WDBJ 7 news at Noon for 01/31/96

12:00-01

NOON-HEADLINES

TALENT=Melanie
SS=None
(----------------)
VO-NAT

A Craig County couple is unable to save their children as their home goes up in flames.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie

And a terrorist attack in Sri Lanka leaves dozens dead and more than a thousand wounded.
(/////////////)
TALENT=Patrick
SS=None

Last night's dose of winter weather amounts to very little, and we can hope for the same out of tomorrow's forecast. More sleet, snow, and freezing rain are on tap, stay tuned to find out how much.
(/////////////)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=NONE

Don't go away News 7 at Noon is next.

Fatal-Fire

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=kmc
TAPE# needs to be edited from 96-10
GRAPHIC=fatal fire

Two children are dead following a house fire in Craig County last night.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Craig Co./Last Night;

Their home, just off state route 638, caught fire at about 5-30.
Mike and Chastity Howard managed to get out safely but were unable to save their children, a three-year-old daughter named Harley and their son Chris, age five.
Officials believe the fire spread quickly from the living room area down the hallway to the bedrooms.
A neighbor says she saw smoke pouring from the house-- and says Mike Howard broke a window, trying to get to the children.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 8:29:21
IN Q=I just know
((LYNN BISHOP/NEIGHBOR: I JUST KNOW THEY LOVED THEIR LITTLE CHILDREN, I KNOW THAT. THEY WERE GOOD TO THEM AND THEY TREATED THEM REAL WELL AND THEY WERE GOOD PARENTS-- AND I KNOW THIS IS GOING TO BE A REAL SHOCK TO THEM. ))
SUPER=01-Lynn Bishop/Neighbor;
RUNS=:09
OUT Q=shock to them
(----------------)
VO-NAT

The children's grandfather told News 7 the children hid in the closet when the fire broke out.
State police have been called in to determine the cause of the fire.
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Stabbing

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=THa
TAPE#96-11
GRAPHIC=NONE

In Pittsylvania County, a man is accused of stabbing his 16-year old wife in an attack that also injured his baby daughter.
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VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Pittsylvania Co./Yesterday;

18-year-old Christopher Lindsey Clark yesterday was charged with one count of malicious wounding after he allegedly stabbed Melody Clark in the chest.
The couple's three- month- old daughter was also cut on the leg.
Clark is hospitalized in serious condition at Danville Regional Medical Center.
The baby was treated and released.
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SRI-LANKA

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=mel
TAPE# net
GRAPHIC=bombing

A rebel suicide squad is blamed for dozens of deaths and more than a thousand injuries in Sri Lanka today.
Authorities say the group drove a truck full of explosives into a bank building in the capital, Colombo.
The attack turned Colombo's downtown financial district into an inferno.
Allen Pizzey has more.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
SUPER=03-Colombo, Sri Lanka; :00
SUPER=07-Eyewitness; :30
SUPER=01-Allen Pizzey/Reporting; 1:03
RUNS=1:08
OUT Q=cbs news London.
(( The suicide truck bomb blew up in the Sri Lanka central bank.
More than 50 people were killed and a thousand wounded.
Many more were trapped in buildings damaged and set on fire by the explosion.
Firemen struggled to reach dozens of people stranded on the upper floors.
Ambulances could not get through and the wounded were bundled into buses to be taken to hospital. appeals for bld donations were broadcast over radio and television.
Three people reportedly jumped from the truck before it sped into the building...and eyewtinesses spoke of hearing shooting.
"WE WERE STAYING IN THE HOTEL. BOMB BLAST. WE WAS JUST WATCHING THE SEA VIEW AND THE BOMBS CAME. ALL THE WINDOWS WERE JUST BROKEN. BEFORE THERE WAS SHOOTING. WE THOUGHT SOMEBODY WAS SHOOTING YOU KNOW.""
Mangled cars and debris littered the streets...testimony to the force of the explosion. the blast went off about 500 yards from the office of the sri lankan president..>who was not hurt.
He truck bomb was the latest in a series of terrorist attacks blamed on the liberation Tamil tigers of elam...a separatist group seeking independence for the northern part of the mainly sinhalese island.
Allen Pizzey, CBS News London.))

