Gene Marrano
President Donald Trump on Sunday declared “NO MORE” to a deal to help “Dreamer” immigrants and threatened to pull out of a free trade agreement with Mexico unless it does more to stop people from crossing into the U.S. He claimed they’re coming to take advantage of protections granted certain immigrants. “NO MORE DACA DEAL!” Trump tweeted one hour after he began the day by wishing his followers a “HAPPY EASTER!”
He said Mexico must “stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!” The U.S., Canada and Mexico are participating in tense negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement at Trump’s insistence. Trump says NAFTA is bad for the U.S.
Trump, when addressing reporters briefly before entering the church, again blamed Democrats for failing to protect the “Dreamers.” “They had a great chance. The Democrats blew it. They had a great, great chance, but we’ll have to take a look because Mexico has got to help us at the border. They flow right through Mexico. They send them into the United States. It can’t happen that way anymore.”
The president also complained on Twitter that border patrol agents can’t do their jobs properly because of “ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws” that allow people caught for being in the country illegally to be released while they await a hearing before a federal immigration judge.
(from Roanoke Police Department) On April 1, 2018 at 3:18 a.m. Roanoke Police responded to a residence in the 800 block of Staunton Avenue NW in reference to a shooting. When officers arrived they located two adult males inside a residence who had been shot. Roanoke Fire and EMS transported both victims to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment. Officers located cartridge cases inside the residence. This incident is still under investigation. No arrest have been made at this time.
And then there were 3: Ivan Raiklin of Fairfax County was the last of three Republican contenders who failed to file enough valid signatures in order to make it on to the June 12 primary ballot. That’s according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Minerva Diaz and Bert Mizusawa also fell short. That leaves Corey Stewart, E.W. Jackson and Nick Freitas as the three GOP candidates on the June 12 primary ballot. The winner faces Democratic US Senate incumbent Tim Kaine in November. Recent polls show Kaine trouncing any of the Republican hopefuls at this point.
On a somewhat related note, Roanoke County resident and former Cave Spring supervisor Charlotte Moore says she did qualify for a June 12 Democratic primary where she will face off against two other Democrats for the 6th District Congressional nomination. That’s the seat being vacated by Bob Goodlatte.
RADFORD, Va. (AP) – An Army ammunition plant has once again topped the list of polluters in Virginia. According to The Roanoke Times, a report issued this week by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality found that the Radford Army Ammunition Plant accounts for 34 percent of the total on-site releases of all 2016 toxic release inventory chemicals reported by facilities statewide.The facility makes ammunition and bombs for the military through private company BAE Systems. A drone study also found pollutants at higher-than-expected levels. RAAP Commander Lt. Col. James Scott recently announced an initiative to reduce waste treated at the arsenal’s open burning ground by 50 percent by 2023. Plant staff said at a March 22 public meeting that a design for an incinerator to consume most of its munitions waste is nearing completion.
The magic number for the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs to clinch an SPHL playoff spot is four points – and if the team behind them – Birmingham – loses that helps.
Kim Bratic photos-submitted
Over the next few weeks you may notice that some of the storm drains in Roanoke City will look much better – that’s because the Roanoke Arts Commission chose five artists to decorate six of those storm drains. Kim Bratic and her two older children are painting a composition called “Squidding Me” on a drain outside the Williamson Road Library. All of the storm drains will be painted by Earth Day on April 22; each artist received $400 from the city. Bratic submitted a design – but one from her 8-year-old son Alecks was chosen instead for the Williamson Road project.
They’re calling it “Giving Witness – Preserving Bent Mountain with Word, Song,and Action.” And one organizer says the Mountain Valley Pipeline “is not done deal.” More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano: