WDBJ 7 morning news for 11/26/98

[Headlines]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]

(----------------)
[VO-NAT]

An American comic legend has died of liver cancer. ]
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

And suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian faces a first degree murder charge.
[ANCHOR=Steve]
(ad lib weather)
[ANCHOR=Steve]
(ad lib live tease)

[ANCHOR=Melanie]

[KEVORKIAN]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=MEL]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Kervorkian]

Doctor Jack Kevorkian is facing life for assisting in death.
The retired pathologist challenged Michigan law by putting a video-taped euthanisia on sixty minutes.
Now he's been hit with the ultimate charge... first degree murder.
Kevorkian says he wants to put michigan's assisted suicide law on trial.
Drew Levinson reports.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-David Gorcyca/Oakland County Prosecutor; :09]
[SUPER=01-Jack Kevorkian/Suicide Doctor; :48]
[SUPER=01-John Skrzynski/ Prosecuting Attorney; 1:38]
[SUPER=01-Drew Levinson/Reporting; 1:44]
[RUNS=1:57]
[OUT Q=Drew Levinson, CBS News, Waterford Township,Michigan]

(( Doctor Jack Kevorkian turned himself in after prosecutor's announced their decision to charge him with murder for giving a lethal injection to a Lou Gehrig's disease patient who asked to be killed.
: David Gorcyca, Oakland County Prosecutor 14:32:20 Count one: premediated murder. count 2 assisted suicide, count three controlled substance.
After a brief hearing, Kevorkian was released by a Michigan judge on condition he stop assisting suicides.
Kevorkian: Your Honor, there won't be a parking ticket.
Kevorkian admits he injected 52 year old Thomas Youk with a fatal dose of potassium choloride on September 17 at Youk's request. The doctor offered a videotape of Youk's death to Sixty Minutes, which aired portions of the tape on Sunday in a report by correspondent Mike Wallace.

sot Kevorkian: Tom, do you want to go ahead with this? Youk nods; Yes.

sot Kevorkian
I've got to force them to act. They must charge me, because if they do not, that means they don't think its a crime.
Kevorkian succeeded in forcing his issue. Prosecutors subpoened CBS for the videotape and based on the tape and findings by police investigators decided to charge him.

SOT Gorcyca
I didn't give him anything/he did it to himself. 14:37:44 The time has come to resolve this issue in a court of law/not in the media. 34:39
John Skrzynski has unsuccessfully prosecuted kevorkian twice before for assisting in suicides. Having the videotape of the injection gives the prosecution powerful ammunition.
John Skrzynski, Prosecuting Attorney 14:44:34The starkness of the event is a very alarming thing to look at./ The law is the law.He did what he did, he's guilty.
Drew Levinson, CBS News, Waterford Township,Michigan.))

[E-Hugh-Finn]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#98-64 1:15:03]
[GRAPHIC=Right to Die]

A Prince William County judge has ruled that Governor Gilmore exceeded his authority in the Hugh Finn case.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@file;]

Michele Finn wanted her husband's feeding tube disconnected after he lived in a vegetative state for three and a half years.
Governor Gilmore tried unsuccessfully to intervene.
[super=03-Prince William Co.]

Finn's widow says she racked up 40-thousand dollars worth of legal bills fighting GIlmore.
Yesterday, a court said the state should pay her 13-thousand dollars.
(/////SOT////)
[SOT 21:20:05]
[SUPER=01-Greg Murphy/Michele Finn's Attorney ]
[super=01-Del. Bob Marshall/(R) Manassas;:]
[IN-Q=Taxpayers of Virginia]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=thought was the law.]
[TALENT=Melanie]
[SS=Hold]

The Judge ruled that the Governor exceeded his authority -- when he tried to intervene in the removal of Finn's feeding tube -- AFTER a court deemed the action legal.

[Botched-Robbery]

[ANCHOR=Mel]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=kor]
[TAPE#=98-37 TC23:49]
[GRAPHIC=none]

A man who tried to hijack a detectives car was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]

On May 7th, 20 year old Antuan(an-Twan) Taylor paid 20 dollars for a stolen car and then went looking for money.
Prosecuters say that Taylor robbed a gas station worker who was walking to the bank with a big bag of cash.
When Taylors stolen getaway car would not start, he ran to the bank across the street.
Taylor then tried to steal Roanoke Police detective Ron Jones car. Jones chased Taylor for about 100 yards, tackeled him and recovered the money.
(------------)
[anchor=melanie]
[ss=none]
Taylor was sentenced this week.

