WDBJ 7 news at 6 for 12/04/98

[1-News-Head]

(-----------)

[v/o-NAT SOT]

December temperatures continue to set record highs; home heating costs are going down along with temperatures.... sooner or later.
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[TALENT=Keith]

That's the top story on NEWS 7 at SIX:
And a county fire fighter is indicted for embezzlement.

[Sports-head]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]

In sports, it's girls high school state basketball tourney time, the Express hopes to ride through the Renegades,

(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-]

and pep rallies today are a sure bet that we will preview the football state championships tomorrow, drum roll please.
(------------)
[WX-Head]
[TALENT=Robin]
[SS=None]

If it's going to be this warm, it might as well be a record. More of the same Saturday and Sunday.

[Heating-Oil]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sgo]
[TAPE#98-64 1:29:34]
[GRAPHIC=Heating Prices]

'Tis the season to crank up the heat...usually.
But this year, warm weather is keeping consumers away from the thermostat.
Combine that with lower energy prices, and if this keeps up for a while, you could be saving a bundle.
[Double Boxes=Scott Full/Newsroom]

Scott Goldberg is in the newsroom tonight with more on the warm weather and cool prices.
[Live=Scott Full/Newsroom]
[SUPER=@Scott1;]

Keith, this should be welcome news for consumers:
Heating oil prices are following gas prices south -- courtesy of the global economic crisis.
The problem for companies that sell heating oil is:
Sales are way down because not many people are heating their homes when its 70-degrees outside.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;00]
[SUPER=01-Dwayne Tidrow/Homeowner;10]
[SUPER=01-Ron Lundy/ATB Whiting Oil Co.;23]
[RUNS=1:09]
[OUT Q="...jump ship yet."]
[pan from wreath and tinsel to thermometer] (( It's nothing out of the ordinary-- the first week of December-- to see holiday decorations.
It IS a little strange to see temperatures like this.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 23:49:24]
[IN Q=the temperatures]
((TIDROW: THE TEMPERATURES BEING THE WAY IT IS, WE'RE NOT HAVING TO RUN THE AIR CONDITIONING OR HEAT.)) [RUNS05]
[OUT Q=OR HEAT]

That keeps energy bills low for homeowners. [quick NATSOUND OF PIPE INTO TRUCK -- 1 SECOND]
And it keeps sales low for companies that supply the energy.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 23:35:43]
[IN Q=WE DON'T]
((RON LUNDY: WE DON'T ANTICIPATE LOSING MONEY. BUT WE WON'T BE AS PROFITABLE AS WE'VE BEEN IN THE PAST.)) [RUNS04]
[OUT Q=THE PAST]

The Roanoke Valley's biggest heating oil company says customers are using 22-percent less heating oil than last year.
[meters]
Utilities have the same problem; energy use is way down.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 23:34:17]
[IN Q=its the firs]
((LUNDY: IT'S THE FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER AND IT'S IN THE 70S. ANYTIME YOU'VE GOT WEATHER LIKE THIS, OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE NOT HEATING HOMES.)) [RUNS09]
[OUT Q=HOMES]
[pre pro]
And what makes things worse for the heating oil industry is profits were already falling.
Oil prices have dropped 16 percent since last year. [more nat sound??]
But the coldest months of the year are January and February...
Meaning oil sales still have a chance to heat up.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 23:37:06]
[IN Q=it's still]
((LUNDY: IT'S STILL JUST BEGINNING TO GET INTO THE SEASON AND IT CAN TURN COLD AND WE'RE NOT PLANNING TO JUMP SHIP YET.)) [RUNS07]
[OUT Q=JUMP SHIP YET]))
(-----------)
[Live= Scott Full/Newsroom]

If it does get cold and consumers are forced to open their wallets to buy heating oil, they still won't pay as much as last year.
The oil supply is plentiful; global demand is not.
[Double Boxes=Keith and Scott/Newsroom]

Keith.

[Gas-Prices]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=98-63 2:01:14]
[GRAPHIC=Gas Prices Down]

As for gasoline prices, how about less than 70 cents a gallon...for a while, anyway.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
Just a week and a half ago, we were telling you about prices in the 70's, but check this out.
The new Kroger gas station near Crossroads Mall is hoping to get your business. So it's selling regular unleaded gas for 69-nine a gallon. Even if you miss this promotion, more and more stations are now selling gasoline somewhere between 70 and 79 cents per gallon.
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[Beville]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=Jack Beville]

