12:00-01

Noon-Headlines

ANCHOR=Kimberly
(----------------)
VO-NAT


Coming up on News 7 at noon.
Some scary moments for a six- year- boy who fell into a 50- foot well, while play hide- and- seek.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Kimberly


And a live update on the deal between Norfolk Southern and C-S-X as they plan to divide Conrail.
(////////////////)
ANCHOR=Patrick



(////////////////)

2-shot
News 7 at Noon is up next. Noon-open
SUPER=#4054; News 7 Headline Banner
SUPER=@Kimberly1;
SUPER=@Patrick1;



Rail-Merger


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=lbe
TAPE#97-
GRAPHIC=rail merger


The three dominant railroads in the east have pulled together a deal that will leave just two carriers, pending federal approval.
Double Boxes=Kimberly and Len/Newsroom


Len Besthoff says Norfolk Southern and C-S-X believe the plan to carve up Conrail will strike a competitive balance that regulators will be pleased with.
So Len, when do the railroads expect to submit their plan to regulators?
Live=Len Full/Newsroom
SUPER=@len1;


N-S and C-S-X say they'll file their application in June, and they've asked the Surface Transportation Board to expedite this process, which normally takes close to a year to complete.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=@File;


The three way merger has N-S paying six- BILLION- dollars for about 60- percent of Conrail's assets, with C-S-X spending upwards of four- billion- dollars for the rest of the northeastern carrier.
Norfolk Southern became a hostile bidder for Conrail shortly after C-S-X and Conrail announced plans to merge in October touching off a major bidding war.
This whole process has garnered a lot of attention in our area, where N-S and C-S-X are both big employers.
(-------------)
Live=Len Full/Newsroom


Kim coming up on News-7 at Six, we'll be talking with a person who helped craft several other mergers for Norfolk Southern.
Double Boxes=Kimberly and Len/Newsroom


We'll see how he rates the latest deal N-S has struck.

E-Execution


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=equ
TAPE#97-09
GRAPHIC=Death Penalty


The U-S Supreme Court has yet to decide if it will hear the appeal of a man convicted of killing his family.
So, last night, hours before he was scheduled to die, the Court postponed Douglas Buchanan, Junior's execution.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Amherst Co./September 1987;


Buchanan admits he violently killed his family in 19-87, when he was just 19.
He murdered his father, stepmother and two stepbrothers
Neighbors and relatives in the tiny Naola community hoped this execution would end their anguish.
Commonwealth's attorney Ed Meeks prosecuted the case. He pushed for the death penalty.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 2:10:24
IN Q=Of course

((ED MEEKS/PROSECUTOR: OF COURSE IT'S A SERIOUS, SERIOUS MATTER. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BALANCE THOUGH, THAT WHEN THERE'S A CAPITAL CASE, THERE HAS BEEN A TRAGIC, TRAGIC LOSS OF LIFE. AND I THINK YOU HAVE TO BALANCE THOSE THINGS AGAINST THE SEVERITY OF THE PUNISHMENT.))
SUPER=01-Ed Meeks/Prosecutor; :00
RUNS=:17
OUT Q=of the punishment.
(----------------)
VO-NAT

But Buchanan's lawyers say it was their client's anguished childhood that needed more attention.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Kimberly
SS=HOLD


So the U-S Supreme Court intervened. It's giving itself more time to decide if it will hear more about Doug Buchanan's state of mind the day of the killings.
Buchanan's lawyers had NOT even asked Governor Allen for clemency.
But the Governor issued a statement anyway, calling the murders deliberate and vicious and stating the execution should proceed.

Court-Bomb


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#net
GRAPHIC=none


The Illinois man charged with firebombing a courthouse faces an arraignment and bond hearing today.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Urbana, IL;


Police arrested 37- year- old John Ewing, Junior last night.
They believe Ewing threw a Molotov cocktail into a courtroom yesterday morning, while a civil trial was in progress.
The firebomb reportedly bounced off the judge's head, before starting a blaze that gutted the courtroom.
The judge and three other people suffered minor injuries.
Apparently, it was the same judge who had handled a civil case involving Ewing.
(----------------)


Boy-Well


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#net
GRAPHIC=none


A six- year- old boy in Maryland won't likely forget his latest game of hide- and- seek.
The child was playing with his younger brother when he fell through a shed floor,
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Parkton, MD;


and into this 50- foot well.
Rescue workers were able to get to the boy quickly.
They let down a life preserver and managed to pull him out of six feet of water.
The boy survived the ordeal with several scrapes and a broken leg.
(----------------)


Flooding


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#net
GRAPHIC=flooding
Flood waters and icy conditions have made the state of Minnesota an official

disaster area.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Ada, MN;


There's growing concern about ice jams holding back water on stretches of the major rivers.
But while the ice is slowing the rising waters, forecasters are expecting more serious flooding problems when the temperatures get higher.
Some evacuated residents were allowed to return home to pick up their belongings.
But it's still too dangerous for them to return permanently.
(----------------)


McVeigh-Waco


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#net
GRAPHIC=mcveigh


Another newspaper is publishing a letter supposedly written by Oklahoma bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh.
The letter is said to outline McVeigh's thoughts about the F-B-I siege in Waco.
Kristin Jeannette- Meyers reports. (/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=In the letter,
SUPER=03-Waco, TX/April 19, 1993; :00
SUPER=01-Stephen Jones/McVeigh's Attorney; :33 QUICK
SUPER=03-Perry, OK/April 21, 1995; :36
SUPER=03-Oklahoma City, OK/April 19, 1995; :46
SUPER=03-Denver, CO/Tuesday; :51
SUPER=01-Kristin Jeannette-Meyers/Reporting; 1:00
RUNS=1:13
OUT Q=CBS NEWS

((IN THE LETTER, MCVEIGH CHARGES THE FBI CAUSED WHAT HE CALLS THE "SLOW, TORTUOUS DEATHS" AT THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN COMPOUND. MCVEIGH, WHO HIMSELF WAS CAPTURED ON HOME VIDEO WHILE VISITING WACO, WRITES:
GRAPHIC: "The public never saw the Davidians' home video of their cute babies, adorable children, loving mothers or protective fathers. Nor did they see pictures of the charred remains of children's bodies."
THE LETTER WAS REPORTEDLY SENT TO THE REPORTER LAST FALL FOLLOWING HIS JAILHOUSE INTERVIEW WITH MCVEIGH.

SOT/STEPHEN JONES:

"I don't think there's anything in the letter that hasn't been said before."
PERRY/ OKLAHOMA CITY MCVEIGH'S ANGER AT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER THE WACO STANDOFF IS WELL-DOCUMENTED. PROSECUTORS HAVE SUGGESTED MCVEIGH'S VEHEMENCE OVER WACO COULD BE A MOTIVE FOR THE BOMBING WHICH OCCURRED ON THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE WACO FIRE. MCVEIGH'S ATTORNEY MINIMIZED THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LETTER BEING RELEASED IN THE MIDST OF JURY SELECTION.

SOT/STEPHEN JONES:

"I don't see anything in the report that really bears on this case."
SKETCHES MEANWHILE JURY SELECTION ACCELERATED BRIEFLY TUESDAY AS THE JUDGE EXCUSED ONE JUROR WHO SAID THE TRIAL / (GRAPHIC) "cost the government a lot of money" AND QUESTIONED THE DECISION TO MOVE IT TO DENVER.
KRISTIN JEANNETTE-MEYERS CBS NEWS ))

Proposition


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#net
GRAPHIC=none


A federal appeals court upheld California's ban on racial or gender preferences--
The measure is known as Proposition 2-0-9.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-San Francisco, CA;


Californians voted last November to ban affirmative action programs.
Soon after, a U-S District judge blocked the measure.
Now three federal appeals court judges say THAT ruling was wrong, in other words, California CAN end affirmative action.
Meanwhile after this ruling, opponents of Proposition 2-0-9 announced they'll appeal.
(----------------)


E-Glasgow-Fire


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=spr
TAPE#97-14
GRAPHIC=None


After four days of fighting wildfires in Rockbridge County, crew are spending today picking up the pieces.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Rockbridge Co./Monday;


The blaze scorched an estimated 400 acres since Saturday.
Firefighters are mopping up the area, removing any burning material near the fire line.
At this point investigators think the fire could have been sparked by a lightning bolt.
No structures have been threatened by flames... and no one was hurt.
(----------------)



Stable-Fire


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=kmc
TAPE#net
GRAPHIC=fire


An early morning fire in Massachusetts killed at least nine horses.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Saugus, MA;


Flames engulfed the structure-- The stable's owner says 25 other horses are safe and and accounted for, but another may still be on the loose.
The blaze also spread to two nearby barns.
Investigators have yet to determine how the fire started, but they don't consider it suspicious.
(----------------)


p-fire


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=amo
TAPE#597-12
GRAPHIC=fire


Flames scorched a Roanoke County home last night.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;


