[HEADLINES]
[TALENT=Melanie]
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
All up and down the east coast Winter is hanging on with a vengeance.
(----------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
And despite the morning school Roanoke schools remained open, coming up we'll tell you how school officials reached that decision.
(/////////////)
[TALENT=Patrick]
[SS=None]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=None]
News 7 at noon is next.
[Video-Open]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=net]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
The snow has stopped, but not before dropping as much as a foot in some places.
Now the cleanup is beginning.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=News-7 at Noon]
Good afternoon, I'm Melanie Moon.
[One-WX]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Winter Weather]
(MElanie tosses to Patrick in CK)
[Patrick in ChromaKey]
[WXPro=Full]
[DOUBLE BOXES=Patrick and Teresa/Microwave]
(toss to Teresa)
[NRV-Snow]
[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=THa]
[TAPE#98-79 TC1:55:27]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The heavy, wet snow is causing a number of problems for residents living in the New River Valley.
[Double Boxes=Patrick and Teresa/Microwave]
Teresa Hamilton has been out in the snow much of the day...What is the situation there?
[Live=Teresa Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Teresa1;]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]
Patrick, the snow has contributed to a number of minor fender benders...mainly cars and trucks ending up in a ditch.
The heavy precipitation has also left thousands of folks without electricity.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Nat sound]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg; :00]
[SUPER=01-Bruce Caldwell/Blacksburg Town Employee; :45]
[RUNS=:55]
[OUT Q=all of us.]
(( Despite having to shovel out, Stacey Shifflett can't get enough of the snow.
Shifflett manages Blue Ridge Outdoors in downtown Blacksburg and admits weather like this is great in her line of business.
[in q= I could (10:17:47)]
((STACEY SHIFFLETT: I COULD NEVER HAVE ENOUGH OF IT, I LOVE IT))
The wet snow dangling from the trees IS beautiful to look at--- but the heavy nature of this snow is causing problem
s.
Close to 23- hundred customers in Carroll, Wythe, Bland, Floyd and Montgomery counties are currently without power.
A-E-P officials hope to have service restored to the majority of customers by tonight.
In the meantime, folks are continuing to shovel out.
Montgomery County received between four and six inches of snow-- much more than many had expected.
[in q= We went]
((WE WENT IN YESTERDAY AND WORKED ABOUT TWO HOURS AND IT STARTED RAINING, THEN THEY SAID IT WAS OVER WITH SO WE WENT HOME AND THEN WE CAME BACK AND ALL THIS SNOW WAS HERE, SO IT WAS A SURPRISE TO ALL OF US.))
[RUNS8]
[OUT Q= all of us.]))
(-------------)
[Live=Teresa Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Blacksburg;]
( ad lib)
[Double Boxes=Teresa and JoeD/Microwave][Roanoke-Schools]
[ANCHOR=Teresa]
[NEWSCAST=12]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#99-14 TC04:29]
[GRAPHIC=None]
One school system that didn't close this morning was Roanoke City
[Double Boxes=Teresa and JoeD/Microwave]
And Joe Dashiell has more on a decision that angered many parents.
[Live=JoeD Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Joe1;]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]
Teresa, the school officials who decide when to cancel classes have a difficult job, and they rarely make everyone happy.
But today's decision to remain open, while most other school systems in the area were delaying classes or closing, has left many parents second- guessing administrators.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=The snow fell]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :00]
[SUPER=01-Dawn Goodman/Parent; :14]
[SUPER=01-Cindy Ganley/Parent; :23]
[SUPER=01-Mary Hackley/Roanoke City Schools; :39]
[RUNS=:49]
[OUT Q=and service our children today.]
((The snow fell, but the busses rolled... delivering students to classrooms across the city.
The decision made for some late arrivals... as busses altered their routes, and other students waited for the closing announcement that never came.
[SOT PARENTS]
[IN Q=All of the other area schools closed]
((DAWN GOODMAN/PARENT: ALL OF THE OTHER AREA SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED. I THINK THEY SHOULD HAVE CLSOED THIS TIME. THEY HAVEN'T MISSED THAT MANY DAYS THIS YEAR DUE TO THE WEATHER. LOOK AT IT.))
((CINDY GANLEY/PARENT: IT PUT MY WHOLE MORNING, AND THE KIDS IN A TAILSPIN. THEY COULD HAVE AT LEAST CALLED A TWO HOUR DELAY. AND LAST WEEK THEY CLOSED SCHOOL FOR WET STREETS.))
