WDBJ 7 news at Noon for 04/22/96

12:00-01

NOON-HEADLINES

TALENT=Melanie
SS=None
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VO-NAT

A high speed police chase ends in death for a Vinton family,
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ANCHOR=Melanie
and a tornado rips through western Arkansas leaving behind death and destruction.
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TALENT=patrick
SS=None

Sunshine will fade away to cloud cover, with the possibility of thunderstorms in our forecast. Stay tuned for the details.
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ANCHOR=Melanie
ss=None

Don't go away, the news is next.

Ark-Ok

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=mel
TAPE#net
GRAPHIC=none

The Arkansas city of Fort Smith resembles a war zone this afternoon after a deadly tornado ripped through the area just before midnight.
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VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Fort Smith, AR;

The twister left two children dead and dozens of people injured.
At daybreak, downed electric wires and debris from damaged buildings littered the streets, especially the downtown historic district along the Arkansas River.
Police say several buildings collapsed and others are in danger of falling.
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SOT
IN Q=I was in a
10:00:37-58 ((I WAS IN A SECTION OF BUILDING AND HEARD WIND AND IT BECAME EXTREMELY ENERGIZED, IT WAS A MATTER OF SECONDS AND IT BECAME STRONG. ))
RUNS=:18
OUT Q=it became strong.
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VO-NAT

About 200 people are expected to be temporarily homeless, because of damage to their homes or loss of electricity or natural gas service.
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MERGER

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=MEL
TAPE# net
GRAPHIC=bell atlantic

Bell Atlantic and Nynex say they'll eliminate about three-thousand white-collar jobs as they merge into the nation's second largest phone company.
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VO-NAT

The companies confirmed the deal this morning.
They say they expect to save about 600- million dollars a year within three years.
About half the savings will come from doing away with management positions.
The new firm will connect 38- million phone lines from Maine to Virginia.
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Roanoke-Chase

ANCHOR=Ron
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=rjo
TAPE#96-26
GRAPHIC=none

A Roanoke man is being held without bond following a police pursuit that resulted in the deaths of a family from Vinton.
It all started yesterday when a police officer went to investigate a suspicious vehicle parked in a lot.
Ron Jones has more.
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SOT
IN Q=What started out as
SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./Yesterday;
SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;
SUPER=@Ron2; 1:45
RUNS=:00
OUT Q=

What started out as a pleasant warm afternoon in Roanoke County ended in tragedy at the corner of Williamson and Plantation Roads.
A Vinton couple and their six- week- old baby were killed in a police car chase.
Police say it all started on route 220 near the Walmart around 1:30 in the afternoon.
Police say Roanoke County Officer J. L. McPhail noticed a suspicious vehicle with tinted windows parked in the lot for a long period of time.
When the officer attempted to contact the person in the vehicle the chase was on.
They traveled on 220 to 581 North.
The vehicle took the Hershberger exit travelling at a high rate of speed.
Police say later in the chase the vehicle struck another car at the corner of Hershberger and Plantation.
No one was hurt in that collision.
The chase continued west on Plantation Road.
Moments before the fatal collision police say the officer called off the pursuit.
This family says they were just a few feet from the point of impact. TAPE (Chase Follow-Up)
SOT 20:19:39
((MELISA ANDREWS/WITNESS: AND WHEN THEY CAME DOWN THROUGH THAT INTERSECTION, IF IT HAPPENED, IT WAS TERRIBLE. MY SON WAS SITTING BESIDE ME, HE WAS WHITE AS A GHOST.))
RUNS=:07

TODAY'S COURTROOM VIDEO
Police say the suspect, 21-year-old Scott Carlton Allman, plowed into a black Monte Carlo.
Witnesses say at the moment of impact 36-year-old Lori Mason was thrown from the passenger side of the car into the street and her body struck another car.
She died at the scene.
The driver of the Monte Carlo, 34-year-old Thomas Faucher, was also killed.
Six- week- old Joleen Faucher was thrown from her car seat onto the side of road.
She was taken to the hospital and later died. TODAY'S COURT STUFF
The suspect Allman was uninjured.
He's been charged with evading police, hit and run, and driving on a suspended license.
Allman's wife was also in the car with him.
She had to be cut out and airlifted to a local hospital.
Her condition is unknown.
Police say they will discuss the incident in detail at a news conference later today.
Ron Jones, News Seven.

CHRISTOPHER

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=MLE
TAPE# net
GRAPHIC=christopher

Secretary of State Warren Christopher is shuttling between Israel and Syria today in an effort to stop the 12-day battle between Israel and Muslim guerillas raging in southern Lebanon.
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VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Damascus, Syria;

This morning Christopher was back at the court of the uncrowned king of Lebanon, Syria's President Hafez Assad, presenting a U-S plan to end the fighting.
SUPER=03-Tel Aviv;

In Jerusalem yesterday, Israel's Prime Minister Shimon Peres ruled out an immediate truce.
He wants a clear-cut, written deal first - one that clips Hezbollah's wings.
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SOT
IN Q=
10;06:08 ((/WARREN CHRISTOPHER, SECRETARY OF STATE: WE ARE WORKING FOR NOT JUST A CEASE-FIRE BUT AN ENDURING SET OF UNDERSTANDINGS THAT PREVENTS A RECURRENCE. ))
SUPER=01-Warren Christopher/Secretary of State;
RUNS=:07
OUT Q=prevents recurrence.
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VO-NAT

A Christopher aide says there's a chance a truce could be arranged this week.
Meanwhile the fighting continues, but there's been a somehwat slower rythmn to the air raids, the artillery barrages and to the guerilla rocketing.
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Bombeck

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

Columnist Erma Bombeck has died.
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VO-NAT
SUPER=@File;

Universal Press Syndicate says she passed away today in San Francisco.
Bombeck had undergone a kidney transplant earlier this month.
She was 69.
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tease#1
HARD MUSIC UNDER
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=NONE

Still to come --
One of the men accused in the Oklahoma City bombing has more to say,
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VO-NAT
and a guardian angel watches over Danville.
It was all due to one grandmother's crusade.
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WX ad lib music up full comm1

arrest

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=mel
TAPE# net
GRAPHIC=none

Saudi Arabia may have a break in the probe of a car bombing that killed five Americans.
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VO-NAT
SUPER=04-File Tape;

The interior minister says four Saudi men have been arrested in the November attack.
The bombing hit a three-story building used for a U-S military program, killing seven people in all.
It was the worst blast involving Americans in the Middle East since the 19-83 Beirut bombing killed 241 U.S. servicemen.
SUPER=03-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;

The four suspects confessed on state television today and said they were planning further attacks.
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McVeigh

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=mel
TAPE# net
GRAPHIC=mcveigh

