Evan Jones
A Roanoke agency that serves many lower-income area residents says looming federal budget cuts will severely impact its ability to deliver services. TAP — Total Action for Progress — says the budget cuts will curtail its ability to help people get out of poverty and into productive adult lives. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Roanoke developer Ed Walker has almost filled his latest residential project, and he hopes to take care of the rest by helping small businesses get a start. He is devoting the last remaining commercial area to shared office space offering office equipment, utilities and wi-fi with hope it helps those businesses — and Roanoke — to grow. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Click here for the CitySpace web site.
The Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op is just a few weeks away from opening a second store, this one in the Market Square area. The plan right now calls for a soft opening late this month and the official one to follow a short time later. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the latest.
Virginia environmental activists say man-made global warming is responsible for a growing number and intensity of storms — including many that strike Virginia. They are calling for stricter government regulations on carbon monoxide emissions from cars and coal-fired power plants. But others, like the Cato Institute in Washington, say our country’s impact on the atmosphere is already negligible, and increasing storm damage is largely the result of a growing population building more homes in harm’s way. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Click here for the Environment Virginia report.
Click here for Cato Institute’s global warming web page.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is preparing for a summer season under sequestration budget cuts, and visitors may notice the impact at times. In our region, the Roanoke Mountain Campground and Smart View Picnic areas will remain closed until further notice. Programs at popular centers like Peaks of Otter and Mabry Mill will be reduced. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Click here for a full list of parkway facilities and their status for this summer.
Center General Manager Jim Sears
Center in the Square is getting set to re-open next month, and while almost everything going pretty much as planned, there are no takers yet for the rooftop restaurant space. The Center is hopeful that once it reopens after the $27 million renovation, a restaurant operator may be more likely to take interest. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Click here for full Center in the Square renovation information.
Botetourt County volunteers needed more than two hours to rescue a man who fell more than 30 feet down a bluff near Eagle Rock. Crews were called out around 10:30 to Prices Bluff, which rises above the James River. Rescuers had to descend steep terrain to reach the man and pull him to safety. As they worked, all train traffic was halted on the CSX tracks directly below. The fall victim was taken to a Lifeguard helicopter waiting nearby for transport to Roanoke for hospital treatment. We have no word yet on his name or condition, but the injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.
It’s been exactly one year since a young Franklin County mother was last seen alive. Heather Hodges was 22 years old, last seen at her Rocky Mount area home. Her boyfriend reported her missing two days later. Investigators while leads are coming in more slowly now, they do indeed still come in. The latest from WFIR’s Evan Jones.
Investigators ask anyone who might have any information on the case to call the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office at (540) 483-3000.
(Continue reading for the full Sheriff’s Office news release.) Continue reading
Virginia Western Community College is preparing to open its newest building this coming fall. Construction of the $26 million Center for Science and Health Professions is pretty much complete, with classroom equipment still to be moved in. And as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports, VWCC officials are already considering a future expansion to their brand-new building.
Some outpatient cancer clinics across the country have started turning away Medicare patients, saying sequestration budget cuts leave them little choice. At Blue Ridge Cancer Care, doctors say if nothing changes, they will have no choice but to consider similar action. Cancer clinics say the cuts now leave them spending more to purchase and administer the drugs than Medicare reimburses. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Links to more information:
Blue Ridge Cancer Care has information and links to an on-line petition.
The American Society for Clinical Oncology has additional information.
The Washington Post was first to report the story last week.
The Post has a follow-up story on whether these cuts are actually the direct result of sequestration.
Click here to read the Budget Control Act of 2011. Paragraph 8 at the bottom of page 19 makes specific reference to Medicare cuts that will “not be more than 2 per cent for a fiscal year.”
The Hill reports on growing pressure on Washington to change sequestration as it applies to cancer drug reimbursements.