Morning news AM cutins on WDBJ 7 12/21/95

08:25-01

7Fatal

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=jja
TAPE#None
GRAPHIC=NONE

A young Pearsiburg lost her life yesterday when her vehicle plunged over an embankment.
The accident happened on Route 4-60 near the Town of Narrows.
State Police say 27-year-old Victoria Johnson was driving west when she ran off the right side of the road, crossed back to the left, struck a guardrail and went over the embankment.
She died a few hours later at the hospital.

7Verdict

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#edit of 95-111
GRAPHIC=legal scales

A Roanoke man has been found guilty of murder and arson.
It took the jury three hours last night to reach the verdict.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Roanoke/December 18;

Jury members recommended a 30- year sentence for Raymond Mahoney.
He was convicted in the death of 40- year old Brenda Ann Davis--
SUPER=04-May 13;

She died in a house fire in May.
(-------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=HOLD

Mahoney is scheduled for sentencing January 30th.

7Kevin-Newman

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=THa
TAPE#95-105
GRAPHIC=Kevin Newman

Meantime a Halifax County jury has found a teenager guilty of second degree murder in a fatal drive by shooting.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Halifax/October 11;

17- year old Kevin Chase Newman was also found guilty of attempted murder.
The jury recommended Newman spend 79- years behind bars.
He was accused of pulling the trigger in a drive by shooting in February that killed Anthony Scott Whitlock.
SUPER=03-Halifax/September 6;

Harry Antoine Traynham (TRAIN-UM) was convicted of first degree murder in September after a jury held him responsible for driving the car.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=I'm happy
((JOHN GREENBACKER/HALIFAX CO. COMMONWEALTH'S ATTY.: I'M HAPPY WITH A VICTORY, FRANKLY IT CERTAINLY MORE PROPORTIONATE THAT MR. NEWMAN WAS RECOMMENDED A SENTENCE THAT THE JURY HANDED DOWN BUT FRANKLY I WOULD BE HAPPY WITH ANY REASONABLE KIND OF VICTORY, THE KEY HERE IS GETTING THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS OFF THE STREETS. ))
SUPER=01-John Greenbacker/Halifax Co. Commonwealth's Atty.;
RUNS=:21
OUT Q=off the streets.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=NONE

Greenbacker says police have noticed a difference on the "streets" since Traynham (TRAIN-UM) and Newman's arrest.

7Juvenile-Crime

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=equ
TAPE#95-106
GRAPHIC=none

Tackling teen crime is a top priority for George Allen.
The governor says he is ready to spend 41-million dollars to help do away with it.
Ellen Qualls has the story.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=Attorney General
SUPER=03-Richmond; :00
SUPER=@file; :07
SUPER=@Allen; :18
SUPER=@Gilmore; :39
SUPER=01-Julie McConnell/Va. ACLU; :55
SUPER=@Ellen1; 1:05
RUNS=1:18
OUT Q=Qualls, News 7, Richmond.
(( Attorney General Jim Gilmore's commission wants to automatically transfer the most violent juveniles to adult courts.
Send disruptive students to alternative schools and incarcerated young people to military style boot camps.
Open the secretive juvenile court process.
George Allen wants Democrats to like it. ((GOV. GEORGE ALLEN: I THINK WE CAN. THERE'S NO REASON WHY WE CANNOT MOVE FORWARD...PAROLE.. OVERWHELMING BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT.))
So at this meeting, Allen and Gilmore extended the olive branch of compromise. ((ATTORNEY GENERAL JIM GILMORE: I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT THE PROPOSALS OF THIS COMMISSION TAKEN AS A WHOLE REFLECT A BALANCED, RESPONSIBLE, SENSIBLE, REASONABLE INITIATIVE. ))
Critics are glad to see a softened stance. ((JULIE MCCONNELL/VA. ACLU: THE GOVERNOR'S COMMISSION ... NOT A GOOD IDEA.)) ((LIKE WELFARE REFORM AND PAROLE ABOLITION BEFORE IT, GEORGE ALLEN WILL NEED HELP FROM DEMOCRATS -- WHOSE OWN COMMISSION ON YOUTH IS CALLING FOR MORE PREVENTION AND REHABILITATION BEFORE HARSHER PUNISHMENTS.)) ))

7school-delays

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=nle
TAPE#
GRAPHIC=

Remaining snow and ice is causing a few school delays.
(mel reads boards)

7weather

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=nle
TAPE#
GRAPHIC=

Taking a look now at the forecast, today is going to be partly sunny and breezy - highs are only going to to be in the upper 30s.
Expect it to be windy and cold tonight with lows in the 20s.
You christmas weekend is going to get off to a sunny start, but temperatures will remain in the 30s.

