WDBJ 7 morning news for 05/16/99

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[VO-NAT]
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[SUPER=19-Denise/Allen;]
[SUPER=19-Andrew/Freiden;]
Coming up on News 7 Sunday Morning....... Last night's bombing of Belgrade is being described as the heaviest attack since the air campaign began.
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And Air Force One faces a close encounter. We will have more on those stories in just a few minutes.
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[2-shot toss to Hello][Kosovo]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=Sun AM]
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[GRAPHIC=serbia under attack]

The Serbs are realing this morning after the heaviest attacks since the bombing campaign began.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Aviano Air Base, Italy/Last Night;]

The state news agency says 90 missiles were dropped on Kosovo injuring at least four people.
The Alliance also struck in Belgrade hitting a military airfield and a factory complex.
[SUPER=03-Belgrade/Yesterday;]

Yugoslav media say NATO also attacked a mining complex near the Romanian border, injuring six workers.
Explosions were also reported in the hometown of President Slobodan Milsovic.
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[AF1-Clinton]

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Air Force One had to take evasive action yesterday to avoid a commuter plane.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Los Angeles, CA;]

The White House says it wasn't a near miss but Air Force One did have to dodge another plane.
The presidential Jet was at 10 thousand feet and preparing for a landing in Los Angeles when it suddenly pulled up into a steep climb and banked sharply to the left.
The 747's collision avoidance system detected a commuter plane one thousand feet away so evasive action was taken.
Officials say the president and the two planes were never in any danger.
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[Monticello]

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[TAPE#=99-7 2:02:45]
[GRAPHIC=Jefferson Reunion]

Today the all white Jefferson Association will decide whether to accept the descendants of his slave Sally Hemings as blood cousins.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Charlottesville/Friday;]
[99-10 1:44:29] D-N-A tests show that Jefferson did in fact father a child with Hemings. But some members of the Jefferson Association say it could take up to a year to fully resolve the issue. Hemings' descendants want to be recognized as family right away. Yesterday Thomas Jefferson's family, both white and black, met for a family reunion.

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[11VMI-Graduation]

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History's been made at Virginia Military Institute.
The first female cadets received their degrees yesterday.
Joy Sutton attended the graduation...and has the story.
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[SUPER=01-Melissa Graham/VMI Graduate;38]
[SUPER=01-Chih-Yuan Ho/VMI Graduate;53]
[SUPER=07-Gordon Liddy;1:20]
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[OUT Q=JSU, News 7, Lexington.]
(( As the music played, the cadets marched in one-by-one...distiguished and proud.
Happy to have made it through the "rat line" and survived a stringent life at VMI.
But two cadets shared a special sense of pride...they were the first female cadets to graduate from the institution...
Melissa Graham...who graduated with distinction and a bachelor of arts degree in Psychology...
And Chih-Yaun Ho...who graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.
But these women not only had to endure the "rat line" but opposition from male cadets who didn't want them to be there.
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[SOT 14:01:43 tape 2]
[IN Q=Yes, there've]
((MELISSA GRAHAM/VMI GRADUATE: YES THERE'VE BEEN CADETS WHO DIDN'T WANT ME TO WALK THE STAGE WITH THEM... YES I HEARD COMMENTS NOT DIRECTLY TOWARDS ME...JUST SO THAT I COULD HEAR THEM.))
[OUT Q= I could hear them.]

But Graham says she learned to ignore the negative words...and criticism...and stick it out.
Ho says cadets need to be accepting of one another.
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[SOT 13:53:30, tape 2]
[IN Q=female and male]
((CHIH-YUAN HO/VMI GRADUATE: FEMALE AND MALE CADETS..WE ARE ALL VMI CADETS..I AM VERY HAPPY TODAY I WAS ONE OF THE VMI GRADUATES.))
[OUT Q=one of VMI graduates.]

