WDBJ 7 news at 5 for 04/23/98

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[VO-Nat] Coming up next on news 7 at 5, two children are killed and four members of their family are injured following a trailer fire this morning.
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and the man who confessed to killing civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior dies still proclaiming his innocence.[Wx-Heads]
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Passing showers and thunderstorms in the early evening forecast. More on that in a few moments.[medical-head]

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In medical news -- Special K has a new look that shows less is not always more.
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[VO-NAT]
And a new study shows most who used the diet pill Redux have no heart valve abnormalities.
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[VO-NAT]
A Henry County family is greiving today for two young children killed in a trailer fire overnight.
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[5-Henry-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
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[TAPE#598-13 36:03]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Fire]

Good Evening. I'm Jean Jadhon.
The parents and two other children managed to escape. Investigators say they now know what caused the fire.
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Christy Hubley is standing by with more.
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((ROLLCUE: could only save two.))
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[SUPER=01-Rodney Howell/Henry Co. Fire Marshall;]
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[5-Ray]

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The man who confessed to killing Martin Luther King Junior- is dead. James Earl Ray was 70. He had suffered from liver disease.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape]

Ray pleaded guilty in 1969 but soon recanted and spent decades seeking a new trial.
King's widow and children also called for a new trial- saying her family was denied due process without one.
King's son- Dexter interviewed Ray just years ago.
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[SOT 15:02:18]
[IN Q=]
((I JUST WANT TO ASK YOU FOR THE RECORD, DID YOU KILL MY FATHER? JAMES EARL RAY: NO, NO I DIDN'T NO.))
[SUPER=10-Dexter King/Martin Luther King's Son/File Tape]
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[OUT Q=NO I DIDN'T NO."]
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[VO-NAT]

Ray had been in a coma since Tuesday. He was serving a 99 year prison sentence for the King slaying.
King was gunned down outside a Memphis hotel in 1968- His widow, Coretta Scott King says it's a shame Ray died before getting a new trial. She is still calling for a full investigation of her huband's murder.
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[5-AIDS-Injection]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
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It may be a first of its kind case.
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[VO-NAT]

A father is charged with intentionally injecting his infant son with the AIDS virus.
Prosecutors say 31-year old Brian Stewart did it to avoid paying child support.
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((SHERIFF DOUG SAULTERS: BRIAN STEWART HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH TRANSMITTING THE HIV VIRUS TO HIS SON. THE ARREST CONCLUDES A TWO YEAR INVESTIGATION BY DETECTIVES.))
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[OUT Q=by detectives.]
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-St. Louis, MO;]

Detectives say Stewart had access to tainted blood when he worked at a St Louis hospital drawing blood.
Prosecutors say he injected his son when he was 11 months old.
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[Talent=Jean]
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The boy is now seven and in school, living everday with full blown aids.

[5-XGR]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
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[TAPE#598-21]
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The car tax cut and money for school construction are not in doubt, but much else remains so in the first hours of a special session of the Virginia General Assembly.
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Ellen Qualls is at the State Capitol---Ellen what's happening now?
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Authorities clear two police officers involved in a fatal shooting in Botetourt County. We'll have the details in a moment.
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[VO-NAT]
and from Richmond's Monument avenue, the statue honoring tennis great and native son Arthur Ashe is vandalized.
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[ANCHOR=Tonya]
On Health Check, A cereal maker says the models in its advertisements are going to look more realistic. [Two-Shot]
[Talent=Jean]
and Patrick Evans tries a new restaurant that's trying to get on track. [cc sponsor]
Comm Break#1

[5-Boty-Shooting]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
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The Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney says two deputies acted correctly in a shootout with a drunk driver.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co./March 1998;]

Brent Jenkins of Buchanan was driving drunk on March first -- his blood alcohol content was almost three times the legal limit.
Deputy Jay Spiva was about to administer a breathalyzer test when Jenkins shot him twice in the chest, then killed himself.
Backup deputy Greg Hepler also shot Spiva in the head from behind his truck.
But Jenkins' father says deputies should have put his son in the patrol car while they waited for the breathalyzer device -- instead of leaving him in the truck to panic.
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((C.L. JENKINS/FATHER: AT THIS TIME HE WAS IN THE OFFICER'S CARE. THE OFFICER SHOULD HAVE PUT BRENT IN THE CAR AND WENT UP AND SEARCHED THE PICKUP LIKE ANY OFFICER WOULD DO. THE OFFICER WOULD HAVE FOUND THE GUN AND ALL THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.)) ((JOEL BRANSCOM/COMMONWEALTH'S ATTORNEY: AS AN OFFICER ... NO SAFE WAY TO HANDLE THAT ARREST.))
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[OUT Q=no safe way to handle that arrest]
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[VO-NAT]

Branscom says both deputies acted correctly and has closed the case.
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[5-Ron-Nixon]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
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The latest now on our story on Roanoke Times reporter Ron Nixon.
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[SUPER=04-Last Week]

Nixon covers the American Electric Power line story for the newspaper.
He formerly served with Democracy South. It is a non partisan research organization that focuses primarily on campaign finance issues but also studies some environmental topics. The group offers its research results to various groups and media.
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[Talent=Jean]
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Until just today, Nixon was listed as treasurer of Democracy South on that group's website.
Nixon however has not been a member of Democracy South for more than a year. The group says its website contained outdated information.
Powerline opponents, however, recently distributed a letter which inaccurately refers to a current connection between Nixon and Democracy South.
Nixon and the Roanoke Times management have criticized News 7's coverage.
The newspaper executives and Nixon note he was required to serve with Democracy South as part of his former job with Southern Exposure magazine.

[5-Power-Line]

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So far, the State Corporation Commission has heard plenty of reasons not to build a new, high-voltage power line through Southwest Virginia.
The agency heard a new reason today.
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[VO-NAT]
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At this afternoon's public forum in Roanoke County, one speaker said building a new power plant would be better for the economy than building a new power line.
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((DAVID FOSTER/SALEM RESIDENT: THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF JOBS CREATED IN THE CONSTRUCTINO OF IT. AND SEVERAL OF ONGOING JOBS ONCE THE PLANT IS IN OPERATION.))
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[VO-NAT]

So far there have been public hearings in five southwest Virginia counties that lie along the power line's proposed route.
Of those five, Roanoke County has the most industry.
That was obvious today, as business and community leaders said the new line is vital for economic development.
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((BETH DOUGHTY: THE COST OF ELECTRICITY AND RELIABILITY AND AVAILABILITY OF ELECTRICITY IS ONE OF THE CENTRAL FACTORS IN SITE SELECTION DECISIONS.))
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[vo-nat]
Both the Roanoke County board of supervisors and the Roanoke City council have said there is a need to build the power line.
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[5-Ashe-Statue]

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Richmond's most controversial public art has been vandalized.
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[VO-NAT]
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The two year old statue for tennis great and civil rights leader Arthur Ashe was hit with paintballs overnight.
It's the first known vandalism to the statue.
The Ashe statue received both condemnation and praise when Richmond's City Council voted to place it on Monument Avenue-- the home of four Confederate statues.
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The Robert E. Lee statue is Monument Avenue's most prominent feature.

It was vandalized with spray paint last month.[tease#2]

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Still to come on the newscast, Patrick Evans is heading to another Planet for Lunch.
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A new place to eat out has opened up in the Valley, and Patrick Evans say it's a walk on the wild side!
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Just a few days after the Goody's 500, Motorsports in the state is once in the news. This weekend in Richmond the stars of drag racing are taking to the track. Mike Stevens will have a preview in a few minutes.
[ANCHOR=Tonya]
Coming up in tonight's health check report -- Relief for short term users of the diet drug Redux.
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[VO-NAT]
A study reports despite possible heart damage effects that led to a voluntary recall last year -- there's no sign of heart problems for people who took it for a couple of months.
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[IN Q=However with]
((BONNY LEE/BARIATRIC MEDICINE:HOWEVER WITH LONGER TERM USE, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RESULTS MIGHT BE. THE IMPORTANT FACT TO REMEMBER IS OBESITY IS A LONG TERM DISEASE.))
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[Comm Break#3][5-Pregnancy-Vitamins]

[ANCHOR=Tonya]
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Women who take vitamins early in pregnancy greatly reduce the odds their baby will be born too early or too small.

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[VO-NAT]

Recent studies indicate the vitamins can prevent some birth defects.
Doctors also found that minority women have three to four times the rate of premature births as white women.
Premature birth and low birth weights can lead to some on going health and developmental difficulties.

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A new study finds most of the two million Americans who took the prescription diet pill Redux are not suffering health problems as a result.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; ]

The drug, along with Phen-fen, was pulled off the market in September after a scare it caused heart valve damage.
A controlled study at Georgetown University tested Redux on volunteers for a couple of months.
The study found no signs of leaky heart valves.
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((BONNY LEE/BARIATRIC MEDICINE:THIS NEEDS TO BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION BECAUSE OBESITY IS NOT A THREE MONTH DISEASE.))
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[VO-Nat]
The Food and Drug Administration also says the study does NOT look into effects on people who took the prescription appetite suppressant for several months.
Lee says patients were never without risk, but side effects are sometimes worth it.
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((BONNY LEE/BARIATRIC MEDICINE:OBESITY KILLS 300-THOUSAND A YEAR IN TYHE UNITED STATES, THIS IS OUR SECOND LEADING PREVENTABLE CAUSE OF DEATH SO YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO TREAT IT WITHOUT SOME RISKS AND YOU HAVE TO DETERMINE IS THAT WORTHWHILE TO ME, AND THAT'S BETWEEN THE PATIENT AND THE PHYSICIAN, I THINK.))
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[VO-NAT]

Hundreds have sued Wyeth - Ayerst, the company that makes Redux.
Despite the favorable new findings, the drug manufacturer has decided NOT to reintroduce Redux.
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[5-Kellogg]

[ANCHOR=Tonya]
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[GRAPHIC=Health Check]

Kellogg's Special K cereal has launched a campaign aimed at promoting positive body images for women. The company has decided to stop using ads with thin models and replace them with ones that have a message of accepting individual's body image.
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[VO-NAT]

The campaign uses hard hitting images like the one with a baby girl asking Do I look fat?
The irony is to show little girls tend to adopt dieting habits at a young age.
A University of Michigan study of two thousand adolescent girls revealed one in three were on a diet.
Other ads feature a scale that measures I-Q instead of weight with the headline How do you weigh your self worth?
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[ANCHOR=Tonya]
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The print campaign gets underway this month.[2-Shot-Toss]
[ANCHOR=Jean]

In sports, Life is a drag this weekend in Richmond.
[ANCHOR=Tonya]

With more on the big N-H-R-A event this weekend. Here's Mike Stevens.[S5-Racing]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
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Welcome folks to what promises to be a fast paced two minute ticker.
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After running on NASCAR's slowest track this past week, the Winston Cup stars roll into the circuit's fastest speedway tomorrow when they arrive at Talladega for practice and qualifying.
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But it's also a big weekend for race fans back here in the Commonwealth as the Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie plays host to the NHRA Pennzoil Nationals.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-NHRA; :00]

The three year old facility has already earned a reputation for being one of the fastest quarter miles, and also one of the toughest - even for the legends of the sports.
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[SUPER=01-Kenny Bernstein/Bud Top Fuel Dragster Driver; :00]
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[VO-NAT con't]

If the conditions are just right as they were last year, speeds could be out of this world this weekend.
Last season Warren Johnson broke one of the last great barriers in drag racing when he topped the 200 miles an hour mark in the Pro Stock division.
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((WARREN JOHNSON/GOODWRENCH PRO STOCK DRIVER:))
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[OUT Q=...favorite of ours."]
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[graphic=nhra]

Over one and a half million dollars is up for grabs this weekend. Time trials opened today, with more qualifying set for tomorrow. The drag racing continues through the weekend with the finals beginning at 11 Sunday morning.[S5-Stuff]

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The Salem Avalanche has already completed its game today losing to Wilmington 4-to-3 in 11 innings.
Salem returns home tomorrow night.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Chicago, IL/WGN; :00]

In the big leagues this afternoon right field was the place to be as Ken Caminiti ripped the shot out of Wrigley field to lead the Padres to a 4-to-1 win over the Cubs.
[super=03-Milwaukee, WI/Dodgers vs. Brewers; ]

And in Milwaukee, Marquis Grissom smacked this opposite field shot off Hideo Nomo this afternoon in the 7th to give the Brewers a 2-to-1 win over the Dodgers. Nomo is now 1-and-3. Although he tossed a three hitter today.
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[TALENT=MIKE]
[GRAPHIC=TICKER]

More baseball coming up at six including a look at two former area high school stars Chad Foutz and Ryan Gilleland.

Take Care everybody.

[take a break][5-Underwater]

[ANCHOR=Jean]
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A Nebraska couple recently took the plunge.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Honduras;]

Normally during the wedding season, that wouldn't be a big deal.
But when Randy and Jill Neeman take a plunge they do it literally.
The couple met during a scuba diving class. So when they decided to get married, it seemed natural to do it 60 feet underwater.
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[OUT Q=planned ourselves.]
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[VO-NAT]

Dozens of guests donned scuba gear to join the Neemans underwater in Honduras. [Close-ID] [5pm] SUPER=x4035; fax/copyright[SUPER=x4034;email/copyright]