WDBJ 7 news at Noon for 04/15/99

[Kosovo]

[ANCHOR=MEL]

[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Serbia Under Attack]

Calling it a tragic accident, NATO is now taking the blame for the deadly bombing of a refugee convoy yesterday in Kosovo.
But a NATO spokesman says the fault really lies with Yugoslavia's president for driving the refugees from their homes in the first place.
The flow of refugees from Kosovo is picking up again.
Thousands crossed into Macedonia overnight and thousands more are expected today.
The refugees say they were forced onto trains by Serb military.
Lee Cowan joins us from Washington with an update.
[Live=Cowan Full/Newspath]
[SUPER=01-Lee Cowan/Reporting;]
[SUPER=05-Washington DC;]
( ad lib)
(Rollcue: )
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[SOT]
[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Kosovo;]
[SUPER=02-NATO Pilot;]
[SUPER=01-Jamie Shea/NATO Spokesman;]
[SUPER=01-Madeleine Albright/Secretary of State;]
[RUNS=:00]
[OUT Q=back to you.]

[Live=Cowan Full/Newspath]
[SUPER=05-Washington DC;]
( ad lib)
((
THE REALITY OF WAR IS THAT MISTAKES ARE MADE - NATO MADE ONE YESTERDAY AND THIS WAS THE RESULT.
(( NAT SHEA )) "..deeply sorry..."
IT BEGAN SOME 15-THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THIS ROAD IN WESTERN KOSOVO - IN THE COCKPIT OF AN F-16.
THE PILOT BELIEVING HE HAD COME UPON A CONVOY OF SERB MILITARY UNITS BURNING ANOTHER ALBANIAN VILLAGE TO THE GROUND.
(( SUPER: VOICE OF NATO PILOT ))
(( SOT PILOT AT 9:17:35 OVER PICTURES ))
"I roll in --- destroying the lead vehicle.

BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE A TRACTOR - THE CONVOY MADE UP MOSTLY OF ALBANIAN REFUGEES. NATO HAD WARNED CIVILIAN CASUALTIES WERE ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY - NOW IT IS A REALITY - SOMETHING NATO HAD TO EXPLAIN.

(( SUPER: JAMIE SHEA/NATO SPOKESMAN )) (( SOT AT 9:08:31 ))
"Our operation --- not to expend them."

NEVERTHELESS - THE MISSION WILL CONTINUE - IN THE SHADOW OF AN ATTACK SERBS ARE ALREADY CALLING AN ATTACK AGAINST HUMANITY. A UNFORTUNATE CHARACTERIZATION U-S OFFICIALS SAY THAT WILL NOT DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN NATO PARTNERS.
(( SUPER: MADELEINE ALBRIGHT//SECRETARY OF STATE )) "We must strike and strike again - international community is met."))

[Supplies-Kosovo]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=99-9 57:31]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Many of the thousands of refugees streaming out of Kosovo are leaving everything behind in their flight to safety.

They're arriving in refugee camps with the clothes on their backs and very little else.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Forest]

Now, a Central Virginia- based agency is looking to help out.
World Help hopes to ship a forty- foot container of emergency supplies to Kosovo refugees by May 1st.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 22;34:17]
[IN Q=They want new]
((NOEL YEATTS/WORLD HELP: THEY WANT NEW CLOTHES, NEW SHOES, NEW SOCKS AND THEN FOOD ITEMS LIKE FLOUR, OIL, POWDERED MILK AND THEN ITMES FOR CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY BABY ITEMS, DIAPERS, BABY FOOD, AND OVER THE COUNTER MEDICINES REALLY FOR EVERYBODY, BUT ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHILDREN, CHILDREN'S MEDICINES WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.))
[SUPER=01-Noel Yeatts/World Help; :00]
[RUNS=18]
[OUT Q=be very helpful.]
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[VO-NAT]

World Help has set up drop- off points in Lynchburg and Roanoke for anyone who wants to make a donation.
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[Nursing-Home]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A woman has been charged with murder in the death of a South Boston nursing home resident.
76-year-old Lillie Redd of Charlotte Courthouse was arrested at her home earlier this week, after an incident at the Berry Hill Nursing Home.
Police say Redd pushed Mary Perkins to the floor, causing a severe injury to Perkins' head.
The 90-year-old woman was taken to the hospital, where she died a few hours later.
Police won't say what the two women were fighting about.