Gordon Liddy...the man who spent years in jail for the Watergate scandal...was this year's commencement speaker... despite opposition from some faculty members.
Liddy's remarks about women serving in the military were blunt and to the point...he said we should go back to the way things use to be.
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[SOT 11:55:11]
[IN Q=They were]
((GORDON LIDDY/COMMENCEMENT:THEY WERE... ,THEY HAD THEIR OWN OFFICERS AND ...AND THEY DID NON COMBAT WORK....THAT WAS VITAL.))
[OUT Q=that was vital.]

Liddy also talked about God, guns, and his time in prison...but left these words of advice for cadets.
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[SOT 11:52:36]
[IN Q=what you think]
((GORDON LIDDY/SPEAKER: WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT YOU DO AND WHAT YOU DO YOU WILL BECOME.))
[OUT Q=you become.]

For the cadets, their family and friends it was a day they will always remember.
Joy Sutton, News-7, Lexington.))

[Tease#1]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
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Still to come on News 7 Sunday Morning,

In Sports.......the Roanoke Wrath loses to Delaware

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[VO-NAT]
AND-Over the past few weeks, you may have heard about the second largest moonshine bust in Virginia, but do you know about the largest still bust? We'll tell you more about it In this week's Virginia Newsreel coming up in just a few minutes.

but first here are the lottery numbers.....
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[go straight to bump][Health-Week]

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Plastic Surgeons at Lewis-Gale Clinic are using a new procedure to take years off your face and a Roanoke retirement home is using a natural approach to health care.
Tonya Flory has this week's health review.
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[TAPE#=598-40 1:42:35]
((The Ultrapeel is a new tool that actually uses microfine crystals to exfoliate and smooth damaged skin. The device uses suction as crystals pass over the area taking off just the top layers of skin.
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((DR. ERIC DESMAN/PLASTIC SURGEON: IT'S MUCH MORE CONTROLLED THAN OUR PREVIOUS TYPES OF DERMABRASION AS FAR AS GETTING INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE SKIN AND IT'S CERTAINLY NOT AS MESSY AS OLD TYPES OF DERMABRASION.)) [RUNS:10]
[OUT Q=types of dermabrasion]
Ultrapeel are used for wrinkles, acne scars and discolorations. The Plastic surgery department at Lewis-Gale Clinic performs four treatments for 450-dollars.
[TAPE#=599-2 1:16:18]
The Eden Alternative is a concept that turns nursing homes into gardens with plants and animals filling every room. Friendship Manor in Roanoke has embraced the idea and the staff says it's helping patients overcome lonliness. The Eden Alternative was invented by a doctor who thought bringing nature into the sterile medical facility would make it more comfortable for residents.
[TAPE#=599-1 1:26:47]
Doctors at Vistar Eye Center in Salem are using a special form of refractive eye surgery to help patients see without glasses or contacts. Lasik surgery using using a new tool called a keratome corrects nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.
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((MARK PRIEST/PATIENT: I WAS SEEING SOME IMPROVEMENT IMMEDIATELY. AND THEN BEFORE I WENT TO BED, I WAS WATCHING TV AND ODDLY ENOUGH, INTERESTING ONE OF THE THINGS I NOTICED THAT GOT MY VISION BETTER WAS I CAN SEE THE WDBJ 7 LOGO IN THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER, WHICH I COMMENTED TO MY WIFE, I SAID WOW, I CAN SEE THAT FROM THE COUCH.)) [RUNS:20]
[OUT Q=from the couch]
[TAPE#-599-2 1:18:55]
And Roanoke Memorial Hospital's cardiac care unit is one of the best in the country -- that's according to a new report published by a private healthcare service. The company puts out a list of the top 100 cardiovascular hospital each year -- and R-M-H made the cut. TF News 7, Health Check.))