[E-Franklin-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-75 1:19:32]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Investigation]
Authorities say they WOULD charge a North Carolina man with capital murder in connection with the death of a victim found in Franklin County, but the suspect is dead. Frank Kirkland, a known drug dealer, took his own life while in jail after being arrested on unrelated charges.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Officials say, based on the evidence, Kirkland had something to do with the murder of 23-year old (Willie Kathy) Willey Cathey. Cathey was found on a Franklin County driveway two weeks ago. It's believed his death was drug related.
(------------)

[E-Forest-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=98-79 1:50]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]

Wildfires in Augusta County will keep firefighters from across the country busy today battling the blaze.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Augusta Co.]

The wildfire in George Washington and Jefferson National Forests has now consumed fifteen-hundred and thirty acres.

Some 450 firefighters from as far away as New Mexico and New Hampshire are joining forces to contain the blaze that was sparked Saturday.
They say the rain is NOT expected to help much.
Officials suspect the fire was caused by a human.
(------------)

[1-Sports]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=sports cut in]
[GRAPHIC=None]

In sports, the Cavaliers hang on to beat the Pirates.
Roy Stanley has details.
Good Morning Roy.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Good morning]
[RUNS=1:39]
[OUT Q=later on mornin]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
(toss to steve for weather)

[One-Steve]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=spa]
[TAPE#M98-9]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]

[Microwave]
[SUPER=15-Steve/Pardon;]
[SUPER=11-Roanoke;]
[SUPER=01-Tayloria Prunty/Salvation Army Cook;]
[SUPER=11-Roanoke;]

(I'll call for Vid)
(----------)
[VONAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;]
[RUNS= 1:00]
(----------)

[Steve Live]

(toss to stocks)
[STOCKS] [COMM] ((Archive:Thanksgiving))

[FLIP-WILSON]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=MEL]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=none]

The nation has lost a funny man.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@File;]

Flip Wilson died at his California home last night from liver cancer.
Back in the 1970's, Wilson had a top-rated show on N-B-C, becoming the first successful black host of a television variety show.
As his comically outrageous alter-ego Geraldine, Wilson put on a wig, high heels and colorful mini-dress and sashayed into America's living rooms.
He popularized the phrases ``The devil made me do it'' and ``What you see is what you get.''
Wilson was 64.
(----------------)

[E-Lake-PAB]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=98-68 1:03:15]
[GRAPHIC=SML]

Smith Mountain Lake Policy Advisory Board members may spend an extra nine hundred dollars a month in rent after being asked to leave their current office.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@File;]

Ed Waters says if the Board does not fire its director, Hilde Hussa, he will pay them to move their office out of Bridgewater Plaza.
He says Hussa has brought negative publicity to Smith Mountain Lake by making it seem dirty.
For example, she took reporters to see volunteers cleaning up, but Waters says she constantly uses the words trash, garbage and debris.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 17:26:20]
[IN Q=She's done well]
((BOB WEBSTER/POLICY ADVISORY BOARD: SHE'S DONE WELL IN ORGANIZING THE NEW ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE. SHE HAS A LOT OF ATTRIBUTES YOU'D LIKE TO SEE IN A GOOD EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATOR. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME TIMES SHE'S SPOKEN OUT ON SUBJECTS AND IRRITATED PEOPLE. THAT WAS NOT INTENTIONAL.))
[SUPER=01-Bob Webster/Policy Advisory Board;]
[RUNS=:21]
[OUT Q=not intentional]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Board members are negotiating a lease on a new office across the street, saying they need more space.
(------------)

[E-Rocky-Mount]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=98-74 14:44]
[GRAPHIC=Franklin Co. Land Transfer]

Franklin County is willing to give the town of Rocky Mount more land in order to keep a new shopping plaza.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co.;]

A super-Kroger shopping center that might also include restaurants and a movie theater is set for this land on Route 40 East of town.
But Kroger says it'll back out, unless the town or county runs sewer lines along this strip.
Franklin County supervisors agreed last night to give Rocky Mount about 83 acres and a share of the tax revenues.

