[7-E-Stewart-Avenue]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=99-44 1:22:48]
[GRAPHIC=Arson]
A fire that killed five members of one family was originally considered accidental, but now officials are investigating the fire as an arson case.
Joe Dashiell has the latest developments.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Four children and their grandmother]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke/January 20, 1996; :00]
[SUPER=01-Chief Jim Grigsby/Roanoke Fire-EMS; :16]
[SUPER=01-Lt. Bill Althoff/Roanoke Police; :46]
[RUNS=1:07]
[OUT Q=JD News 7 Roanoke]
((Four children and their grandmother died when the Stewart Avenue home caught fire.
It was first viewed as an accident, but new information came to light as a lawsuit moved forward, and investigators returned to Stewart Avenue to collect additional evidence.
[SOT CHIEF GRIGSBY 03:52:36]
[IN Q=We went down to the bare bones]
((WE WENT DOWN TO THE BARE BONES OF ALL THE WOOD, REALLY WASHED THIS PLACE OUT, FOUND SOME ADDITIONAL BURN PATTERNS THAT WEREN'T CONSISTENT WITH OUR INITIAL FINDING AND THEN THERE WAS SOME ADDITIONAL WITNESS EVIDENCE THAT CAME FORTH THAT I CAN'T SPEAK TO AT THE MOMENT, THAT LEAD US TO RETHINK OUR INITIAL FINDING.))
[RUNS= :19]
[OUT Q=rethink our initial finding.]
Since fire officials reclassified the cause from accidental to incendiary, Roanoke police have renewed their investigation... They're reinterviewing firefighters and others with knowledge of the fatal incident.
[SOT LT. ALTHOFF 03:29:04]
[IN Q=It may be an old event]
[RUNS= :11]
[OUT Q=what they said and to whom.]
Almost four years after the fire, prosecuting the crime will be difficult, but investigators are hoping someone will come forward with information that will help them crack this case.
Joe Dashiell News 7 Roanoke))
[7-Purgatory-Fire]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Forest Fire]
The fire that swept through a Botetourt County forest in August cost major dollars to fight. Now, the state wants to be repaid.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co./August]
The state spent 166-thousand dollars fighting the 12-hundred acre fire on Purgatory Mountain.
The Department of Forestry has asked Attorney General Mark Earley's office to decide whether to seek civil damages.
The blaze was started by sparks from the metal rim of a truck that blew a tire on nearby Interstate 81.
(------------)
[7-E-Danville-Manager]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Danville's City Council says it has chosen the right man to manage the city.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Danville;]
Council unanimously picked 56 year old Jerry Gwaltney over 160 candidates.
Gwaltney has spent the last five years as the City Manager in Dothan, Alabama.
He's worked in city government in the southeast for two decades.
Yesterday by phone he explained that his main objectives would include pushing for schools and economic development.
(///// SOT /////)
[IN Q=That's what the name]
((JERRY GWALTNEY/NEW CITY MANAGER: THAT'S WHAT THE NAME OF THE GAME IS RIGHT NOW...POSITIONING YOURSELF FOR THE FUTURE AND HAVING THE NECESSARY INFRASTRUCTURE THAT MAKES THAT EASIER TO DO.))
((PETE CASTIGLIONE/DANVILLE VICE MAYOR: HE SEES THE TIE BETWEEN EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND HE'S BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL.))
[SUPER=02-Jerry Gwaltney/New Danville City Manager; :00]
[SUPER=01-Pete Castiglione/Danville Vice-Mayor; :16]
[RUNS=:21]
[OUT Q=been very successful.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Danville will formally appoint Gwaltney at its next meeting.
He'll make 125-thousand dollars a year... 14 percent more than his predecessor, Ray Griffin, who was fired in July.
(------------)
[7Weather]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=tar]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Let's take a look now at your Thursday forecast...
Expect a mostly sunny day and windy day.
Highs in the mid 40s.
Tonight looks clear with a light breeze.
Low temperatures in the low to mid 20s.
The five day forecast...
