Evan Jones
The ski season is anything but over three hours from Roanoke at Snowshoe Mountain. With three new feet of snow this month alone, it’s more like mid-winter there than spring. Snowshoe will remain open through Easter Sunday March 31st. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Sen. Tim Kaine
Senator Tim Kaine says he is happy to see that his colleagues will vote on a budget shortly — for the first time in four years. A vote is expected either this evening or tomorrow. Kaine supports the Democrat-sponsored Senate version, but he says the more important thing is that Senators are once again voting on any budget for the first time since April 2009. The House passed its own version yesterday. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones.
(Continue reading for a list of differences in the Senate and House budget plans.)
Groundbreaking at 1210 Patterson Avenue (WFIR photo)
A Roanoke-based credit union will build a branch in a neighborhood where banks are not easily found. Federal grants are largely paying for a West End revitalization project anchored by a new Freedom First Credit Union Branch. The project will also include other commercial space and a community pavilion.WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
(Continue reading for the full Freedom First news release.)
Roanoke Regional Airport is preparing to handle any possible overnight closing of its control tower — while having no idea yet whether it will actually occur. The U.S. Department of Transportation has it on the list of facilities that may face overnight closings, the result it says of sequestration budget cuts, but so far, there is no final word. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Roanoke Regional Airport has reached the halfway point of its first big renovation since the present terminal opened in 1989. The $4 million project covers everything from a new front door to new rest rooms and escalators to updated departure lounges. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
(Continue reading for renovation photos)
Spring arrives today — a season when gas prices normally rise dramatically. Experts say Virginians should expect the annual springtime increase, but this year’s peak should not reach $4 a gallon. GasBuddy.com expects prices to top out between $3.70 and $3.85 a gallon by early May. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
Store surveillance photo
Roanoke Police have released a surveillance photo of a woman suspected in at least one of two overnight robberies which appear very similar. The first was at Replay Games on Peters Creek Road, and several hours later, there was another at the Stop In Food Store at Edgewood and Brandon. Police say in both cases, a woman asked a clerk for change, and once the cash register was opened, the woman said she had a weapon and grabbed some money. Police say the surveillance photo was taken at the Stop In robbery.
(Continue reading for a larger photo and full Roanoke Police news releases.)
The vote count is now right around 500 on a Roanoke on-line survey: should the city keep its present seal or re-adopt the original one. City Manager Chris Morrill says so far, more than 90% of the responses prefer the original seal, one which dates to 1884. The latest from WFIR’s Evan Jones.
Click here for the Roanoke City on-line city seal survey.
Carvins Cove
For the first time in more than a year, no part of Virginia is listed on the U.S. drought monitor. Even with the regular rains of recent months, parts of Botetourt, Rockbridge and Alleghany Counties had still been among those areas listed as “abnormally dry” until late last week. Their removal from the Drought Monitor means that all above- and below-ground water supplies in the state are now in good shape. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.