That way the town will provide utilities.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=Hold]

This voluntary boundary adjustment is subject to two public hearings next month.

[FOX]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Parkinson's Disease]

Actor Michael J. Fox says he has parkinson's disease.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@File;]

In a magazine interview the 37 year old T-V star says he was diagnosed in 1991 and it's progressing.
He says he's speaking out... to help others who are coping with the incurable disease.
Parkinson's disease is an illness of the central nervous system, and can leave some people unable to walk or talk.
About a million Americans have the disease, many of them over the age of 60.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[4:12:00]
[IN Q=it's very uncommon;]
[SUPER=01-Dr. Stanley Fahn/Neurologist]
[RUNS=:09]
[OUT Q=BEFORE THE AGE OF 40]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]

Fox says he plans to continue to work on his television comedy Spin City. 5
(----------------)

[Health-Check]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=NET]
[GRAPHIC=Mornin Health Check]

In medical news, blood taken from the umbilical cord of newborns could help those in need of a bone marrow transplant.
Mika Brzezinski has that story and more in this morning's Health check.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Good Morning]
[SUPER=01-Mika Brzezinski/Reporting; :00 ]
[RUNS=1:25]
[OUT Q=CBS News, New York.]

(melanie tosses to weather)[Two-Steve]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=spa]
[TAPE#NONE]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]

[Microwave]
[SUPER=15-Steve/Pardon;]
[SUPER=11-Roanoke;]
[SUPER=01-Cpt. Steve Long/Salvation Army;]
[SUPER=11-Roanoke;]

[Double Boxes=KMC & SPA]
(toss to Kimberly)
((Archive:Thanksgiving)) [2-HEADLINES]
[Anchor=Melanie]
[SUPER=#4049; Morning Headlines]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

Here's a look at today's top stories.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

Hundreds of firefighters will spend thanksgiving day battling a wildfire in Augusta County.
The flames have already tourched 15-hundred acres in the George Washington and Jefferson National forests.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

An explosion at an oil refinery plant in Washington state has left six people dead.
A witnesses says the explosion and fire yesterday afternoon sent a mushroom cloud of black smoke towering over the plant in Anacortes (an-uh-KOR'-tes), some 60 miles north of Seattle.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[ss=none]

Thanksgiving just wouldn't be complete without the Macy's Parade in New York City. The 72nd annual march kicks off this morning, with balloons, marching bands and lots of celebrities. Officials are keeping a close eye on the wind, which caused trouble with the Cat-in-the-Hat balloon last year.
(----------------)
[anchor=Melanie]

And that's what's making news on this Thursday, November 26th.
News 7 Mornin' will be right back.

[2-E-Forest-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#=98-79 1:50]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]

Firefighters from across the country will spend today fighting wildfires in Augusta County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Augusta Co.]

The wildfire in George Washington and Jefferson National Forests has now consumed fifteen-hundred and thirty acres.

[REFINERY-FIRE]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=MEL]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Fire]

Six people have been killed in an explosion at a Washington state oil refinery.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Anacortes, WA;]
[RUNS=:04]
[OUT Q=(NATS OF FLAMES.)]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[4:11:59]
According to the company spokesman, the explosion occured in the "coker" which is part of the refining process.
Firefighters were able to quickly extinquish the flames.
The refinery is located some 60 miles north of Seattle.
It is less than a year old and is part of Texaco and Shell's U-S refining business.
(----------------)

[2-E-Franklin-Murder]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=djo]
[TAPE#=98-75 1:19:32]
[GRAPHIC=Murder Investigation]
Authorities say they WOULD charge a North Carolina man with capital murder in connection with the death of a victim found in Franklin County, but the suspect is dead. Frank Kirkland, a known drug dealer, took his own life while in jail after being arrested on unrelated charges.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Officials say, based on the evidence in the case, Kirkland had something to do with the murder of 23-year old (Willie Kathy) Willey Cathey. Cathey was found on a Franklin County driveway two weeks ago. It's believed his death was drug related.
(------------)