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[SUPER=314-Mostly Sunny/Winds 10-20 MPH/43-48/Clear/Light Breeze/23-28;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]
[7BIRTHDAYS!] 12/17/99
Friday:
[SUPER=130-5/Evan Monroe/Martinsville]
[SUPER=130-37/Loretta Williams/Vinton]
Anniversary:
[SUPER=130-/Calvin & Janet Arrington, Jr./Thaxton]
[SUPER=130-7/Katie Clemmer/Raphine]
[SUPER=130-12/Katie St. Clair/Roanoke]
[SUPER=130-3/Megan Clingenpeel/Roanoke]
[SUPER=130-40/Lynne Conley/Pearisburg]
[SUPER=130-37/Rose Shifflett/Roanoke]
[SUPER=130-12/Mark Shifflett/Roanoke] (Rose's son)
No Pictures:
[SUPER=131-/Melanie Woomer/Roanoke]
[45-Henry-Workers]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The Henry County Board of Supervisors is doing its part to help laid- off textile workers in their area.
Yesterday, the board authorized a 300-thousand dollar assistance package for former workers from Tultex, Pluma and Ashmore.
The plan includes waiving penalties on real estate and property taxes... and offering loans of up to 15-hundred dollars to help workers through their unemployment.
[45-E-Rubatex]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=sgo]
[TAPE#=99-42 1:47;13]
[GRAPHIC=Rubatex]
Rubatex retirees received some unpleasant news in their mailboxes...
The company informed them that for the first time, they'll have to pay part of their health-insurance premiums.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Bedford]
That's been one issue at the heart of the Rubatex strike.
The Steelworkers union has been picketing for nearly 100 days ... and says it's not fair to make retirees pay.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 16:26:17]
[IN Q=we don't]
((RICHARD WALKER/USWA LOCAL 240 PRESIDENT: WE DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM HAVE TO CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING TO RETAIN HEALTH INSURANCE. THEY SPENT 30 OR MORE IN HERE ... THEN TO SPEND A THIRD OF THEIR PENSION CHECK IS RIDICULOUS ... AIN'T NO WAY THEY'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO MAKE IT.))
[SUPER=01-Richard Walker/USWA Local 240 President;]
[RUNS=14]
[OUT Q=TO MAKE IT]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
If the union and Rubatex ever agree on a new contract ... the terms and conditions of the letter sent to retirees could change.
But neither the union nor the company has scheduled a face-to-face meeting.
(------------)
[45-S-Tobacco]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=99-47 31:26]
[GRAPHIC=Tobacco Quotas]
Next year promises to be just as difficult for tobacco farmers as this one.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pittsylvania Co.;]
The U-S Department of Agriculture has announced an 18-and a half percent cut in the tobacco quota for 2000.
That means farmers will have to plant a lot less tobacco next year.
In the last two years, decreased demand for the leaf has cut back tobacco growers' incomes by 35 percent.
(------------)
[45-S-Butler-Portrait]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=99-41 1:31:51]
[GRAPHIC=None]
The gallery of Virginia governors has made room for the portrait of one former LIEUTENANT governor.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]
120 years after he served, James Alexander Walker's image returned to the Virginia State Capitol.
The political gene must run in the family.
Lieutenant Governor Walker was the great-grandfather of former Roanoke Congressman Caldwell Butler... who commissioned the new portrait.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 14:52:41]
[IN Q=I'm very sensitive]
((CALDWELL BUTLER/FORMER ROANOKE CONGRESSMAN: I'M VERY SENSITIVE ABOUT THAT, BECAUSE EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN A LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BEFORE OR SINCE, HAS A PORTRAIT HANGING HERE UNLESS THEY BECAME GOVERNOR. SO HE WAS CONSPICUOUS TO THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY BY HIS ABSENCE.))
[SUPER=01-Caldwell Butler/Former Roanoke Congressman;]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=his absence.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Walker's well worth remembering.
He challenged Stonewall Jackson to a duel at VMI, well before either went on to gain fame.
He served as lieutenant governor, and then the congressman representing southwest Virginia.
He retired to practice law in Wytheville.
