WDBJ 7 news at 6 for 12/02/99

[1-News-Head]

[TALENT=Keith]

More layoffs and bankruptcy protection may be just around the corner at Tultex.

That's our top story on NEWS 7.
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[V/O-NAT]
And out of date health-care products remain on the shelves at Rite Aid ...months - -even years- -after their effectiveness has expired. We'll go inside the store to show you some examples.
(------------)

[Sports-Head]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Tonight on News 7 sports, some of the Tech assistants are also in the running for honors this postseason. And the state high school football championship games are ready to kickoff.
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[VO-NAT]
The statewide schedule of games is coming up tonight in sports.
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[WX-Head]
[TALENT=Not Robin]
[SS=None]

A very mild weekend awaits us. Stay tuned for your complete forecast featuring highs in the sixties. [open]
[SUPER=#4054; News 7 at Six Headline Banner]
[SUPER=@Keith1;]
[SUPER=@Patrick1;]
[SUPER=@Robin1;]
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[Video-Open]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=Video Open]
[GRAPHIC=News7at6]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

It may be the only way to save a dwindling company.
Tultex -- once a clothing giant -- may soon file for Chapter 11.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith]
Good evening, I'm Keith Humphry.

[Tultex]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=ejo]
[TAPE#=99-43 1:18:33]
[GRAPHIC=Tultex-Chapter 11?]

It may not be long before Martinsville and Henry County get the news they've been expecting -- but nobody wants to hear.
Tultex ... the area's second-biggest employer ... may be on the verge of filing for bankruptcy ... and it WILL soon lay off more workers.
[Double Boxes=Keith & Scott/Newsroom]

Scott Goldberg has been following this story and has more tonight from our newsroom.
[Live=Scott full/Newsroom]
[SUPER=@Scott1;]
Keith ... sources close to Tultex tell us this is the apparel company's best -- and last -- hope.
The company will not yet confirm it's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
It says it's "considering all options."
But the only option Tultex has mentioned to us by name IS Chapter 11.
(--------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville;]

Tultex has been trying desperately to save itself from financial ruin.
The company has laid off two-thousand people in the last two years.
It has sent more than 90-percent of its sewing jobs out of the country, where labor is much cheaper.
And it has dumped clothing lines that weren't selling.
If Tultex files for Chapter 11 .. it DOES NOT mean the company would go out of business.
It would buy some time -- and with the help of a judge -- let Tultex work out deals for paying money it owes to its creditors.
(-------------)
[Live=Scott full/Newsroom]

Tultex has lost millions of dollars in the last three years.
If it cannot rescue itself, 19-hundred people in Martinsville and Henry County would be out of work -- and there are not enough jobs available in that area to absorb those workers.
The Tultex board of directors has to make the final decision on filing for bankruptcy.
The company will make an official announcement tomorrow ... one that will include another round of layoffs.
As one economic development official told us tonight ... "we're all on pins and needles."
[Double Boxes=Keith & Scott/Newsroom]

Keith.

[Henry-Fire]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=99-38 1:36:05]
[GRAPHIC=Henry Co. Fatal Fire]

Investigators know WHERE a deadly fire got its start. But they still don't know the cause.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.;]

41-year-old Alice Craig and 31-year-old Jeffrey Curtis Clark were asleep when the fire broke out late last night, in the Spencer area of Henry County.
Neighbors heard them inside and tried to pull them out, but both died of smoke inhalation.
Another man who lived there escaped by jumping out a bedroom window.
The Fire Marshall says the blaze started in a den at the back of the house.
Although a wood stove was being used for heat, investigators say it does NOT appear to be the cause of the fire.
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[Rite-Aid]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=99-41 1:08:57]
[GRAPHIC=Rite Aid-Expiration Dates]

A national drug store chain with stores all across Virginia is selling infant formula and other perishable products well past their expiration dates.
Rite Aid is already on notice from law enforcement agencies in WEST Virginia and California for failing to clear the shelves of outdated items.
Now, thanks to an inside source, we know that it's been a problem here, too.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=A quick trip]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Sandy Brinkley/Pediatric Dietitian; :46]
[SUPER=@keith1; 1:08 ]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg; 1:45]
[RUNS=1:59]
[OUT Q=two years old.]

A quick trip to the Rite Aid store at Cave Spring Corner netted several out- of- date products.
We found three different brands of Glucose testing meters that had over-stayed their shelf life... including REPLACEMENT test strips that had just expired.
In THIS store the MALE condoms were up to date.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=This is Reality]
((THIS IS REALITY FEMALE CONDOMS, EXPIRED JULY, 1999... A HALF DOZEN OF THEM LEFT. THEY'RE ALL EXPIRED.))
[RUNS=10]
[OUT Q=all expired.]

