Across Virginia
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said America’s veterans are “the steel spine of this nation” as he marked Veterans Day during a visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
In remarks at the Memorial Amphitheater, the commander-in-chief recounted famous battles fought by U.S. troops and said those deployments of soldiers are “linked in a chain of honor that stretches back to our founding days. Each one is bound by a sacred oath to support and defend. Not a place, not a person, not a president, but an idea, to defend an idea unlike any other in human history. That idea is the United States of America.”
Nov. 11, once known as Armistice Day, is the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I in 1918. Biden said that was “unlike any war the world had ever seen before.”
The ceremony was personal for Biden and first lady Jill Biden.
Biden’s son Beau enlisted in 2003 in the Delaware Army National Guard and deployed to Iraq in 2008 for a year as a member of the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade. A captain, he earned the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star. Beau Biden later served two terms as the state’s attorney general. He died in 2015 of brain cancer.
“We miss him,” the president told the crowd, recounting how he pinned the bars on his son on the day he joined the National Guard.
“We come together today to once again honor the generations of Americans who stood on the front lines of freedom. To once again bear witness to the great deeds of a noble few who risked everything, everything, to give us a better future,” he said, paying tribute to “those who have always, always kept the light of shining bright across the world.”
Biden said that as commander in chief, “I have no higher honor. As the father of a son who served, I have no greater privilege.’’
He said that “our veterans are the steel spine of this nation and their families, like so many of you, are the courageous heart.”
On Wednesday, November 8th at 1:31 p.m., Roanoke Fire-EMS responded to a reported structure fire in the 1500 block of Maiden Ln SW. First arriving units found the residents of the dwelling self-extricating. Upon investigation, Fire-EMS personnel located a small fire in the kitchen quickly extinguished it. Roanoke Fire-EMS transported three individuals to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and rescued one cat from the residence. No injuries to Fire-EMS personnel were reported. The estimated damages to the structure and its contents is approximately $30,000. The fire was deemed accidental.
The westbound lane of West Main Street at Fort Lewis Church Road is currently blocked due to a multi-vehicle accident. The accident was reported at 6:40 a.m. Drivers should avoid the area. Traffic heading toward Montgomery County will be delayed. There are no additional details at this time regarding the accident.
Photo: Democratic candidate Trish White-Boyd addresses supporters
After the race for Virginia’s Senate district four seat was called in favor of her opponent by the NY Times, Democratic candidate Trish White-Boyd reflected on what she called a job well done. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has that story:
A lot of Virginians are now receiving tax rebate checks in the mail — many arrived yesterday, one day before this election day. But speaking live this morning on WFIR, Governor Youngkin said there is no intentional timing in play. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
Party control of the General Assembly is at stake, but don’t be surprised if final resolution is at least one week away. That’s because all absentee ballots postmarked by today and received through the mail by next Monday must be counted.
Youngkin’s comments came in a live interview today on the Roanoke Valley’s Morning News. Click here to see the full conversation:
There could be a lot of new faces in the Virginia Legislature after today’s elections. As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreño reports this is one of the most impactful legislative elections in decades.
There are still some spots available for the 24th Earth Summit. As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreño reports the Clean Valley Council is hoping to introduce environmental career opportunities to high school students.
On October 28, 2023 at approximately 10:10 p.m., Roanoke Police were patrolling the area of 10th Street and Grayson Avenue NW when they heard several shots fired nearby. As officers began to respond to that area, they were notified by the City of Roanoke E-911 Center of a motor vehicle crash in the 1600 block of Rugby Blvd NW. Responding officers located a vehicle that had crashed into a utility pole in front of a residence in the area. Officers did not locate a driver or any occupants of the vehicle at the scene of the crash.
Minutes later, officers were notified that a person with a gunshot wound was at a residence in the 1700 block of Grayson Avenue NW. Officers located an adult male victim with what appeared to be a non-life-threatening gunshot wound on the front porch of the residence. Roanoke Fire-EMS transported the man to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Preliminary investigation indicates that the male victim was driving the vehicle when he was struck by gunfire, which led to the crash. Further details about what led to the shooting are limited at this time. No suspects have been located and no arrests have been made regarding this investigation.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call (540)344-8500 and share what you know. You can also text us at 274637; please begin the text with “RoanokePD” to ensure it’s properly sent. Both calls and texts can remain anonymous.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration has identified nearly 3,400 voters who were improperly removed from the state’s rolls due to probation violations — a greater number than previously acknowledged — and said Friday that local registrars have reinstated the vast majority of those individuals.
The governor’s administration first disclosed the problem earlier this month following reporting from VPM News about concerns raised by civil rights advocates over improper voter removals. The error, which the administration has blamed on a data-sharing issue that misclassified probation violations as new felonies, has sparked criticism from Democrats, including a call from the state’s Democratic congressional delegation for a Department of Justice investigation.
The full scope of the problem had been unclear until the Department of Elections’ announcement Friday — less than two weeks before Election Day.
A department spokeswoman, Andrea Gaines, acknowledged in mid-October that at least 275 misclassified voters had been identified, but she had since declined to answer questions about the latest available figures. At the same time, inquiries made to local registrars’
Eric Olsen, the director of elections and general registrar for Prince William County, said last week by email that 87 voters had been reinstated. The number had risen to 107, he said in an update Friday.
The Department of Elections said Friday that all affected voters have been notified by mail.
“As of today, all but approximately 100 of these records have been processed by general registrars. ELECT staff continues to check in with localities to ensure each record is reinstated,” the department said in a news release.
Virginia also offers same-day voter registration, meaning impacted individuals would have the opportunity to remedy the situation and cast a provisional ballot in early voting or on Election Day. Every General Assembly seat is on the ballot this year, along with various local offices.
Democrats continued to be sharply critical of the error.
“First, we were told there was no problem. Then we were told it was small, contained problem. Now we’re told it is a massive problem, with numbers large enough to swing control of the General Assembly,” said Aaron Mukerjee, an attorney working as the Democratic Party of Virginia’s voter protection director. “All of this confirms Republicans cannot be trusted with Virginians basic constitutional rights.”
It’s not clear whether the U.S. Department of Justice will investigate the matter. A DOJ spokeswoman who has previously acknowledged receipt of the congressional delegation’s request declined further comment Friday.
Youngkin has asked the state’s government watchdog agency to investigate.
In a letter dated Wednesday obtained by AP, Youngkin’s chief of staff wrote to Inspector General Michael Westfall to memorialize a previous request from Youngkin for an administrative investigation into the “circumstances, data systems, and practices” surrounding the voter removals and a separate finding that in previous decades, thousands of Virginians may have been permitted to remain on the rolls despite being convicted of a new felony.
In Virginia, a felony conviction automatically results in the loss of a person’s civil rights, such as the right to vote, serve on a jury, run for office and carry a firearm. The governor has sole discretion to restore those civil rights, apart from firearm rights, which can be restored by a court.
The department said in an annual report this year that it had discovered 10,558 people who were convicted of a felony, had their rights restored and then were convicted of another felony, but were not subsequently removed from the list.
Jeff Goettman, the chief of staff, wrote that the administration suspects the errors “are the result of antiquated data systems and insufficient processes maintained over the last 20 plus years.”
The categorization of some probation violations as felonies “may date back decades, across multiple gubernatorial administrations,” Goettman wrote.
“It is important that we resolve these issues as soon as reasonably practical as Governor Youngkin believes that every eligible Virginian should exercise his or her right to vote,” the letter continued.