[RUNS :16]
[OUT Q=for wet streets.]
School officials say that after consulting with weather forecasters, and the system's transportation department... they felt they could pick up the children and get them home again safely.
[SOT MARY HACKLEY ]
[IN Q=We made the decision]
((WE MADE THE DECISION THAT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS INTENSE EARLY THIS MORNING, THE SNOW WAS SLUSHY AND TRANSPORTATION FELT THEY COULD GET OUR BUSSES OUT AND SERVICE OUR CHILDREN TODAY.))
[RUNS 10]
[OUT Q=service our children today.] ))
(-------------)
[Live=JoeD/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]
Here at Wasena School and throughout the Roanoke Valley, road conditions have improved considerably in the last few hours...
[Double Boxes=JoeD and Melanie/Microwave]
So Melanie, students in Roanoke City Schools should have no trouble getting home this afternoon.
[L'burg-Snow]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=98-82 TC1:25:24]
[GRAPHIC=Winter WEather]
The snow has tapered off east of here and roads in central Virginia are beginning to clear up.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]
Heavy snow began falling in Lynchburg around seven this morning, but there's been little accumulation.
V-DOT officials report a few trouble spots, mostly in the mountainous areas of Amherst and Nelson counties.
State police spent the morning responding to a number of accidents, none of which involved serious injury.
Most roadways are still wet but passable.
(------------)
[National-WX]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]
Rain and snow has been falling on many areas of Maryland and Pennsylvania since yesterday morning.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford, PA;]
Some areas received nearly two feet of the white stuff.
There have been numerous accidents on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
[SUPER=03-New Haven, CT;]
Connecticut residents woke up to snow, also slowing down computers and causing power outages.
[SUPER=03-Newton, MA;]
And Up to a foot of the white stuff is expected to fall in parts of New England.
Boston's Logan Airport is experiencing cancellations and delays.
(------------)
[tease1]
[HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
The Kosovo peace talks are underway again in France.
And there may be a breakthrough already.
That story is next on News-7 at Noon.
(--------------)
[VO-NAT ]
And a Virginia church lends a helping hand in storm-ravaged Nicaragua.
(---------------)
[music up full]
[comm1]
[Kosovo]
[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Kosovo Albanians say they're ready to sign a Western-backed peace plan.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Paris, France;]
The news came as the Serbs and the ethnic Albanians resumed peace talks in France today, even amid new violence in Kosovo.
A source says the Serbs still refuse to discuss the military component of the plan, which calls for foreign troops to keep the peace.
The political component gives Kosovo Albanians autonomy, but keeps the embattled province within Serbia.
(------------)
[OLYMPICS]
[ANCHOR=MELANIE]
[NEWSCAST=NOON]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Olympic Rings]
Americans will be able to buy tickets to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, beginning today --
nearly two months before they're available in the host country.
Meantime, more accusations of corruption by I-0-C members.
This week, the International Olympics General Assembly meets in Switzerland... to take action in the scandal... that has rocked the Olympics.
Mark Phillips reports.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[9:01]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=01-Tom Sheridan/Australian Investigator; :30]
[SUPER=01-Jean Claude Ganga/Congo Olympic Comm. President; 1:12 QUICK!!!!!]
[SUPER=01-Mark Phillips/Reporting; 1:34]
[RUNS=1:51]
[OUT Q=CBS NEWS, London.]
(((SCRIPT)
(Sydney Olympics graphics/preps)
Behind the fancy promotion of the Olympics -- this one for Sydney's upcoming games -- lies an increasingly messy scandal that the IOC seem increasingly unable to fix. The latest investigation, into the Australian games, has also shown that rules were broken and favors used to buy votes. Full, expense paid visits to Great Barrier Reef resorts were among the enticements.
The Australians initiated their own investigation this time and it too found the Olympic movement wanting.
(SOT Tom Sheridan -- Australian Investigator)
`The guidelines are unclear and ambiguous in many respects. The IOC did not monitor bidding cities adherence to the guidelines. They were ignored by a great number'
Back at IOC headquarters this week, the IOC is still trying to prove it can clean its own house. Its executive committee is meeting to vote on expulsions of members previously named as receivers of improper favors.
And more have now been named in a further investigation. But there's a problem. Some of those named have declared that they will not go quietly.
I spoke with Jean Claude Ganga over the weekend. He's accused of taking cash and free medical care from Salt Lake City.
