Gene Marrano

(from ABC News) An overnight protest on a closed Washington state freeway ended with two women in the hospital after a motorist barreled into the crowd, according to Washington State Patrol. For weeks, law enforcement authorities have warned pedestrian protesters not to use the highways as the setting for protests. “The freeway is simply not a safe place…We feared something like this would happen,” said Captain Ron Mead, commander of Washington State Patrol field operations for District 2, at a press conference Saturday morning.
A 27-year-old man from Seattle is accused of driving his car onto the closed I-5, going around the vehicles that were supporting the protesters, and striking the pedestrians standing in the shoulder of the road, said Mead. Interstate 5 between SR 520 and I-90 was closed multiple times in the last 24 hours due to protests. A 32-year-old woman from Bellingham and a 24-year-old woman from Seattle were hit and taken to a nearby hospital. The younger woman is in critical condition after suffering life-threatening injuries while the other victim is in stable condition. The unidentified driver stopped the all-white sedan and was taken into custody for questioning. Mead said the driver passed a sobriety test and there’s no indication that the car was stolen.

(Taubman Museum photo)

The Taubman Museum of Art is hosting a special exhibit – Celestial Centennial: The Art and Legacy of Dorothy Gillespie – in honor of the 100th anniversary of the renowned artist’s Roanoke birth. The exhibit was funded in part by a City grant through the Roanoke Arts Commission. On Friday, July 3, the Museum released a video proclamation read by Vice-Mayor Joe Cobb, designating 2020 as “The Year of Color, Light, and Motion,” in honor of Ms. Gillespie’s career and body of work. The Museum reopened their doors to the public on Friday. Celestial Centennial will be on view through July 26. An additional exhibit, Dorothy Gillespie: Still Enchanting Virginia’s Blue Ridge features Gillespie works in local private collections and will be on view through Nov. 8.

Ian Price photo

After raising well over the $30,000 they targeted to help reopen public swimming pools in Roanoke next year, the organizers behind that drive donated another $20,000 today to the Kirk Family YMCA for swim lessons there. Some of that donation will be used to transport children to the Kirk Family Y for swim lessons. Neither the Washington Park or Fallon Park public pools are expected to open this summer due to city budget cuts.  Local attorney John Fishwick Jr. helped spearhead the drive.  Joshua Yerkes is a senior director for the Y:

The Vice President of Operations for the Mack Trucks medium-duty line says they are aiming for an early September opening at the new Roanoke County production plant. The launch date was pushed back from this month due to COVID-19 safety precautions.  Mack Trucks is still hiring for some of the 200-plus jobs they promised to create, with a 13 million dollar investment in its Roanoke Valley Operations plant. Antonio Servidoni is overseeing the roll-out: