Evan Jones

Roanoke Mayor David Bowers presents his State of the City address this morning, and he’s delivering an upbeat message. The story from News/Talk 960’s Evan Jones.
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Mayor Bowers points to two different sets of numbers in particular: student achievement scores going up in Roanoke public schools and citywide crime numbers going down.
Bowers is delivering his address from the third floor of newly-renovated City Market Building; it is another symbol, he says of things turning around in Roanoke.

Roanoke Valley small business owners have until midnight tonight to enter a contest that offers $25,000 in cash and promotional awards. The “Expand!” contest is sponsored by the Roanoke Regional Entrepreneur Center, and organizers say more than 140 business owners have already entered. Organizers say there are benefits for anyone who does so. Lynda McNutt Foster is President of “Synergize My Business”.

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Organizers are looking for the best proposal to start or expand a business — and create new jobs. Click here for more information and the contest application web page.

Roanoke Police are looking for two men who robbed people a motel room last weekend. Police say the two knocked on a door Saturday at the Starlight Motel on Melrose Avenue, and when the two people inside opened it, the pair outside barged in, showed a handgun and robbed the victims. Roanoke Police have posted surveillance video of the suspects and ask for your help in identifying them.

Click here to see the surveillance video.

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Roanoke School administrators say yesterday’s announcement of full state academic accreditation of every city school is more than historic — it is the direct result, they say, of support for schools through the “Eat for Education” meals tax increase. More from News/Talk 960’s Evan Jones.

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Superintendent Rita Bishop says when the meals tax was approved last spring, schools  hastily geared up for a bigger summer school program — a program she says directly impacted this year’s SOL  test scores and resulting academic accreditation of all city schools.
This year, with more time to prepare, Roanoke Schools conducted a much larger summer school;  2,300 students attended the July sessions. Bishop believes we’ll see corresponding results next spring.
Administrators say Eat for Education has given them chance to successfully improve student achievement while making longer-term adjustments to less state funding.

There wasn’t much question about it. Even people who had little experience feeling earthquakes quickly realized what was happening around 1:55 pm. The earthquake was centered in Louisa County about 40 miles northwest of Richmond, and it registered almost six on the Richter scale.

Susan Grice was among those who felt it. She works at Rocky Top Building Products in Rocky Mount, where she says everything in the office started to shake:

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Ann Hollins also felt it in her New Castle home:

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Steve Carlisle at Blue Note Music in Salem has experienced a minor earthquake before in eastern Virginia, but he says it was nothing like this:

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John Briscoe lives near the Norfolk Southern tracks in Thaxton, and his first thought turned to the railroad:

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The earthquake forced the evacuation of the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and all the monuments on the National Mall in Washington. Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in the same county as the epicenter were automatically taken off line.

 

 

 

 

Roanoke City officials are warmly welcoming the announcement of 200 new jobs at FreightCar America, but building freight cars can be a very cyclical business. Nonetheless, company officials believe the prospects for continued business appear strong in the next few years. The story from News/Talk 960’s Evan Jones.

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Norfolk Southern is ordering another Roanoke-built 1,500 coal-carrying cars,  this on top of the 1,500 already in production. N.S. President Wick Moorman says coal still provides one-quarter of the railroad’s revenue.
The long-term outlook for job security building rail cars can be bumpy at times. Freight Car America essentially shut down its Roanoke plant for almost two years in 2009 until business returned this spring.  But company president Ed Whalen says things should look good for a while.

It’s back to class today for almost 15,000 students in Roanoke County Schools, and for all those returning, it’s the start of a longer school day. News/Talk 960’s Evan Jones reports on what’s behind the move.

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In Roanoke City, classes begin one week from today — the first time in decades that’s happening before Labor Day. It’s the result of a state law passed earlier this year permitting Roanoke Schools to do so.

Roanoke County Schools begin a new school year on Monday, and for one of those schools, it’s the start of a new era. Students at Mason’s Cove Elementary near the county’s northwest corner will walk into a brand new school building. The story from News/Talk 960’s Evan Jones.

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FreightCar America is planning a Monday morning announcement for 1,500 hybrid coal rail cars. It appears this order will come from Norfolk Southern, since the railroad’s president is listed as among those scheduled to be present. FreightCar America held a job fair in Roanoke earlier month amid reports it may hire another 150 to 200 workers. It appears Monday’s announcement will provide more details.