Oklahoma City bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh is speaking out in a rare jail-house interview.
McVeigh gave an interview with a British newspaper, conducted last Friday, a year to the day after the deadly blast that killed 168 people.
Cinny Kennard has the story.
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SOT
IN Q=As the nation
SUPER=03-Oklahoma City/Friday; :00
SUPER=01-Tim Kelsey/Sunday Times; :14
SUPER=01-Cinny Kennard/Reporting; :21
RUNS=1:55
OUT Q=CBS News, London.
((As the nation prepared to mark the first anniversary of the worst mass murder in U.S. history, suspect Timothy McVeigh was, relaxed and confident as he gave an interview to a british newspaper reporter. ((TIM KELSEY/THE SUNDAY TIMES: HE WAS IN A VERY UPBEAT MOOD, BASICALLY EXTREMELY JOKEY FULL OF HUMOR.))
During a two hour interview, McVeigh described himself as a "traveling gun salesman" and indicated he is a member of the patriot movement, which is violently opposed to government intervention in the lives of individuals.
"When the government rules by the sword," he said, "it must reckon with protest by the sword". ((KELSEY: IT SEEMED IMPROMPTU THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME HE SAID YES INDEED HE DID SHARE THOSE OPINIONS.))
McVeigh said the 1993 seige of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco marked a turning point in his life, that he had seen a localized police state and was angry.
He refused to say where he was the day of the Oklahoma bombing and refused what he was feeling at that time.
He did not proclaim innocence.
He would only say he has plead not guilty. ((KELSEY: WHAT HE MEANT WAS "OKAY I AM RETICENTLY ANTI GOVERNMENT BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME A MASS MURDERER."))
Still McVeigh did admit to building bombs with his former army colleague Terry Nichols. ((KELSEY: THEY WOULD SIT DOWN IN THE YARD OR IN THE FARM WHATEVER AND BUILD SORT OF WATER BOTTLE BOMBS AND BASICALLY SAY THEY WERE JUST GAMES NOT SERIOUS.))
It was one of the few occasions that Mcveigh has sat down with a reporter, one of the few sessions used to get his message out. ((KELSEY: THIS WAS A TWO HOUR PRESENTATION BY A MAN WHO HAS HAD A YEAR INSIDE OF JAIL THINKING ABOUT HOW TO PRESENT HIMSELF TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD. ))
His next presentation is likely to be before a jury.
Cinny Kennard, CBS, News London.))

Monument

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=THa
TAPE# 96-21
GRAPHIC=None

A guardian angel is watching over Danville.
It was unveiled yesterday for survivors and victims of child abuse.
Teresa Hamilton has that story.
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SOT
IN Q=The marble
SUPER=03-Danville/Yesterday; :00
SUPER=01-Ann Worley/Abuse Survivor; :18
SUPER=01-Linwood Wright/Danville Vice-Mayor; :48
SUPER=@Teresa2; 1:09
RUNS=1:23
OUT Q=Hamilton, News 7, Danville.
(( The unveiling of the marble statue was the realization of a dream for Ann Worley.
The Danville grandmother began her crusade after hearing the story of Michael and Alex Smith of South Carolina.
The two young boys were killed when their mother sent her car rolling into a lake. ((ANN WORLEY/ABUSE SURVIVOR: EVERY NEWS STORY OF VICTIMS TORE MY HEART APART, SO MY MISSION TO HELP STOP THESE HORRIBLE CRIMES OVERWHELMED ME AND AS VICTIM OF CHILD ABUSE AND RAPE MYSELF, I COULD NOT CONTINUE TO SHUT MYSELF OFF FROM OTHERS WHO NEEDED MY HELP. ))
The guardian angel, which now watches over the city from inside Highland Burial Park, arrived in style.
More than a hundred residents and local dignitaries turned out for the unveiling-- which included numerous speakers. ((LINWOOD WRIGHT/DANVILLE VICE-MAYOR:IT BEHOOVES US NEVER TO BE SHORT, NEVER TO BE QUICK AND BLUNT WITH THOSE LITTLE MINDS AND THOSE LITTLE BODIES, BECAUSE OUT OF THAT GROUP WILL GROW UP THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW. ))
Now that Ann Worley has realized one dream, she's determined to fulfill another.
That's to continue spreading words of encouragement and support to all survivors and victims of abuse.
Teresa Hamilton, News 7, Danville.))
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SOFT MUSIC UNDER
ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=NONE

Up next --
Business correspondant Len Besthoff has some advice for investors,
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VO-NAT
and Denise Allen nets an interview with both the Russian and United States Women's Volleyball Teams during a stop in Roanoke.
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Volleyball

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=Dal
TAPE# 96-25
GRAPHIC=Volleyball

