[7Drug-Bust]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=99-]
[GRAPHIC=Drug Bust]
The Bedford County police busted up a marijuana growing operation late last night.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford Co.]
Deputies say they found 30 to 60 plants as well as growing lamps and other equipment in the basement of a house on Irene Drive in the Stewartsville area.
William Webber Junior is charged with manufacturing narcotics.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 19:11:35]
[IN Q=this is the]
[SUPER=01-Lt. Kent Robey/Bedford Co. Sheriff's Department;]
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=virginia state police.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Webber could face as many as thirty years in prison if convicted.
(------------)
[7E-Infant-death]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Morn]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=99-18 1:39:37]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Officials say the newborn discovered Tuesday night on the grounds of a Roanoke cemetery was still born.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/Tuesday Night]
The medical examiner says the fetus weighed less than two pounds and was probably not viable.
Doctor William Masello estimates the baby boy was delivered as much as three months prematurely.
A teenager discovered the tiny remains in a box.
The medical examiner adds the body of the baby was discovered some 24 hours after it was delivered.
(------------)
[7Dead-Cats]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#99-24 1:04:21]
[GRAPHIC=]
After years of complaints by neighbors, animal control finally stepped in on Saturday and discovered severe animal neglect.
(---------)
[VO-NAT]
Animal Control found 50 cats living with deadly skin and heart conditions in a home on Apperson Drive in Salem.
23 dead cats were found in the freezer, where they had been placed until the owner could dispose of them.
Two other cats were found dead under the couch.
Philip Shepherd lives next door and says he wasn't surprised to hear about the neglect.
(\\\\\\SOT\\\\\\\\\)
[SOT 15:08:52]
[INQ=]
((PHILIP SHEPHERD/NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR: IT'S LIKE A JUNGLE IN THE BACK YARD A REAL FOUL ODOR COMING FROM OVER THERE IT'S A REAL PROBLEM.))
[SUPER=01-Philip Shepherd/Neighbor]
[RUNS=]
[OUTQ=it's a real problem.]
(--------)
[VO-NAT]
The Building Inspector's office has declared the house uninhabitable.
The two people living there could face charges of animal neglect.
All the animals taken from the home have been put to sleep because of their condition.
(------------)
[7E-Fire-Danger]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=jbi]
[TAPE#=99-22 1:41:04]
[GRAPHIC=]
Even with the rain last night, there is still huge threat of forest fires in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.
There have been more acres burned in this summer's 47 fires than all of last year--
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bath Co./July 10]
[File: 99-16 1:51:49]
according to Virginia Department of Forestry fire chief.
Almost half of these are started by lightning--which isn't a problem when conditions are moist.
The dry brush makes fires harder to contain--taking more time and firefighters.
Fire officials say this summer could be just the beginning.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 01:04:10]
[IN Q= and the]
((DAVID OLSEN/ FIRE INFORMATION OFFICER: AND THE LONG-RANGE PROJECTIONS ARE THAT WE'LL HAVE A DRY FALL. WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE COMING FALL SEASON AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE ARE GONNA ASK FOLKS TO BE PARTICULARLY CAREFUL OF IS JUST STAYING TUNED IN ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE DRY CONDITIONS IN THE FOREST.))
[SUPER=01-David Olsen/Fire Information Officer]
[RUNS=13]
[OUT Q=forest]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Olsen is urging people to use caution when smoking or lighting a fire in the forest.
(------------)
[7E-Batteau]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=99-25]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Meanwhile the low river levels helped contribute to the discovery of an important piece of Virginia history near Altavista.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Altavista]
Two weeks ago, a boater spotted this 33- foot section of wood submerged in a shallow section of the Staunton River.
It turned out to be a remnant of a 150-year old (Ba-TOE) batteau.. a long, flat boat that was used to transport goods across the state.
The piece is now being preserved and will be displayed at the Avoca (uh-VO-ka) Museum in Altavista.
(------------)
[7WEATHER]
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Let's see if there is anymore relief in the temps...today will be partly sunny with a chance of rain temps in the high 80's-to-low 90's. Tonight will be mostly the same with another chance of storms temps in the upper 60's-to-low 70's. Tomorrow the temps will dip again and there is a chance of showers and storms, temps in the low 80's. And tomorrow night will be turning clear with temperatures in the mid 60's.