OK-BOMBING

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=MEL
TAPE# net
GRAPHIC=legal scales

Another day in court for the Oklahoma bombing suspects as attorneys argue on a trial site.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Oklahoma City;

Yesterday, victims and family members reacted with anger at seeing defendants Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols for the first time.
McVeigh was reported to be smiling and laughing during the court proceeding.
Two mothers present at yesterday's hearing were outraged at McVeigh's behavior and a possible change of venue.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=
((EDYE SMITH/MOTHER OF BOMBING VICTIMS:(WEARING RED COA)TWHEN I WALKED INTO THE COURTROOM, THE FIRST PERSON I SAW WAS TIMOTHY MCVEIGH. HE WAS LAUGHING, LIVING IN A FANTASY LAND. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES TO SHOW UP AT TRIAL TO MAKE IT MORE PERSONAL OR HIM. HE NEEDS TO REALIZE HE AFFECTED PEOPLE, HE'S RUINED THEIR LIVES. AREN ALMON/MOTHER OF BOMBING VICTIM:(blue coat)I WAS VERY ANGRY. I DON'T THINK IT WAS RIGHT OF MCVEIGH TO SIT AND SMILE. IT'S LIKE HE DOESN'T CARE AT ALL.))
SUPER=01-Edye Smith/Mother of Bombing Victims;
SUPER=01-Aren Almon/Mother of Bombing Victim;
RUNS=:34
OUT Q=care at all.
(----------------)
VO-NAT

The lawyers for McVeigh and Nichols want to move the trial out of Oklahoma, claiming their clients can't get a fair trial in the state.
But prosecutors say surveys of potential jurors indicate an impartial jury can be found in some other Oklahoma city.
(----------------)

Rubatex

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=lbe
TAPE#96-13
GRAPHIC=rubatex

Bedford's largest employer may be in for a multi-million-dollar plant upgrade.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Bedford;

Workers at Rubatex say they got the word during a series of meetings this morning.
But they point out that the company wants productivity, delivery time, and quality control improvements first.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 07:50:42
IN Q=Wanna improve
((CINDERELLA BROWN/RUBATEX EMPLOYEE: WANNA IMPROVE PRODUCTION, WE'RE NOT PUTTING OUT ENOUGH PRODUCTION. ALL THE OTHER PLANTS THEY HAVE IS DOIN' BETTER. AND THEY WANNA IMPROVE THIS ONE SO IT'LL DO BETTER.))
SUPER=01-Cinderella Brown/Rubatex Employee;
RUNS=:09
OUT Q=do better.
(----------------)
VO-NAT

Rubatex employees add that part of the plant upgrade calls for the consolidation of a number of the company's outer buildings, which are widely scattered throughout its complex.
SUPER=@File;

The workers do not expect the plan, if implemented, will mean any layoffs.
Rubatex has more than a thousand employees.
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tease#1
HARD MUSIC UNDER
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=NONE

Coming up next on News 7,
Turkey and Greece have withdrawn from what could have been one of the worst escalations between the rival nations in almost 10 years,
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VO-NAT
and the results are in from the nation's first ever mail-in election.
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wx-head music up full
comm1

TURKEY-GREECE

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=MEL
TAPE# net
GRAPHIC=none

Greece and Turkey today are withdrawing warships from the eastern Aegean Sea, after U-S pressure defused the worst armed escalation between the two rival nations since 19-87.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Aegean Sea;

Both had threatened to use force, staking claim to a tiny island in the Aegean.
Overnight President Clinton phoned the leaders of both nations, urging them to use restraint.
The U-S ambassador to Greece confirmed today that talks had been successful.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=
((THOMAS M.T. NILES:WE ARE PLEASED WITH THE OUTCOME OF DISCUSSION, WE CAN PLEASED THAT THE ISSUE HAS BEEN RESOLVED. ))
SUPER=01-Thomas M.T. Niles/US Ambassador to Greece;
RUNS=:18
OUT Q=HAS BEEN RESOLVED.
(----------------)
VO-NAT

The U-S will monitor the withdrawl of Turkish and Greek troops from the Barren Island.
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OREGON

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=MEL
TAPE# NET
GRAPHIC=democrats

Here in the states --
A Democrat has won the nation's first-ever mail-in election for a congressional seat.
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VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Portland, OR;

Oregon voters chose Ron Wyden to fill Bob Packwood's seat.
Wyden was challenged by Republican Gordon Smith.
(----------------)

ADAPT

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=EQU
TAPE#96-8
GRAPHIC=Welfare in Virginia

The computer system that helps Virginia caseworkers manage the most massive welfare reform in the nation is NOT working.
That's the report from the Allen Administration -- which has just put the brakes on the project.
Ellen Qualls reports on what the Administration's telling lawmakers publicly- and what its own private memo says.
(/////SOT/////)
IN Q=The ADAPT computer
SUPER=03-Richmond; :00
SUPER=01-Del. Andy Guest/(R) Front Royal; :14
SUPER=01-Clarence Carter/Acting Social Services Commissioner; :21
SUPER=01-Marian Van Landingham/(D) Alexandria; :41
SUPER=01-Del. Jean Cunningham/(D) Richmond; 1:00
SUPER=@Ellen1; 1:10
RUNS=1:34
OUT Q=Qualls, News 7, Richmond.

