WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 08/08/96

08:25-01

76AEP

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=lbe
TAPE#96-66
GRAPHIC=American Electric Power
SUPER=19-Melanie Moon;

American Electric Power says a recent federal report shows the need for a controversial power line that would run through this region.
But power line opponents are skeptical about where the findings are coming from.
Len Besthoff has more.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=Earlier this
SUPER=@File; :11 (QUICK!)
SUPER=01-Cliff Shaffer/Power Line Opponent; :42
SUPER=01-Ron Poff/AEP Project Manager; 1:04
SUPER=@Len1; 1:17
RUNS=1:32
OUT Q=LB, News-7.
(( Earlier this week American Electric Power sent out a press release noting that a new Department of Energy report cites the need for its proposed power line from West Virginia to Botetourt County.
The DOE report, which was mostly about last month's power outages in the west, says that delays in the approval of AEP's power line could threaten the reliability of the mid- Atlantic electrical system.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 12:01:29
IN Q=I think
((RON POFF/AEP PROJECT MANAGER: I THINK IT BRINGS BALANCE FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE TO THE OVERALL PROJECT.))
RUNS=:05
OUT Q=overall project.

But the AEP release did NOT make it clear that the portion of the report on its power line was prepared by members of the ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY.
Project opponents believe this is an attempt to get more public support for the line.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 15:15:27
IN Q=DOE asked
((CLIFF SHAFFER/POWER LINE OPPONENT: DOE ASKED THE UTILITIES TO SUPPLY THEM WITH INFORMATION. AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER TOOK THAT OPPORTUNITY TO INTERJECT THEIR INFORMATION ABOUT THIS LINE. AND IF YOU READ THE REPORT, IT STICKS OUT. IT'S JUST, WHY WOULD IT BE IN HERE? IT'S VERY UNUSUAL.))
RUNS=:19
OUT Q=very unusual.

AEP does not believe the report was biased toward its position.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 12:02:13
IN Q=You recognize
((RON POFF/AEP PROJECT MANAGER: YOU RECOGNIZE FROM PUBLIC PERCEPTION THERE'S GONNA BE THAT SUSPICION, BUT WHEN YOU ALSO RECOGNIZE OF WHO ARE THE BEST EXPERTS TO RECOGNIZE AND DEAL WITH THESE ISSUES, THE INDUSTRY IS THE INHERENT CHOICE IN THAT AREA.))
RUNS=:13
OUT Q=that area.

With this report the AEP project is getting national attention, and more detailed study of the project will follow.
Nevertheless, the Department of Energy calls the AEP situation a "manageable" reliability problem that could get worse as the mid Atlantic area grows.
Len Besthoff, News-7. ))

7Drug-Testing

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=ssm
TAPE#96-58
GRAPHIC=Drug Use

Athletes in Lynchburg will have to pass more than classroom tests before playing sports.
Drug testing will continue for athletes in the city's Public Schools.
Last year, 12- athletes tested positive for drugs... that's a huge increase from ONE the year before.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Lynchburg/File Tape;

The numbers helped convince the school board to continue the city's drug testing program for another year.
Organizers say the program is vital to identify students in need of substance abuse services.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 7:06:53
IN Q=It's a program
((YVETTE MILLER/LYNCHBURG SCHOOLS: IT'S A PROGRAM THAT WE FEEL IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR ATHLETES FOR THEIR SAFETY AND THEIR WELL BEING, FOR ALL ATHLETES, THOSE WHO ARE DETECTED AS POSITIVE AND ALSO THOSE THAT THEY PLAY WITH ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS AND COMPETE AGAINST.))
SUPER=01-Yvette Miller/Lynchburg Schools; :00
RUNS=:14
OUT Q=and compete against.
(----------------)
VO-NAT

Miller says the sharp increase in last year's numbers reflect a rise in drug use in the community.
Of the 12 who tested positive, eleven had been using marijuana.
(----------------)

7Dog-Attack

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=lbe
TAPE#edit of 96-63
GRAPHIC=NONE

An animal control officer was called to Southwest Roanoke last night to capture a vicious dog.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 09:18:35
IN Q=
((NAT SOUND ))
SUPER=03-Roanoke;
RUNS=:09
OUT Q=nat sound."
(----------------)
VO-NAT