When firefighters arrived at this house in the 55-hundred block of Grandin Road Extension, there was already heavy smoke and fire damage to the structure.
No one was home at the time neighbors called the fire department.
Fire officials estimate the damage at 50-thousand dollars.
There's no word yet on the cause....no one was injured in the blaze.
(----------------)



P-Pulaski-Ax


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=tal
TAPE#597-08
GRAPHIC=fatal accident


Even the actions of a doctor, who stopped after seeing the accident could not save the life of a Pulaski woman yesterday.
Authorities say 51- year- old Phyllis Plotts was trapped in her car for more than an hour.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Pulaski Co.;


State police say this Ford Thunderbird was headed south on Route 11 in Pulaski County when it ran off the road, went sideways into the median and struck a tree.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 14:12:51
IN Q=

((S.L. CHUMLEY/VA STATE POLICE: THE TREE WAS EMBEDDED IN THE DRIVER'S DOOR AND THE CAR WAS WRAPPED AROUND THE TREE. ))
SUPER=01-S.L. Chumley/Virginia State Police;
RUNS=:05
OUT Q=around the tree.
(----------------)
VO-NAT


A doctor who was driving by stopped and performed an emergency tracheotomy at the scene.
Plotts was airlifted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she died a short time later.
(----------------)



E-Domestic-Violence


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=JoeD
TAPE#97-8
GRAPHIC=Domestic Violence


Central and western Virginia has lost a number of people to domestic violence in the past week.
Protecting those victims is no easy task, but as Joe Dashiell reports help is available.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q=In Roanoke last Tuesday
SUPER=01-Stephen Long/The Salvation Army; :14
SUPER=01-Don Caldwell/Commonwealth's Attorney; :25
SUPER=01-Ellen Brown/Women's Resource Center Dir.; :52
RUNS=1:14
OUT Q=JD News 7 Roanoke


((In Roanoke last Tuesday, in Hillsville on Thursday, again in Campbell County this week, explosive confrontations carried fatal consequences.
All cases of domestic violence that together claimed eight lives.
SOT 12:00:41
IN Q=Violence has always been there

((CAPT. STEPHEN LONG/THE SALVATION ARMY: VIOLENCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE, BUT IT SEEMS TO BE GROWING IN PROPORTION.))
RUNS=:07
OUT Q=growing in proportion.


And as the Hillsville shooting showed, police protection is no guarantee of safety.
SOT 14:44:04
IN Q=The sad reality

((DON CALDWELL/COMMONWEALTH'S ATTORNEY: THE SAD REALITY OF THAT HILLSVILLE SHOOTING IS THAT ALL OF THE COURT ORDERS, ALL THE PIECES OF PAPER IN THE WORLD ARE NOT GOING TO PROTECT YOU FROM SOMEBODY WHO HAS FIXATED AND IS DETERMINED TO KILL YOU.))
RUNS=:17
OUT Q=is determined to kill you.


Prosecutor Don Caldwell says the best advice may be to hide from the abuser, until authorities can help.
Local organizations also offer shelter and counseling.
SOT 15:15:15
IN Q=We can't promise

((ELLEN BROWN/WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER DIR.: WE CAN'T PROMISE THAT WE CAN PROTECT THEM, BUT WHEN WE'RE WORKING WITH A WOMAN AND HER CHILDREN, SHE WOULD HAVE A MUCH BETTER CHANCE OF KEEPING HER SANITY AND SURVIVING.))
RUNS=:13
OUT Q=sanity and surviving.


Ellen Brown says the Salvation Army's Turning Point Women's Shelter, and the Total Action Against Poverty Women's Resource Center stand ready to help.
Joe Dashiell News 7 Roanoke))

Beyer


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=Noon
WRITER=lba
TAPE#none
GRAPHIC=beyer, don


As the election inches nearer,
Lieutenant Governor Don Beyer, the presumed Democratic nominee for governor is talking tax cuts.
He said today he wants to wants to eliminate the tax for companies with less than five- million dollars a year in sales and 50-thousand dollars in profit.
Beyer estimated that the tax cut would cost Virginia 20- million each year, which he said is not much in the context of a two-year, 34- billion-dollar budget.

p-county-supers


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=afr
TAPE#597-09
GRAPHIC=co seal


The Roanoke County Board of supervisors says the School Board needs to cut several hundred- thousand dollars from its budget.
This, after the school board submitted its 1997-98 budget last night.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;


Supervisors' Chairman Bob Johnson says two and a half million dollars is needed for phase one of county school construction improvements.
The county has come up with one-point-eight million dollars.
Johnson says it's up to the school board to find the remaining funds.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 8:46:13
IN Q=

