Evan Jones
LewisGale is unveiling its new Maternity Care Center today in Salem, adding to the changes mothers, newborns, and their families increasingly experience at hospitals. Moms can go through labor, give birth, and recover in one of these rooms. The goal is to give a feel more like a home than a hospital, as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports.
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Photo from VT News Daily Email
Thousands of law enforcement officers converged on Virginia Tech’s campus for yesterday’s services honoring fallen officer Deriek Crouse. Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said his officer’s sacrifice is one all his colleagues must be prepared to make. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
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Roanoke removed downtown parking meters in 1999, and now, its city manager thinks bringing them back at least deserves consideration. Chris Morrill says meters create more turnaround — and therefore more available spaces — and creating more of them can boost the city’s economic vitality. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones.
State police photo of Ross Ashley
State Police say a Spotsylvania County man who was a part-time student at Radford University fatally shot a Virginia Tech police officer Thursday and took his own life about 30 minutes later. Police say 22-year-old Ross Truett Ashley Partlow also stole an SUV at gunpoint in Radford the day before.
Continue reading for the full state police news release.
Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek W. Crouse
Funeral arrangements for Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek W. Crouse have been set. The family will receive friends at the Horne funeral home, 1300 North Franklin Street, Christiansburg, Va., 24068 on Sunday, Dec. 11 from 3 to 8 p.m. The funeral service will be held Monday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. at Virginia Tech’s Cassell Coliseum.
A memorial fund has been set up to support the family of officer Crouse. Virginia Tech says anyone who wants to donate to the memorial fund may do so by check to the National Bank of Bank of Blacksburg.
Please make checks payable to: Deriek Crouse Memorial Fund
Mail checks to:
National Bank of Blacksburg
Attn: Dana Sutphin
PO Box 90002
Blacksburg VA 24062-9002
Investigators believe the gunman who killed Virginia Tech Police Officer Deriek Crouse acted alone, changed clothes after running off, then killed himself with his handgun when another officer spotted him. That word comes today as the investigation into yesterday’s shooting at Virginia Tech continues and we await more word on the shooter’s identity — and some idea as to why it happened.
Virginia got a likely preview of next year’s US Senate race when George Allen and Tim Kaine debated in Richmond yesterday head-to-head. The debate followed a highly-structured format for the most part, but as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports, there was one moment when the two former governors went back and forth with each other.
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Neither Kaine nor Allen has won his party’s nomination: both face primary opponents next June. Close to 50 Tea Party activists protested outside the debate, unhappy it excluded a Tea Party candidate and five other Senate hopefuls.
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers made it official last night: he will seek another four years in next May’s municipal election. Bowers has been elected mayor three times before in 1992, 1996 and 2008. He says the greatest challenge facing the city today is maintaining important services at a time of reduced state and federal funding.More from WFIR’s Evan Jones.
[audio:http://wfirnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/12-07-Bowers-Wrap1-WEB.mp3|titles=12-07 Bowers Wrap1-WEB]The U.S. Postal Service says it must most quickly to stop losing billions of dollars a year. It wants to slow first-class delivery times next spring, along with closing hundreds of processing centers like ones in Roanoke and Lynchburg. Local postal workers say that is a really bad idea. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
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Census figures show that more Roanoke area people are using alternate ways to get to work — ways other than driving alone. And local advocates say those numbers may not tell the whole story. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more.
Franchising takes a new direction this weekend in the Roanoke Valley — the region’s first franchised urgent care center. Doctor’s Express wants to fill some of the middle ground between family practice and emergency room visits, especially at times when you need attention, your doctor cannot see you, but don’t really need ER care. Doctor’s Express has a ribbon cutting this afternoon. They open tomorrow in the Towers Shopping Center. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones.