News
Two new statewide polls — both released yesterday — show Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump cut by about a half in the last month. The Quinnipiac and Roanoke College polls find a Clinton lead of six to seven percentage points in our state. The polling suggests Donald Trump still faces some challenges — and opportunities — in his efforts to even the race in Virginia, as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports.
Click here for full Roanoke College Poll results
Click here for full Quinnipiac Poll results
It was billed as a Clean Energy Roundtable at the Roanoke Regional Chamber yesterday. WFIR’s Gene Marrano has more on an event highlighted with an appearance by Governor Terry McAuliffe:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia election officials say the state’s voter identification law differs greatly from a North Carolina law recently struck down by a federal appeals court. Attorneys for the Virginia Department of Elections and Democratic Party of Virginia sparred in front of a three judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday over whether the state’s law requiring voters to show photo IDs at the polls discriminates against minorities. Much of the debate centered on how the Virginia case differs from one over a North Carolina law that required voters to produce a photo ID, scrapped same-day registration and shortened early voting periods. The 4th Circuit blocked that law in July. Bruce Spiva, an attorney for the Democrats, says Republicans lawmakers’ intent to discriminate against minorities with the voter ID law is as clear as it was in the North Carolina case. Virginia election officials say the law isn’t discriminatory and doesn’t suppress minorities’ ability to vote.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A federal prosecutor says he will not pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against three Virginia police officers who used stun guns multiple times on a black man before his death. U.S. Attorney John Fishwick Jr. said Thursday that an investigation into death of Linwood Lambert Jr. found insufficient evidence to prove that the three officers violated federal law by willfully using unreasonable force against the man. Lambert died after being taken into custody by South Boston Police Officers Tiffany Bratton, Clifton Mann and Travis Clay in May 2013. Police dash cam and hospital surveillance videos released last year show officers using stun guns on Lambert multiple times after taking him to a hospital for a mental health evaluation. An autopsy report said Lambert died of “cocaine-induced excited delirium.”
UPDATE: A Roanoke County spokesperson says investigators have determined a failure of an attic electrical fan sparked the fire and caused an estimated $20,000 in damages.
From Roanoke County Fire & Rescue: September 22, 2016 (ROANOKE COUNTY)— Roanoke County Fire & Rescue crews responded to the 3000 block of Hillandale Drive at about 1:45 for a report of a structure fire. When the first firefighters arrived, they reported smoke coming from the attic of a single story brick home. It took crews from the Cave Spring, Clearbrook, and Back Creek stations about 15 minutes to knock down the flames. The fire was contained to the attic space. An older adult female and her caretaker smelled smoke and called 911. The women left the home without injury. The owner is displaced and has alternative housing. Investigators are on the scene.
Two small businesses that honed their plans at the Advancement Foundation’s “Hive” incubator – New Moon Creative Media and Earthworks Pottery – cut the ribbon on a shared storefront in Vinton today. Meanwhile Twin Creeks Brewing Company – which earned a first-place package worth $17,000 in the most recent “Gauntlet” competition put on by the Advancement Foundation – is close to opening its craft brewing operation in Vinton. Co-owner Andy Bishop says Twin Creeks Brewing Company on South Pollard Street will also have a 1700 square-foot tasting room when it opens.
From the Transportation Security Administration: ROANOKE, VA – Residents of western Virginia and southern West Virginia will be able to enroll in the Transportation Security Administration’s popular TSA Pre✓® application program inside the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) terminal during the week of October 17 to 21, where officials will host a temporary enrollment center. The airport is a convenient location to enroll in the popular program. The airport address is 5202 Aviation Drive, NW, Roanoke, VA 24012.
To participate in this enrollment opportunity, travelers should make an appointment online and pre-enroll by clicking here
(Continue reading for the rest of the news release.)
The opening this weekend of the long-awaited Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington will include a visit from a very interested Roanoker. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
Plans were announced earlier this month for a new 43,000-square-foot YMCA in Botetourt County, and an event this weekend will give residents a chance to learn more about programming and other benefits that the facility will bring to Botetourt. The story from WFIR’s Starr Anderson.
Governor McAuliffe says he has no problem that pipeline protestors greeted him today in Roanoke before he attended a Clean Energy forum hosted by the Regional Chamber – but he also claimed the state has no say in deciding whether the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline – or the Atlantic Coast Pipeline – receives federal regulatory approval. About 15 pipeline opponents protested McAuliffe’s appearance at the event. They say the governor has the authorization under the Clean Water Act to deny permits for the pipelines.