[E-Pepper-Spray]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=98-71 45:25]
[GRAPHIC=Pepper Spray]

Roanoke County officials continue to investigate the recent pepper spray incident involving a police officer and a 77-year old woman... but they hope to wrap up their review early next week.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./File Tape]

Goldie Akers was sprayed in the face on the morning of November 8th.
She was sitting in her parked car, facing the wrong direction when officer Russell Metcalf stopped to investigate.
Martinsville attorney Rickey Young says he was not surprised when he read about the incident in the newspaper.
In 1992, he represented a man who accused officer Metcalf of using excessive force during an arrest. The charge was dismissed.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 00:03:10]
[IN Q=So when I saw him]
((RICKEY YOUNG/MARTINSVILLE ATTORNEY: SO WHEN I SAW HIS NAME IN THE PAPER, I WAS LIKE, THERE HE IS AGAIN, MY FRIEND MR. METCALF. HE'S BACK. NOBODY BELIEVED US LAST TIME. MAYBE THEY'LL BELIEVE US NOW.))
[SUPER=01-Rickey Young/Martinsville Attorney;]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=maybe they'll believe us now.]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[GRAPHIC=None]

County officials had hoped to complete their investigation of the most recent incident before Thanksgiving, but they say they still have a few issues to work out.

[E-Ibarra]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=chu]
[TAPE#98-63]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Bassett Furniture Industries has settled a workers' compensation claim with the family of an employee who died on the job.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.;]

After three years of fighting for his death benefits, the family of Gabino Ibarra (GAB-EENO EE-BEARA) announced yesterday that they've received a check.
The amount is believed to be about 64-thousand dollars.
Ibarra died in 1995 after falling through a 12-foot hole from the third floor of a Bassett warehouse.
His death benefits will go to his parents, who live in a shanty in the mountains of Mexico.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 6:46:12-:20]
[IN Q=I'd rather not thank]
((CAROL TRUJILLO/IBARRA'S SISTER-IN-LAW: I'D RATHER NOT THANK BASSETT BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT GOD IS A LITTLE BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN BASSETT AND EVERYBODY'S BEEN PRAYING ABOUT THIS.))
[SUPER=01-Carol Trujillo/Ibarra's Sister-In-Law;]
[RUNS=:08]
[OUT Q=praying about this.]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=None]

In a statement from Bassett Furniture Industries, the company says it never wanted to deny benefits but just wanted proper evidence that Ibarra's parents were entitled to them.

[Three-Steve]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=spa]
[TAPE#NONE]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]

[Microwave]
[SUPER=15-Steve/Pardon;]
[SUPER=11-Roanoke;]
[SUPER=01-Cpt. Steve Long/Salvation Army;]

[SUPER=11-Roanoke;]

[double Boxes=SPA & MEL]
(toss to Melanie)

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=None]
(ad lib toss to bump)
[BUMP-Chyron]
[COMM #6]
((Archive:Thanksgiving))

[E-Beale-Treasure]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=98-60 1:54:58]
[GRAPHIC=Treasure Trails]

The search for the Beale Treasure has always focused on an area four miles around Montvale.
Maybe the tons of gold and silver Thomas Beale supposedly found out west are buried closer to the Peaks of Otter.

Keith Humphry has uncovered a different trail to the legendary treasure.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=It's long been]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Peter Viemeister/Author; :16]
[SUPER=03-Burkeville; :55]
[SUPER=07-Jerry Falwell, Jr.; 1:59]
[SUPER=07-Rev. Jerry Falwell; 2:10]
[RUNS=2:25]
[OUT Q=Humphry, NEWS 7.]
((It's long been assumed the old chimney near the tank farm in Montvale is all that's left of Buford's Tavern... unless it was the brick home next to the chimney.
When the Beale Papers were published, the author wrote the treasure was buried "about four miles from Buford's...."