(( The ADAPT computer system has been in development since 1990.
It would, in a perfect world, automate the system of deciding who should receive food stamps, Aid for Families with Dependent Children, and Medicaid.
It's NOT working.
sot 05:08:17
((DEL. ANDY GUEST/R-FRONT ROYAL: HARDWARE IS IN PLACE. MAYBE A REWRITE OF SOFTWARE IS CALLED FOR. BUT THAT'S A TREMENDOUS INVESTMENT TO WALK AWAY FROM.))
runs=:07

sot 06:18:55
((CLARENCE CARTER/ACTING SOCIAL SERVICES COMMISSIONER: WE SHARE THE EXACT SAME OUTRAGE. IT IS UNCONSCIONABLE.... THEY INVESTED.))
runs=:20

sot 05:04:12
((DEL. MARIAN VAN LANDINGHAM/D-ALEXANDRIA: ONE OF THE BASES ON WHICH THE ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN CUTTING STAFFS IN SOCIAL SERVICES IS THAT WE HAVE IT ALL, INFORMATION COMPUTERIZED. AND THIS WOULD REQUIRE LESS IN TERMS OF STAFF. WELL NOW WE'VE CUT STAFF. AND WE'RE NOW STOPPING THE PRESENT COMPUTERIZATION.))
runs=:18

SOT 05:11:01
((DEL. JEAN CUNNINHAM/D-RICHMOND: AND NOW WE ARE 17 MILLION DOLLARS DOWN THE ROAD AND OOPS WE'VE MADE A MISTAKE. I THINK THAT WOULD BE DISASTROUS FOR THE STATE AND THE LOCALITIES.))
RUNS=:11

SOT STANDUP
THE ALLEN ADMINISTRATION'S OWN INTERNAL REPORT OBTAINED BY NEWS 7 SAYS ONE OF THE MAIN PROBLEMS IS THAT NO ADDITIONAL TIME, MONEY, OR STAFFERS WERE ALLOCATED TO ENTER THE WELFARE LAW CHANGES INTO THE SYSTEM.
RUNS=:00

The confidential report estimates fixing it and running it for five years would cost 84- million dollars now.
That's NOT in the Governor's budget.
Ellen Qualls, News 7, Richmond.))
Tease#2
SOFT MUSIC UNDER
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=NONE

Still to come on News 7,
We'll tell you what 9-1-1 callers in Los Angeles REALLY want,
(----------------)
VO-NAT
and the Martinsville police force stacks the deck in its favor with a new way to help kids learn about crime prevention.
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music up full comm2

Police-Cards

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=bmy
TAPE#96-9
GRAPHIC=None

You've heard of trading baseball cards and football cards, but what about police cards?
As Beth Myer reports, it's the latest way Martinsville police are hoping to get through to kids.
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SOT
IN Q=
SUPER=03-Martinsville; :00
SUPER=01-Lt. Charles Long/Martinsville Police; :18
SUPER=01-A.L. Petty/Martinsville Police; :33
SUPER=@Beth1; :49
SUPER=01-Capt. David Wallace/Martinsville Sheriff's Department; :55
RUNS=1:20
OUT Q=News 7.
((The Martinsville police department is one of the first in the Nation to use Police trading cards in its crime prevention program.
Officers want to get to know the children in the neighborhoods they patrol and they want the kids to recognized them.
Police trading cards make this task easier.
(/////SOT/////)
1 52 38 00 - 1 52 47 00
SOT
IN Q=With the kids
((LT. CHARLES LONG/MARTINSVILLE POLICE: WITH THE KIDS, GIVES YOU THE CHANCE TO GET CLOSER TO THE KIDS, YOU HAVE TO WALK UP AND HAND THEM SOMETHING AND THEY GET TO TALK TO YA.))
RUNS=:09
OUT Q=talk to ya.