[SUPER=X5000; set dissolve]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Chance of Showers/88-92/Partly Cloudy/Storms Possible/68-72;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]
[7BIRTHDAYS!] 7/30/99
Friday:
[SUPER=130-15/Douglas Gathercole/Shawsville]
[SUPER=130-44/Bernadine Saunders/Drakes Branch]
[SUPER=130-38/Alvin Smith/Callaway]
[SUPER=130-2/Brandon Agee/Ferrum]
Anniversary:
[SUPER=130-61st/Arby & Gertrude Harris/Indian Valley]
[SUPER=130-3/Kenny Waldron/Montvale]
[SUPER=130-56/Ruby Younger/Vernon Hill]
[SUPER=130-90/Forrest Light/Boones Mill]
[SUPER=130-4/Haley Smith/Peterstown, WV]
[SUPER=130-1/Ricky Clifton/Roanoke]
[SUPER=130-13/Cameron Merriman/Collinsville]
No Pictures:
Anniversary:
[SUPER=131-/Keith & Linda Plybon/Snow Creek]
[SUPER=131-/Shirley Smith/Penhook]
[SUPER=131-11/Doug Ivey/Roanoke]
[SUPER=131-45/Mary Martin/Prince George][cutopen]
[SUPER=@Melanie1;]
[45S-Preston-Trucking]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=sgo]
[TAPE#=99-20 1:16;27]
[GRAPHIC=None]
A huge debt is putting a truck company, with operations in Southwest Virginia, to go out of business.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]
Preston Trucking told employees this week that the company has stopped its freight operations.
Preston says it picked up more debt than it could pay back.
The company employs about 60 people in Roanoke and 20 in Wytheville.
Nationwide, more than 5-thousand are getting laid off.
But the strong U-S economy and a competitive trucking industry mean good truck drivers are in demand.
(------------)
[455-MCV]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=598-37 1:56:24]
[GRAPHIC= Health check]
Some 30 Virginia high school students are spending their summer vacation helping deliver babies and holding human brains.
Ellen Qualls gives us an inside look at the Governor's School for Medicine, in Richmond.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=nat sot beeping]
[SUPER=03-Richmond; :00]
[SUPER=01-Jeff Powell/Martinsville High School; :13 ]
[SUPER=01-Sunny Kishore/Radford High School; :40 ]
[SUPER=@Ellen2; :59 ]
[SUPER=01-Dr. Carlos Williams/Medical College of Virginia; 1:07 ]
[RUNS=1:38]
[OUT Q=Qualls, News 7, Richmond.]
(([nat sot 12:05:37]
[runs:02]
The anesthesiologist is a high school student.
But it's okay.
The patient's affectionately known as "Rubber Man."
And the Governor's School for Medicine student works for the rescue squad in Martinsville.
[sot 11:59:47]
((JEFF POWELL/MARTINSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL: I'M USED TO TOUCHING... RATHER THAN DO THE HANDS-ON.))
[runs:12]
Hands-on would be more difficult for Powell now... since he fractured his arm in a Governor's School football game.
But that was a learning experience too.
[sot 12:01:00 ]
((JEFF POWELL/MARTINSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL: IT'S WILD ... PATIENT EXPERIENCE.))
[runs:09 ]
[sot 11:20:55 ]
((SUNNY KISHORE/RADFORD HIGH SCHOL: EVERY FRIDAY THERE'S A BRAIN CUTTING.... AND THEY'RE LIKE SURE.))
[runs:20 ]
Radford High student Sunny Kishore's in the neurology program for his six weeks at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.
[sot 11:37:36 ]
((DR. CARLOS WILLIAMS/MEDICAL COLLEGE OF VIRGINIA: THE LIFE EXPERIENCE HE GETS FROM THE SIX ... DON'T THINK HE WILL EVER GET THAT IN FOUR YEARS IN HIGH SCHOOL.))
[runs:10]
Kishore saw a kidney transplant this morning... and helped deliver a baby recently.
[sot 11:25:39]
((SUNNY KISHORE/RADFORD HIGH SCHOL: I SPENT AN HOUR...HAND ON THE BABY'S HEAD.))
[runs:13]
Only 30 students from around the state get to do this every summer.
Ellen Qualls, News 7, Richmond.))
