Motormile Speedway. New River Valley Bureau Chief Rachel DePompa was there.
[ENG#=1]
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[SOT]
[IN Q=No checkered ]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Andy McClung/Principal; :27]
[SUPER=01-Jake Nute/2003 Graduate; :42]
[SUPER=@Rachel1; :51]
[SUPER=01-Chris Overfelt/Teacher; 1:00]
[RUNS=1:24]
[OUT Q=News 7 Pulaski County;]
((NATS: CAR ZIPPING BY.....
No checkered flag in this race. For these Roanoke County high school students.. crossing the finish line was watching their car do some laps...
NAT: CAR GOING BY...
The 12 students are in the Motor Sports class at Arnold Burton Technology Center, and they've spent the last year turning this donated 1999 Late Model Stock Monte Carlo into their very own number 99 race car.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT: 9:16:37:00 ]
[IN Q=There's such a big ]
((ANDY MCCLUNG: THERE'S SUCH A BIG INTEREST IN NASCAR NOW THAT THE STUDENTS ARE SO EXCITED TO GET A TASTE OF THIS WHILE THEY ARE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL.)) [RUNS:08]
[OUT Q=high school.]

Bill's Auto donated the car... and acted as their team sponsor... The students.. then did everything else from the engine to the safety features.

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT: 9:17:39:00 ]
[IN Q=The car that]
((JAKE NUTE: THE CAR THAT WE HAD DONATED TO US WAS AN ACTUALLY AN ACTUAL STOCK CAR.. ONLY HAD ONE SEAT IN IT.. SO WE HAD TO PREFABRICATE THE ROLL CAGE SO IT WILL PROTECT THE PASSENGER AND THE DRIVER.)) [RUNS:09]
[OUT Q=and the driver.]

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT: 9:29:22:00 ]
[IN Q=The car tops]
((RACHEL DEPOMPA: THE CAR TOPS OUT AT ABOUT 65 MILES AN HOUR.. TO GIVE YOU SOME PERSPECTIVE... CARS HERE NORMALLY GO ABOUT 90 AND TOP OUT AT A 110.)) [RUNS:09]
[OUT Q=at 110.]

(///// SOT /////)
[SOT: 9:19:43:00 ]
[IN Q=It gives]
((CHRIS OVERFELT: IT GIVES THE KIDS A THRILL OF BEING ABLE TO DRIVE A CAR IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT. LETTING EM GET ALL THE SAFETY EQUIPMENT ON.. REALLY HELPS THEM GET THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THEY NEED.)) [RUNS:13]
[OUT Q=they need.]

They even learn how to get out of a burning car in 22 seconds or less.
NATS: Falling out of the car on the ground.
The school's next project will be to build a drag car. They say they need all the donations they can get. Rachel DePompa, News 7, Pulaski County.))