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They say it was the second- largest moonshine operation since the days of Prohibition and it happened right here in Southwestern Virginia.
A little over a week ago, Operation Lightning Strike concluded an eight- month investigation, raiding an illegal liquor operation that covered three counties.
The largest moonshine operation was also in Virginia.
In Virginia Newsreel, we're going back to 1993 when a Pittsylvania County man was caught with the largest moonshine operation in the SOUTHEAST. Keith Humphry tells us the man was also behind a marijuana- trafficking ring.
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[SUPER=21-Pittsylvania Co.; :00]
[SUPER=21-Al Smith/Danville Police Dept.; :41]
[SUPER=21-Glenn Berger/Henson's Attorney ;1:16]
[SUPER=21-Keith Humphry/Reporting; 2:19]
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(( Police and ABC agents had been keeping an eye on Paul Henson's Pittsylvania County home for six months. But it was not until Christmas Eve 1992 that an unmistakable odor lead investigators to stake out the property.
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[SOT Moonshine tape 8:23]
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((YOU COULD SMELL IT ABOUT 2 TO 3-HUNDRED YARD FROM THE BUILDING)) [RUNS04]
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Authorities raided Henson's house and barn in January, 1993. It turned out to be the largest moonshine operation in Virginia. They found 36- pots, 900 pounds of meal, 100 pounds of sugar, two dozen one- pound bags of yeast.
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[SOT Moonshine 6:47]
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((AL SMITH/ NORMALLY OPERATIONS THAT WE SEE IN OUR AREA ARE 4 TO 8 POT OPERATIONS THIS IS ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE)) [RUNS10]
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About a month later Henson was arrested. Authorities charged him with aiding and abetting in the production of illegal alcohol. The evidence against Henson was circumstantial. The prosecution was able to establish that Henson lived in the house at some point and that electric lines from the house powered the still. But Henson's attorney argued there was no obvious link between Henson and the still.
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[SOT 12:59]
[IN Q=There was no evidence]
((GLENN BERGER/THERE WAS NO DIRECT EVIDENCE HE DID KNOW ABOUT IT, IN FACT THERE WAS NO DIRECT EVIDENCE THAT HE KNEW THERE WAS A STILL THERE OR HAD ANY CONNECTION TO IT )) [RUNS06]
[OUT Q=connection to it]

A Grand Jury agreed and refused to indict Henson on the charges.
He was off the hook. By May, Henson was in trouble again. Authorities busted him for arranging to buy 22 pounds of pot.
The D-E-A said Henson was part of a marijuana- trafficking network that brought more than 12-hundred pounds of pot into Virginia.
Henson had 12 counts against him, involving drugs, firearms, and making moonshine.
In the federal case, the government still had no witnesses who could say they saw Henson cooking whiskey mash.

The prosecution based its case on the fact the still was on Henson's property, that he'd paid for construction materials, and that his fingerprints were on the equipment.
The federal jury convicted Henson of running the moonshine operation. Some months later he was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute hundreds of pounds of marijuana.
Henson was sentenced to 8 years in prison and fined 25-hundred dollars. That's Virginia Newsreel, I'm Keith H

umphry.))[Sports-Plays]

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The Toronto Maple Leafs gained a three to two advantage in the conference semifinal by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins four to one last night.
In the other hardwater match up, Dallas beat St Louis three to one to take a three games to two edge in that Western Conference semifinal.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Baltimore, MD/ABC Sports;]

Charismatic is one victory away from being horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 21 years.
Ridden by Chris Antley, Charismatic accelerated on the final turn and posted a length and a half victory over Menifee in the Preakness Stakes.
It was the same one-two finish as the Kentucky Derby.
Next for Charismatic is the Belmont Stakes on June Fifth.
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[VO-NAT]
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Coming up in the second half hour of News 7 Sunday Morning...... Hours after the heaviest attack, NATO officials explain how more than 80 civilians were killed in Kosovo.
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And Russian President Boris Yeltsin narrowly avoids impeachment.
We will have more on those stories in just a few minutes.
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[2-shot toss to hello][2-Kosovo]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
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[WRITER=dal]
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[GRAPHIC=Serbia Under Attack]

Serbs are recovering this morning from the heaviest NATO attacks since the bombing campaign began.
The state news agency says 90 missiles blasted Kosovo in a day of record bombing.
Dave Browde has more.
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((SUPER: AVIANO AIR BASE, ITALY/LAST NIGHT NARR: The air war continued: NATO jets firing missiles and dropping bombs..
SUPER: SERBIAN TV/THIS MORNING NARR: ..in what's being described as the heaviest strikes yet in Kosovo, with more raids overnight in the area of the Yugoslavian capital of Belgrade.
SUPER: PENTAGON VIDEO NARR: The new attacks came hours after the Pentagon showed video of the bombs hitting Korisa in the attack that the Serbs say killed 87 civilians.
SUPER: VOICE OF: MAJ. GEN. CHARLES WALD/U.S. AIR FORCE
SOT: "The bombs of the first two .. the laser guided bombs .. actually
hit the exact spot they were intending to hit."
SUPER: KORISA, KOSOVO/FRIDAY NARR: The Pentagon says the bombs hit a military command post and the surrounding area and that the civilian casualties were caused by the Serbs, who reportedly encouraged refugees who'd been hiding in the hills to come into Korisa.
SUPER: KEN BACON/PENTAGON SPOKESMAN
SOT: "What we do know is that they ended up sleeping next to a building
that the Serbs had to know was a target..

(!SOT COVERED BY AFTERMATH VIDEO!)
SOT CONTINUES: .. because we had hit many other installations like this
throughout Kosovo over the last seven weeks. But I stress we weren't there, we have not been able to interview people who were there, and..

(BACON BACK ON CAMERA!)
SOT CONTINUES: ..we don't have independent confirmation of that. It
certainly looks like this was arranged to make them human shields but we can't confirm that."
SUPER: PRISTINA, KOSOVO/SATURDAY NARR: The survivors, badly wounded, say they were sleeping when the bombs exploded. NATO apologized repeatedly for the injuries to the unintended victims but blamed them on the Serbs who, NATO spokesmen say, forced the civilians into harm's way.NATO commanders repeated their assertion that the Yugoslavians are losing the war and know it .. but are offering no public prediction as to when the campaign will end. Dave Browde, CBS News, New York ))

[Yeltsen]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=Sun AM]
[WRITER=dal]
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Boris Yeltsen is still Russia's leader this morning.
Yeltsen survived a close call yesterday.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Moscow;]

An impeachment attempt of the longstanding Russian Leader failed.
Many are calling for Yeltsen to step down, saying that change in Russia is impossible until a new leadership takes the helm.
On Saturday, Russian lawmakers rejected five impeachment charges against Yeltsin, who was accused of ruining Russia economically and politically.
President Clinton says the Yeltsen impeachment vote is purely an internal matter of the Russian government.
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[11Congress-Votes]

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Virginia's senators were on the same side of the debate on gun control this week.
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[take pinnacle board # 1000]

On Friday, the Senate approved a bill that would require background checks for anyone buying a firearm at a gun show.
The measure passed by just one vote, 48 to 47.
Both Chuck Robb and John Warner voted against it.
[take pinnacle board # 1001]

A few minutes later, the Senate voted to table, or set aside, an amendment that would have required Internet sites selling guns to be federally licensed.
That vote was 50 to 43.
Again, both Robb and Warner voted against tabling the bill.
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[11Police-Website]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
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[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=99-22; 27:21]
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They died with honor, serving the citizens of the Commonwealth..
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[VO-NAT]