We bought Similac baby formula that should have been used by the 1st of October... and that's SERIOUS.
At Carilion Hospitals they're so aware of shelf life they discard un-used formula the month BEFORE it expires.
Otherwise Dietitian Sandy Brinkley says babies could become malnourished and suffer food-poisoning symptoms.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 01:11:50]
[IN Q=If an infant]
((IF AN INFANT- -OVER TIME- -CONSUMED A LOT OF THIS EXPIRED INFANT FORMULA, YOU'D RUN THE RISK OF THEM HAVING VITAMIN DEFICIENCIES, AND THEN THEY MIGHT ALSO WOULD GET SICK JUST AS YOU WOULD IF YOU WERE TO DRINK SOME MILK THAT HAD SPOILED.))
[RUNS=14]
[OUT Q=that had spoiled.]

Milk is the only product- -other than infant formula- -where expiration dates are regulated as a matter of law.
Rite Aid knows all this from experience. The attorney general of West Virginia found the company was selling outdated infant formula and other items. That was after district attorneys in California got a restraining order against Rite Aid to stop the store from selling expired products including baby formula and condoms.
In both states, the company promised to redouble its efforts to ensure proper inventory procedures and get out-date products off the shelves.
Rite Aid can't explain why that hasn't made a difference in Virginia.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 30:20]
[IN Q=You can't tell]
((YOU CAN'T TELL US ABOUT THE EXPIRED DATES ON THESE ITEMS. NO. I'M MAKING NO COMMENT.))
[RUNS=03]
[OUT Q=making no comment.]

Just to be sure this wasn't an isolated problem, we checked a couple of stores in Lynchburg and found some grossly out-dated things: store-brand acetaminophen with a date stamp almost a year old- -another one almost TWO years old.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith]

A Rite Aid spokeswoman in Pennsylvania today repeated the same assurances the company offered in the West Virginia case... and said "the well-being of our customers is our number one concern."

[Liberty-Vandalism]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]

An 18- year- old former Liberty High School student is in custody, charged with painting racially- motivated graffiti on the walls of his school.
Police say Rex Randall Crockett wrote racial slurs on an outside wall and painted a Confederate flag on the roof of the gymnasium.
Crockett had recently quit school.
He's being held on a ten thousand dollar bond.

[581-Rocks]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=tte]
[TAPE#=99-40 1:53:15]
[GRAPHIC=Legal Scales]

Two men admitted today they were part of a group that threw rocks at cars on Route 581 --
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/Oct. 25;]
damaging 17 vehicles. 21-year-old Irvin Divers and 20-year-old Travis Scott said they threw rocks but that 15-year-old Dion Saunders threw them first. They testified against Saunders in a preliminary hearing as part of a plea agreement. The three men and 19-year-old James Smith each face seven felony charges.
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[Missing-Student]

[ANCHOR=Tonya]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=jmc]
[TAPE#599-12 1:54:34]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The missing Virginia Tech student has been found.
She was right where police suspected all along .. hanging out with Rainbow people in Florida.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=@file;]

20 year old Rebecca Myers vanished from a family cruise on Thanksgiving Day. Her parents found her this morning at a gathering of the Rainbow People, a group of modern-day hippies she had shown some interest in.
Police say Myers is fine, and she's apologized to her family and friends for failing to keep in touch.
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[Tease#1]
[HARD MUSIC UNDER]
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[SS=NONE]

How do Virginia's Democrats dig out of their hole? That story is still ahead on News 7 at 6.
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[VO-NAT]

And the magazines arrive. One store makes special efforts to hand out this week's Sports Illustrated.
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[SUPER=84-Down 17.5 feet/Mandatory Restrictions;][Elder-Abuse]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=99-46 30:09]
[GRAPHIC=None]

An elderly Martinsville woman who was found in her home covered in bedsores, urine and vomit has died.
Now, Martinsville police say they're investigating the death of 75-year-old Elizabeth Stolbun for neglect.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Martinsville;]

She was found bedridden inside her house last week after a Social Services worker, authorities and health officials got a warrant to enter the home.
She later died in surgery.
A search warrant filed with the Martinsville clerk's office says her husband turned people away several times when they came to check on her.
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[Barnabei]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=99-44 1:09:35]
[GRAPHIC=Virginia Death Penalty]

Italian citizens are weighing in again on Virginia's death penalty.
This time it's with dollars to help the accused killer of a Lynchburg girl.
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[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Norfolk/1993]

The inmate is Derrick Barnabei, sentenced to die in 1993 for the rape, strangling, and beating murder of the 17 year old he was dating.
Sarah Wisnosky was from Lynchburg, and a student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Keith]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]

It's just the latest Virginia death row case to draw intense interest in Italy -- including, in one case, a plea for clemency from the Pope.
The region of Tuscany gave Barnabie more than five-thousand dollars to pay for D-N-A tests this week.