(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 17:22:20]
[IN Q=]
((IF SOMEONE MEANT, "THIS TREASURE IS FOUR MILES FROM BUFORD'S...." IT DIDNT SAY BUFORD'S WHAT!)) [RUNS07]
[OUT Q=]

Relying on records in the Bedford County courthouse, and the suggestion of one of his readers, Peter Viemeister has discovered that Pascal Buford was much more than a Tavern owner.
In the 1820's Buford owned a place called "Fancy Farm," now the site of Northside Supply at the foot of the Peaks of Otter.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 17:222:45]
[IN Q=]
((THIS BUSINESS OF A FOUR-MILE CIRCLE AROUND SOMEWHERE. OKAY, YOU PUT YOUR COMPASS THERE ON NORTHSIDE SUPPLY, DRAW A FOUR-MILE CIRCLE AND SAY, "WELL, MAYBE IT'S IN THERE."))
[RUNS09]
[OUT Q=]

[NAT SOT- Train]

Viemeister offers another intriguing theory in his book... suggesting the Beale Papers were actually a "cover story" to account for the missing Confederate Treasury.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 17:07:15]
((THE TRAIN LEFT RICHMOND WITH THE CABINET AND WITH PRESIDENT DAVIS AND THE ASSETS WHICH HAD BEEN IN THE TREASURY OF THE CONFEDERACY.)) [:08]
Viemeister's theory is the Confederate Treasury funds got waylaid in Burkeville. A small group of loyal Confederates off-loaded some of the treasury funds to a west-bound train in Burkeville.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 17:08:55]
[IN Q=]
((THEIR TRAIN HEADS TOWARDS LYNCHBURG, WHILE THE OTHER ONE WENT ON TO DANVILLE.))
[RUNS04]
[OUT Q=]

Viemeister theorizes that the author of the Beale Papers COULD have been one of those Confederates... establishing a plausible tale to account for the later "discovery" of a huge treasure trove.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 17:14:40]
[IN Q=]
((THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN SPECULATION WHO WROTE IT. YOU KNOW IT WAS AWFUL CLEVER. THE FACTS ALL FIT ONE SUSPECT.))
[RUNS07]
[OUT Q=]

Viemeister's prime "suspect" is Ferdinand Hutter, the man who built this home in Lynchburg. He died a couple of months after the pamphlet was published in 1885.
The Sandusky mansion is now home to the Reverend Jerry Falwell. [Falwell Jr @ 16:26:10]
[IN Q=]
((I'VE RESEARCHED THE HOME. I KNOW FERDINAND HUTTER- -WHO BUILT THE HOME- -WAS THE PAYMASTER FOR THE CONFEDERATE ARMY,[
RUNS=:06] SO IT'S POSSIBLE THAT HE HAD ACCESS TO THE FUNDS.))
[RUNS10]
[OUT Q=]
((IF IT'S ON MY LITTLE SEVEN-ACRE LAWN, OR IN MY HOUSE, I'VE GOT TWO BOYS THAT NO DOUBT WILL KNOW WITHIN DAYS WHETHER IT IS OR NOT.)) [RUNS:10]
Before you rush over to help them look, you should know there's a guard at the gate.
Keith Humphry, NEWS 7.))

[MACY'S]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=MEL]
[TAPE=net]
[GRAPHIC=Thanksgiving]

It's a day for turkey, football, and of course the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-New York, NY;]
[4:19:13] The 72nd annual march kicks off this morning, with balloons, marching bands and lots of celebrities.
Parade officials this year have modified the way the balloons are handled following last year's accident with the Cat in the Hat a balloon.
This year, the big balloons will be guided by up to 60 trained handlers up from about 40 last year.
And while parade preparations are underway in New York,-- in Detroit they're learning how to handle those massive floats.
Drew Levinson reports.
(----------------)

[WIPE/WIPE/WIPE][Thanksgiving]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=]
[WRITER=]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=hold]

