WDBJ 7 morning news AM cutins for 06/04/99

[Chinese-crime]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]

[NEWSCAST=AM cut-in]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=Net]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Members of the Chinese Community are voicing concerns to the Roanoke Police Department, about the increase in crime in their communities and businesses.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

One restaurant China Lite...on Melrose Avenue was robbed three times in less than two weeks.
Dozens of people turned out to make their concerns known.
Many say that they want more police patrolling
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:40:36]
[IN Q=If we can see them more]
((FENG CHEN/RESTAURANT OWNER:IF WE CAN SEE THEM MORE FREQUENTLY...MORE OFTEN..MAYBE THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO ROB...THEY WILL FEEL UNSAFE BECAUSE POLICE ARE NEARBY ALL THE TIME AND DRIVING AROUND))
[SUPER=01-Feng Chen/Restaurant Owner]
[RUNS=10]
[OUT Q=driving around]
(-------------)
[VO-NAT]

And the Vietnamese Community...which accounts for approximately 2 percent of Roanoke's population...is experiencing the same problem.
And the Roanoke Police is now in the process of hiring a Vietnamese staff person to help with communication barriers and build community trust.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 00:21:14]
[IN Q=We're in]
((LT. RICK ARRINGTON/ROANOKE POLICE DEPARTMENT: WE'RE IN THE REVIEW PROCESS NOW OF THE APPLICATION BUT THAT WILL BE A NON SWORN POSITION..BUT AFTER YEAR WE'RE HOPING THAT THEY WILL BECOME A SWORN OFFICER))
[SUPER=01-Lt. Rick Arrington/Roanoke Police Dept.]
[RUNS=10]
[OUT Q=sworn officer]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[SS=None]

The Police Department will also be implementing cultural sensitivity training.

[E-City-Water]

[ANCHOR=]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-In]
[WRITER=chr]
[TAPE#99-14 1:10:03]
[GRAPHIC=Water Conservation]

Roanoke residents could face mandatory water restrictions within a month if the water level continues to drop at Carvins Cove.
Next week, Roanoke's Water Resources Committee will recommend a conservation plan. In the meantime, Joe Dashiell reports the city is cutting back on its own consumption of water.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=With recent rainfall]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :10]
[SUPER=01-Kit Kiser/Utilities Director; :29]
[RUNS=1:00]
[OUT Q=Joe Dashiell News 7 Roanoke]

((With recent rain providing little relief at Carvins Cove... the city has been calling for voluntary conservation.
And city officials say they're now practicing what they've been preaching.
The city has stopped flush testing of fire hydrants, and washing public vehicles.
Decorative fountains have been shut off, and the city says it will not irrigate turf areas unless water can be drawn from the Roanoke River.
Utilities Director Kit Kiser says he believes citizens have been heeding the call for conservation.
[SOT]
[IN Q=Our consumption]
((KIT KISER/UTILITIES DIRECTOR: OUR CONSUMPTION IS HIGHER THAN IT WAS LAST YEAR, BUT IT'S DOWN A LITTLE BIT THAN WHEN WE FIRST STARTED. AND I NOTICE FROM JUST DRIVING AROUND THE CITY PARTICULARLY, I'M SEEING LESS AND LESS PEOPLE SPRINKLING. THANK GOODNESS I'M SEEING LESS OF OUR CORPORATE CITIZENS SPRINKLING.))
[RUNS= :20]
[OUT Q=corporate citizens sprinkling.]

The city DOES plan to open the two public swimming pools.
City officials say the recreational and employment opportunities those pools provide to thousands of children, make them more than a luxury.
Joe Dashiell News 7 Roanoke))

[E-Consecration]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-in]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=99-13 1:33:00]
[GRAPHIC=None]

A group of college students dug up some historic Native American remains in Staunton River Battlefield State Park this week.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Charlotte Co.;]

Longwood College students on an archaelogical dig unearthed a skeleton believed to be the one-thousand-year-old remains of an Indian tribal leader.
And today the students got another surprise. Occaneechi (OK-uh-NEE-CHEE) chief John Blackfeather showed up to perform a private consecration ceremony at the gravesite.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 15:25:28]
[IN Q=It includes a prayer...]
[SUPER=01-John Blackfeather/Occaneechi Tribal Leader; ]
((JOHN BLACKFEATHER/OCCANEECHI TRIBAL LEADER: IT INCLUDES A PRAYER, A SILENT PRAYER, HONORING THE EARTH AND THE CREATOR. AND ASKING THAT FORGIVENESS BE GIVEN FOR THE UNCOVERING OF THE REMAINS.))
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=uncovering of the remains.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Blackfeather say beads on the skeleton indicate it COULD have been a tribal leader or holy man.
The skeleton will be re-buried tomorrow and carbon-dated later this month.
(------------)