Now, Virginia may be the first state in the nation to recognize them online.
The Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police has produced a slain officers memorial website.
It's the brainchild of Lynchburg Chief Chuck Bennett.
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[SOT 11:29:19]
[IN Q=He felt]
((DANA SCHRAD/VIRGINIA ASSOC. OF CHIEFS OF POLICE: HE FELT THAT MAYBE ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO GET THE INFORMATION OUT WAS TO CREATE A WEB PAGE THAT WAS ACCESIBLE, WAS SEARCHABLE FOR THE STATE OF VIRGINIA, WHERE YOU CAN GO IN AND YOU COULD FIND OUT WHICH AGENCIES HAD LOST POLICE OFFICERS, WHO THEY WERE, AND WHAT THE STORIES WERE BEHIND THE LOSS OF THOSE OFFICERS IN THE LINE OF DUTY.))
[SUPER=01-Dana Schrad/Virginia Assoc. of Chiefs of Police;]
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[OUT Q=line of duty.]
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[VO-NAT]

The site is brand new, in time for this week, which is Slain Officers Memorial Week nationwide.
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[ANCHOR=Denise]
[SS=none]

You can reach it through the Web Watch section of our web page at WDBJ7-dot-COM.

[Tease#2]

[ANCHOR=Andrew]
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[SS=None]

Still to come on News 7.......

In sports, Roy Stanley has racing highlights from the Pontiac Excitement 400
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[VO-NAT]
and in this week's Virginia Profiles, Steve Smallshaw introduces us to Bernie (ber-nuh-TAH-vitch) Bernatavicius, a man who has not let injury stop him from acheiving his goals. but first if you are traveling.......
[Andrew ad-lib into the travel forecast]
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[Andrew MIC hot] [ No 2-shot toss go straight to Travel Bump]

[soft music under][ProfileOpen]

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[TAPE#Profile Open]
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This time five years ago, life was going great for Edward "Bernie" (ber-nuh-TAH-vitch) Bernatavicius.
The Lynchburg College senior was president of his class, and would graduate in just a few weeks.
Then a drive-by shooting left Bernie paralyzed, and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Steve Smallshaw tells us the bullet that hit Bernie slowed him down, but it didn't stop him from realizing his dreams. Here's this week's "Virginia Profile".

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[Bernie-Profile]

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[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]
[SUPER=01-Bernie Bernatavicius/LC Commencement Speaker; :16]
[SUPER=04-Philadelphia/1997]
[SUPER=01-Dr. Charles Warren/Lynchburg College President; 1:12]
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[OUT Q=News7, Lynchburg.]

(( It's been five years since a stray bullet left him paralayzed from the chest down, but the darkest days are behind Edward "Bernie" Bernatavicius now.
From the wheelchair that's his constant companion, Bernie has adapted well to his second life.
[SOT 14:27:57]
((BERNIE BERNATAVICIUS: AND I DON'T THINK THERE WERE REALLY TIMES WHERE I FELT SORRY FOR MYSELF TOO OFTEN FOR WHAT HAD HAPPENED OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT I MEAN, LIFE GOES ON AND LIFE IS GOOD, SO MAYBE TIME HAS HEALED ALL.)) [RUNS 11]
[OUT Q=has healed all.]

Time can't heal Bernie's physical wounds.. doctors have told him he'll never walk again.
But emotionally, he's never been stronger.
[SOT 14:23:16]
((BERNIE BERNATAVICIUS: SURE IT MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT AND TOUGH SOMETIMES, BUT YOU CAN'T LET IT GET IN THE WAY. LIFE IS GREAT AND THERE'S JUST SO MANY THINGS OUT THERE TO EXPERIENCE AND YOU CAN EITHER TAKE THE ATTITUDE WHERE YOU'LL LET SOMETHING LIKE THIS FRUSTRATE YOU AND BRING YOU DOWN AND NOT REALLY GO ON WITH YOUR LIFE, OR YOU'RE JUST GOING TO SAY `HEY, IT HAPPENED, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT THINGS LEFT OUT THERE IN LIFE TO DO AND TO EXPERIENCE'.)) [RUNS 20]
[OUT Q=and to experience.]