[Tax-Day]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#99-12 41:33]
[GRAPHIC=IRS]
You are probably quite aware of this already, but just in case ... today is the last day to file your taxes without being charged a penalty.
And if you have waited till now, you're not alone.
[Double Boxes=Melanie & Joe/Microwave]
Joy Sutton is outside the Roanoke I-R-S office with last-minute files.
[Live=Joy Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=@Joy1;]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]

It's important that you file something today, because if you do not, there will be a heavy fine.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=If they owe ... ]
[SUPER=01-Mike Spears/IRS; :00]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :08]
[SUPER=01-Frank Provenzano/Taxpayer;]
[RUNS= :46]
[OUT Q= save a lot of money.]

[Live=Joy Full/Microwave]
[SUPER=05-Roanoke;]
( ad lib)

[Double Boxes=Melanie & Joy/Microwave][Food-Bank]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=ssi]
[TAPE#=99-14 21:27]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A local food bank is becoming independent, and that means the freedom to solicit more funding.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
The Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank says it is breaking away from its parent organization as part of a natural process. The Food Bank has been under the umbrella of Total Action Against Poverty-TAP-since it started in 1981. Now both Second Harvest and TAP agree it's time to move ahead.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Today's Announcement]
[02:40:42] ((BILL SKEEN/TAP: TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FOOD BANK ESTABLISHING ITS OWN IDENTITY WILL ENABLE THE SUPPORT OF A SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA SERVICE PROVIDER TO SEEK INDEPENDENT FUNDING, TO GROW AND TO PROVIDE EVEN GREATER BENEFITS TO INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES IN OUR REGION.))
[SUPER=01-Bill Skeen/TAP Deputy Dir. Business Affairs]
[RUNS=:14]
[OUT Q=in our region.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Second Harvest will officially become an independent non-profit agency on July 1st. It currently serves 26 counties and 11 cities in Southwest Virginia.
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[tease1] [HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
Prepping for S-O-L's on your own computer. Still ahead on News 7 ... it's on-line and it's free.
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[VO-NAT ]

And meet the man charged as a drug kingpin ... while serving time in prison. One of the co-defendants ... his own mother.
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[Talent=Kimberly]
[Wx-Tease] [Weatherpro]
Well, we needed a good, soaking rain to eleviate the dry conditions around here.
So far, it's been moderate to heavy rainfall...with another quarter to half-inch falling during the late morning hours.
Let's see where all the moisture is coming from.... [music up full] [comm1]

[Fulcher]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=99-13 32:26]
[GRAPHIC=Fulcher]

An inmate accused of running a major commercial drug ring inside Bland Prison says he was actually working undercover for the government.
You can hear his full account tonight on News 7.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co.;]

Mike Fulcher is a former D-E-A informant .. who says he joined the Bland Prison drug ring to trap GUARDS delivering marijuana to prisoners.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 10:53:37]
[IN Q=While I'm in prison ]
((WHILE I'M IN PRISON THE GATEKEEPERS, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING ME, I'M WATCHING THEM BRING IN LARGE AMOUNTS OF DRUGS, WHAT I'VE WORKED AGAINST FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS. SEEMS TO ME THAT'S TOTALLY WRONG.))
[SUPER=01-Mike Fulcher/Defendant;]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=totally wrong]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Government attorneys say Fulcher was really the drug KINGPIN and that he and his mother raked in more than ten thousand dollars in two years from prison drug sales.
Tonight on News7 at five and six -- find out what federal agents took from his mother's home.
And Mike Fulcher talks about his mother's involvement and the last time he smoked marijuana.
(------------)

[SOL-Preps]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=SOL (4581)]

Students in Virginia will soon be able to use their computers to gauge their readiness for the state's Standards of Learning tests. Next week, a Fairfax-based online testing company called Edu-test will offer a practice version of the S-O-L tests on its Web site. Students, classrooms, or entire districts can take the online tests free of charge. Teachers or parents must obtain a password from the company before signing on to take the tests.

[Tourists-injured]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A vacation in the Caribbean takes a rough turn for more than a dozen tourists, including some Americans.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Kingston, Jamaica;]

About 15 tourists were injured in Jamaica while visiting a banana planataion.
Authorities say they were aboard a trailer being pulled by a tractor when it picked up speed as went down a hill and overturned.
The tourists were passengers on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas cruise ship.
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[Tease2] [SOFT MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
A missile tests raises concerns over a new arms race. That story is just ahead on News 7 at Noon.
(-----------------)
[VO-NAT ]
And don't complain about today's rain ... not when you see what this destructive hailstorm left behind.
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[MUSIC UP FULL]
[COMM BREAK #2]

[Pakistan]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=mel]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Former Pakistan Prime minister Benazir Bhutto is sentenced to five years in prison on a corruption charge.
The Pakistani court today also disqualified her from politics.
Bhutto gained international fame when she became Pakistan's first female prime minister.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Dina, Pakistan;]
[10:18:52]
Pakistan, meantime test fired its newest ballistic missile today.
It's capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and hitting deep inside its neighbor and rival India.
The test came four days after India test fired one of its missiles.
The two countries both began testing nuclear weapons last may, escalating their arms race.
(------------)

[Australia-Storms]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Golf balls. Tennis balls. Lemons. Cantaloupes.
People in Sydney Australia simply can't agree on the size of the hailstones.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Sydney, Australia]
[10NA - 10:21:40] But nobody is in any doubt about the ferocity of a storm that tore across the city Wednesday evening, killing one man, damaging thousands of homes and cars and cutting power supplies and phone lines. Plummeting chunks of ice damaged house roofs, battered cars and knocked out traffic lights. But some people found a way to make the best of the hail ... the most Sydney has seen in eight years.
(------------)

[Strawberry]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=ssa]
[TAPE#=99-]
[GRAPHIC=MLB]

New York Yankees outfielder Daryll Strawberry is free on six thousand dollars bond, after being arrested in Tampa last night for soliciting a prostitute and possessing cocaine.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Tampa, FL;]

Police say Strawberry attempted to hire an undercover officer for sex. When he was searched, officers found a small amount of powder cocaine in his wallet.
[SUPER=04-MLB;]

This is just the latest in a line of legal troubles for Strawberry, who was suspended from baseball for 60 days in 19-95 after testing positive for cocaine. He's also spent time at the Betty Ford Clinic.
But baseball officials recently praised Strawberry for turning his life around. His only battle left seemed to be one with colon cancer, after being diagnosed last fall.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=This is a very..]
[SUPER=01-Daryll Strawberry/NY Yankees Outfielder;]
[RUNS=:04]
[OUT Q=trying time.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The 37-year-old was in extended spring training camp-- while undergoing the final rounds of chemotherapy.
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[Avalanche]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-33 (1:12:33)]
[GRAPHIC=Salem Avalanche]

On to the local diamond, where the Avlanche was trying not to create a losing streak of its own against the Kinston Indians.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem/Salem vs Kinston; :]

The Indians take off running in the first. Mike Edwards tags this pitch over the rightfield wall to put Kinston up 2- nothing.
But Salem would answer. With the bases loaded, Todd Sears singles to centerfield. That scores the runner from third, and it was 2 to 1 Kinston.
[SUPER=37-Salem/4/Kinston/9/;]

Then in the fourth, with the Avalanche trailing by four, John Lindsay hits a sacrifice fly to right. That made it 7 to 4 Kinston, and the Indians go on to win it 9 to 4.
(------------)

[Racing]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-26]
[GRAPHIC=NAPA 250]

It may be gloomy today, but the sun will be shining on Martinsville this weekend.
The trucks have already started their race toward Saturday's checkered flag.
Mike Stevens reports.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="First audio]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville; :00]
[SUPER=01-Stacy Compton/R C Cola Dodge Driver; :18]
[SUPER=01-Jimmy Hensley/Petty Dodge Driver; :35]
[SUPER=01-Jay Sauter/Defending Race Champion; 1:10]
[SUPER=@Mike1; 1:20]
**[BRING IN PINNACLE OVER STANDUP; 1:32]**
[RUNS=1:46]
[OUT Q=...news 7 sports."]
(-----------)

[Brand]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=noon]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-32 (39:52)]
[GRAPHIC=ACC Logo]

He'll be the first Duke basketball player not to don a cap and gown. One of the top players in college is making a career move.
College basketball's Player of the Year Elton Brand announced yesterday he will leave school and enter the N-B-A draft.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=04-NCAA; :]

The six foot eight Brand says it's his dream to play in the N-B-A, adding that coach Mike Krzyzewski supports his decision 100 percent.
The sophomore says he plans to eventually finish his work toward a college degree, but for now, he's just looking forward to the draft.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="Yes, I...]
[SUPER=01-Elton Brand/Enters N-B-A Draft; :]
[RUNS=:18]
[OUT Q=...chase another."]
[ANCHOR=Roy]
[GRAPHIC=Hold Logo]

Brand added that his family's financial concerns also played a part in his decision.

[Driverless-Car]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Finally, it might be easier to wrestle a steer to the ground than to than to corral a car that's stuck going in circles ... backwards .. without a driver.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Evansville, IN]

Here's the story: Hilda Austin of Evansville, Indiana lost control of her car Wednesday afternoon. She was knocked to the ground as it began to drive round and round on its own. After much deliberation, an Evansville policeman jumped on top of the car and climbed in the driver's side to put a stop to the runaway vehicle. The officer was taken to a local hospital for a sore back .. he's doing fine now..in stable condition. (------------)