[7-Weather]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-In]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

There's plenty of sunshine in our forecast for today, and into the weekend.
Look for mostly sunny skies today ... highs generally from the upper 70's to low 80's.
Tonight, clear skies, lows in the 50's.
[SUPER=314-Mostly Sunny/Winds 10-15 MPH/78-83/Clear/Light Breeze/50-55;]
[7BIRTHDAYS!] 6/5/99
Saturday:

[SUPER=130-6/David Loving/Elliston][45E-Powell]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=99-17 34:35]
[GRAPHIC=Internet Porn]

A local pediatrician will spend nearly three years in prison for dowloading kiddie porn.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/January 20]

Doctor John Powell pled guilty in January.
It didn't come out until yesterday that two of Powell's former patients had come forward and told police that Powell molested them when they were in their early teens.
Powell's lawyer says the allegations don't say anything about Doctor's Powell's ability to practice medicine.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 6:30]
[IN Q=i don't think]
((TONY ANDERSON: I DON'T THINK ANY WITNESSES COMING FORWARD ... CAME AS QUITE A SHOCK, THESE CHARGES, YOU CAN IMAGINE.))
[SUPER=01-Tony Anderson/Powell's Attorney]
[RUNS=16]
[OUT Q=can imagine.]
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[graphic=Hold]

In addition to the 33-month prison term, the Judge fined Powell 60-thousand dollars, made him subject to a search for possession of child pornography when he gets out of prison and ordered Powell NOT to practice medicine during the three years he's on supervised release.
Powell will also be required to report his whereabouts to the Virginia sex offenders registry.

[45E-Patrick-Hospital]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=sgo]
[TAPE#=99-11 1:30:10]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Patrick County's only hospital may be deep in debt, but its president says the facilityis on the road to recovery.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Patrick Co.]

Patrick Community Hospital is three million dollars in the red.
It owes back payments to doctors ....
And it's been struggling to repay a one-million-dollar debt to Medicare.
CEO John Faulkner said it's been a bad few months ... but his hospital is making money again.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 3:10:50]
[IN Q=we've done]
((FAULKNER: WE'VE DONE A LOT OF HARD WORK. WE'VE GOT A LOT OF HARD WORK LEFT TO DO. I'M NOT SAYING WE'RE OUT OF THE WOODS. BUT WE CAN SEE THE EDGE OF THE WOODS AS WE MOVE FORWARD.))
[SUPER=01-John Faulkner/Hospital President and CEO]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=MOVE FORWARD]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Faulkner says no patients have been or will be denied care.
Wednesday the chairman of the hospital's board of directors stepped down.
But he says his resignation had nothing to do with the hospital's money problems.
(------------)

[45lee-Mural]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=99-20 23:23]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Protests have lead to the exemption of a portrait of General Robert E. Lee as part of the riverfront development project that opens later today.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]

Richmond City Council member (SOD EL-AH-mean) Sa'ad El-Amin compared Lee to Adolph Hitler, and urged fellow black residents to boycott the new Canal Walk unless Lee's face was removed from among 29 murals of historic figures.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans-- rallying yesterday at the Lee Statue in Richmond for Jefferson Davis's birthday -- reacted swiftly.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 12:58:54]
[IN Q=If you]
((ROBERT BARBOUR/SONS OF CONFED. VETERANS: IF YOU TRY TO ERASE OUR HISTORY A LITTLE AT A TIME, THERE WON'T BE ANY HISTORY, FOR ANY OF US.))
[sot 13:03:04 ]
((HENRY KIDD/SONS OF CONFED. VETERANS: THEY ACTED TOO QUICKLY. AND I THINK THEY WILL REGRET WHAT THEY HAVE DONE.))
[SUPER=01-Robert Barbour/Sons of Confed. Veterans; :00]
[SUPER=01-Henry Kidd/Sons of Confed. Veterans; :10]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=they have done.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Richmond's Historic Riverfront Foundation says it has removed Lee until the community can assess all of the 29 images in their entirety.
(------------)

[45S-Hale]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-In]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=99-18 28:39]
[GRAPHIC=Moonshine Bust]

Federal officials are now after the WIVES of moonshine suspects.
(-------------------)
[v/o-nat sto]
Court documents indicate Ralph Hale bought 379-thousand dollars worth of sugar over the past two years... enough to make 135-thousand gallons of bootleg whiskey worth more than a million dollars.
(------------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[graphic=Hold]

When federal agents approached Hale he allegedly told them his wife owned everything.
So they confiscated JUDY Hale's 54 shares of stock on the First National Bank of Rocky Mount.