[World-Help]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=99-42 1:25:44]
[GRAPHIC=None]

The success of a Bedford County- based charity has landed it in a newer, larger headquarters.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Forest]

World Help.. which collects emergency relief supplies for needy people all over the world.. had become a victim of its own success.
Its old building was too small to handle all the donations, so today officials dedicated bigger and better digs in Forest.
Their expansion will allow them to keep serving the world's trouble spots.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 12:54:46]
[IN Q=We are trying]
((VERNON BREWER/WORLD HELP: WE ARE TRYING RIGHT NOW TO RAISE THE FUNDS TO RESPOND TO THE REGUFEE NEEDS IN CHECHNYA BECAUSE OF THE WAR THERE, AND SO WE ARE JUST SO MUCH MORE EFFICIENT HERE, WE CAN RESPOND VERY QUICKLY.))
[SUPER=01-Vernon Brewer/World Help President]
[RUNS=15]
[OUT Q=respond very quickly.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

In eight years, World Help has shipped more than seven million dollars worth of medical and relief supplies all over the world.
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[Stocks]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6]
[WRITER=]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]

A powerful rally in Tech stocks sent the Dow above 11-thousand and NASDAQ to another record close. [TAKE DOW & NASDAQ PAGE ]
[RUNS=:25]
[SUPER=x5102;]
[SUPER=430-x/40.67/11039.06/x/99.07/3452.78;]

The Dow rose 41 points. NASDAQ soared 99.
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[SUPER=434-ib/16a/i%/69d/he/30/ig/76/i*/57c;] [Democrats]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=99-39 1:15:26]
[GRAPHIC=Va Democrats Tough Times]

They are unquestionably Virginia's past.
They say they're the future.
But they are NOT the party of the present in Virginia.
Ellen Qualls takes a look at Democrats, facing tough times at the ballot box.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=If you look]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/November 2; :00]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/January 1990; :23]
[SUPER=01-Doug Wilder/(D) Former Governor; :31]
[SUPER=@Deeds; :43]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/Today; :49]
[SUPER=@Ellen1; 1:13]
[RUNS=1:28]
[OUT Q=Qualls, News 7.]

(( If you look at Virginia's Republicans on election night last month, you'll see a governor, a lieutenant governor, an attorney general, the front-runner in a U-S Senate race, and a future Speaker of the House.
Democrats across town chose a half-empty bar.
If you look for Democratic stars, you find an incumbent Senator who's behind in the polls... and a man who's never held elective office, who may be running for governor in two years.
The last Democrat to hold the office sees the party's humiliation as a time for rebirth-- a time to buck the old party order and take bold new stands.
[SOT 14;53:34 ]
((DOUG WILDER/D-FORMER GOVERNOR: THOSE PERSONS WHO DO THAT WILL BE MORE RESPECTED BY THE VOTERS IN VIRGINIA. AND THEY MIGHT NOT BE RESPECTED IN THEIR OWN PARTIES. BUT WHO CARES?! THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT.))
[RUNS=:13 ]

[SOT 13;46:51]
((DEL. CREIGH DEEDS/D-WARM SPRINGS: IN THE EARLY 90S, WHEN DOUG WILDER WAS IN OFFICE, WE WERE RATED THE BEST MANAGED STATE IN THE COUNTRY TWO YEARS IN A ROW.))
[RUNS=:08 ]

Newly-elected Democrats and perhaps rising stars like Creigh Deeds say they need to remind voters of past successes.
And chart a course beyond the next election-- where they say shortsighted feel-good measures like "no car tax" are hard to sell.
[SOT 13:45:51]
((DEL. CREIGH DEEDS/D-WARM SPRINGS: IT'S HARD TO BE THE PARTY OF PLANNING, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE ELECTED TO PART OF THE PROCESS. AND THAT REQUIRES KEEPING YOUR VOTERS HAPPY.))
[RUNS=:11]

NO matter what public image they present now, U-Va political analyst Larry Sabato looks at the trends and says Democrats could be out of power for quite some time.
Next year's redistricting, with Republicans in control, can help seal that fate.
Ellen Qualls, News 7.))