(------------)
[45Weather]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=tar]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Taking a break now from the news to check the forecast...
Mostly sunny and windy today with highs in the mid and upper 40s.
Clear overnight, with calmer winds and lows dropping into the mid 20s.
The extended forecast keeps the sunshine around tomorrow...with highs again in the uper 40s....
[SUPER=X5000; set dissolve]
[SUPER=314-Mostly Sunny/Winds 10-20 MPH/43-48/Clear/Light Breeze/23-28;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]
[8-Purgatory-Fire]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=dse]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=Forest Fire]
It cost thousands of dollars to fight the August forest fire in Botetourt County. Now, the state says it wants its money back.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co./August]
The state spent 166-thousand dollars fighting the 12-hundred acre fire on Purgatory Mountain.
The Department of Forestry has asked Attorney General Mark Earley's office to decide whether to seek civil damages.
The blaze was started by sparks from the metal rim of a truck that blew a tire on nearby Interstate 81.
(------------)
[8-Gilmore-Education]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=Virginia College Funding]
College tuition in Virginia will remain the same next year.
Governor Gilmore is freezing college tuition next year ... this after cutting state tuition costs 20 percent last year.
It's part of Gilmore's two-year budget he'll unveil Friday.
It will include more than 300-million new dollars to Virginia's colleges and universities and pay raises for professors.
[8-Henry-Workers]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=mjo]
[TAPE#=None]
[GRAPHIC=None]
Henry County's government is lending a helping hand to laid off textile workers in the county.
Yesterday, the Board of Supervisors authorized a 300-thousand dollar assistance package for former workers from Tultex, Pluma, and Ashmore.
The plan includes waiving penalties on real estate and property taxes, and offering loans of up to 15-hundred dollars to help workers through their unemployment.
[8-E-L'burg-Sewers]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=ssm]
[TAPE#=99-43]
[GRAPHIC=Lynchburg Seal]
Lynchburg officials have received an early Christmas gift from the state...money for sewers.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Lynchburg]
Yesterday, State officials delivered a check for more than five and a half million dollars to help with the overhaul of Lynchburg's sewer system.
The money matches a federal grant, and brings the total of outside help to 26 million dollars so far.
The city is spending 20 years and an estimated 270 million dollars to fix its sewers.
The goal is to prevent raw sewage from flowing into the James River.
(------------)
[8-E-Santa-Safety]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=equ]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=None ]
Come December 24th....the world's best- known traveller will leave the North Pole bound for Virginia.
And state safety experts want to make sure his trip is a safe one.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond;]
So "Drive Smart, Virginia" and the Governor's top transportation officials added a few safety features to Santa's sleigh yesterday: airbags, belts, and booster seats for the elves.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 11:48:16]
[IN Q=You know in]
((COL. WAYNE HUGGINS/VIRGINIA STATE POLICE: YOU KNOW IN VIRGINIA, OUR LAW REQUIRES THAT ALL CHILDREN AND ELVES THAT WEIGH LESS THAN 40 POUNDS HAVE TO BE SECURED. AND WE RECOMMEND THAT CHILDREN AND ELVES THAT WEIGH ABOVE 40 POUNDS BE PROPERLY SECURED EITHER IN SEATBELTS OR IN AN APPROVED BOOSTER SEAT.))
[SUPER=01-Col. Wayne Huggins/State Police;]
[RUNS=:19]
[OUT Q=booster seat.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Santa reminded parents that kids whose mom and dad don't buckle up tend NOT to buckle up themselves.
Along with the safety message, Santa made time to hand out a few early gifts for the kids.
(------------)
[8Weather]
[ANCHOR=Kimberly]
[NEWSCAST=AM Cutins]
[WRITER=tar]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Before we wrap up this morning, here's a final look at the forecast.
Mostly sunny and windy today, with highs reaching the mid and upper 40s.
Tonight should stay clear with a light breeze and lows in the mid and upper 20s.
The extended outlook stays rather chilly for the next few days..
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[SUPER=314-Mostly Sunny/Winds 10-20 MPH/43-48/Clear/Light Breeze/23-28;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]
by SS