[45E-SOL-Results]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=99-]
[GRAPHIC=SOL]
More Virginia school are making the grade.
Scores rose statewide on all 27 Standards of Learning tests this year.
But many are still far from the 70-percent passing rate schools will eventually need to be accredited by the state.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
State officials are highlighting the biggest improvements.
In fifth grade English, on the writing test, 65-percent were passing last year and 81-percent are this year.
In high school, Algebra I scores are up, with only 40-percent passing last year, and 56-percent passing this year.
Only 31-percent passed the Algebra II test last year.
51-percent did this year.
(------------)
[TALENT=Jean]
[SS= ]
The passing rates and potential accreditation results for individual schools will NOT be available until mid- to late-August.
Today's scores are averages of all schools statewide for each test.
[45WEATHER]
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Time to check the latest forecast...
Today promises to be another partly sunny and hot one...with a good chance of scattered showers or thunderstorms lasting through this evening.
Highs around 90...lows tonight around 70.
The extended forecast is partly cloudy, with a lingering possibility of scattered thunderstorms.
Expect temperatures to stay near 90 for the high lows near 70.
[SUPER=X5000; set dissolve]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Chance of Showers/88-92/Partly Cloudy/Storms Possible/68-72;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]
[cutopen]
[SUPER=@Melanie1;]
[881-Accident]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=Noon]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=81 Accident]
An accident on Interstate 81 has closed the NORTHBOUND lanes near Buchanan.
A tractor-trailer overturned in the median near mile marker 170.
State Police say traffic is being re-routed at Exit 168.
There are no reports on injuries at this time.
[8E-AMA-Union]
[ANCHOR=Mel]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=tfl]
[TAPE#=99-19 1:28:17]
[GRAPHIC=Medicare]
With Congress dealing with other issues, critics are worried about Medicare.
The bill that effects nearly one-third of Virginians insured by managed care plans could help doctors better deal with H-M-Os.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; ]
Medical Society of Virginia Associate Director Geoff Harter says many doctors resent being told by insurance companies how to treat patients -- and he says it's time to do something about it.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT ub 08 10 07]
[IN Q=I think physicans]
((DR. GEOFF HARTER/MSV DIRECTOR: I THINK PHYSICIANS ARE ACUTELY AWARE OF THE PROBLEM OF HEALTH CARE COSTS AND WE ARE WORKING TO TRY AND MINIMIZE THOSE COSTS, BUT WE NEED TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR QUALITY PATIENT CARE RATHER THAN DECISIONS BY INSURANCE COMPANIES REGARDING THE CORPORATE BOTTOM LINE.))
[SUPER=01-Dr. Geoff Harter/MSV Director; ]
[RUNS=:17]
[OUT Q=bottom line]
(------------)
[ANCHOR=]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]
Doctor Harter says the bill probably won't be voted on until next year.
[8E-Bedrosian]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=eea]
[TAPE#=99-32 17:31]
[GRAPHIC=Al Bedrosioa]
Al Bedrosian doesn't see anything wrong with his actions that landed him with an assault charge.
But he's not sure if spanking a child in a waiting room will hurt his campaign for the House of Delegates.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Salem;]
Bedrosian says the response he's getting is overwhelmingly positive.
He was in court yesterday morning, and entered a NOT guilty plea.
He says he was protecting his infant daughter, when he spanked a child who was running past him.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 02:37:31]
[IN Q=you have to have]
((AL BEDROSIAN/DEFENDANT; IT CONTROLLED THE SITUATION FOR ABOUT THE NEXT 30 SECONDS OR 45 SECONDS AND THAT'S WHAT WAS REQUIRED AND THEN THE KID WENT ON DOING WHAT HE NORMALLY DID, THAT'S OUR PLEA, BASICALLY, AS THEY FINALIZE SOMETHING. IN CASES LIKE THIS YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOME KIND OF AN INTENT TO WANT TO HURT SOMEBODY AND THAT DEFINITELY WAS NOT THERE.))
[SUPER=01-Al Bedrosian/Defendant;]
[RUNS=15]
[OUT Q=was not there]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Rocky Mount/July 11]
The child's mother, Melissa Campbell, says her son was NOT a threat to the infant and that Bedrosian overracted.
