Evan Jones

Artur Davis

One of the earliest supporters of President Obama’s candidacy four years ago comes to Roanoke this weekend — in support of Mitt Romney. Artur Davis is a former congressman from Alabama and one of the first lawmakers outside Illinois to support Barack Obama in 2008.  He served as campaign co-chairman that year. As WFIR’s Evan Jones reports, his turnaround is receiving some national attention.

Davis will address Roanoke Valley Republicans Saturday evening at the Tanglewood Holiday Inn.

Roanoke County school officials say there’s plenty of work ahead this weekend at Cave Spring Middle School, but they promise it will be ready to go when schools open next Tuesday. The $27 million school is big enough to handle up to 900 students.  More from WFIR’s Evan Jones.


(Continue reading for photographs inside the school Thursday morning.)

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The Roanoke Valley is now under a state-declared “drought watch” even though its two main water sources are almost 90% full. But state officials say it’s a different story in streams and underground, where groundwater levels have been 90 % below normal for the last 60 days. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.

08-16 Drought Watch Wrap2-WEB

(Continue reading for the full Department of Environmental Quality news release.)

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Store surveillance photo

Roanoke County Police hope a surveillance photo will lead them to a thief, a photo that shows her returning a wallet and claiming she just found it. Police say the woman lifted a wallet from an unattended purse at the Brambleton Avenue Bojangles’s restaurant in late July, took out a credit card and some other items and then went a cash register and told a worker she’d just found it in the bathroom. Police said the woman used the credit card at some nearby businesses.

(Continue reading for the full police news release and a larger version of the surveillance photo)

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Governor Bob McDonnell says Virginia state government ended its fiscal year in June with a nearly $450 million surplus.  That includes savings from state operations totaling $187 million as of June 30.  The administration had already announced a revenue surplus of $129 million. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more.

Click here to see the governor’s full news release.

Click here to view the governor’s entire presentation in Richmond. (His remarks begin about 2:15 in.)

 

 

The Powerball jackpot is once again getting into really big territory, now estimated at $320 million for tonight’s drawing. Lottery officials say Virginians usually spend more on MegaMillions than Powerball, but when jackpots get this big, it doesn’t matter. Despite the surge in sales at such times, scratch tickets easily remain the lottery’s biggest sellers. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.

Virginia’s math SOL pass rate took a big drop in the last school year. Officials say it’s the result of newly-introduced and more rigorous standards. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.

SOL pass rates for all other subjects remained close to the year before, in most cases either steady or slightly higher. Click here for school-by-school SOL results for all 2011-2012 school year tests.

(Continue reading for the full Virginia Department of Education news release.)

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Vice President Biden begins a two-day tour today to Southside and southwest Virginia. Creating jobs is a big campaign issue almost everywhere, but that’s especially true in Southside, which has some of the highest and most persistent unemployment rates in the state. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.