IP*Works! Version 8.0 RSS Component http://backend.userland.com/rss2 News from the Roanoke Times http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.roanoke.com/wrapper/images/bottom_logo.gif http://www.roanoke.com Nearly 40 percent of truck traffic could be culled from the road, but only if billions of dollars are spent on the railroads.<br> <p>Virginia could eliminate about one in three trucks from Interstate 81 with extensive --and expensive -- rail improvements, a consultant says.</p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235894 Court Rosen said the revenue would help Roanoke's school system.<br><p>Roanoke City Councilman Court Rosen did something Monday that you don't see every day from a politician: He sent out a news release calling for a tax increase.</p> <p>Rosen avoided what can be the most politically charged of city taxes, the real estate levy. Instead he wants a "two-year emergency meals tax increase" that would raise that rate by 2 cents, with the revenue going to a Roanoke school system hit hard by a slow economy and state funding cuts.</p><a href="http://oas.roanoke.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.cgi/www.roanoke.com/rss/1595446@Position4"><img src="http://oas.roanoke.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.cgi/www.roanoke.com/rss/1595446@Position4" alt="Advertisement"></img></a> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235880 The Blue Ridge Mountains Council took part in a centennial celebration that spanned the nation.<br><p>The connection between Neil Armstrong and Nick Socky, an 18-year-old with hair falling over his forehead, could be drawn Monday night in Roanoke's Boy Scouts headquarters. </p> <p>On Monday, leaders of the Blue Ridge Mountains Council celebrated 100 years of the Boy Scouts of America with decorous speeches, and Socky stroked the Eagle Scout handkerchief around his neck and listened. </p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235945 The next wave is expected to drop a few inches today in Southwest Virginia.<br><!-- BEGIN SIDEBAR --> <div id="story-add"><a href="/winterweather"> <img src="/news/images/1217_ weathermast.jpg" width="230" alt="Winter weather in Southwest Virginia" style="border: 0px;"></a> <h3>Related</h3> <h4>Weather Journal blog</h4> <ul> [webmin-rss-links#2#-skip#0#-globalid#17#-rssurl'http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/weatherjournal/feed'] </ul> <h4>From today's paper</h4> <ul> <li><a href="/news/roanoke/wb/235918">Snow-weary folks brace for more</a></li> <li><a href="/news/roanoke/wb/235938">Roanoke Valley crews head north to help with snowfall</a></li> <li><a href="/news/nrv/wb/235898">Snow causes roof to collapse in Pulaski</a></li> <li><strong>Dan Casey:</strong> <a href="/columnists/casey/wb/235906">Southerners scoff at shoveling sidewalks</a></li> </ul> <h4>Winter weather resources</h4><ul><li><a href="http://roanoke.com/multimedia/winterweather">View the latest road conditions, flight delays and more</a></li></ul><h4>Snowcam</h4><ul><li><a href="/snowcam">LIVE: Snowcam in downtown Roanoke</a></li> </ul><h4>Your photos</h4><ul><li><a href="http://cs.roanoke.com/media/g/winter/default.aspx?Sort=PostDate&PageIndex=1" target="_blank">Snap a pic in the snow? Share it!</a></li> </ul><h4>On Twitter</h4><script src="http://widgets.twimg.com/j/2/widget.js"></script><script>new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'search', search: '#swvasnow OR #swvawx', interval: 6000, title: 'What people are saying about', subject: 'Snow in Southwest VA', width: 230, height: 230, theme: { shell: { background: '#8ec1da', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#ffffff', color: '#444444', links: '#1985b5' } }, features: { scrollbar: true, loop: false, live: true, hashtags: true, timestamp: true, avatars: true, behavior: 'default' }}).render().start();</script><p class="image-desc">Use <strong><a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=%23swvasnow">#swvasnow</a></strong> to send your comment!</p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235918 <br><p>A 20-year-old man was shot late Saturday night, and he told Roanoke police that he was assaulted in an apartment on Day Avenue.</p> <p>Terrance Alexander Cannon of Roanoke was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital about 11:45 p.m. Saturday, Roanoke Police Department spokeswoman Aisha Johnson said. There was no information available about Cannon at the hospital Monday afternoon, a hospital spokesman said.</p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235939 <br><!