((BOB JOHNSON: AND WE'RE SOME SEVEN, 800 THOUSAND SHORT AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME TO IMPLEMENT THIS FIRST PHASE. I LOOK TO PRODUCTIVE MEETINGS WITH THEM AND STAY TUNED. IT ISN'T OVER. ))
SUPER=01-Bob Johnson/Supervisors Chairman;
RUNS=:12
OUT Q=isn't over
(----------------)
VO-NAT


But the School Board Chairman did not realize the board had to come up with savings this year.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT8:51:13
IN Q=the one

((MIKE STOVALL/SCHOOL BOARD CHAIR: THE ONE MISCOMMUNICATION THAT I THINK IS HERE. IS THE FACT THAT WE DID NOT KNOW THE FULL AMOUNT AND FULLY WHAT THE BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION WAS LOOKING AT. ))
SUPER=01-Mike Stovall/School Board Chairman;
RUNS=:11
OUT Q=looking at
(----------------)
VO-NAT


The two groups will continue working on the budget over the next several weeks.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Kimberly
SS=NONE


Balancing the budget is on the minds of Martinsville lawmakers, as well.
Monday, City Manager Earl Reynolds unveiled a plan that calls for a 25 percent real estate tax hike.
That would result in an increase of 100 to 200 dollars a year for the average homeowner.

E-Burlington-Sludge


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=tal
TAPE#97-18
GRAPHIC=None


Sludge will not be the fertalizer of choice in Pulaski County this season.
Farmers will not be ALLOWED to use it.
This, after the county's planning commission put off a decision on the process until July.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Pulaski Co./January 14;


The sludge is left in two lagoons, waste from the industrial process which Burlington promised to clean out and return to nature.
It's contracted a company which is requesting a special use permit to spread the material on several farms in the county.
(----------------)
ANCHOR=Kimberly
SS=NONE


The planning commission had asked for a detailed list of the chemicals in the sludge.
But zoning administrator Dari (DARE-ee) Jenkins says Burlington has not been able to provide the information.
County officials are concerned about the possibility of groundwater contamination.

P-Ambrose


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=KHu
TAPE#97-13
GRAPHIC=D Day Memorial


A D-Day memorial in Bedford that has yet to be built has attracted the attention of a nationally recognized historian.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Washington DC


Stephen (Am-brohse) Ambrose addressed reporters yesterday at the National Press Club.
SUPER=03-Normandy, France/June 6, 1944


He spoke of the extraordinary sacrifices in securing the beachhead at Normandy...in the face of relentless German mortar fire.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT 16:59:14
IN Q=

((ERNIE PYLE, WHO WALKED THE GROUND THE NEXT DAY, SAID IT WAS A "MIRACLE THAT WE GOT IN ON THIS BEACH." IT NOT A MIRACLE. IT WAS INFANTRY. IT WAS YOUNG AMERICAN KIDS, ASSUMING THE RESPONSIBILITY AND GETTING THE JOB DONE. IT WAS BEDFORD THAT TOOK THE WORST HIT OF ALL. OF ALL THE COMMUNITIES, NOT JUST IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT THROUGH THE DEMOCRATIC WORLD, IN CANADA IN ENGLAND, BEDFORD TOOK THE BIGGEST HIT OF ALL.))
SUPER=01-Stephen Ambrose/Historian; :27
RUNS=:30
OUT Q=hit of all
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Bedford


The Memorial on a hillside above Bedford Elementary School is still two to three years away from construction.
(----------------)



E-Mary-Baldwin


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=KHU
TAPE#97-16
GRAPHIC=mary Baldwin


Ten-Million dollars is making its way into the treasury at Mary Baldwin College thanks to an anonymous donor.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Staunton;


It's the largest gift the school has ever received at one time... perhaps the biggest buddle of cash ANY women's college has ever gotten.
Mary Baldwin says some of the money will be used to renovate the Administration Building that was built two years after the liberal arts college was founded in 18-42.
(----------------)


WEATHER
SUPER=300-42/33/NW 12mph/30.19r/86/1959/22/1972;
SUPER=301-45/31/Var 7mph/30.15r/87/1929/26/1972;

Forecasts
SUPER=X5000;
SUPER=330-Freeze/Warning/24-28/Sunny/& Cool/52-56;
SUPER=331-Freeze/Warning/26-30/Sunny/& Cool/54-58;
SUPER=332-Hard/Freeze/21-25/Sunny/& Chilly/46-50;
SUPER=333-Freeze/Warning/20-24/Sunny/& Cool/46-50;
SUPER=334-Near Record/Lows/18-23/Sunny/& Chilly/44-48;
SUPER=X5001;


