Evan Jones
This afternoon’s heavy rains led to localized street flooding in the downtown Roanoke area as close to two inches of rain came down in about 45 minutes. Roanoke Fire-EMS reports its Swift Water Rescue Team helped a stranded motorist in the 900 block of Campbell Ave. The thunderstorms that moved through also left more than 1,800 customers in Roanoke City and County without power.
Doug Bock photo
Roanoke Fire-EMS photo
Tim Jones
From Roanoke City: — At a press conference held in the north lobby of Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building on Tuesday, July 12, Roanoke City Manager Chris Morrill announced that Tim Jones has been selected as Police Chief for the City of Roanoke. Jones has been serving as Acting Police Chief since March 2016. This announcement culminates a four-month national search and recruitment process, which included gathering input from various organizations within the community and using a citizen interview panel with participants who reflect Roanoke’s diversity. From the 42 applications received 11 finalists were selected. After video interviews, four candidates were invited for onsite interviews of which three were interviewed by the citizen panel, technical panel (which included Chief Kelvin Wright from the City of Chesapeake) and the city manager.
“I am pleased that after an extensive national search, we found the right candidate in our own department. Tim Jones has the professional experience, academic background, and deep knowledge of the community to lead the Roanoke Police Department during these challenging times. I look forward to working with Chief Jones as we continue to build a safer community through stronger relationships with our citizens and neighborhoods,” said Morrill.
(Continue reading for the rest of the news release.)
A popular Christmas tree farm is looking to bring people in during the summer months with something much different — Bubbleball. Normally, teams need to reserve in advance, but anyone can just show up Saturday or Sunday at Joe’s Trees in Newport to try it out, as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports.
Click here for full NRV Bubbleball information.
A health care insurance company is seeking more customer service representatives in the Roanoke area — and it plans to start the training in less than two weeks. WFIRs Clark Palmer has more details:
Click here for the United Healthcare jobs website
Alcohol is believed to be a factor in a fatal boating accident on Smith Mountain Lake. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials say it happened late Sunday afternoon near the Anthony Ford Boat Ramp in the Pittsylvania County section of the lake near Penhook. One boat exiting the cove there struck a second craft, killing one of the two people aboard that second boat. Officials did not immediately release the names of anyone involved or the conditions of others aboard the two boats.