(------------)
[8E-Cantaloupe-festival]
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[NEWSCAST=cutin]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=99-]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Summer not only means hot weather, but for thousands of people in Halifax County July brings an annual tradition... the Virginia Cantaloupe Festival.
Marya Jones reports.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=They came by the thousands...]
[SUPER=03-Halifax Co.; :00]
[SUPER=07-Charles Simpson; :08]
[SUPER=07-John Massingill; :25]
[SUPER=@Marya1; :28]
[SUPER=01-George Allen/(R) Senate Candidate; 46]
[SUPER=01-Nancy Pool/Chamber of Commerce; 1:06 QUICK]
[RUNS=1:28]
[OUT Q=MJN7.]
(( They came by the thousands... to cut loose...
[QUICK NAT SOUND DANCING]
((QUICK NAT SOUND: DANCE FLOOR))
[RUNS:01]
And celebrate the cantaloupe.
[SOT 1:08:12 - :15]
((CHARLES SIMPSON: IT'S WONDERFUL. ABOUT FIVE OR SIX YEARS I'VE BEEN COMING TO IT.))
[RUNS:04]
Six Halifax county farmers donated more than 700 cantaloupes for the festival.
They were served by the slice,
Occasionally with salt,
And topped off the Halifax County way...with vanilla ice cream.
[SOT 1:11:02 - :10]
((JOHN MASSINGILL: (TAKES A BITE) I THINK I'LL HAVE THIS MORE OFTEN. I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER HAD CANTALOUPE AND VANILLA ICE CREAM AT THE SAME TIME BEFORE.))
[RUNS:08]
[STAND UP 1:19:15 - :22]
((MARYA JONES/NEWS 7: AND IF THERE'S ONE OTHER THING THAT GOES WITH CANTALOUPES, IT'S CAMPAIGNING. THERE WERE PLENTY OF POLITICIANS ON HAND TO PROVE IT.))
[RUNS:07]
[NAT SOT GEORGE ALLEN 1:05:13]
((NAT SOT: HEY, GOOD TO SEE YOU, NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.))
[RUNS:02]
Former Governor George Allen, campaigning for the Senate in 2000, worked the crowd and recalled an earlier Cantaloupe Festival.
[SOT 56:22 - :33]
((GEORGE ALLEN: ACTUALLY, WHEN I WAS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR AND CAME HERE, I WAS MEETING PEOPLE AND FINALLY HAD THE CHANCE TO COME HERE AND THEY SAID, "IT'S ALL GONE." SO, ONE OF MY MISSIONS HERE IS TO ACTUALLY GET SOME CANTALOUPE. ))
[RUNS:11]
Mission accomplished.
But most people say the festival is more than an opportunity to eat cantaloupe.
[SOT 1:14:15 - :17]
((JOHN LEE: I JUST LIKE A GOOD, OLD FUN TIME.))
[RUNS:02]
[SOT 1:16:10 - :16]
((NANCY POOL/HALIFAX COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: WE JUST LIKE TO BRING PEOPLE IN TO SEE WHAT A GREAT PLACE HALIFAX COUNTY IS AND WE USE THIS OPPORTUNITY.))
[RUNS:06]
[SOT 1:11:52 - 1:12:59]
((JOHN MASSINGILL: EVEN THOUGH, WE LIVE IN SUCH A SMALL RURAL AREA, THERE'S PEOPLE THAT YOU JUST TRAVEL IN YOUR OWN CIRCLES AND DON'T SEE PEOPLE UNTIL YOU COME TO SOMETHING LIKE THIS. ))
[RUNS:07]
It's the 19th year of a tradition that combines cantaloupe and camaraderie in Halifax County. Marya Jones, News 7.))
[8WEATHER]
[ANCHOR=KIMBERLY]
[NEWSCAST=CUTIN]
[WRITER=KMC]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Taking a break from the news to check the forecast...
Partly sunny and unseasonably warm again today, with scattered showers and thunderstorms.
Highs this afternoon around 90.
Tonight looks partly cloudy, with more thunderstorms possible.
Lows around 70.
Looking ahead to the next five days....the heat continues with partly cloudy skies and scattered thunderstorms.
Highs in the lower 90s...lows around 70.
[SUPER=X5000; set dissolve]
[SUPER=314-Partly Sunny/Chance of Showers/88-92/Partly Cloudy/Storms Possible/68-72;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]
by SS