-- BEGIN SIDEBAR --> <div id="story-add"><a href="/winterweather"> <img src="/news/images/1217_ weathermast.jpg" width="230" alt="Winter weather in Southwest Virginia" style="border: 0px;"></a> <h3>Related</h3> <h4>Weather Journal blog</h4> <ul> [webmin-rss-links#2#-skip#0#-globalid#17#-rssurl'http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/weatherjournal/feed'] </ul> <h4>From today's paper</h4> <ul> <li><a href="/news/roanoke/wb/235918">Snow-weary folks brace for more</a></li> <li><a href="/news/roanoke/wb/235938">Roanoke Valley crews head north to help with snowfall</a></li> <li><a href="/news/nrv/wb/235898">Snow causes roof to collapse in Pulaski</a></li> <li><strong>Dan Casey:</strong> <a href="/columnists/casey/wb/235906">Southerners scoff at shoveling sidewalks</a></li> </ul> <h4>Winter weather resources</h4><ul><li><a href="http://roanoke.com/multimedia/winterweather">View the latest road conditions, flight delays and more</a></li></ul><h4>Snowcam</h4><ul><li><a href="/snowcam">LIVE: Snowcam in downtown Roanoke</a></li> </ul><h4>Your photos</h4><ul><li><a href="http://cs.roanoke.com/media/g/winter/default.aspx?Sort=PostDate&PageIndex=1" target="_blank">Snap a pic in the snow? Share it!</a></li> </ul><h4>On Twitter</h4><script src="http://widgets.twimg.com/j/2/widget.js"></script><script>new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'search', search: '#swvasnow OR #swvawx', interval: 6000, title: 'What people are saying about', subject: 'Snow in Southwest VA', width: 230, height: 230, theme: { shell: { background: '#8ec1da', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#ffffff', color: '#444444', links: '#1985b5' } }, features: { scrollbar: true, loop: false, live: true, hashtags: true, timestamp: true, avatars: true, behavior: 'default' }}).render().start();</script><p class="image-desc">Use <strong><a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=%23swvasnow">#swvasnow</a></strong> to send your comment!</p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235938 <br><p>Roanoke City Councilwoman Gwen Mason is taking the "green" path.</p> <p>Mason, who is not seeking re-election for her term ending June 30, has been named the next executive director of the Clean Valley Council. She will replace the council's longtime Director Ann Masters, who died of a heart attack in December. Masters, 74, led the organization since 1994.</p><a href="http://oas.roanoke.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.cgi/www.roanoke.com/rss/1111680@Position4"><img src="http://oas.roanoke.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.cgi/www.roanoke.com/rss/1111680@Position4" alt="Advertisement"></img></a> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235931 <br><p>More than $800,000 in federal stimulus money will help maintain trails in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.</p> <p>The U.S. Forest Service and the Student Conservation Association, a nonprofit organization with a labor force of high school and college students, will work together to improve up to 175 miles of trails in the two national forests.</p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235907 The complainant was a Virginia Tech student at the time, jailed on a drunken driving charge.<br><p><strong>Editor's note [Feb. 09, 2010 ; 3:50 p.m.]:</strong> <em>An earlier version of this story misidentified defendants in the former prisoners' lawsuits. The story has been updated to reflect the defendants in the case.</em><br></p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235897 Erik Mollin, who will remain as a captain, said he has in mind some projects to work on.<br><p>ROCKY MOUNT -- After a little more than two years on the job, Police Chief Erik Mollin is stepping aside to allow for new leadership in the department.</p> <p>He will remain second in command as a captain, town officials announced Monday afternoon.</p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235947 <br><p>A former Martinsville fire and EMS assistant chief was indicted by a grand jury Monday afternoon for "discrepancies" in his time records. </p> <p>John W. "Jay" Russell Jr. was charged with grand larceny, embezzlement, obtaining money by false pretense and misappropriation of public funds, according to a news release from the city. </p> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235951 <br><p>A blaze at a vacant house in Southwest Roanoke on Wednesday has been ruled arson, officials said Monday. </p> <p>Crews were called to the house in the 2300 block of Buford Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., according to Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury. No one lives in the home, and no one was injured in the fire. </p><a href="http://oas.roanoke.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.cgi/www.roanoke.com/rss/1760855@Position4"><img src="http://oas.roanoke.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.cgi/www.roanoke.com/rss/1760855@Position4" alt="Advertisement"></img></a> http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/235950