55Hicks

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=morn
WRITER=JoeD
TAPE#95-96
GRAPHIC=Legal Scales

More charges are ahead for a Roanoke School bus driver already indicted in Federal Court on drug charges.
One of the state charges against him includes failure to stop for a school bus.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Roanoke/Yesterday;

Wayne Anthony Hicks pled not guilty to the federal charges yesterday as he was arraigned.
He is accused of possessing 38 grams of crack cocaine.
The 23 year old man faces a minimum sentence of five years if convicted.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=HOLD

Hicks faces unrelated charges from an arrest in May including passing a stopped school bus, failure to stop for police, and attempted escape.

55Layman

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=JoeD
TAPE#95-102
GRAPHIC=Legal Scales

The Roanoke man accused of setting up an elaborate indoor marijuana farm could face up to 40 years in prison.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Roanoke/Yesterday;

Victor Layman admitted his guilt in federal court yesterday. He will be sentenced in the spring.
SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./Police Video

Police discovered hundreds of plants when they raided a home in Roanoke County last year.
Yesterday, Layman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to manufacture and distribute marijuana.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 17:10:21
IN Q=Very early on
((TONY ANDERSON/LAYMAN'S ATTORNEY: VERY EARLY ON HE WAS PREPARED TO COME FORWARD AND NOT DEFEND ANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM THAT HE PERCEIVED WERE TRUE AND ONCE HE GOT THE CASE IN THE POSTURE WHERE THE GOVERNMENT UNDERSTOOD THAT, IT RESULTED IN US BEING ABLE TO ENTER AN AGREEMENT.))
SUPER=01-Tony Anderson/Layman's Attorney;
RUNS=:19
OUT Q=to enter an agreement
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=legal scales

Layman's wife Dayna (DAY-nuh) also pleaded guilty.
She knew about her husband's activities and helped manicure the marijuana plants, but her attorney described her as a minor player in the operation.

55Bath-Books

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=rjo
TAPE#95-103
GRAPHIC=NONE

Some parents in Bath County say two books used in the school system are indecent and they want them out.
Other parents say removing them violates the principles of free speech. Ron Jones has the story.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=The two books in
SUPER=03-Bath Co.;:12
SUPER=01-Clarence Perry/School Board Member;:17
SUPER=01-Cheri Wrights/Parent;:39
SUPER=01-Joyce Breem/English Teacher;:51
SUPER=01-Tina Baker/Bath Co. Senior;:1:12
SUPER=@Ron1;1:22
RUNS=1:33
OUT Q=Ron Jones, News Seven, Bath County.
(( The two books in question? "Go Ask Alice"and John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men".
Some parents of Bath County High School say the books have too much profanity, drug use, and sex.
The school board held a meeting earlier this month "Go Ask Alice" was banned from the classroom. ((CLARENCE PERRY/SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: I FEEL LIKE THE LANGUAGE SHOULDN'T BE IN THE SCHOOLS AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOUR MEN'S MAGAZINES OR YOUR WOMEN'S OR PLAYBOY IF YOU WANT TO CALL IT THAT OR WHATEVER. AND I FEEL LIKE IF THEY WANT TO READ THAT STUFF THEN THEY CAN GO GET THE PLAYBOY BUT NOT HAVE IT IN SCHOOLS.))
Parents and teachers who opposed the idea are crying foul. ((CHERI WRIGHTS/PARENT: CENSORSHIP IS DANGEROUS FOLKS. AND SOME OF YOU HAVE ALLOWED THIS VICIOUS CYCLE TO START. A CYCLE THAT WILL NEVER END UNTIL THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTY SEND A WAKE UP CALL.)) ((JOYCE BREEN/ENGLISH TEACHER: YOU HAVE TO READ THE A WHOLE BOOK TO GET A WHOLE MESSAGE. AND THE PARENTS WHO OBJECTED TO THIS DIDN'T EVEN READ THE BOOK. THEY DID WHAT CENSORS DO THEY UNDERLINE WORDS.))
But after parents, teachers and students presented a petitionwith 300 plus signatures against the ban the board rescinded the their decision and the books went back into the classroom. ((TINA BAKER/BATH COUNTY STUDENT: I THINK THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BOOK BECAUSE THEY HAVE THEMON MOVIES. THE SAME WORDS ON MTV, MUSIC OF THE KIDS THEY LISTEN TO.))
Parenst against the books say they want freedom from the influencesthese books bring.
But parents who don't have a problem with the books say all they want is freedom of speech.
Ron Jones, News Seven, Bath County.))