Every year the cards are updated and the neighborhood children are already asking for the 1996 set.
(/////SOT/////)
2 35 06 00 - 2 35 15 00
SOT
IN Q=They mob the car
((A.L. PETTY/MARTINSVILLE POLICE: THEY MOB THE CAR ALL WANT AND GET AS MANY CARDS AS THEY CAN GET. IT'S NICE THEY APPROACH US AND ARE NOT INTIMIDATED BY THE CARS. ))
RUNS=:09
OUT Q=by the cars.

The City of Martinsville pays for the cards, at a cost of 7-thousand dollars.
The money comes from funds set aside for crime prevention.
(/////SOT/////)
2 45 29 00 - 2 45 35 00
SOT
IN Q=The community's
((The community's response to these police cards has been so positive that even the sheriff's department will use them this year.))
RUNS=:06
OUT Q=them this year.
(/////SOT/////)
02 12 40 00 - 02 12 53 00
SOT
IN Q=They were being
((CAPT. DAVID WALLACE/MARTINSVILLE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: THEY WERE BEING APPROACHED BY CHILDREN FOR CARDS, THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE POLICE OFFICERS AND WE THOUGHT IT'D BE GOOD TO FAMILIARIZE COMMUNITY WITH OUR OFFICERS WHAT WE DO. ))
RUNS=:13
OUT Q=what we do.

All the members of the Martinsville police department are having their pictures shot this month.
Local printers will soon bid on the job and the '96 cards should be on the street by March. Beth Myer, News 7, Martinsville.))

911

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=MEL
TAPE#none
GRAPHIC=none

And while Martinsville police are trying to get through to kids, police in Los Angeles are giving residents a friendly reminder about the proper use of the 9-1-1 system.
Emergency operators in city say 80 percent of the five million 9-1-1 calls they answered last year were NOT true emergencies.
Instead, the callers to 9-1-1 wanted general information - like directions to Disneyland, the time of day or traffic reports.
One caller wanted to know where the best seats were in the L-A Coliseum.
The city's police chief says the answer to the problem might be a new three-digit number that residents can call for non-emergency help.

ITT

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=lbe
TAPE#95-113
GRAPHIC=Layoffs

More layoffs could be on the way for I-T-T.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=@File;

The I-T-T Night Vision plant in Roanoke County had nearly one-thousand employees at the height of the Gulf War, but smaller military contracts for its night vision equipment reduced its workforce to about 650.
Now sources tell News-7 I-T-T may soon trim its workforce by as much as 90 people.
(-------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=hold

No one from the company was available for comment.

Wholesale

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=cro
TAPE# none
GRAPHIC=economy

The government says wholesale prices jumped half a percent in December.
But some analysts say that won't have much of an effect on whether the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates.
The analysts note the core rate of inflation, minus energy and food, rose only slightly.

Stocks

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=cro
TAPE#none
SS=Stocks

On Wall Street at noon the Dow was up three and a half points.
tease#3
SPORTS MUSIC UNDER
ANCHOR=Melanie

Stick around,
When News 7 returns, Patrick will tell us why it was a magic night in Los Angeles AND in Roanoke,
(----------------)
VO-NAT
and we'll tell you what the widow and partner of the late Sergei Gringov plans to do with her skating career.
(----------------)
MUSIC UP FULL comm4

Magic

ANCHOR=Patrick
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=nle
TAPE#net
GRAPHIC=Magic Johnson

It was a magical night for basketball star Magic Johnson last night, as he stepped out of retirement and into a familiar jersey for the first time in several years.
Reed Galin was courtside for the comeback.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=Before the game
SUPER=03-Los Angeles; :00
SUPER=01-Nick Van Exel/L.A. Lakers; :10 (QUICK!!)
SUPER=04-Prime Sports; :14
SUPER=01-"Magic" Johnson/Out of Retirement; :45
SUPER=01-Reed Galin/Reporting; :56
RUNS=1:40
OUT Q=CBS News, Los Angeles.
(( Before the game, that magic smile was tense.
nat sot; I'm so nervows, I don't know what to do.
But he's back because Laker teammates wouldn't let him stay away. ((NICK VAN EXEL/LAKER: WAIT TIL YOU SEE HIM. I JUST TOLD HIM WE NEED LEADERSHIP- HIS. JUST THE WAY HE IS. ALWAYS SMILING.))
He's back because he wants his little children to see who he really is.
nat sot; (Johnson goes in- wild ovation)