According to relatives, this four- year- old Chow named "Bear" bit 39- year- old Phyllis Sparrow multiple times while she was trying to feed him.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 09:21:24
IN Q=I came in
((LARRY JOHNSON/VICTIM'S RELATIVE: I CAME IN AND SHE WAS EAT ALL UP. CHOW DONE ATE HER UP. I CALLED 9-1-1. ))
SUPER=01-Larry Johnson/Victim's Relative;
RUNS=:05
OUT Q=I called 911.
(----------------)
VO-NAT

The dog is owned by Sparrow's nephew who recently moved into her house.
Sparrow was able to get away from the dog and escape into her living room.
One person who knew the dog said it has a history of biting people, but it was not trained to attack.
Sparrow was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital- where she was treated and released.
(--------------)

7weather

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=nle
TAPE#none
GRAPHIC=NONE
SUPER=X5000;SET DISSOLVE
(CHYRON TODAY/TONIGHT AREA FORECAST PAGE)
SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Isolated Storms/85-89/Variably
Cloudy/Thunderstorms/65-69;
SUPER=#555;RESET

Taking a look now at the forecast - partly sunny today with possible isolated thunderstorms this afternoon.
Highs will be in the mid to upper 80s 7BIRTHDAYS ! 8/9/96

SUPER=130-30/Sandy Davis/Riner;

SUPER=130-13/Dustin Powell/Goshen;

SUPER=130-8/Dawn Woolwine/Salem;

SUPER=130-30/Wendy Davis/Lynchburg;

SUPER=130-32/Linda Perdue/Hardy;

SUPER=130-8/Lee Sweeney/Floyd;

SUPER=130-/Melvin Yeatts/Gretna;

Saturday:

SUPER=130-40/Carolyn Yopp/Roanoke;

(Anniversary)
SUPER=130-10th/Allen & Barbara Smith/Natural Bridge Station;

SUPER=130-11/Leah Williams/Roanoke;

SUPER=130-1/Elisabeth Slusher/Floyd;

SUPER=130-Dusty Loughhead/Buena Vista;

SUPER=130-9/Sarah Cummings/Blacksburg;

SUPER=130-12/Laura Holdren/Bedford;

SUPER=130-11/Krystal Chambers/Roanoke;

(Anniversary - Jim Shaver's Parents!)
SUPER=130-50th!/Mr. & Mrs. E.C. Shaver/Copper Hill;

No Pictures:

SUPER=130-44/Trudie Joyce/Stanleytown;

SUPER=130-33/Rickey Akers/Austinville;

SUPER=130-11/Amanda Daies/Parrett;

SUPER=130-100/Thomas Fuller/Roanoke;

55Bocook

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=KHu
TAPE#96-53
GRAPHIC=Bocook
SUPER=19-Melanie Moon;

The Roanoke man known as the Phantom Air-Traffic Controller wants out of jail, but fears recent jetliner disasters could jeopordize his chances.
Rodney Bocook wants people to know he's not a terrorist.
Keith Humphry has the story.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=Now an inmate
SUPER=03-Beaver, WV;
SUPER=01-Rodney Bocook/"Phantom Air Traffic Controller"; :11
SUPER=03-Roanoke/File Tape; :36
SUPER=@kEITH1; 1:25
RUNS=1:36
OUT Q=BEAVER, WEST VIRGINIA.

(( Now an inmate at the brand new federal prison outside Beckley, West Virginia, Bocook wrote NEWS 7 last month, urging us to let the folks at home know he would never deliberately blow up a plane.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 12:27:45
IN Q=
((I'M NOT A TERRORIST, SO I DON'T RELATE TO IT IN THAT RESPECT. BUT THE THOUGHT DOES CROSS MY MIND, "WELL, WHAT IF A PLANE DID CRASH?" THAT KIND OF WORRIES ME. THE WASN'T MY INTENT TO CAUSE ANY HARM TO ANYBODY.))
SUPER=
RUNS=:20
OUT Q=

He says it's scary- -realizing only now, that he could have caused a disaster like T-W-A flight 800.
When his escapade started three years ago, Bocook's interference on flight control frequencies was just a nuisance.
Eventually he would chat with as many as eight or ten pilots a night, telling them to change altitude, abort landings at the last minute or hold short of a runway intersection.
The judge decided he intentionally endangered pilots, passengers and EARTH-BOUND citizens.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 13:10:20
IN Q=
((YEAH, I'D AGREE THAT THERE WAS SOME ENDANGERMENT. SO WHY DID YOU DO IT? STUPIDITY.))
SUPER=
RUNS=:06
OUT Q=

