Local Government, Civic Affairs and Education
Virginia education officials point to a surprising culprit to explain the Commonwealth’s NAEP results. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has that story:
Stephen Skripak courtesy photo
Perhaps its in the back of your mind as well – making a change from the corporate world into academia – becoming an educator. A retired Virginia Tech professor who did just that has some advice in his newly published book. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
Roanoke County is inviting the public to give their input on potential routes for a future corridor of the Roanoke River Greenway. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has that story:
Its called “My City Academy,” an initiative desiged to draw Roanoke’s immigrant and refugee population closer to the services they may need – and to develop leadership within that community. The story from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
G Marrano photos
A parking lot painted with simulated streets, bike lanes, railroad crossings – along with “Stop” and “Yield” signs – is now the “Westside Traffic Garden” in northwest Roanoke at Westside Elementary School, where Kristen English is the Principal. Westside students on bikes got the chance to check out the Traffic Garden after a ribbon cutting this morning. It will be open to other Roanokers when school is out as well. Funding came from a $200,000 grant.
John Fishwick, Jr.
Attorney John P. Fishwick, Jr. holds a news conference today at 2pm outside his office on Franklin Road; he’s requesting Congressional legislation to rename the Poff Federal Building in downtown Roanoke, quote, “to honor one of Roanoke’s undeservedly forgotten legal, “civil rights attorney Reuben E. Lawson.” Fishwick says Lawson was an African American attorney who played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement in Virginia. Reuben Lawson practiced law in Roanoke from an office building he had built for himself. Fishwick also says Richard H. Poff, a longtime Congressman, quote, “publicly opposed integration and repeatedly voted against the Civil Rights Act.”