(SOT Jean Claude Ganga -- Congo Olympic Committee president) `Are you guilty or innocent of the charges? Innocent, I a
m innocent.'
The dirty linen will be hung out at a full IOC meeting this week where the full membership will vote on whether to kick people like Ganga out. He's vowed to defend himself.
And of course, the ability of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch to clean up the mess that many think he's at least indirectly responsible for, is in doubt.
(Phillips O/C close)
More and more there are calls not just for the IOC to expel corrupt members but to undergo a complete overhaul. To make it democratic, transparent and accountable. And those concepts, many fear, are just
not in the IOC's nature. MP, CBSN, London.))
[bank-merger]
[ANCHOR=melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Banking]
There's news of a six billion-dollar merger in the natural gas business.
El Paso Energy is buying Birmingham, Alabama-based Sonat (SOH'-nat) to create the largest natural gas pipeline company in the U-S.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@File;]
[10newspath N1018]
Meantime, As many as five-thousand bank employees in New England could be facing pink slips, that's if a proposed merger of BankBoston and the Fleet Financial Group goes through.
Fleet announced its 16 billion-dollar acquisition plan yesterday.
(------------)
[Monty-Shooting]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=Tha]
[TAPE#=98-78;1:39:56]
[GRAPHIC=Shooting]
A 64-year-old man is dead after being shot in the head in Montgomery County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Shawsville/Last Night;]
The man who shot Carl Hixson told investigators his revolver went off accidentally.
Authorities were called to 10- thirteen Friendship Road in Shawsville at about three- o' clock yesterday.
They found 64- year old Carl Hixson with a bullet wound to the head.
He died last night at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
(---------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=hold]
Investigators have NOT ruled the shooting an accident.
[Runaway-Found]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=chu]
[TAPE#=98-81 TC1:37:59]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A teenage girl from Danville, who ran away from home after apparently being bullied at school, is back at home today.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville/Last Week;]
14-year old Brooke Graves was returned safely to her mother by police Thursday night.
Her mother says Brooke was taken in and cared for by a stranger, who she now calls an angel.
(------------)
[Penn-Forest]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=99-6 TC42:56]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Church members from Roanoke's Penn Forest Church of God say they learned as much as they gave on a missionary trip to Nicaragua.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Nicaragua;]
20 people have just returned from Managua where they tried to bring relief to a hurricane-shattered community.
They built a medical clinic, brought supplies, treated almost 200 very ill patients and played with the children.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:15:15]
[IN Q=I was expecting]
((I WAS EXPECTING TO GO DOWN THERE AND SEE ALL THESE SAD FACES BUT THEY WERE SO HAPPY TO SEE US AND I THINK THEY REALIZED WE CARED FOR THEM.))
[SUPER=01-Sharon Shires/Missionary;]
[RUNS=:08]
[OUT Q=cared for them]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
They saw children walking barefoot through open sewage.
Many suffer from malaria, dehydration, and parasites but cannot afford treatment.
The church is ready to ship another truckload of medical supplies including X-ray machines and generators, donated by local hospitals.
(------------)
[Tease2]
[SOFT MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
J-M-U football fans can say goodbye to their coach-- he's headed to the pros.
We'll have that story a little later in the newcast.
(-----------------)
[VO-NAT ]
And we'll check in with the latest around the world balloon try-- one that has already broken records.
(-----------------)
[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #2]
[Balloon-record]
[ANCHOR=mel]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The Swiss-English balloon team trying to circle the globe appears to have broken the distance record.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Ch. d'Oex, Switzerland/March 1;]
[7:26:40]
At last ground check, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones had traveled 15-thousand 540 miles.
The record claim must be verified by the International Federation of Aviation.
The I-F-A credits American Steve Fossett with flying14-thousand 236 miles last August.
The duo is now heading toward Hawaii.
Piccard and Jones will have to travel 26-thousand miles to complete their quest.
(------------)
[Stocks]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE# none]
[GRAPHIC=stocks]
On Wall Street at Noon, the Dow was UP 67 points.
[tease3]
[SPORTS MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
Still ahead in sports, J-M-U is without a coach after the N-F-L comes calling.
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
Plus, it was the first meeting EVER for Kansas and Kentucky in the N-C-double-A tournament.
We'll have the results of this overtime thriller, plus results from all of yesterday's action, when News 7 at Noon continues.
(---------------)
[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #3]
[Wood]
[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=JMU]
James Madison's head football coach is going to the big leagues.