United States Women's Volleyball team members say this could be their gold medal year.
They have experience, power and finesse.
And they demonstrated their talents in an exhibition match against Russia.
Denise Allen spoke with both teams during their visit to Roanoke.
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IN Q=I'M AN OUTSIDE HITTER
SUPER=01-Tara Cross-Battle/USA Volleyball; :03
SUPER=03-Roanoke/Friday; :12
SUPER=01-Lori Endicott/USA Volleyball; :40
SUPER=10-Elena Batoukhtina/Russia/Olga Dmitrievia Interpreter; :56
SUPER=10-Marina Lichtenstein/Russia/Olga Dmitrievia Interpreter; 1:22
SUPER=@Denise2; 1:40
RUNS=1:55
OUT Q=News 7
((
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SOT tape 1 11:10:17
IN Q=I'M AN OUTSIDE
((TARA CROSS-BATTLE/USA VOLLEYBALL: I'M AN OUTSIDE HITTER.))
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OUT Q=OUTSIDE HITTER
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SOT TAPE 1 11:10:56
IN Q=I'M THE PERSON
((I'M THE PERSON WHO IF EVERYTHING IS NOT REALLY GOING RIGHT , IF THEY HAVE TO THROW IT OUT THERE HIGH AND WIDE I'M OUT THERE TO THROW IT DOWN.))
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OUT Q=THROW IT DOWN

And this is one of her counterparts on the Russian team--hitter Elena Batoukhtina.
Russia is described as a power team.
While Cross-Battle says the U-S has a unique blend of power and finesse.
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SOT tape 1 11:12:02
IN Q=WE HAVE BIG
((CROSS-BATTLE: WE HAVE BIG HITTERS, BUT WE'RE ALSO ABLE TO PLAY GOOD DEFENSE AND ABLE TO KEEP THE BALL IN PLAY LONGER.))
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OUT Q=PLAY LONGER

Lori Endicott is one of the teams finesse players.
The eight year veteran is a setter--the quarterback of the team.
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SOT tape 1 11:06:22
IN Q=there's a full
((LORI ENDICOTT/USA VOLLEYBALL: THERE'S A FULL SCHEME OFFENSIVELY. A FULL SCHEME DEFENSIVELY, BLOCKING. THERE'S REALLY A LOT OF STRATEGY THAT GOES INTO PLAYING VOLLEYBALL.))
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OUT Q= INTO PLAYING VOLLEYBALL

Part of that strategy is scouting the competition and videotapes seem to be the universal scouting tool.
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SOT tape 2 11:24:17
IN Q=then we study
((ELENA BATOUKHTINA/RUSSIA: INTERPRETED BY OLGA DMITRIEVIA: THEN WE STUDY THE AMERICAN TEAM AND EACH PLAYER AND HOW THEY PLAY, THEIR MANNERISMS, THEIR STYLE AND HOW THEY REACT.))
RUNS=:10
OUT Q= THEY REACT

For these wold class athletes volleyball is not a game, it's their job.
Six hours workouts five days a week, all for the Olympic dream.
And for Russian setter, Marina Lichtenstein's it's her third and most likely last Olympic games.
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SOT tape 2 11:20:33
IN Q=every sportsman
((MARINA LICHTENSTEIN/RUSSIA, INTERPRETED BY OLGA DMITRIEVIA: EVERY SPORTSMAN IS GETTING READY DURING HIS CAREER FOR ONE GAMES AND THAT IS THE OLYMPICS. IT'S THE HIGHEST POINT IN SPORTS ACHIEVEMENT.))
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OUT Q=SPORTS ACHIEVEMENT
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SOT TAPE 1 11:08:25
IN Q=GROWING UP IN
((ENDICOTT: GROWING UP IN MISSOURI THAT'S WHAT I DREAMED ABOUT AS A KID WAS PLAYING IN THE OLYMPICS.))
RUNS=:05
OUT Q=IN THE OLYMPICS

These two teams ended their Stars and Spikes Tour in Roanoke, with the series tied at three.
12 of the 15 U-S players visiting Roanoke will make the trip to Atlanta.
The rooster will be trimmed in June.
Women's Olympic Volleyball competition begins July 20th.
Denise Allen News 7.))