Bernie's experiences the past five years have included attending and graduating from Villanova law school, and clerking for a judge in his native New Jersey.
Others may have accomplished more during that time, but officials at Lynchburg College say Bernie was a natural choice to be this year's commencement speaker.
[SOT 14:37:18]
((DR. CHARLES WARREN/LYNCHBURG COLLEGE PRESIDENT: HE'S A TRULY CARING AND COMPASSIONATE PERSON AND HE OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT ENGAGE IN SELF PITY, HE IS TREMENDOUSLY COURAGEOUS AND DETERMINED, AND I THINK HE'S A WONDERFUL ROLE MODEL, NOT ONLY FOR OUR GRADUATES BUT FOR ALL OF US.)) [RUNS15]
[OUT Q=all of us.]

With law school and a clerkship behind him, Bernie is now interviewing with law firms, hoping to specialize someday in family law.
But beyond that, he's not making any definite plans.
[SOT 14:30:53]
((BERNIE: YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE LIFE IS GOING TO TAKE YOU, AND I'M VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT ADVENTURE OVER THE NEXT FIVE TO TEN YEARS, TO SEE WHERE I'LL BE.)) [RUNS 07]
[OUT Q=where I'll be.]

Steve Smallshaw, News7, Lynchburg.))

[Sports-Extra]

[ANCHOR=Denise]
[NEWSCAST=Sun AM]
[WRITER=dal]
[TAPE#=NET]
[GRAPHIC=NEWS 7 SPORTS]

Athletes from all over the state are visiting the Roanoke Academy of Gymnastics for The Virginia State Championship Gymnastics meet.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co./Yesterday;]

These are level four gymnasts.
Individual champions as well as team champions will be crowned.
The girls compete by age in the floor exercise as well as on the beam, uneven bars and vault.
And providing them inspiration is Roanoke Academy's Kearstin Myers.
Myers, a level nine, was one of only two Virginia gymansts to compete in the USGA regionals last week.
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[SUPER=01-Kearstin Myers/Gymnast;]
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[OUT Q=helped me a lot(video freezes)]
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[ANCHOR=Denise]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

More than 280 gymnasts representing 51 teams are competing in the Level four Virginia State Championships.
The Meet continues today.
[ss=Tennis]

The Virginia Tech men's tennis teams is on its way to the sweet sixteen.
The Hokies upset 16th ranked Alabama four-three in the finals of the 1999 N-C-Double-A Region One Tennis Championship in Blacksburg, yesterday.
This is Tech's first Regional title.
The National Championship is next week in Athens, Georgia.

[2Star-Wars]

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Many moviegoers are waiting with anticipation to see the new Star Wars movie, "Phantom Menace," next week.
This movie is a dream come true for one of the actors.. 10 year old Jake Lloyd.. who plays Anakin Skywalker.. the future Darth Vader.
Dan DiNicola talked to this budding actor about his newest role.

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[IN Q=]
[SUPER=03-Star Wars-Phantom Menace/20th Century Fox;]
[SUPER=01-Dan DiNicola/Reporting;]
[SUPER=01-Jake Lloyd/Actor;]
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[OUT Q=]

[Ebert-Picks]

[ANCHOR=Andrew]
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[TAPE#=net Siskel and Ebert]
Roger Ebert sticks with the Star Wars theme this week. He caught up with George Lucas at the movie's premiere.
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[SUPER=01-Roger Ebert/Movie Critic;:00]
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[ANCHOR=Andrew]
[SS=None]

You can see Roger Ebert's review of Star Wars today at Eleven here on Your Hometown Station.

[2-shot toss to bump][power-outage]

[ANCHOR=denise]
[NEWSCAST=morning]
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News-7 has just learned that parts of Southeast Roanoke are experiencing a major power outage.
American Electric power is currently handling the situation...but officials say they are unsure at this time what is causing the outage.