[SI-Sales]

[ANCHOR=Keith]
[NEWSCAST=Six]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=99-47 20:18]
[GRAPHIC=None]

Fans of Virginia Tech football are enjoying the national spotlight.
And the latest example of that, a cover story in Sports Illustrated, is disappearing quickly from local newstands.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg]

Four hundred copies sold out in just 30 minutes this morning at the Volume Two Bookstore in Blacksburg.
Almost anything with a Tech logo is selling well this season, but store managers say they've never had a product move as fast as the latest issue of S - I.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 01:46:40]
[IN Q=I was out there this morning]
((MATT KLINE: I WAS OUT THERE THIS MORNING. THERE WERE PROBABLY 30 PEOPLE IN LINE TO GET THEM, AND SOME PEOPLE WERE BUYING TEN AT A TIME.)) ((DAVID ZIEGLER: I'VE HAD A SUBSCRIPTION FOR ABOUT THREE OR FOUR YEARS NOW, BUT I CANCELLED IT WHEN I MOVED OUT HERE. I WISH I STILL HAD IT, BECAUSE I'D HAVE A COPY.))
[SUPER=01-Matt Kline/Va. Tech Student; :00]
[SUPER=01-David Ziegler/Va. Tech Student; :07]
[RUNS=:13]
[OUT Q=I'd have a copy.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The December 6th edition features Tech receiver Andre Davis on the cover, and includes a lengthy article on the Hokies' march to national prominence.
(------------)

[Sports Tease]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=]
Coming up tonight on News 7 sports, the new Arena football team has a name, we have the rundown of state championship football games coming your way this weekend.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
And we'll preview the game that kicks off everything in division three. The Brookville Bees get the spotlight right after this.
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[S-Tech]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-48]
[GRAPHIC=TECH/FSU]

The Hokies hope to have all their coahces in tact when they head to the Sugar Bowl, but Rickey Bustle is being courted by Eastern Michigan Univeristy - the alma mater of Lions' quarterback Charlie Batch. 55 year old UVa assistant Paul Schudel also has been interviewed about the job. The school wants to name a coach by early next week, at the latest.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Blacksburg/August; ;00]
Bud Foster, Tech's defensive coordinator is also in demand, but he is top candidate to win this year's Frank Broyles award that goes to the top assistant coach in the land. At the worst, he will get $1000 bucks and a set of golf clubs.

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[S-Football]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=rst]
[TAPE#=SP-52 (49:13)]
[GRAPHIC=Arena Football]

When the Roanoke Valley's AF2 arena football franchise kicks off its season in early may the team will be called the Roanoke Steam and the head coach is Pete Shaw.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; :]

Shaw has 19 years of coaching experience and in the summer of 1998 he coached the New Jersey Red Dogs of the Arena Football league.
And Shaw says the valley's team will eventually become a big part of the community.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q="These players...]
[SUPER=01-Pete Shaw/Roanoke Steam Head Coach; :]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=.....of their time."]
[ANCHOR=Mike]
[GRAPHIC=Hold Logo]

Roanoke Rush head coach Duke Strager will coach the line and Shaw says the franchise is also talking with former Salem star and Wake Forest Grad Richard Goodpasture.

[S-Brookville]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=sma]
[TAPE#=SP-45 1:03:41]
[GRAPHIC=FFE]

Brookville and John Handley kick off our Friday Football Extra action Friday night at seven in the Group 2A, Division Three state championship in Harrisonburg. Steve Mason has more.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=first audio]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg; :00]
[SUPER=03-Gate City/Division Three Semi-Final; :07]
[SUPER=01-Brett Phelps/Brookville Sr. Offensive Guard; :14]
[SUPER=@Steve1; :36]
[SUPER=01-Dejon Kennedy/Brookville Running Back; :48 ]
[SUPER=01-Bobby Johnson/Brookville Head Coach; 1:16]
[RUNS=1:37]
[OUT Q=....News 7 sports"]
(--------------)

((Since 1973, the Bees have reached the state championship three times only to come up short in each game. A trend this years 10 and 3 team wants to end for the themselves, the community and the school. ((:)) ((:)) ((:)) ((:)) Losses to Amherst and Jefferson Forest are the only other blemishes. Last week Brookville beat Gate City 21-14 in the semi-finals behind Dejon Kennedy's two touchdowns. But Scoot Nixon's development has been the key. He's thrown seven touchdowns in as many games after replacing injured first string QB Chad Stoic. ((:)) Defensively, the Bees are yielding under two hundred yards a game. Brookville's defensive backs face a Handley team known for it's vaunted west coast offense. ((:))
Kickoff is set for 7pm Friday at James Madison University. Steve Mason News 7 sports.))

[S-FFE]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-46]
[GRAPHIC=FFE LOGO]

We will preview the Salem and Floyd County state championship games tomorrow night on Friday Football Extra. But in case you are planning on catching one of the 6 state title games in the state here's your complete schedule.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=AUDIO FULL]
[RUNS=:33]
[OUT Q=LOGO COMES FULL]
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[S-Hoops]

[ANCHOR=Mike]
[NEWSCAST=6pm]
[WRITER=mst]
[TAPE#=SP-49]
[GRAPHIC=FERRUM]

The Ferrum basketball team has suspended star Curtis Lipscomb from the team pending the outcome of the drug charges he now faces. Lipscomb who is a sophomore is charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.
[GRAPHIC=TECH]
The unbeaten Tech men's basketball team is on the road tonight at East Tennessee State. We'll have highlights at 11.

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