Common-Sense

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=NOON
WRITER=lbe
TAPE#common sense
GRAPHIC=common sense

Often times when a company decides to buy back some of its stock, that can mean good things for an investor who owns shares in that company.
Len Besthoff explains in this week's addition of Common Sense.
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IN Q=when a
SUPER=@Len1; :00
SUPER=01-Ken Gassman/Consumer Analyst-Davenport & Co.; :09
RUNS=:48
OUT Q=back to the newsdesk
((When a company buys shares of its own stock, that can effect shareholders.
Ken Gassman, an analyst with Davenport and Co., explains. KEN GASSMAN/DAVENPORT & CO.: THE ADVANTAGE OF A STOCK BUY-BACK IF IT'S A FLOOR UNDER THE PRICE OF THE STOCK, IT CAN CAUSE THE PRICE OF THE STOCK TO MOVE UP. SO, COPORATIONS WHO ARE ENGAGED IN STOCK BUY-BACKS, THEN IT'S CERTAINLY SOMETHING FOR INVESTORS TO LOOK AT. FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE RETAILERS WHOSE BEEN BUYING BACK STOCK IS THE LILLIAN-VERNON CORPORATION, A DIRECT MAIL RETAILER, SOMETHING THE ROANOKE VALLEY HAS. THEY PUT A FLOOR UNDER THE PRICE OF THE STOCK WHEN THEY ANNOUNCED THEIR BUY BACK. WLR FOODS, WHICH IS THE FOOD PROCESSOR HEADQUARTERED IN THE VALLEY, HAS A STOCK BUY BACK. THAT PUT A FLOOR UNDER THE PRICE OF THEIR STOCK AND ACUTALLY CAUSED THE PRICE OF THEIR STOCK TO RISE))
I'm Len Bestoff with this week's editions of Common Sense.
Let's send it back to the newsdesk.))

Stocks

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

On Wall Street at Noon the Dow was UP 27 points.
tease#3
SPORTS MUSIC UNDER
ANCHOR=Melanie

When News 7 continues --
Patrick will tell us about the death of a sports legend,
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VO-NAT
and he'll take us to Martinsville, where Rusty Wallace won the Goody's 500 for the fourth year in a row.
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MUSIC UP FULL comm4

Jimmy-the-Greek

ANCHOR=patrick
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=jmo
TAPE# net 15:12:40
GRAPHIC=None

Oddsmaker and former sports commentator Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder died yesterday in a Las Vegas hospital.
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VO-NAT
SUPER=@File;

A longtime friend says Snyder died of heart failure after a long illness.
He was 76.
Snyder ignited a firestorm in 19-88 when he said in a television interview that black athletes were superior to whites because of their slave ancestry.
C-B-S Sports fired Snyder the next day, and Snyder issued an apology.
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Race

ANCHOR=patrick
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=Roy
TAPE#S5-27
GRAPHIC=Martinsville speedway

Terry Labonte got the record but Rusty Wallace took the checkered flag.
Wallace won his fourth straight Goody's 500 at Martinsville.
Mike Stevens has more.
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SOT
IN Q=
SUPER=03-Martinsville/Goody's 500; :
SUPER=01-Dale Jarrett/Finished 29th; :48
SUPER=01-Stacy Compton/Finished 33rd; 1:15
SUPER=01-Rusty Wallace/Goody's 500 Winner; 1:36
SUPER=01-Jeremy Mayfield/Finished 4th; 2:05
SUPER=01-Robert Yates/Owner Havoline Ford; 2:16
SUPER=@Mike1; 2:27
RUNS=2:38
OUT Q=.......News 7 sports.
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Wrap
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=cst
TAPE# none
GRAPHIC=none
(******patrick toss to mel*******)
ANCHOR=Melanie

Coming up today on News 7 at FIVE's health check report--
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VO-NAT VIDEO FROM SUNDAY 8pm Feed
AROUND 20:36:21, PEOPLE PRAYING
Religion has long been a source of spiritual health-- but many doctors and researchers say it may also be good for a patient's physical health.
Join us for a report on the power of prayer--
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ANCHOR=Melanie
SS=none

That's later today,-- along with all the latest news, sports and weather. Thank you for joining us.