[7Execution]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]

[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#net-]
[GRAPHIC=Kenneth Stewart]


It had been four years since a Virginia Death Row inmate was executed in the electric chair- until last night.
A Bedford County man who killed his wife and baby on Mother's Day 19-91 chose to die in the chair.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@File;]


Forty-four-year-old Kenneth Stewart Junior gave no final statement last night before he was put to death at the Greensville Correctional Center.
Stewart was convicted of capital murder in the slayings of his estranged wife, Cynthia, and 5-month-old son, Jonathan.
He shot each twice in the head, then arranged the bodies in bed so that the boy was cradled in his mother's arms.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]

[1:58;48-57]
[IN Q=HE ENTERED THE DEATH CHAMBER.]
[SUPER=01-Dirk Paggett/Bedford Co. Assistant Prosecutor; ]
[RUNS=:08]
[OUT Q=HOW MUCH THEY ALLOWED US TO SEE.]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]


Virginia's electric chair has not been used since the state law was changed to give death-row inmates the choice of electrocution or chemical injection.
(----------------)


[7E-Hollins-Murder]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=tbr]
[TAPE#98-64 15:15]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Investigation]


The brother of a Hollins College student who was murdered three years ago has been arrested and charged in her death.
Anne Harper was stabbed and her Fairfax County home set on fire on Thanksgiving Day 1995.
This week her 21-year-old brother, Matthew, was arrested at James Madison University, where he is a student.
Frank Bond reports.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Fairfax Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-P. D. O'Keefe/Major Crimes Division; :12]
[SUPER=03-Fairfax Co./November 1995; :28]
[SUPER=01-Frank Bond/Reporting; :54]
[RUNS=1:34]
[OUT Q=case to court.]


[7WEATHER]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE #=]
[GRAPHIC=]



Taking a look now at your Thursday forecast...
A pleasant day today, with partly sunny skies and some light winds. Look for highs to reach the mid- to upper-70s.
Clear skies stick around overnight. Look for temperatures to drop into the mid- and upper-40s.
The extended forecast...
[CK/WX PRO=]

MAPS

[SUPER=X5000; set dissolve]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Light SE Winds/72-76/Clear &/Chilly/45-49;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]

[7BIRTHDAYS!] 9/26/98
Friday:

[SUPER=130-2/Hunter Cochran/Willis]



[SUPER=130-10/Justin Green/Dublin]



[SUPER=130-13/William Bradley/Roanoke]



[SUPER=130-5/Carson Nichols/Gretna]



[SUPER=130-1/Tyler Weeks/Willis]



[SUPER=130-8/Clay Willard/Martinsville]



[SUPER=130-1/Jacob Shuler/Martinsville]



[SUPER=130-50/Watson Smith/Rocky Mount]



[SUPER=130-32/Greg Dunbar/Daleville]



[SUPER=130-34/Karen Whitt/Stewartsville]



[SUPER=130-8/Lelyn Johnson/Roanoke]



[SUPER=130-12/Kelley Palmer/Ridgeway]



[SUPER=130-10/Tom Snyder/Bedford]


Anniversary:
[SUPER=130-50th/Dennis & Jean Galloway/Roanoke]


No Pictures:
Anniversary:
[SUPER=131-50th/Willis & Mona Tibbs/Rocky Mount]



[SUPER=131-44/David McKee/Roanoke]


Anniversary:
[SUPER=131-5th/Jeff & Beth Wyatt/Martinsville][cutopen]

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



[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Fatal Accident]


A worker for A-E-P died yesterday while on the job in Pittslyvania County.
It happened on Route 8-19.
Authorties say Samuel Edwin Martin of Collinsville was working on a powerline when he stepped into the roadway and was struck by car.
Martin died at the scene.
Police say no charges will be filed.

[45E-C'burg-Fire]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=THa]
[TAPE#98-]
[GRAPHIC=Fire Aftermath]


An elderly couple in Montgomery County watched helplessly as their house went up in flames yesterday.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Montgomery Co.;]


Robert Bradley and his wife live along Falling Branch Road, just outside Christiansburg.
They told fire fighters when they got home at about one PM, their house was engulfed in flames.
Fire investigators believe the blaze started in the living room and was sparked by an electrical problem.
No one was injured.
(----------------)



[45-5-Power-Line]


[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=AEP Powerline]


Some new developments in the eight year controversy over the A-E-P high voltage power line.
The State Corporation Commission says the company should take a hard look at building new power plants that run on natural gas, rather than construct a high-voltage power line.
The S-C-C still wants A-E-P to study a power line route that's different from the one the utility prefers.
This would run the line from Wyoming County in West Virginia, to Jackson's Ferry in Wythe County.

