WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 09/15/98

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[7Parkway-Ax]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-59 tc]
[GRAPHIC=Accident]

An accident last night on the Blue Ridge Parkway resulted in a Copper Hill man being airlifted to the hospital.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./Last Night;]
It happened around 11-30 near the 132 mile marker just off of Bent Mountain. Park rangers say the victim flipped his car on its hood while going through a turn. Rescue workers say the man did not appear to suffer any life threatening injuries, but said he did lose a substantial amount of blood.
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[7Home-Depot]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=98-]
[GRAPHIC=Home Depot Rezoning]

The proposed Home Depot store in Roanoke County continues to stir up controversy.
Opponents of the retail giant gathered last night to create a plan of action.
Joe Dashiell has more on the meeting.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Roanoke County residents]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Christine Vaughan/Development Opponent; :09]
[SUPER=01-Conal Shaw/Development Opponent; :18]
[SUPER=01-Josonja Phelps/Development Opponent; :32]
[SUPER=01-Tom MacMichael/Development Opponent; :38]
[SUPER=@Joe1; :56]
[RUNS=1:05]
[OUT Q=Joe Dashiell News 7 Roanoke Co.]

((Roanoke County residents lined the walls of the Brambleton Center meeting room, as opponents aired their complaints and organized their fight.
[IN Q=That's my home]
((CHRISTINE VAUGHAN: THAT'S MY HOME FOR FIFTY YEARS AND I DON'T WANT ALL THAT NOISE AND TRAFFIC, AND EVERYTHING BACKED UP RIGHT AGAINST MY DOOR. I DON'T WANT THAT.)) ((CONAL SHAW: ACRES OF ASPHALT DON'T EXACTLY FIT IN THE PLAN.))
[RUNS= :13]
[OUT Q=fit in the plan.]

The Cave Spring Citizens Group signed up members and solicited pledges of financial support, and leaders of the new group urged residents to make their voices heard.
[IN Q=A lot of people]
((JOSONJA PHELPS: A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T WANT IT TO COME TO THE AREA, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS THIS MANY PEOPLE.)) ((TOM MACMICHAEL: I THINK THERE'S THREE TO FOUR HUNDRED PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM THAT ARE WILLING TO START WRITING LETTERS AND MAKING PHONE CALLS AND WRITING FAXES. SOUNDS LIKE EVERYONE IN THAT ROOM IS READY TO DO THAT.))
[RUNS= :15]
[OUT Q=was ready to do that.]

Home Depot has its defenders , county residents who welcome the economic benfit both in new jobs and additional tax revenues.
The supervisors will hear from both sides next week, when they reopen the rezoning debate with a public hearing.

Joe Dashiell News 7 Roanoke County))

[7E-I-73]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
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[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-55 59:43]
[GRAPHIC=I-73]
One of several possible I-73 alternative routes would run through the backyards of some Southwest Roanoke County residents. And they say that's just not the answer.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.;]
The proposed route that would run from Dixie Caverns through Roanoke County to Boones Mill is one of several options V-DOT engineers are studying. Cotton Hill Road residents fear the road would decrease property values and have a negative impact on the area's beauty.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT=19:25:58]
[IN Q=I MOVED FROM]
((LISA HOLT/COTTON HILL RESIDENT; I MOVED FROM CALIFORNIA. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I MOVED, WAS TO COME TO A MORE RURAL AREA. I THINK THAT IT WOULD CHANGE THAT ENTIRELY.))
[SUPER=01-Lisa Holt/Cotton Hill Resident;]
[RUNS=08]
[OUT Q=THAT ENTIRELY.]
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[VO-NAT]
Others say V-DOT's efforts would be better spent elsewhere.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT=19:39:34]
[IN Q=IN OUR EYES]
((ALAN GLIENER/ROANOKE CO-SALEM INTERSTATE IMPACT NETWORK; IN OUR EYES, 220 IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS EQUATION. IT MUST BE TAKEN CARE OF. IT'S A DANGEROUS ROAD. IT'S UNSAFE, THERE'S TOO MANY TRUCKS ON IT FOR THE KIND OF ROAD THAT IT IS. IT NEEDS TO BE UPGRADED.))
[SUPER=01-Alan Gleiner/Interstate Impact Network;]
[RUNS=17]
[OUT Q=TO BE UPGRADED.]
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[VO-NAT]
Public participation and input is one of the ways V-DOT will determine where to place the highway that promises to increase economic development and provide jobs.
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[7E-School-Informatiom]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=School Information]