[wipe wipe wipe wipe]
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT yesterday's04:28:35]
[IN Q=natsound]
[SUPER=03-Detroit, MI; :19]
[SUPER=01-Ralph Skinner/Driving Instructor; :39]
[SUPER=01-Drew Levinson/Reporting; 1:21]
[RUNS=1:52]
[OUT Q=CBS News, Detroit]
(((NATSOUND PARADE) HAVE YOU EVER REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT GOES INTO MAKING A THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE? OBVIOUSLY THE BANDS TUNE UP, THE BALOON HANDLERS HUDDLE - THERE'S EVEN A COLLEGE FOR CLOWNS. BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE GIANT FLOATS-HOW DO PEOPLE LEARN TO NAVIGATE THEM? NATSOUND KEEP IT COMING, KEEP IT COMING."
(LOCATOR: DETROIT)
WELCOME TO ONE OF AMERICA'S STRANGEST DRIVING SCHOOLS- CALL IT FLOAT DRIVING 101. IN A SECLUDED BACK LOT NEAR DOWNTOWN DETROIT-DRIVERS ARE GETTING READY FOR ONE THIS COUNTRY'S LARGEST THANKSGIVING DAY PARADES. IT'S THE PLACE TO LEARN THE INS AND OUTS OF PILOTING THESE COLORFUL CONTRAPTIONS.
(SOT RALPH SKINNER/DRIVING INSTRUCTOR)
"There's a camera on the front of the vehicle, inside there's a monitor on the dashboard, so you'll be looking at that..the driver looks at the monitor."
(SOT FROM INSIDE )
"I'll be giving you hand signals directions, forward, stop, right left."
(NATSOUND)
SOME OF THESE FLOATS ARE AS BIG AS A BUS - BUT MADE OF CHICKEN WIRE AND PAPER MACHSE.
(STANDUP DREW LEVINSON/CBS NEWS)
"You would think trying to drive one of these floating monstrosities at only four miles an hour would be easy but it's not, in fact it's very difficult."
(SOT)
"Some people just don't realize you've got telephone poles on parade routes.":
(SOT)
"You have curbs, parked cars, people.barricades." TO QUOTE A CLICHI' -DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME-AS A MATTER OF FACT DON'T TRY IT BEFORE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND MILLIONS MORE ON TV BEFORE PASSING THIS HIGHLY REQUIRED COURSE WITH FLYING OR, UH, FLOATING COLORS. DREW LEVINSON, CBS NEWS, DETROIT.))

[E-Indian-Taxes]

[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=morn]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#98-77 8:23]
[GRAPHIC=Thanksgiving]

The Governor who loves cutting taxes can't argue with 352 years of tradition.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]

So yesterday Governor Gilmore accepted the annual tax tribute from the two Indian tribes who live on Virginia's only Indian reservations.
The Mattaponi (matta-puh-NYE) and Pamunkey (puh-MUN-kee) Indians have paid their taxes to Virginia governors in the form of beaver pelts, turkeys, and deer since 1646.
(-------0---------)

[3-Sports]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Mornin]
[WRITER=ssa]
[TAPE#=sports cut in]
[GRAPHIC=None]

In sports, a change of focus for this year's Tech- U-V-A matchup.
Roy Stanley has more.
Good Morning Roy.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Good morning]
[RUNS=1:32]
[OUT Q=day everybody.]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
(melanie tosses to weather)[Local-Recap]
[SUPER=#4059;Local Recap]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

Now here's another look at today's top local stories:
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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]

Firefighters from across the country will spend Thanksgiving battling a blaze that sparked Saturday in Augusta County.
Some 450 firefighters from as far away as New Mexico and New Hampshire are joining forces to fight the fire.
Fifteen-hundred and thirty acres of the George Washington and Jefferson National forests have been consumed.
Officials suspect the fire was caused by a human.
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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=MELANIE]

Authorities say Frank Kirkland ,A North Carolina man, WOULD be charged with capital murder in connection with the death of a victim found in Franklin County, but he is dead.
Kirkland, a known drug dealer, took his own life while in jail after being arrested on unrelated charges.
Officials say that based on the evidence Kirkland had something to do with the murder of 23-year old Willey Cathey.
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[VO-NAT]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
And Roanoke County Officials are continuing their investigation into the recent pepper spray incident involving a police officer and a 77 year old woman.
Goldie Akers was sprayed in the face on the morning of November 8-th. She was sitting in her parked car facing the wrong direction when officer Russell Metcalf stopped to investigate. County Officials hope to wrap up their review next week.
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[ANCHOR=MELANIE]
(STEVE mic hot)
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[2 shot=Mel/SPA]
(STEVE ad lib weather)
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[Double Boxes=MelaniE and Steve]
(toss)
[ANCHOR=Steve]
(live ad lib, tease tomorrow)
(ad lib bye) [Double Boxes=Melanie and Steve]