Local Government, Civic Affairs and Education
Michelle Davis
Federal feeding programs only provide two meals a day, but during its summer camp sessions Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia serves 3 to 4 meals to all day campers at multiple sites. CEO Michelle Davis says inflated food prices these days has only made things worse. Those summer campers often come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Tomorrow the 25th Annual Delta Dental Pro-Am for Kids at Roanoke Country club will benefit the local Boys & Girls Clubs; to date the annual golf tournament featuring regional PGA professionals has raised more than a million dollars.
Learning can be a lifelong pursuit and for the third year Virginia Tech is teaming up with a private company focused on technical skill training to offer a unique “boot camp” that commences in July. The story from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
You’ll have to take action to be enrolled in the replacement for the now-defunct reverse 9-1-1 alert system. You can get alerts for Roanoke City and County, as WFIR’s Ian Price reports.
Stephanie Moon-Reynolds
Some controversy at today’s Roanoke City Council meeting when ordinances and resolutions for the next fiscal year budget were approved. Council member Stephanie Moon-Reynolds wanted a provision granting Mayor Sherman Lea a $2500 travel allowance removed from the pay plan ordinance for more discussion. She walked out of the meeting at one point. Moon-Reynolds returned a few minutes later to cast the only Council “no” vote against the pay plan. Other Council members and the City Attorney said the travel allowance issue had been discussed previously.
Unprecedented rises in vehicle values mean without local government intervention, many owners face noticeably higher car tax bills this year. Roanoke County is among the localities working to avoid that, reducing its own car tax rates. The goal is to avoid an unexpected sticker shock when the personal property tax bills arrive. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
A Roanoke Circuit Court jury has awarded a former Appalachian Power line worker 2.3 million dollars in lost wages and other damages, after he claimed he was terminated by ApCo for expressing concerns about unsafe working conditions. That’s according to the Roanoke Times. Ocal “Bubba” Smith worked for ApCo for 17 years; the power company claimed it had fired Smith for conduct issues, not for bringing alleged safety violations to light.