And because- even after a four year absence... even feeling he's got a ways to go,
(SUPER: COURTESY PRIME SPORTS)
Earvin Johnson is still Magic on a basketball court.
At 36, number 32 has lost a lot of time and a few steps.
But last night, playing half the game against The Warriors, he scored 19 points and inspired his teammates to a solid win over a team that had routinely beaten them. ((MAGIC JOHNSON (N/C 2526) (WAIT) I DIDN'T HAVE ANY EXPECTATIONS. I DIDN'T CARE IF I DIDN'T SCORE A BASKET, OR AN ASSIST, OR A REBOUND. JUST WALKING OUT ON THAT COURT WAS ENOUGH.))
When Johnson tried a come-back three years ago, many in the NBA were concerned he could spread HIV -- and he retired again.
The league has since taken pains to educate its own about AIDS
((THEY WERE SAYING WELCOME BACK, GOOD TO HAVE YA BACK.))
Johnson himself has been warned not to become fatigued.
That means a lot of time on the bench- a strange sight in the LA Forum, where he lead the Lakers to five championships.
Asked if Johnson should worry other players, his doctor said "It depends how he shoots."
Last night on the court Magic Johnson did look like someone to be feared.
And, that easy smile was back.
Reed Galin, CBS News, Los Angeles. ))

Gordeyeva

ANCHOR=Patrick
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=mel
TAPE#Net
GRAPHIC=None

The widow of Olympic pairs champion skater Sergei Gringov (Green-gov) says she'll continue skating.
Katia Gordeyeva (Gor-dee-ay-vah) and Gringov were not just husband and wife, but skating partners as well.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Hamar, Norway/February 13, 1994;

They skated together like no other two had skated and transcended the world of pairs skating, in fact they skated as one.
SUPER=03-Moscow/November 25, 1995;

But last November while practicing in Lake Placid Sergei Gringov collapsed and died.
In her first T-V interview since his death, his wife Katia says she will skate again. 10;23:14
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=
((YEKATERINA GORDEYEVA/OLYMPIC PAIRS SKATER;OF COURSE I DON'T HAVE MY PARTNER, HALF OF MY BODY WITH ME, AND I DON'T HAVE HIM TO HOLD ME LIKE NOBODY HOLD ME, AND IT'S REALLY TERRIBLE AND NOBODY HUGS ME LIKE WE ALWAYS DID ON THE ICE. AND IT'S REALLY DIFFICULT. I JUST FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO SKATE AND THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING NOW." ))
SUPER=01-Yekaterina Gordeyeva/Olympic Gold Medalist;
RUNS=:38
OUT Q=what i'm doing.
(----------------)
VO-NAT

Gordeyva will skate alone next month when the best skaters int he world celebrate Gringov's life at a special performance in Hartford, Connecticut.
(----------------)

Express

ANCHOR=Patrick
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=sma
TAPE#=ICE-95
GRAPHIC=Express/Nashville

The Roanoke Express skated to victory against Nashville last night.
It's the team's third win in a row.
(----------------)
VO-NAT #eng
SUPER=03-Roanoke/Knights vs. Express; :00

Express goalie Matt DelGuidice played for Nashville last year.
But last night, he came up with a few big saves early to set the tone for Roanoke.
The Express offense did the rest.
Jason Clarke notches his 17th goal of the season off the pass from Karry Biette in the first.
About two minutes later a Nashville pass is intercepted and Ilja
SUPER=34-Roanoke/=2/Nashville/=1 ;
Dukov puts the puck home.
Credit the assists to Tim Christian and Jeff Jablonski.
Roanoke goes on to win its third straight, 2-1.
(-------------)

Wrap

ANCHOR=patrick
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=cro
TAPE# none
GRAPHIC=none
(***********patrick toss to mel**********)
ANCHOR=Melanie

CAT

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=MEL
TAPE#none
GRAPHIC=none

But before we go --
More than once you've proabably heard a tale about firefighters being called to rescue a cat from a tree.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Kansas City, MO;

Well, in Kansas City firefighters got a call to rescue a cat trapped IN a tree.
Nobody but Goldie the cat knows how it exactly happened, but somehow the cat backed into a crevice in this tree and couldn't get out.
When firefighters arrived they had their work cut out for them, literally.
But after two hours of chiseling and precision saw work Goldie was free.
If cats do have nine lives, it's a good bet Goldie has just used up 8 of them.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Melanie
And that's it for News 7 at Noon. Have a great day. SS=none