He says he was just trying to get attention.
He insists he thought he was guilty of nothing more serious than cursing over the airwaves.
Finally one pilot just let him have it.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 13:12:30
IN Q=
((HE SAID, "I GOT A YOUNG FAMILY AT HOME AND THEY WOULDN'T APPRECIATE ME FLYING INTO ONE OF THESE MOUNTAINS UP HERE." AND THAT KIND OF MADE ME THINK.))
SUPER=
RUNS=:10
OUT Q=made me think.))

55John-Warner

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=equ
TAPE#96-61
GRAPHIC=JOHN Warner

Republican Senator John Warner comes third among U-S Senators who accept money from political action committees.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Stuarts Draft/Yesterday;

Warner's PAC contributions over the last 18 months make up about one third of the 3-point-4 million dollars he's raised.
SUPER=@file;

That's in contrast to Democrat Mark Warner -- who's taken a campaign pledge to accept NO PAC money.
John Warner ranks behind South Dakota's Larry Pressler and Montana's Max Baucus on the PAC list.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 07:24:35
IN Q=He's the third
((HE'S THE THIRD...SPECIAL INTEREST PAC MAN.))
SUPER=01-Eric Hoffman/Mark Warner Spokesman;
RUNS=:07
OUT Q=PAC man.
TALENT=Melanie
SS=HOLD

If John Warner is the special interest PAC man, Mark Warner's his OWN man.
SS=MARK WARNER

Mark Warner contributed about 2-point-3 million dollars of his own fortune toward his campaign.

55SW-Refugees

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=amo
TAPE#edit of 96-55
GRAPHIC=none

Many refugees and immigrants to the United States are making their home in the Roanoke Valley.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Roanoke/File Tape;

With the help of Refugee and Immigration Services, the transition is made easier.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=
((BARBARA SMITH/IMMIGRATION SERVICES DIRECTOR: WE HELP TO RE-SETTLE REFUGEES, POLITICAL REFUGEES FROM AROUND THE WORLD IN SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. NOT JUST ROANOKE, BUT IN ALL SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.))
SUPER=01-Barbara Smith/Immigration Services Dir.;
RUNS=:10
OUT Q=sw Virginia. *DOUBLE OUT!!*
(----------------)
VO-NAT

98-percent of adult refugees in the Commonwealth have jobs.
Barbara Smith says that dispels myths that refugees rely on welfare and don't pay taxes.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=
((THE WORK ETHIC IS PHENOMENAL. I THINK IF YOU TALK TO EMPLOYERS IN THE AREA THEY WILL TELL YOU THAT CONSISTENTLY. AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT OUR ANCESTORS DID AND HOPEFULLY A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW NEW IMMIGRANTS COMING WILL BE DOING AS WELL.))
RUNS=:15
OUT Q= as well
(----------------)
VO-NAT

Smith adds if immigrants didn't pay their taxes, they'd go to jail, just like anyone else.
(----------------)

55weather

8Danville-Sears

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=THa
TAPE#=edit of 96-65
GRAPHIC=NONE
SUPER=19-Melanie Moon;

An old building in Danville is getting a new tennent.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Danville;

Danville City Council has taken steps to purchase Sears building and plans to use it to house the downtown Fire Department.
Space will also be set aside for the school board central office staff-- which is currently located in the city municipal building.
In addition the building will provide the city with 125 extra parking spaces.
(----------------)

8Most-Wanted

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=THa
TAPE#96-60
GRAPHIC=NONE

The Pittsylvania County Sheriff's department hopes to catch a few crooks with a new T-V program.
A Danville cable company is helping the Sheriff's department produce a program similar to "America's Most Wanted".
Teresa Hamilton tunes us in.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=Suspects
SUPER=03-Danville; :00
SUPER=01-Major Gary Goodson/Pittsylvania Co. Sheriff's Dept.; :23
SUPER=01-Don Robertson/Photo Classified Director; :49
SUPER=@Teresa2; 1:07
RUNS=1:17
OUT Q=Hamilton, News 7, Danville.
(( Suspects hoping to escape the grip of the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Department have new reason to look over their shoulder.
nat sound
Less than a week ago, Cable Vision Industries in Danville began devoting air time to help locate the area's most wanted.
So far, nearly two dozen suspects have made their debut on Cable Channel 12.