Alex Wood has been named the new quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings.
Wood has two years left on his J-M-U contract.
His resignation is effective immediately.
[Duke]
[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-40 (23:42)]
[GRAPHIC=FINAL FOUR]
On to March's favorite pastime, where madness continues to reign supreme.
Thirteenth-seeded Oklahoma pulled out a surprising seven-point win over U-N-C-Charlotte, Temple upset third-seeded Cincinnati, Miami of Ohio ousted last year's runner- up-- Utah-- 66 to 58, and Southwest Missouri State trounced Tennessee 81- to 51.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Charlotte, NC/CBS Sports; :]
The nation's top- ranked team had no trouble in the second round.
In the first half, William Avery drives through traffic for two of his 19 points. Duke took the 31- 13 lead.
Tulsa had trouble from the outside, but on this play, John Cornwell gets the put back. Tulsa trailed 45 to 19.
[SUPER=33-Duke/97/Tulsa/56/;]
Duke's continued to put on the pressure.
Corey Magette goes behind his back down court and passes to Nate James for the score. Duke wins it 97 to 56.
(------------)
[WIPE WIPE WIPE]
[Kentucky]
[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=ssa]
[TAPE#=sp-]
[GRAPHIC=WIPE WIPE WIPE]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-New Orleans, LA;]
Defending champ Kentucky needed overtime to send the Jayhawks packing in the Midwest region.
Kansas had the early lead. Marlon Landon's three-pointer late in the first half put the Jayhawks up 21- 15.
But the Wildcats stormed back. With eighteen seconds left in the game, down three,
[SUPER=33-Kentucky/86/Kansas/84/;]
Scott Padgett hits the big shot from behind the arc, to send the game into overtime.
And Kentucky advances to the Sweet Sixteen with the 86- 84 overtime victory.
[SUPER=03-Boston, MA;]
Kentucky is the only second seed still standing, after Miami fell to Purdue in the East region.
Miami's Tim James tied it up at seventeen in the first half, and that was the last real hope for the Hurricanes.
Purdue would go on a 15- nothing run heading into the break.
[SUPER=33-Purdue/73/Miami/63/;]
The Boilermakers used another stifling run to go up by fourteen near the end. And Purdue walks away with the upset-- 73- 63 over Miami.
(------------)
[WIPE WIPE WIPE]
[Michigan-State]
[ANCHOR=Patrick]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=ssa]
[TAPE#=sp-]
[GRAPHIC=WIPE WIPE WIPE]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Milwaukee, WI;]
Michigan State avoided an upset in the Midwest, topping Mississippi by eight.
Mateen Cleaves fakes the pass and drives for the layup. The Spartans were up by four.
Mississippi's Keith Carter ties it up
[SUPER=33-Michigan State/74/Mississippi/66/;]
at fifty-four midway through the second half.
And Michigan State pulls away, surviving the scare 74- 66 over Mississippi.
(------------)
[Tech]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=dal]
[TAPE#=SP-36 tc 26:09]
[GRAPHIC=women's final four]
The Auburn Tigers are roaring into Blacksburg for the second round of the women's tournament, but the Lady Hokies are ready and waiting.
Denise Allen has more.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Saturday's]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/Last Night; :00]
[SUPER=01-Bonnie Henrickson/Virginia Tech Head Coach; :16]
[SUPER=01-Joe Ciampi/Auburn Head Coach; :36]
[super=03-Blacksburg/March 16, 1994; 1:26]
[RUNS=1:48]
[OUT Q=News 7 Sports]
((Saturday's 73-48 win over Saint Peters was cause for celebration, but a more monumental task awaits the fourth seeded Lady Hokies Monday night.
A 20 and eight Auburn team is suiting up for the nine o'clock tip off.
National prognositcators call the Tech-Auburn game a toss up or even give a slight edge to eigth seeded Tigers.
Auburn beat Texas 69-to-61 to set up the second round match up.
Tiffany Krantz on the point scored 21 for the Tigers while 6-2 junior Conswella Sparrow threw in 18.
The last time Auburn was in Blacksburg, the Tigers scratched out a 60-51 win in
the first round of the 1994 N-C-Double-A Tournment.
The Hokies are oh and two against Southeastern Conference opponents in the tournament.
They'll try to break that trend and make the sweet 16 for the first time in school history with a win over Auburn.
Denise Allen News 7 Sports.))
by SS