55School-delays

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=nle
TAPE#
GRAPHIC=

Remaining snow and ice is causing a few school delays.
(mel reads boards)

55Weather

8Fatal

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=jja
TAPE#None
GRAPHIC=NONE

A vehicle accident in Giles County has taken the life a Pearsiburg woman.
It happened on Route 4-60 near the Town of Narrows.
State Police say 27-year-old Victoria Johnson was driving west when she ran off the right side of the road, crossed back to the left, struck a guardrail and went over the embankment.
She died a few hours later at the hospital.

8Raymond-Mahoney

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#95-111
GRAPHIC=legal scales

It took a jury three hours to decide that Raymond Mahoney is guilty of first degree murder and arson.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Roanoke/December 18;

The jury recommended a 30- year sentence for Mahoney.
He was convicted in the death of 40- year old Brenda Ann Davis--
SUPER=04-May 13;

She died in a house fire in May.
Prosecutors say it was a circumstantial case.
But the evidence placed Mahoney on Washington Avenue at the time of the fatal blaze.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 21:26:23
IN Q=I suspect
((GERALD TEASTER/PROSECUTOR: I SUSPECT, PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF EVIDENCE WAS THE ONE THAT REALLY DESTROYED HIS ALIBI-- WHICH WAS THAT HE REALLY WAS ON WASHINGTON AVENUE AT SIX- THIRTY IN THE MORNING WHEN HE SAID HE WASN'T. I THINK THAT WAS THE FINAL LINK THAT REALLY SETTLED THE CASE. ))
SUPER=01-Gerald Teaster/Prosecutor;
RUNS=:12
OUT Q=settled the case
(----------------)
VO-NAT

But the case is not settled for the defense-- which would not comment on the verdict, saying it's still an active case.
(-------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS= none

Mahoney is scheduled for sentencing January 30th.

8Kevin-Newman

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=THa
TAPE#95-105
GRAPHIC=Newman,Kevin

In Halifax County, a jury has convicted the second and final defendant in a drive by shooting case.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Halifax/October 11;

17- year old Kevin Newman was found guilty yesterday of second degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
The jury recommended Newman spend 79- years in prison.
He was accused of pulling the trigger in a drive by shooting in February that killed Anthony Whitlock.
SUPER=03-Halifax/September 6;

Harry Traynham (TRAIN-UM) was convicted of first degree murder in September after a jury held him responsible for driving the car.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=I'm happy
((JOHN GREENBACKER/HALIFAX CO. COMMONWEALTH'S ATTY.: I'M HAPPY WITH A VICTORY, FRANKLY IT CERTAINLY MORE PROPORTIONATE THAT MR. NEWMAN WAS RECOMMENDED A SENTENCE THAT THE JURY HANDED DOWN BUT FRANKLY I WOULD BE HAPPY WITH ANY REASONABLE KIND OF VICTORY, THE KEY HERE IS GETTING THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS OFF THE STREETS. ))
SUPER=01-John Greenbacker/Halifax Co. Commonwealth's Atty.;
RUNS=:21
OUT Q=off the streets.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=NONE

Greenbacker says police have noticed a difference on the streets since Traynham (TRAIN-UM) and Newman's arrest.

8Moores

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=lbe
TAPE#95-107
GRAPHIC=business news

Moore's Lumber and Building Supplies will cut 26 jobs at its Roanoke distribution center.
The layoffs will take place over the next five months.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=@File;

The chain says it's doing this because it hired the Frederick Trading Company of Maryland to distribute what it calls "hard line" products, such as hardware, hand tools, and power tools.
(-------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=business news

Moore's Roanoke warehouse will concentrate on distributing lumber and structural building materials.
Some of the people losing their jobs will be offered positions at Moore's retail locations and the Frederick Trading Company's Roanoke site.

8Lynchburg-Cable

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=lbe
TAPE# 95-97
GRAPHIC=Cable TV

Cable rates may be going up in Lynchburg.
Lynchburg Cablevision is adding three new channels to its Standard Tier: V-H-1, The Inspirational Network, and The Home and Garden Network.
(----------------)
VO-NAT

The monthly rate for that service will jump about two dollars and 50 cents, to 15.55 a month.
Basic cable viewers will get more than a quarter taken off their rates, which will drop to nine 27 a-month.
(-------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=HOLD

Lynchburg Cablevision says it still charges less for its Basic and Standard Tier services than the federal government allows.

8School-delays

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=nle
TAPE#
GRAPHIC=

Remaining snow and ice is causing a few school delays.
(mel reads boards)

8weather

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=nle
TAPE#
GRAPHIC=

Taking a look now at the forecast, today is going to be partly sunny and breezy - highs are only going to to be in the upper 30s.
Expect it to be windy and cold tonight with lows in the 20s.
Friday, looks sunny and a little warmer, with highs near 40 degrees. and overnight lows in the 20s. Christmas weekend will be cold, but dry. Afternoon highs will be in the 40s