Gene Marrano
The NCAA has informed Salem that it will move the Stagg Bowl from the city after this year. Salem has hosted college football’s Division 3 championship game every year since 1993. Tourism director Carey Harveycutter says outdated facilities and bids from other cities with newer venues was a factor. The NCAA is also moving the men’s Division 3 basketball championships and women’s Division 2 softball title tournament to cities other than Salem after spring of next year. The NCAA women’s basketball championships will come to Salem in 2021.
Botetourt County has announced that Matt Britt will be its new Fire-EMS Chief. Britt is an ex-marine and longtime volunteer who most recently worked at a community college in North Carolina. He takes on the position May 22 after a search that took almost a year. Britt replaces the late Jeff Beckner, who was found dead in a creek behind his home last June. Britt says he also knows the value of Fire-EMS volunteers in a largely rural county:
The Hope Center on 11th Street Northwest established by Grover Price to provide afterschool mentoring and other community services was broken into last night. Price tells WFIR the burglars also took a cashbox. Price says the “Hope Festival” scheduled for May 27th will go on as planned. He urges local residents to contact Roanoke police with any information. Price posted a message about the robbery this morning on Facebook:
US Senator Mark Warner was in Roanoke yesterday, and he took time to reflect on the events at Virginia Tech ten years ago this Sunday. Warner noted shootings that have occurred elsewhere since that day in Blacksburg. Virginia’s senior senior also said he believes in the second amendment – but he supports background checks that would keep guns away from those with mental health issues or criminal backgrounds. Warner said everyone remembers where they were that day – when they heard about the mass shooting and multiple victims:
Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. (David Hungate/ Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute)
A roundtable discussion with local health care heavyweights welcomed Virginia’s senior senator this morning – and the possible loss of funding was a prime topic as WFIR’s Gene Marrano reports