The heat will again send many area students home early from school today.
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[Pinnacle pages]
All Danville schools are running on just a half-day session Tuesday. Fraklin County High School, Benjamin Franklin Middle School, and the "CATCE" (CAT-See) Center are all closing two hours early. In Montgomery County, Shawsville and Auburn Middle and High Schools will close at Noon.
As will Blacksburg and Christiansburg Middle Schools.
In Henry County, the elementary school closes at noon, the middle school dismisses at 12-45, and the high school closes at one.
Closing at 12:45 will be Margaret Beeks, Christiansburg, Belview, Price's Fork and Gilbert Linkous Elementary Schools.
In Martinsville, Patrick Henry Elementary closes at 12-30. Albert Harris Elementary sends students home at one. All Pittsylvania County and Patrick County schools will close at one today. And in Smyth County, schools dismiss at one-thirty.
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[7WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
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Taking a look now at your Tuesday forecast..
Southwesterly breezes will fuel the hot weather today, with temperatures climbing into the mid-90s under mostly sunny skies.
Clear skies stick around overnight, with temperatures dropping into the mid- to upper-60s.
The extended forecast...
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[7BIRTHDAYS!] 9/16/98
Wednesday:

[SUPER=130-5/Haley Atkins/Roanoke]

[SUPER=130-1/Sean Barger/Roanoke]

[SUPER=130-5/Steven Helms/Hardy]

[SUPER=130-5/Jazmin Henderson/Roanoke]

[SUPER=130-15/Bridget Jones/Gretna]

No Pictures:

[SUPER=131-/Edna Doyle/Snow Creek][cutopen]

[SUPER=19-Melanie/Moon;][45E-Strickler]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
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[TAPE#98-64 12:17]
[GRAPHIC=Strickler]

Just days before his scheduled execution a reprieve for Tommy David Strickler.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Augusta Co./June 1990;]

Strickler was scheduled to die by lethal injection tomorrow night, for the 1990 abduction and murder of 19 year old Leann Whitlock of Roanoke.
The U.S. Supreme Court gave NO reason-- but has granted a stay of execution to review his case later this month.
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[45E-Falwell]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
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[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#98-53 1:02:30]
[GRAPHIC=Falwell]

President Clinton is forming his own prayer circle.
The president has asked at least two ministers to serve as spiritual advisers -- to pray with him weekly and help him resist temptation.
Meanwhile, the Reverend Jerry Falwell says it didn't take Starr's report to convince him that President Clinton is a sex addict who needs PROFESSIONAL help.
He's believed that for months.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]

Falwell also says it's time for Clinton to step down.
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[SOT 4:30:34]
[IN Q=I think that]
((REV. JERRY FALWELL: I THINK THAT HE HAS SO MANY SKILLS, HE HAS SO MANY THINGS, HE JUST DOESN'T HAVE ANY CHARACTER AND NEEDS HELP, AND HE SHOULD BE PRAYED FOR, HE DOES NEED HELP. I HOPE HE WILL RESIGN AND GET IT OUT OF OFFICE, SO HE CAN, IN THE MEANTIME, NO ONLY REBUILD HIS LIFE BUT HIS FAMILY.))
[SUPER=01-Rev. Jerry Falwell/Liberty University Chancellor; :00]
[RUNS=:19]
[OUT Q=but his family.]
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[VO-NAT]

Falwell is urging America's pastors to start using their pulpits to condemn Clinton's actions and the country's moral crisis.
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[45E-Flood-Grant]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
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[WRITER=chu]
[TAPE#98-62 21:05]
[GRAPHIC=Flood Relief]

It's been two years since Hurricane Fran flooded an entire Danville neighborhood and forced residents to flee their homes.
Residents still have seen any relief money.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville/Last Night; :00]

Residents of Water Street gathered at the Mount Carmel Baptist Church last night to hear about the status of a FEMA grant.
The director of Danville Emergency Services told them he doesn't know what's taking so long.
[SUPER=04-September 1996; :12]

More than 25-homes on Water Street were flooded during Fran in 1996.
The federal grant money would be used to relocate the homes away from the flood zone.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 47:05-:21]
[IN Q=We want to know answers]
((DOUG YOUNG/EMERGENCY SERVICES DIRECTOR: WE WANT TO KNOW ANSWERS FROM FEMA AS TO WHAT IS THE HOLD UP OF THIS PROCESS THAT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN YWO YEARS FROM THE START AND HERE IT IS 6 MONTHS FROM THAT TWO YEAR PERIOD AND WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE YEA OR NAY ANSWER FROM THEM YET.)) ((REV. JAMES STEWART/MT. CARMEL BAPTIST CHURCH: MY ADVISE IS THAT ALL OF US WRITE OUR SENATORS, WRITE THE CONGRESSMAN A LETTER WITH HOPE THAT THEY WOULD DO WHATEVER THEY CAN TO GET THIS EXPEDITED.))
[SUPER=01-Doug Young/Emergency Services; :00 ]
[SUPER=01-Rev. James Stewart/Mt. Carmel Baptist Church; :16]
[RUNS=:26]
[OUT Q=get this expedited.]
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[VO-NAT]

Danville Emergency Services says it has followed all of the grant application procedures and thought it would have seen the grant money by now.
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[45E-School-Informatiom]

[45WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
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Turning your attention now to weather--
Mostly sunny with more record highs in the low to mid 90s.
Clear skies tonight, with lows in the upper 60s.
The four day forecast is calling for just a possiblity of showers on Thursday-- but a good likelihood of cooler temperatures later this week.
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[SUPER=19-Melanie/Moon;][8Parkway-Ax]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-59 tc]
[GRAPHIC=Accident]

A Copper Hill man had to be airlifted to the hospital after suffering injuries in an accident last night on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./Last Night;]
It happened around 11-30 near the 132 mile marker just off of Bent Mountain. Park rangers say the victim flipped his car on its hood while going through a turn. Rescue workers say the man did not appear to suffer any life threatening injuries, but said he did lose a substantial amount of blood.
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[8Rezoning]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=98-49 TC 1:59:44]
[GRAPHIC=Home Depot Rezoning]

More than two hundred opponents to Roanoke county's Home Depot rezoning came out to voice their opinions last night.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.]

The Cave Spring Citizens Group collected signatures and pledges of financial support.
The group is also moving forward with plans to hire an attorney.
Leaders say they have at least three options. They include a legal challenge to the supervisors' vote, an effort to persuade one of the supervisors to change his mind, and a campaign directed at Home Depot to convince company officials they should look elsewhere.
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[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Home Depot has its defenders, who welcome the the new jobs and tax revenues the store would bring.
The supervisors will hear from both sides next week, when they hold a public hearing on the issue.

[8INTERSTATE-73]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=MEL]
[TAPE#NET-B; from tape 98-55]
[GRAPHIC=Interstate 73]

Meanwhile, OTHER Roanoke county residents were upset about a proposed route for Interstate 73.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./Last Night;]

Several residents from Southwest Roanoke county voiced their opposition last night.
The proposed route would run from Dixie Caverns through the county to Boones Mill.
It's one of several options V-Dot engineers are studying.
Some resident fear it would decrease property values and take away from the rural setting.
V-Dot will consider public input as it determines where to place the highway.
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[8E-Strickler]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#98-64 12:17]
[GRAPHIC=Strickler]

Perhaps a sigh of relief for Tommy David Strickler, who was granted a reprieve from his scheduled execution this week.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Augusta Co./June 1990;]

Strickler was scheduled to die by lethal injection tomorrow night, for the 1990 abduction and murder of 19 year old Leann Whitlock of Roanoke.
The U.S. Supreme Court gave NO reason-- but has granted a stay of execution to review his case later this month.
(-------0---------)

[8E-School-Informatiom]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=School Information]

90- PLUS temperatures will close several area schools early again today...
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[Pinnacle pages]
All Danville schools are running on a half-day schedule. Fraklin County High School, Benjamin Franklin Middle School, and the "CATCE" (CAT-See) Center are all closing two hours early. In Montgomery County, Shawsville and Auburn Middle and High Schools will close at Noon.
As will Blacksburg and Christiansburg Middle Schools.
In Henry County, the elementary school closes at noon, the middle school dismisses at 12-45, and the high school closes at one.
Closing at 12:45 will be Margaret Beeks, Christiansburg, Belview, Price's Fork and Gilbert Linkous Elementary Schools.
In Martinsville, Patrick Henry Elementary closes at 12-30. Albert Harris Elementary sends students home at one. All Pittsylvania County and Patrick County schools will close at one today. Smyth County schools will dismiss at one-thirty.
(------------)
[Anchor=Melanie]
[ss=none]

And all Giles County and Pulaski County schools will close two hours early.

[8WEATHER]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
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[WRITER=KMC]
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Taking a break from the news to check the forecast--
Mostly sunny and hot again today, with highs in the low to mid 90s.
Clear skies tonight, with lows in the comfortable upper 60s.
The extended outlook cools off later this week, with just a chance of showers on Thursday.
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