A veteran Roanoke county firefighter has been indicted for embezzlement.
Jack Lewis Beville, Junior was named today in a three-count indictment.
Long employed by the County both in firefighting and fire prevention, Beville served- -until recently- -as treasurer of the Cave Spring Fire Department.
The Commonwealth's Attorney's office says a little more than 3-thousand dollars is missing.
The embezzlement allegedly occurred last year and early this year.
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[Take VO here][Turner]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6p]
[WRITER=chu]
[TAPE#98-70 1:23:46]
[GRAPHIC=None]
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Chatham/April 13, 1998;]

Sentencing day for a Pittsylvania County man convicted of killing his wife last fall.
Mark Dana Turner will spend 38-years in jail for shooting Kimberly Turner in the head in October 1997.
A jury found him guilty in April of second degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of murder.
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[Bastian-vaccines]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=98-69 1:16:37]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The world's largest maker of medical vaccines had to dump more than a quarter of a million dollars worth of vaccines this year due to a melt-down at its Bland County manufacturing plant.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bastian/File Tape]

Vaccines are stored at temperatures below zero.
Last July one of the refrigeration units at General Injectibles and Vaccines shut down, sending the temperature into the 50's.
Rather than ship the defrosted vaccines, 284-thousand dollars worth of the stuff was destroyed.
(------------)
[TALENT=Keith]
[SS=None]

G-I-V filed an insurance claim... a claim the insurance company refuses to pay. In a federal lawsuit filed this week, Saint Paul Insurance says it's not the first time this has happened, that all G-I-V had to do was punch the reset

button on the refrigeration unit to keep the vaccines frozen.[L'burg-Sculptures]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#98-66 1:43:03]
[GRAPHIC=Lynchburg Seal]

There's an S-O-S call going out over Lynchburg... that's S-O-S as in "Save Outdoor Sculpture".
Steve Smallshaw tells us about a movement that's underway to preserve the Hill City's statues.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=They are statesmen]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg; :00]
[SUPER=01-Tom Ledford/Lynchburg Museum Director; :15]
[SUPER=@ssm1; :46 ]
[RUNS=1:19]
[OUT Q=News7, Lynchburg.]

(( They are statesmen and educators who helped write the area's history.
They are soldiers who have stood post over the city for a hundred years.
Sprinkled throughout Lynchburg are pieces of bronze, iron and stone.. each represent a small part of what the Hill City is all about.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 1:25:47]
[IN Q=There are not]
((TOM LEDFORD/LYNCHBURG MUSEUM DIRECTOR: THERE ARE NOT MANY CITIES IN VIRGINIA THAT ARE AS FORTUNATE AS WE TO HAVE THESE KINDS OF SCULPTURES.))
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=of sculptures.]

A recent survey identified 16 pieces of outdoor statuary.. some which have been in place for more than 125 years.
But time and the elements have taken their toll.. scarring the proud faces and tarnishing their artistic value.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 1:26:06]
[IN Q=People in this]
((TOM LEDFORD/MUSEUM DIRECTOR: PEOPLE IN THIS COMMUNITY HAVE BECOME USED TO SEEING THESE SCULPTURES AND I THINK THEIR LOSS WOULD BE LIKE JUST TAKING A PIECE OF THE CITY AWAY.))
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=the city away.]
(/////SOT/////)
[Standup ]
[IN Q=So efforts are]
((So efforts are underway to save these sculptures. Officials estimate they need to raise about 130- thousand dollars to restore the statues and another hundred thousand for ongoing maintenance. A lot of money, to be sure, but Tom Ledford says the city can't afford NOT to do it.))
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=to do it. ]
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 1:26:42]
[IN Q=We're appealing to]
((LEDFORD: WE'RE APPEALING TO THE PRIDE IN OUR COMMUNITY WHICH IS ENORMOUS, TO HELP US BRING THE RESOURCES TOGETHER TO GET THESE PARTICULAR SCULPTURES RESTORED AND BACK IN A CONDITION THAT WE CAN ALL BE PROUD OF.))
[RUNS=:18]
[OUT Q=be proud of.]
Steve Smallshaw, News7, Lynchburg.))[Tease#1]
[HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[SS=NONE]

A-E-P wants to slow things down at Smith Mountain Lake. Still ahead, what it means behind the dam, and downstream. [**Take Joe Dashiell live**]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke]

(Joe Dashiell adlibs)

[ANCHOR=Robin]
[wx ad lib] [Roll] [Lake Level] [MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM#1]

[Dickens-Christmas]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#NET]
[GRAPHIC=Christmas]

It may not feel like it but Christmas is just three weeks away and that means it's time for Dickens of a Christmas in Downtown Roanoke.
[Double Boxes=Keith & Joe/Microwave]