[45E-Wilderness-Academy]


[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=98-51 1:59:00]
[GRAPHIC=None]


Students at the Wilderness Leadership Academy will be transferred to other facilities today by the Education Department.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co.;]


The school is losing it's license and will close next week.
The Botetourt County Sheriff's Office has responded to a dozen assault-related calls, including a riot, plus 16 runaway reports during the past year.
Police also caught boys stealing beer and cigarettes from a nearby campground.
Major Ken Smith says some of these boys were at the wrong school.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 12:43:19]
[IN Q=It just didn't]

((IT JUST DIDN'T SEEM TO BE ... PLACEMENT NOT APPROPRIATE FOR THEM.))
[SUPER=01-Major Ken Smith/Botetourt Co. Sheriff's Office;]
[RUNS=:09]
[OUT Q=appropriate for them]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


Smith says citizens deserve a say in which teenagers attend an alternative school.
But neighbors here praise the Wilderness Academy's headmaster Colonel Gene Nervo.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 10:56:42]
[IN Q=As far as]

((LISA STATON/NEIGHBOR: AS FAR AS HIM HAVING THE ACADEMY, I THINK IT'S GREAT BECAUSE YOU DON'T FIND TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO HELP DISTURBED CHILDREN AND I THINK IT'S A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY.))
[SUPER=01-Lisa Staton/Neighbor;]
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=responsibility]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


Nervo loses his license next week.
He declined to comment.
(------------)



[45STORM-HAM]


[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=afr]
[TAPE#=98-68 TC 4:53]
[GRAPHIC=hold]


South Florida is bracing for Hurricane Georges after it cut a deadly path through the Caribbean.
Many islanders are now without water or electricty.
For some their only link to the mainland is through
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

HAM Radio operators like Roanoke's Juan Barr.
The are in constant contact with the island's hard hit by the storm, likeike Puerto Rico and Haiti.
Barr has been busy the past couple of days relaying weather data to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, and passing along disaster reports to agencies like the Red Cross.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 42:48]
[IN Q=it makes me feel]
[SUPER=01-Juan Barr/Amateur Radio Operator]

((JUAN BARR: IT MAKES ME FEEL GREAT, I CAN HELP PEOPLE, I FEEL LIKE I'VE DONE SOMETHING GOOD FOR THEM))
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=FOR THEM.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]


The whole set up costs only three thousand dollars. But HAM radio often functions when billion dollar satellites can't do the job.
(------------)



[45WEATHER]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE #=]
[GRAPHIC=]


Taking a break from the news to check the weather--
Expect partly sunny skies today, with highs in the low and mid 70s.
Clear and chilly again tonight, with lows in the upper 40s.
The four day outlook includes lots of sunshine and warmer temperatures, with highs climbing into the lower 80s.
[SUPER=X5000; set dissolve]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Light SE Winds/72-76/Clear &/Chilly/45-49;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]

[cutopen]

[SUPER=19-Melanie/Moon;][8E-Stewart]



[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#98-54 TC 1:56:10]
[GRAPHIC=Stewart]


Bedford County murderer Kenneth Manual Stewart was executed in Virginia's electric chair last night-- by his OWN choice.
It's the first time an inmate has died this way, since lethal injection became an option in the Commonwealth. [Take Map]
Stewart was pronounced dead at 9:11 at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt.
Ellen Qualls reports.
(/////SOT/////)
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Bedford/February 1992; :00]
[SUPER=01-Sharon Farmer/Protester;:23 ]
[SUPER=03-Jarratt; :29]
[SUPER=01-Larry Traylor/Department of Corrections; :36]
[SUPER=01-Dirk Paggett/Bedford Co. Assistant Prosecutor; :44]
[SUPER=01-Terry Scanlon/Media Witness; :54]
[SUPER=01-Richard Real/Media Witness; 1:05]
[SUPER=@ellen1; 1:25]
[RUNS=1:47]
[OUT Q=EQ N7, Jarratt.]


[8S-Hollins-Murder]


[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=98-61 52:52]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Investigation]


The BROTHER of a slain Hollins College student is believed to be responsible for her murder.
Police have indicted 21- year- old Matthew Harper in the murder of Anne Harper, which happened nearly three years ago.
Matthew Harper was arrested Monday at James Madison University.
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]


Anne Harper's body was found on Thanksgiving Day after a fire at her home.
[SUPER=03-Fairfax Co./November 1995]


Police said the fire had been set, and she had been stabbed.
Matthew Harper has also been charged with malicious burning and the attempted murder of his mother.
(------------)


[8S-Friendship-Manor]


[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutins]
[WRITER=tfl]
[TAPE#=98-57 1:02:43]
[GRAPHIC=None]


It's a rare distinction for long-term health care facilities, but Friendship Health Care Center is now certified by the Joint Commission on Accreditation.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; ]


Only 13 per cent of such facilities are certified...that's about one in every eight. The center has received three awards for quality health care in long term, sub-acute and dementia services. The program is voluntary, so not all nursing centers choose to participate.
(------------)


[8WEATHER]


[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE #=]
[GRAPHIC=]


Turning your attention now to the forecast--
Partly sunny today with a light breeze, highs in the mid 70s.
Skies will be clear overnight, with lows cooling into the upper 40s.
And looking ahead to the weekend, expect lots of sunshine and warmer temperatures...
[SUPER=X5000; set dissolve]

[SUPER=#555; reset] [SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Light SE Winds/72-76/Clear &/Chilly/45-49;]
by SS