Evan Jones
Developers of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline say the project would generate thousands of jobs in Virginia — and increase the property tax revenues in Roanoke, Franklin and Montgomery Counties by at least $1.5 million each. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Click here for the full economic benefit report.
Tim Guthrie
Salem’s new police chief sees no immediate need for major changes, but he’s open to ideas. Tim Guthrie will need no introduction to Salem or its police department; he’s been a member of the force for 33 years, and yesterday, he was named chief. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Average nationwide gas prices have fallen each day for more than two months, but experts say while the trend is welcome, it can’t last forever. That’s because at some price point, producers will have less incentive to drill for oil and operate wells, those needing more expensive methods to produce oil. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A Maryland woman faces a perjury charge in Virginia stemming from the investigation of the 1975 disappearance of two young sisters. The Washington Post reports that a Bedford County grand jury indicted 65-year-old Patricia Jean Welch of Hyattsville, Maryland, late Friday. Welch is accused of lying to the grand jury. She declined to comment to the newspaper. Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Krantz convened the grand jury in October to investigate the disappearance of 10-year-old Katherine Lyon and 12-year-old Shelia Lyon. The girls disappeared after walking to a shopping mall in Wheaton, Maryland. Welch’s husband, 69-year-old Richard Welch, and his nephew, 57-year-old Lloyd Lee Welch, have been named persons of interest. Neither man has been charged. The newspaper says Welch family members have owned land in Bedford County.
Both conservationists and the oil and natural gas industry sound generally pleased with a recent decision on “fracking” in the George Washington National Forest. The Forest Service recently decided to allow horizontal drilling for natural gas in the forest — but only in a small portion of it, and only where it’s already permitted through existing leases and mineral rights. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
If like renewing your vehicle’s registration three years at a time, Virginia’s DMV now has a new option to do so. Until recently, the three-year renewal was possible only on line, but now it is available as well at all DMV customer service centers. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
A $100,000 grant will help a Roanoke non-profit develop facilities to provide locally-grown food products 12 months a year. The grant will allow “LEAP for Local Food” to build a commercial-grade community kitchen, one allowing start-up entrepreneurs to prepare locally-grown food products. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Click here for LEAP for Local Food’s website
Rep. Bob Goodlatte
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte reached for his gavel and called upon Capital Police to remove immigration activists when they disrupted yesterday’s committee hearing:
Goodlatte called the hearing to examine what he called “President Obama’s executive overreach on immigration”. Democrats say the president’s recent executive action is legal. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Tim Bradshaw
Air travelers to and from Roanoke have one less option as of tomorrow when United Airlines reduces its current two non-stop flights a day to Washington Dulles to one a day. This follows Delta Airlines’ recent discontinuance of all non-stop service between Roanoke and Detroit. But as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports, the airport’s new executive director has has eyes on a new non-stop destination: Dallas.