And that's where Joe Dashiell is reporting tonight.
[Live=Joe Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@joe1;]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]
( ad lib)
(Rollcue: won't be restricted to the streets of Downtown.)
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[SOT]
[IN Q=with some final ]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=01-Le'Shawn Saunders/Caroler; :21]
[SUPER=01-Richard Bonfanti/Caroler; :25]
[RUNS=:35]
[OUT Q=make people happy]
[Live=Joe Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]
( ad lib)

[Double Boxes=Keith & Joe/Microwave][Snowshoe]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=98-71 53:12]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Skiers who were enjoying the slopes at Snowshoe 24 hours ago, are high and dry tonight.
Today, the West Virginia resort was forced to suspend its winter activities.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Snowshoe, WV/Yesterday;]

Snowshoe had managed to keep a couple of runs open even as temperatures soared.
But today, the warm weather finally caught up with the skiers there.
In the meantime, the Hawthorne Valley Golf Course and the resort's mountain bike trails have been re-opened.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Snowshoe officials are hopeful that colder temperatures next week will allow them to fire up the snowmaking equipment.
They need two nights of snowmaking to re-open the slopes at Snowshoe and Silver Creek.

[Stocks]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]

Down one day, up the next. [TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE ]
[RUNS=:25]
[SUPER=x5102;]
[SUPER=430-x/136.46/9016.14/x/47.51/2001.84;]
The Dow rebounded for a 136 point gain today, closing at 9 thousand-16. NASDAQ jumped 41-and-a-half points.
[SUPER=431-h&/47g/h1e/63$/h2@/64%/h$/56&/i$/25r;]
[SUPER=432-h2*/71e/h1!/37d/u/8/hc/47f/h1/63%;]
[SUPER=433-h#/45$/h2!/90a/h2%/56a/hg/30r/hf/13f;]

[SUPER=434-h@/55%/u/14c/h%/37#/h2c/89f/h1r/73@;][Hunters-Hungry]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#98-66 1:00:23]
[GRAPHIC=None]

For the first time in its history, the Hunters for the Hungry program will have to TURN AWAY donations of deer in mid- December.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-File Tape]

That's because there is no money to process the venison before it's shipped to local food banks.
The program has already exceeded last year's record total of 141- thousand pounds of donated meat.
But organizers estimate they could take in another 600 to a thousand deer by the end of the year.
It costs about 30 dollars to process each animal.. and that's money the program just doesn't have.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 3:18:25]
[IN Q=It's a lot]
((DAVID HORNE/HUNTERS FOR THE HUNGRY: IT'S A LOT OF MONEY ON THE ONE HAND, BUT ON THE OTHER, IF YOU LOOK AT TWO OR THREE HUNDRED CHURCHES IN VIRGINIA THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A HUNDRED DOLLARS, OR A THOUSAND INDIVIDUALS ACROSS THE STATE THAT COULD SAY `YEAH, I COULD SPARE THIRTY DOLLARS TO PROCESS A DEER', WE COULD GET RIGHT BACK AFTER IT AND PROBABLY DO ANOTHER FORTY OR FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS OF MEAT.))
[SUPER=01-David Horne/Hunters For The Hungry; :00]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=pounds of meat.]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]

Since 1991, the Hunters for the Hungry program has produced more than 750- thousand pounds of meat for needy residents across Virginia.

(----------------)[Sports tease]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
[SUPER=@Steve1;]

A preview of the three Friday Football Extra teams still in the state championship hunt, Jeff Gordon is all set for NASCAR's Big Apple banguet,
(----------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-]

and girls group A state basketball final four action hit the Salem Civic Centerhard wood today.
(------------)

[S-FFE]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-12]
[GRAPHIC=FFE LOGO]

Three area high school football teams will be looking to bring home state titles tomorrow afternoon.
Mike Stevens has a look at the lone survivors.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[super=03-Amherst Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Mickey Crouch/Amherst Co. Head Coach; :19]
[SUPER=03-Salem; :43]
[SUPER=01-Willis White/Salem Head Coach; :53 quick]
[super=03-Dry Fork/Regional Finals; 1:05]
[SUPER=01-Mike Scharnus/Rustburg Head Coach; 1:12]
[RUNS=1:25]
[OUT Q=...AND LOCATION."]
(-------------)
(( In order for Amherst County to bring home the division five state title and complete a perfect season, the Lancers will have to whip Hampton in their backyard at Norfolk State University.
The victory bus pulled out of town with that in mind. ((MICKEY CROUCH/AMHERST CO. HEAD COACH:))
A Friday afternoon pep rally helped ump up the Spartans for their division four title game.
They play Lafayette in a battle of unbeatens on a neutral field in Dayton. ((WILLIS WHITE/SALEM HEAD COACH:))
Rustburg's Mike Scharnus hopes to get anotehr vidtory shower as his Red Devils go for the division three title in Charlottesville against unbeaten Nottoway. ((MIKE SCHARNUS/RUSTBURG HEAD COACH:))