[45-Weather]

[8water-conservation]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-In]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Water Supply]

Mandatory Water restrictions could be in the forecast for Roanoke residents if more rain doesn't fall our way.
Next week, Roanoke's Water Resources Committee will recommend a conservation plan.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

In the meantime, the city is cutting back on its own water consumption.
The city has stopped flush testing of fire hydrants, and washing public vehicles.
Decorative fountains have been shut off, and the city says it will not irrigate turf areas unless water can be drawn from the Roanoke River.
Utilities Director Kit Kiser says he believes citizens have been heeding the call for conservation.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=our consumption]
((KIT KISER/UTILITIES DIRECTOR: OUR CONSUMPTION IS HIGHER THAN IT WAS LAST YEAR, BUT IT'S DOWN A LITTLE BIT THAN WHEN WE FIRST STARTED. AND I NOTICE FROM JUST DRIVING AROUND THE CITY PARTICULARLY, I'M SEEING LESS AND LESS PEOPLE SPRINKLING. THANK GOODNESS I'M SEEING LESS OF OUR CORPORATE CITIZENS SPRINKLING.))
[SUPER=01-Kit Kiser/Utilities Director; ]
[RUNS=:20]
[OUT Q=corporate citizens sprinkling]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The city DOES plan to open the two public swimming pools.
(------------)

[8Staunton-River]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cut-In]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=99-12 1:40:08]
[GRAPHIC=Water Quality]

State officials report high levels of P-C-B in the Staunton River.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Campbell Co./File Tape]

The latest test results show two areas near Brookneal have P-C-B contamination of more than a thousand parts per billion.
A level of 600 parts per billion is considered a health risk for humans.
Residents already have been warned not to eat large amounts of fish from the river.
The study has not, however, pinpointed the SOURCE of the contamination.
(------------)

[8e-Surry-Student]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#99-22 TC45:42]
[GRAPHIC=None]

He set a booby trap for a teacher, has a tattoo that says Kill 'em all, and allegedly told his classmates he though the Colorado school massacre was a good idea.
But it was Kent McNew's blue hair that got him suspended from his school in Sury County.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]

And yesterday the federal appeals court in Richmond ruled in McNew's favor, so the 10th grader is headed back to the classroom.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Schools can ]
((KENT WILLIS/VIRGINIA ACLU: SCHOOLS CAN INDEED DO MANY THINGS TO DETERMINE SCHOOL SAFETY AND TO DICTATE THINGS ABOUT STUDENT APPEARANCE. BUT GOING SO FAR AS TO DETERMINE THE LENGTH, STYLE, OR COLOR OF YOUR HAIR IS GOING TOO FAR. SHERLOCK HOLMES/SURRY CO. SCHOOL BOARD: WELL WE LEARNED TODAY. I MEAN, HAD IT BEEN ANY OTHER ISSUE THAT WE TALKED ABOUT TODAY, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OKAY. BUT WE DIDN'T KNOW AT THE TIME THAT IT WOULD GO TO THIS POINT. BUT THE HAIR WASN'T REALLY THE THING. THE HAIR WAS THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK.))
[SUPER=01-Kent Willis/Virginia ACLU; :00]
[SUPER=01-Sherlock Holmes/Surry Co. School Board; :15]
[RUNS=:31]
[OUT Q=camel's back.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/April 30;]

It was in fact an order from Governor Gilmore -- in the wake of the Colorado killings -- that prompted the school to take action.
The board chairman has NO regrets.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=We can only]
((SHERLOCK HOLMES/SURRY CO. SCHOOL BOARD: WE CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT HE FIT THE PROFILE OF WHAT WE WERE TOLD TO MAKE SURE-- IT'S TOO LATE WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS AND EVERYONE ASKS THE QUESTION DID YOU SEE ANY SIGNS?))
[RUNS=:08]
[OUT Q=see any signs?]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

McNew was asked why school authorities consider him a threat.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=I'm not]
((KENT MCNEW: I'M NOT SURE. I'M JUST HAPPY TO BE BACK AT SCHOOL. AND I GET TO KEEP MY HAIR. I'M HAPPY.))
[SUPER=01-Kent McNew/Surry Co. H.S. Student; :00 ]
[RUNS=:07]
[OUT Q=I'm happy.]
(-------------)
[TALENT=Melanie]
[SS=None]

Despite his ruling, Judge Robert Payne was deeply supportive of the school board.
Payne says the board is "trying to do a difficult job in difficult times."
But for the final week of school, Kent McNew gets to go back to class.