S-Main-Street


ANCHOR=Kimberly
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=lbe
TAPE#97-19
GRAPHIC=None


An illegal checking scheme may cost a Martinsville bank more than a- half- MILLION- dollars.
(----------------)
VO-NAT
SUPER=03-Martinsville/File Tape;


The activity occurred in the first quarter of this year at the Piedmont Trustbank, a subsidiary of the MainStreet BankGroup.
The bank says it's disappointed because it has procedures to detect this kind of activity.
Those procedures were strengthened immediately.
(-------------)
ANCHOR=Kimberly
SS=None


MainStreet will press charges against the customer who allegedly did this, and it expects to recover up to 300- thousand- dollars of the money.
The bank had to deal with a big theft several years ago, when an employee pleaded guilty to embezzling more than a million- dollars.

Avalanche


ANCHOR=Patrick
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=sma
TAPE#=S6-25
GRAPHIC=Salem Avalanche


The Salem Avalanche watched its record fall to 0-and-5 last night with a loss to the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
(----------------)
VO-NAT #eng
SUPER=03-Salem/Blue Rocks vs. Avalanche;


A little pregame fun was in order at the ball park before the bats started swinging.
Wilmington took a 2-nothing lead in the top of the first and threatened again in the top of the third before Steve Shoemaker struck out this Blue Rock to end Wilmington's run.
SUPER=37-Wilmington/8/Salem/2/Salem Now 0 & 5;


The Blue Rocks went up 3-nothing in the 4th on this two bagger off the wood of Emilliano Escandon. Wilmington denies Salem its first win of the season 8-2.
(-------------)
ANCHOR=Mike
SS=Lynchburg Hillcats


The Hillcats played their home opener last night in the Hill City and beat Frederick 7-5 to improve to 4 and 1 on the season.

Cave


ANCHOR=Patrick
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=Mike
TAPE#net (edit of S7-3)
GRAPHIC=HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL


On the high school diamonds yesterday the Cave Spring Knights improved to 2-and-1 in the R-V-D and 4 and 2 overall with a 13 to 4 win over Patrick Henry.
(----------------)
VO-NAT eng#
SUPER=03-Roanoke/Knights vs. Patriots;:00


In the second inning, the Knights made their first mark on the scoreboard with Tyler Kirby driving in Mark Snodgrass and Michael Duncan.
SUPER=34-Cave Spring/13/Patrick Henry/4;


Cave Spring made it 4-to-nothing in the third as Greg Wells singles to right field and plates Patrick Conley and David Trumbower.
The Knights would go on to win the game 13 to 4.
(-------------)


Awards


ANCHOR=Patrick
NEWSCAST=noon
WRITER=sma
TAPE#=net (edit of S7-6)
GRAPHIC=High school basketball


Roanoke's Kiwanis Club tipped their hats to some local hoopsters.
(----------------)
VO-NAT #eng
SUPER=03-Salem; :00


The main attraction was the Kiwanis coach and player of the year awards for boys and girls.
Lord Botetourt had a clean sweep as David Wheat took home the coaches' trophy and Lady Cavalier guard Sara Moore was the girls' recipient.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q="There's

((SARA MOORE/KIWANIS GIRLS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:)) ((DAVID WHEAT/kIWANIS GIRLS COACH OF THE YEAR:))
SUPER=01-Sara Moore/Kiwanis Girls Player of the Year; :00
SUPER=01-David Wheat/Kiwanis Girls Coach of the Year; :12
RUNS=:20
OUT Q=....supporting"
(----------------)
VO-NAT(Con't)


On the boys' side; William Fleming's Charles Burnette was selected as the Kiwanis boys player of the year; while the coach of the year award went to Glenvar's Art Lawrence.
(/////SOT/////)
SOT
IN Q="My

((ART LAWRENCE/KIWANIS COACH OF THE YEAR:)) ((CHARLES BURNETTE/KIWANIS BOYS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:))
SUPER=01-Art Lawrence/Kiwanis Boys Coach of the Year; :00
SUPER=01-Charles Burnette/Kiwanis Boys Player of the Year; :10
RUNS=:17
OUT Q=...really have to say"
(-------------)

PrimeTimePromo
ANCHOR=Kimberly


We'd like to remind you about News 7 Prime Time, every week night on W-E-F-C Check your local cable listings for the station in your area. at 10.
by SS