Here's a look at the matchups with times and locations.)) [S-ROLL]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=FFE-12]
[GRAPHIC=FFE]
[ROLL TO ENG!!!]
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=first audio]
[RUNS=:30]
[OUT Q=...FFE LOGO FULL MUSIC UP AND FADES.]
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[S-Hoops]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-15]
[GRAPHIC=girls state basketball playoffs]

The girls are also competing for some pretty high stakes today and tomorrow.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem/Sussex Central vs. J.J.Kelly; :00]

The Salem Civic Center had a good turn out for the Girls state basketball semi-finals. At 2pm, Sussex Central battled J.J. Kelly in the first Group A final four.
J.J. Kelly pulled away for the 67-61 victory and will meet George Mason, a 53-43 winner over Northwood, for the title tomorrow at 1pm.
(------------)

[S-Gilrs]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-22]
[GRAPHIC=Group 2A hoops]

The Group 2A final four is also tonight in salem. Bassett gets another shot, against Prince Edward County in the opener, after losing to Byrd in last year's semis.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="We]
(())
[SUPER=01-Lisa Black/Bassett Head Coach; :00]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=...even better"]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Vinton/Group 2A Quarterfinals; :00]
Byrd meets Turner Ashby tonight, playing in Salem is the next best thing to the dog pound.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=" I]
[SUPER=01-Richard Thrasher/William Byrd Head Coach; :00]
]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=....salem civic center"]
(---------------)
[WIPE TO PINNACLE!!!!]
[@PAGE-----99010]

The first game tips off at 7pm with the only undefeated team in the field and then Turner Ashby and Byr begin att 8:30.

[S-Express]

[ANCHOR=steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-26]
[GRAPHIC=Express/Richmond]

The Express takes on Richmond tonight at the Round House. The Renegades beat Roanoke in their only meeting of the season, and some carelss Express play of late has been a concern.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=" Guys]
[SUPER=01-Scott Gordon/Express Head Coach; :00]
[RUNS=:21]
[OUT Q=....inside our zone"]
(---------------)

[S-Gordon]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-28]
[GRAPHIC=NASCAR ]

Tonight in New York, some of Nascar's finest will be recognized at the Nascar Awards Banquet. Jeff Gordon will be honored for yet another Winston Cup points championship.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=When I]
[SUPER=01-Jeff Gordon/Three Time Winston Cup Champion; :00]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=very suprising"]
(-------------)

[S-Holtz]

[ANCHOR=Steve]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=dal]
[TAPE#=SP-20 tc 2:04:09]
[GRAPHIC=Holtz]

Former Notre Dame football coach and CBS television analyst, Lou Holtz is back on the sideline.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Columbia, SC;]

Holtz has accepted the head coaching position at South Carolina. he arrived in Columbia today.
He replaces Brad Scott who was fired after the Gamecocks completed the worst season ever going 1 and 10.
Holts posted 100 wins and a National Championship with the Irish.
(------------)
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[SUPER=335-Temperatures above 95/degrees have been recorded/north of the/Arctic circle./True/False;]
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[Forecasts]
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[SUPER=335-Temperatures above 95/degrees have been recorded/north of the/Arctic circle./True/Verkhoyansk, Russia in Jul
y;]
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[SUPER=X5001; Clears FX][Lake-Flow]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=98-73 1:23:46]
[GRAPHIC=Smith Mtn. Lake]

American Electric Power wants to keep enough water in Smith Mountain Lake to fuel January and February heat demands.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Franklin Co./File Tape;]

At the dam, water is released from Smith Mountain Lake to create energy.
But lake levels are down about six feet due to drought, the lowest in 18 years.
So A-E-P wants state and federal permission to release only half as much water as usual.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 14:04:29]
[IN Q=We want]
((WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO CONSERVE WATER NOW ... ENOUGH WATER TO DO THAT.))
[SUPER=01-Mike Thacker/American Electric Power;]
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=TO DO THAT]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The lake currently loses three and a half inches of water a week.
If the government approves A-E-P's plan, the lake would drop less than an inch a week.
A-E-P officials say the lake will not rise again until it rains.
(------------)

[Close]

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[LIVE PICTURE CLOSE]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke]
(Weekday 6 only)
[SUPER=x4032; e-mail/Most Watched/Copyright/WEEKDAYS]
SUPER=x4033; Fax/Most Watched/Copyright/WEEKDAYS
(Weekend 6 only)
SUPER=x4031; Fax/Copyright/WEEKENDS SUPER=x4030; e-mail/Copyright/WEEKENDS