(/////SOT/////)
5:05:19:29
SOT
IN Q=It's been
((MAJOR GARY GOODSON/PITTSYLVANIA CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.:IT'S BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL. SINCE LAST THURSDAY, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO APPREHEND FIVE FUGITIVES THAT WERE WANTED IN PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY ON OLD OUTSTANDING WARRANTS THAT WE HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO LOCATE. ))
RUNS=:09
OUT Q=to locate.

Goodson approached Cable Vision Industries after watching a similar program on a cable station in neighboring North Carolina.
The Sheriff's department supplies the mug shots which are then transferred into a computer.
The program airs during various time slots seven days a week.
(/////SOT/////)
06:12:55
SOT
IN Q=We plan
((DON ROBERTSON/PHOTO CLASSIFIED DIR.: WE PLAN TO EXPAND THIS SHOW PROBABLY BEFORE THE FIRST OF OCTOBER, DOUBLING ITS CAPACITY OF WHAT IT IS NOW, WHICH IS 20 FUGITIVES AT A PARTICULAR TIME. WE HOPE TO GO TO FORTY, AND INCORPORATE THE CITY CRIME STOPPERS EFFORT INTO THAT AS WELL. ))
RUNS=:17
OUT Q=as well.

Goodson is confident the leads are coming from viewers because the calls are coming in on the Crime Stoppers Hotline number which is aired throughout the program. Teresa Hamilton, News 7, Danville.))

8Paralympics

ANCHOR=Melanie
NEWSCAST=cutin
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#96-62
GRAPHIC=NONE

Right on the heals of the Summer Olympic Games-- the 1996 Paralympics is just beginning.
It's the first time the games for disabled athletes will be held on U-S soil.
Yesterday, Kimberly McBroom was in South Boston for part of the torch relay.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=South Boston may be small
SUPER=03-South Boston; :00
SUPER=01-Tamyra Vest/Local Torch Relay Organizer; :28
SUPER=01-Becky Covington/Torch Bearer; :42
SUPER=01-Tommy Reagan/Torch Bearer; :56
SUPER=@Kimberly2; 1:08
RUNS=1:17
OUT Q=News 7, South Boston

(( South Boston may be small-- but it has an Olympic spirit the size of Atlanta.
Residents filled the downtown streets-- enjoying live music and food while waiting for the 1996 Nationsbank Torch Relay to swing through.
Organizers say it's the town's spirit that designated it the second stop on the torch's route from Washington, D-C to Atlanta-- where the Paralympics will get underway August 15th.
It features athletes who are physically impaired, but also highly- skilled.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 6:08:44
((TAMYRA VEST/TORCH RELAY ORGANIZER: SOME OF THEM ARE JUST LIKE A TENTH OF A SECOND OFF OF THE OLYMPIC RECORD. SO, IT'S PRETTY AMAZING JUST TO WATCH PEOPLE THAT HAVE ONE LEG DOING A HIGH JUMP MUCH, MUCH HIGHER THAT ANY OF US CAN DO IT. ))
RUNS=:09

Some of the torchbearers aspire to someday participate in the games.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 7:03:12
((BECKY COVINGTON/TORCH BEARER: IT WAS AN EXPERIENCE THAT I'LL NEVER FORGET. I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GET INVOLVED IN THIS AND IT WAS WONDERFUL. ))
RUNS=:07

Covington's dream may come true-- she weighs only 50 pounds but can bench press 65.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 6:19:33
((TOMMY REAGAN/TORCH BEARER: IT'S A WAY TO GO OUT AND SHOW THAT YES, WE'RE DISABLED. YES, WE'RE PARALYZED. WE'RE QUADRAPLEGIC. WE HAVE PROSTHESIES OR LIKE ARTIFICAL LEGS AND SO FORTH. BUT WE CAN STILL DO THINGS. ))
RUNS=:12

And with their spirit and determination, these athletes prove they CAN hold a candle to any Olympian.
Kimberly McBroom, News 7, South Boston. ))