Gene Marrano
Photo: Roanoke City Sheriff
Another inmate has been found dead at the Roanoke City Jail. Aaron Michael Wheaton was found hanging in his cell yesterday morning around 7am. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful. He had been booked into the jail on Sunday for trespassing and other charges. The Roanoke City Police Department and the Roanoke City Sheriff’s Office are conducting a joint investigation into the incident.
(statement released by Roanoke City Sheriff’s Office)
Inmate mental health is a top concern for the Roanoke City Jail, and is an issue we are continuing to monitor and address. Within the past six months there have been 14 attempted suicides in which staff intervened and responded, saving the life of the inmate. Additionally 212 inmates were placed on suicide watch as a precautionary measure based on their interaction with either medical staff or deputies During this time frame, there have been over 350 interactions between the medical staff and inmates on suicide watch.
Since 2015, The Roanoke City Jail has had 1,457 documented incidents regarding inmates being placed on suicide watch. In that same time period, there have been seven in custody deaths that were attributed to suicide. None of these seven inmates were on suicide watch at the time of their suicide, as they did not meet the suicide watch protocol. In direct response to these deaths, several changes to policies and procedures have been made in order to better identify and accommodate the growing incarcerated population in need of mental health treatment.
Over the past 5 years, the Roanoke City Sheriff’s Office has invested over a quarter million dollars into surveillance upgrades for the Roanoke City Jail and Annex. These upgrades included adding additional cameras in both restrictive, therapeutic and other specialized housing. As of August 2019, approximately 60% of these individual cells have the ability to monitor inmate activity, with the goal of 100% within the next year
Roanoke City’s “Task force to Reduce Gun Violence” has set the dates for a round of public input sessions over the next three months. An update from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
August 12 – Task Force Meeting, 7:00 p.m. – LOCATION CHANGE (Goodwill Youth HQ, 2502 Melrose Avenue, N. W., Suite G)
August 22 – Task Force to Reduce Gun Violence Public Hearing, 7:00 p.m. (City Council Chambers, Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building, 215 Church Avenue, S. W., 4th Floor)
September 9 – Task Force Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
October 14 – Task Force Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
October 17 – Task Force to Reduce Gun Violence Public Hearing, 7:00 pm, (City Council Chambers, Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building, 215 Church Avenue, S. W., 4th Floor)
November 4 – Task Force to Reduce Gun Violence Presentation to City Council, 2:00 p. m. (City Council Chambers, Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building, 215 Church Avenue, S. W., 4th Floor)
A requiem for the Roanoke Logperch – some local environmentalists held a mock memorial service for the endangered species in Salem near the Roanoke River today. The DEQ recently issued a stop-work order for a two-mile stretch of MVP construction in Montgomery County after it determined adequate erosion control measures were not in place. Rachel Abshire with the group Sunrise Roanoke says excess silt from Mountain Valley Pipeline construction runoff further imperils the logperch.
(from Local Colors) In 2014, Beth Lutjen stepped into the position of leadership for Local Colors following the retirement of it’s founder, Pearl Fu. “Pearl has tiny feet, but she left behind a very large footprint to follow,” said Beth Lutjen. “I hope that I have continued and grown her legacy.”
In Beth’s 5 years as Executive Director the agency began providing seminars and training on effectively working with our growing Hispanic community, the footprint of the annual festival has grown, expanding onto Franklin Rd which allows for many more food vendors to participate and better flow of foot traffic, and with Va Foundation for the Humanities, hosted the director of the film “Harvest of Empire” at a showing at the Grandin Theatre with round table discussion. Local Colors also partnered with Roanoke City for the Gateways to Growth grant and in hosting George Takei’s visit to Roanoke.
Lisa Spencer comes to Local Colors with 25 years of nonprofit experience in human services and community development, with much involvement in homeless services. Lisa recently arrived from Dallas, TX where she worked for various nonprofit organizations, most recently Volunteers of America Texas. She has also worked in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Lisa’s extensive experience in grant management, fundraising, nonprofit administration, and new program development will be an asset to Local Colors to lead the organization forward. “Both my work and personal experience has involved very diverse settings and appreciation for various cultures. I hope to leverage all my experiences to celebrate the beauty of multiethnic diversity and its positive impact on the city.”
