talking live with the western virginia water authority about how it tests for potential dangers in our drinking water. good morning, it's just about 6 o'clock on wednesday, january 27. a few stray showers early followed by a slow increase in sunshine

it's a unanimous vote from the botetourt county board supervisors to move forward with the next planning steps for a proposed wind energy farm. several expressed their concerns from wind experts to county leaders at a public hearing last night. even neighboring rockbridge county had some questions. the developer, apex clean energy spoke on the project it's calling the rocky forge windfarm. the company says it's going through all the necessary steps and rules in order to build it. "the botetourt ordinance was very thorough on what studies was required of us and we also have alot more studies to do down the road whether that's the state or federal agencies" apex clean energy will now start going through a state process. we have new details in a hammer attack in amherst county that we told you about yesterday. the sheriff says it

child care issues. holly jo morgan davis is charged with aggravated malicious wounding after a dispute with her neighbor turned violent. investigators say she attacked manuela andrews with a claw hammer sunday night. andrews was rushed to the hospital with cuts on her head and chest. the father of a bedford boy who was suffocated by his mother has been sentenced for crimes related to the child's death. prosecutors do not believe michael smith had anything to do with the murder of his 2-year-old son, jordan. he was charged with conspiracy to manufacture meth and several counts of child abuse in connection with the incident. a judge found him guilty yesterday and sentenced him to four years in prison. randy krantz/ commonwealth's attorney: "we did feel very strongly that mr. smith should be held accountable for his level of wrongdoing. that was not necessarily the same level of wrongdoing as ms. witt." smith's wife, shana witt, was convicted of murder in august and sentenced to 52 years in prison. prosecutors say she put a stuffed animal over her son's face and left it there until

breathing. the search continues for a virginia man who held a family hostage and abducted his former mother-in-law. authorities just outside of richmond say olene brooks was taken from her home thursday night. they say dana william broke into a home, zip-tied and duct-taped the family then held them at gunpoint for hours. was found murdered where she disappeared. ((cold toss to leo)) youyeah will see a slow increasing sunshine is what heading out overall right now thirty nine degrees can a drop off a little bit more and then it's can a start to rebound as we head through the afternoon head down to atlanta 50 26 chicago new york city coming in at forty three degrees qaeda see the line the showers from just out the southern new england coastline through the heart of virginia down into the gulf coast what is tending to fall part as a drips to the east still notice

area but the back edge of the clouds making its way into far southwest virginia and over into the mountains a west virginia and that will continue slowly move toward the south and east that's why we are expecting a slow increasing sunshine most areas now the rain has stopped maybe little mist and drizzle here and there but overall not much really going on is you heading out and about here's your fitness forecast heading out for walker jog still have to watch upper slick conditions in spots temperatures down into the thirties but then will start to warm back up into the upper thirties low to mid forties as we head through the afternoon sunrise this morning 727 sunset at five thirty eight now climate center puts is warmer than average is you had toward the weekend into the first part of february will see how that turns out but don't think that the winters all done with us just yet just because we have a week warm weather average monthly snowfall normal season eighteen inches so far this winter we got this really friday into saturday 13.5 inches. but you notice february easy is you the snowiest month of the year so

still have a whole way to go before the season is over forecast today low to mid forties for the roanoke valley will call it a slow increasing sunshine center virginia lynchburg appomattox loving virginia still a chance for sprinkle here and there temperatures in the mid 40s head through the newer valley southwest floyd radford with bill paris burn upper thirties to near forty today with a slow increasing sunshine twenties and thirties up toward the highlands and the greenbrier valley west virginia first alert wtvj seven day planner low to mid forties thursday and friday with a mix of sun and clouds look at saturday and sunday looking good temperatures in the mid to upper fifties closing in on sixty on monday now monday and tuesday couple a chance for stray shower here and there but overall we are looking pretty nice for the rest of the wee causing controversy and now police are investigating death threats in galax. the picture is a meme mocking ptsd for veterans. now the chestnut creek school of the

but the person whose page it was published on says he didn't upload it. he claims someone hacked his account trying to hurt him. the problem for the school is his facebook page lists the city-run business as an employer. but they say those who know them know they would have nothing to do with this. (keith barker, galax city manager) looking at the people that actually responded to the facebook page, they were not local citizens, they're not local people that are familiar with the school, what we do, what we stand for. our local people people know we wouldn't support something like this. for more on this story, head over to wdbj7 dot com. the better business bureau is warning people about a new scam. a patrick county man received a letter this week, claiming to be from capital one bank. it said a final notice deadline was in effect, and to contact the office immediately to receive a prize. the signature at the bottom of the letter is that of founding father benjamin franklin. the bbb says scam attempts will often use recognizable names to appear legitimate and will often target senior citizens. it's another hit to

alpha natural resources plans to lay off more than 800 miners and dozens of support staff in neighboring west virginia. 60-day warning notices were sent out on monday, with the layoffs happening around march 25th. officials say the cuts are the result of an oversupply of coal and the dramatically lower demand that's driven prices to "unsustainable levels." sprint is getting rid of 25-hundred jobs. the company says it's part of a plan to cut two-point- five-billion dollars from its budget and turn business around. sprint is closing call centers in virginia, new mexico, tennessee and texas. the red cross says it's in desperate need of blood and platelet donations, and mother nature is to blame for the short supply. in southwest virginia, 13 blood drives had to be cancelled because of severe weather since january 23rd. that means 400 blood and platelet donations went uncollected. donors are urged to make appointments to help save lives. some major retailers are rallying to help people in flint, michigan's get through its water

walmart, along with coca- cola, pepsico and nestle, say they'll collect donations of millions of bottles of water for at least 10- thousand schoolchildren. flint's water is contaminated with lead, and people there are urged to drink bottled water. flint's water crisis, along with the water main break affecting some people in wythe county got us thinking about how our region's water is protected. sarah baumgardner is with the western virginia water authority, and she joins us now for this week's mornin' newsmakers. good morning, sarah. kimberly mcbroom/wdbj7: when we hear about these incidents involving drinking water, both close by and in other parts of the country, i think the tendency is to wonder about our own water supply. what kinds of safeguards are in place, in the roanoke valley? kimberly mcbroom/wdbj7:

the water for things like lead and copper? kimberly mcbroom/wdbj7: what should a customer do if they have older plumbing? kimberly mcbroom/wdbj7: as for wythe county's water main break situation, folks there are under a boil water advisory. how do you determine when there needs to

advisory? you can read the water authority 2015 water quality report online. we'll post it for you at wdbj7-dot-com later this morning.

construction project can really slow down your morning commute. coming up in your i-hometown traffic report, we'll tell you about any problems on the roads. a roanoke animal clinic is offering low cost spay operations in an effort to "beat the heat." how you can get scheduled for an appointment, coming

a few sprinkles sunshine this afternoon. high today near 42. many roads are still covered in a layer of snow and ice this morning. campbell, amherst and pittsylvania counties have the

main streets and highways are cleared throughout our area but you may run into isolated slick patches. virginia department of transportation crews have been working 12-hour shifts since thursday to clear this snow. construction is set to wrap up in henry county this week. sandy river road is closed now in both directions from philpott highway to cozy lane. the road is set to re-open at three o'clock friday afternoon. this is a live look at i-581 in roanoke from wdbj7's hotel camera. we're not seeing any major issues on the highways so far this morning. pets are just like part of the family which means they need health care too, and right now is the time to think about spaying female cats, if it hasn't been done already. fixing cats helps prevent over- population, and can have other health benefits too. wdbj-7's shayne dwyer is here with us this morning. good morning shayne. good morning kimberly. this is such an important thing to do and mountain view spay and neuter was just awarded a grant

an even lower cost than they already do them at. the operations will be available at both the ronaoke and christiansburg locations, and are expected to completely sell out. getting your pets fixed is something animal experts have preached for years, and now there's another chance for you to get the operation done at a low cost. corrie prater with mountain view spay and neuter, corrie why is it so important to get these operations done for your pets? spaying and neutering is vital, it helps control the pet population it makes them happier and healthier and we can actually spay and neuter as young as three months old, we want to get these cats and kittens in here as soon as we can that way we can cycle and we don't have to worry about that unexpected litter because believe it or not cats can get pregnant as young as four months old. and now in february you will offer surgeries through what are the options you have available? petsmart charities is a fantastic supporter of spay and neuter, they've will allow us to fix 420 female cats in the month of february, it's a same day procedure you bring them in the

them up that afternoon, twenty dollars they're fixed and ready to go. and how do you sign up for one of these appointments? very simple you either give us a call at the clinic, we've got clinics in christiansburg and in roanoke, the appointments are good at both, or you can check out our website. and you're people are pros, they do this every day, how many total? i added it up this morning, 41,860 surgeries we've done since we've opened. your pets are in good hands? absolutely. in roanoke shayne dwyer wdbj-7/ the president of ferrum college says it's time to step aside after 14 years on campus. and, a new attraction is heading to natural bridge. why it might look familiar to people in

morningwill looking out live through our mill mountain camera this morning relatively quiet across the

out there temperature coming in at thirty nine degrees roanoke as we had outside and lynchburg 43 danville 42 blacksburg reporting a little cooler at thirty five degrees everyone still seeing clouds but over time will see a slowing creasing sunshine a little farther outside of our area bristol 35 charlottesville 40 washington dc thirty eight in and richmond coming in at forty one degrees we of this line the showers continuing to head toward the east it is moving very slowly but already exiting our area now allow some dryer air to punch in as you maker way through the afternoon sogeti go you hour by hour forecast temperatures into the thirties this morning will warmer upper thirties low to mid forties his you had through the afternoon with clearing skies over the next several days should end up

conditions in the morning so fiveplants are visible to the naked eye each morning had on out if you have clear skies you be able to check out mercury venus saturn mars and jupiter just look toward the south and then you see that arcing across the sky pre-donning ubl to see until about february 20 front exits high-pressure builds in and we will have quiet conditions over the next several days today early clouds fall that up would slow clearing temperatures in the upper thirties 30s low to mid 40s head out tonight partly cloudy thin be on the chilly side were fourteen over in louisburg twenty two roanoke twenty six in danville seven day planner thursday and friday not bad 40s and there were enough to ease over the weekend nearing sixty on monday early next week can't loud astray shower but overall things are looking pretty ferrum college has announced she's retiring. jennifer braaten was the tenth president at the college and the first woman to hold the position at the school. she started at ferrum college fourteen years ago in 2002 and plans to retire this summer. her reason stems from serious health issues within her family. jennifer braaten "i love my professional life, it's been wonderful to be at

i still think a priority is things we always talk about--faith, family and friends and now is the time for me to spend more time with family." during braaten's time at the school, enrollment increased dramatically and academic programs were enhanced. a search committee is being formed to look for her replacement. a dinosaur attraction making a comeback in natural bridge, and it promises to bring in lots of tourism. w-d-b-j-7's khiree stewart sat down with the man behind the idea and tells us how he plans to make it happen. very soon a raptor, triceratops, and other jurassic creatures will call natural bridge their home. "dinosaur kingdom is so outrageous, it's fun. it's just fun." mark cline is their owner and will soon open an attraction called dinosaur kingdom ii. this comes four years after the first park was closed after a fire. "they enter into a train car that's been ravaged by a dinosaur. as they go through go through that they enter into a time cone and that's

cline said people will take a self-guided tour with a spin on civil war history... while running into more than 25 automated and motionless dinosaurs. he plans to build the park here...across from the natural bridge zoo. "it's a lot of opportunity. lower part of the county has natural bridge, the zoo, and this is another attraction i think will fit in with that." sam crickenberger is the director of community development for rockbridge county. he says it's too early to say what the impact of the park will be... but he hopes it encourages more people to stop and explore the area. "i'm thinking kids riding down the road, look over and see a dinosaur. they're going to make their family stop so they can walk in through the park and see what's going on." "i believe there's not enough here for families and not enough here for kids." "hopefully, things will start turning around for everybody in this whole area " cline says they've already finished building some of the dinosaurs and he's been working with the county to get the right permits. he hopes families are ready to take a bite out of history.

construction of this park. maybe a few humans." khiree stewart, wdbj7 cline said construction is expected to begin in the spring and the park should open around june. a local high school is looking for help from the pros to update their football stadium. galax high school is in the middle of their capital fundraising campaign to put turf down at their football field. they have made a request of the miami dolphins alumni association to make a 700-thousand dollar donation to help them. head football coach mark dixon played for the dolphins from 1998 to 2003 making him eligible to ask for the donation. the school does not know when the association's board of director's will make a decision. it's a story that's more than a hundred years old, but it's getting its debut later this year. where it was found, next. and, do you know how to solve a rubiks cube? this robot can do it so fast, it could be

a lost story by one of the world's most popular children's book authors will be published in september. it was written by beatrix potter, who created the character peter rabbit. the lost story is called "the tale of kitty-in-boots," is being published more than a century after she wrote it. a publisher found the manuscript in 2013. the publication was delayed until this year to coincide with what would have been potter's 150th birthday. how fast can you solve a rubik's cube? there's a robot than can do it in less than one point two seconds. the video has been viewed more than four milloin times on youtube. the creators have applied for it to be certified a world record. the feud between donald trump and fox news is heating up again. why he says he's skipping the network's gop presidential debate tomorrow. police are warning people in the orange county, california about the three

last week. the connection one of those inmates has to gangs. and how president obama says new laws will help americans save

retirement. two people are dead and three others are wounded after a shooting at a homeless encampment in seattle. the incident happened last night and a police source said multiple men were involved in the shooting but no one is in custody at this time. seattle mayor ed murray called the shooting an active crime scene and has asked people to stay away from the area. according to a t-v station in the area, this is reportedly the biggest shooting scene in seattle since 20-12. the mayor also says the are was scheduled to be cleaned up later today. donald trump says he won't be in attendance at tomorrow's republican debate. don champion has more on how fox news has a lot to do with why trump

debate. the latest escalation in tensions came after fox news released this press release tuesday... saying in part -- "we learned from a secret back channel that the ayatollah and putin both intend to treat donald trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president." the statement set the republican presidential front-runner off: (sot trump / marshalltown, iowa) when they sent out the wiseguy press releases a little while ago done by some pr person along with roger ailes, i said bye bye." trump has been at odds with fox news since the first gop debate...angry at host, megyn kelly, for allegedly questioning him unfairly. just yesterday the billionaire candidate took to instagram asking his followers if he should participate in yet another debate moderated by her. (sot fox news megyn kelly) trump is not used to not controlling things -- but the truth is he doesn't get to control the media in a statement, the

welcome at thursday night's event and will be treated fairly. -nats- locked in a tight battle for first place - ted cruz is offering to debate trump one on one: (sot ted cruz/ fairfield, iowa) (sot cruz) this is all about his not being willing to defend his record. he's being afraid. 90 minutes, you and me, mano y mano, lincoln-douglas style and if that scares you than we can do an iowa town hall with trump's absence -- seven gop contenders will take part in tomorrow night's prime time gop debate...the seventh of the campaign season. don champion cbs news new york. we are learning more about why a texas grand jury has indicted a couple of anti-abortion activists. that grand jury was investigating the undercover planned parenthood tapes. an attorney representing one of the indicted activists who made the videos says the two plan to turn themselves in to investigators. both are charged with tampering with a government record, a felony. they're accused of using fake driver's licenses and posing as buyers for fetal parts. michael

constitutional scholar: "this could set a dangerous precedent and chill undercover investigations by legitimate journalists." the video showed planned parenthood leaders discussing fetal tissue and appearing to talk about the price for such tissue. it maintains that it does not profit from the sale of fetal tissue and only recovers its costs. the grand jury cleared planned parenthood on monday. ((cold toss w/stinger)) goodgood morning julie good morning everyone we should start to see some improving conditions sky wise breezy out there yeah ten mylan our wind over in blacksburg roanoke louisburg eighteen miles an are in hot springs only three lynchburg will be in that five ten fifteen 10, 15 mylan our range for the most part today we will start see some dryer air punching in temperatures most locations are above freezing but you notice hot springs twenty eight louisburg right

two twenty seven bluefield thirty one with bill these the areas one a watch upper slick conditions but everywhere still finding some slush on the roadways causing some slick conditions so keep that in mind an and is and a really get cold tonight teens and 20s some of that will refreeze once again front continues to exit point east taking the showers with that will start to see a slow increasing sunshine as we head through the morning and afternoon by the lunch are back into the mid and upper thirties later today upper thirties to low forties depending on your location now warmer than average temperatures had our way this weekend enter early next week climate center indicates that we should see a warmer than average beginning to february this a forecast from february first through the fifth but just because that first week is been be warmer than average doesn't mean winter is over check this out an average season of snowfall for roanoke is eighteen inches so far we of thirteen. five inches and that's from the storm friday and saturday but you notice the snowiest month and february so just because it's

think that the winter is over just yet will have to wait and see you forecast across the area today for the ronald valley low forties with a slow increasing sunshine lynchburg loving stint appomattox low to mid forties southern virginia mid forties with sprinklers some miss this morning newer valley southwest slow increasing sunshine highs in the mid to upper thirties and had up toward the highlands greenbrier valley west virginia twenties and thirties across your region would some glimpses sunshine today first alert wtvj20s and 30s across your region would some glimpses sunshine today first alert seven day planner what a mix of sun and clouds thursday and friday low to mid 40s and 50s is you had toward the we can should see a good amount of sunshine monday and tuesday stray shower possible still looking good with highs in the upper 50s to near 60 we the manhunt continues for three escaped prisoners from a southern california jailbreak. a prosecutor in orange county is quoted as saying "they let hannibal lecter out." officers are warning the public about how dangerous they are. they're asking the public for help

(officer phuong nguien/orange county sheriff dept.) it is extremely important for them to reach out to us and let us know because they are extremely armed and dangerous" two of the men are linked to vietnamese gangs -- leading investigators to check out suburban communities where the men could be hiding with friends. police are also investigating whether they had inside help with the escape. the prisoners are among 15 who have escaped through the roof of the orange county jail since it opened in 1968. once found, the three men face felony charges that could put them in federal prison for up to a combined 15 years. the nearly four- week old standoff in oregon appears to be over after police intercepted the group and made several arrests. shots were fired after the f-b-i and oregon state police made the stop, but it's not clear who shot first. one person died and six others were arrested, including militia leaders ammon and ryan bundy. the incident happened at a traffic stop near the federal refuge where the protesters have been staying. we're learning more about the investigation into a deadly railroad crash in philadelphia last may. investigators say the amtrak engineer was

train operators. the national transporation safety board is expected to release new details in the accident on february 1st. this includes clearing up rumors that the engineer was using his cellphone at the time. the crash killed eight people and hurt more than two hundred others. a new smart phone app alerts users whenever a police shooting happens. it's called archives and absences, and it only gives the name of the victim and the location. but the developers in texas have caused a lot of controversy with this app, especially from police officers. (cpl. jerry neufeld / amarillo police department): "it's going to allow for more social rumors, more social widespread anger and discontent with law enforcement. we're going to put out that an officer was involved in a shooting in wherever and so you're going to have people making comments and re-tweeting and posting and all this stuff before they even know what happened." civil rights attorney jeff blackburn says the app is a step toward transparency between law enforcement and the public. but he does think more information should be included to allow people to form

happening. a similar app in development lets people know when an officer is killed. the u.s has taken another step to improve its relationship with cuba. the treasury department announced yesterday it's doing away with more of its restrictions on cuba. starting today it will get rid of financing restrictions on most exports. the u.s. will also allow more cuban commodities to be exported. and while americans still can only travel to cuba under 12- specific guidelines, they will now be allowed to do more while in the country. the changes come because of direct talks between the u.s. and cuba, which began about a year ago. president obama plans to propose new laws to help americans save for retirement. 30-million additional americans may be able to access retirement savings as a result of the plan. the president's ideas will appear in the 20-17 budget which will be submitted to congress next month. some of his other ideas include requiring companies to offer plans to part- time workers and allowing americans to defer taxes on retirement savings. a toddler in canada has severe allergies

exactly sure what causes his reactions. the medical mystery hasn't been solved by the medical community in canada, so the boy's family is asking experts in the u-s for help. the little boy has lived in the stollery children's hospital for the past 15 months. he's been diagnosed with dozens of allergies, but his reactions -- such as losing consciousness and going into shock -- is what confuses doctors. (dr. isabelle chapados/ pediatric endocrinologist) "it's not allergic. it's another type of reaction that we have never been able to pinpoint." he will not survive without a proper diagnosis -- so the family has planned a conference call with the national institute of health in the u-s. a go-fund-me campaign is also helping with some medical bills, which is certainly helpful since his dad is being laid off from his job soon. the virgnia health department has confirmed an adult resident of virginia has tested positive for the zika virus. this comes as a warning goes out to pregnant women or those trying to get pregnant to avoid travel to several countries including parts of the

that the mosquito borne zika virus iin brazil is linked to an increase in cases of babies born with a condition where the babies brain and skull do not develop properly. carilion clinic's chief of infectious disease told wdbj's jean jadhon- while it is scary- it also should be kept in perspective. dr. thomas kerkering: it's probably inevitable that it comes because it is moquitoe borne but on the other hand it's not transmitted person to person and we actually do have better mosquito control programs that these other places and in many of these places there are open sources of water where mosquitors can breed and although we have those we don't have them in the numbers dr kerkering agreees wih the cdc guidelines advising pregnant women to avoid travel to numerous countries and territories in latin american and the caribbean including puerto rico, mexico and haiti. as you are getting

which areas still have snow and ice on the roads. what you need to know for your morning commute, next in your i- hometown traffic report. if you've got an un- spayed female cat now is the time to get her fixed before the first round of heat. we'll show you how you can get it done for a very low price

a few stray showers early followed by a slow increase in sunshine today. high: 42.

neighborhood roads are still covered in a layer of snow and ice this morning. campbell, amherst and pittsylvania counties have the worst road conditions right now. main streets and highways are cleared throughout our area but you may run into isolated slick patches. construction on piney woods road is scheduled to come to an end this weekend. both directions of that road are closed now from indian valley road in montgomery county to big branch road in floyd county. it should re-open sunday afternoon. this is a live look at i-64 in lexington from a virginia department of transportation camera. we're not seeing any major traffic problems in our area right now. a clinic with locations in both roanoke and the new river valley is encouraging people to get their female cats fixed this month. it's offering low cost operations to help get cats in the door and hopefully, prevent more cats from getting pregnant. wdbj-7's shayne dwyer is here with us this morining. good morning shayne good morning

and neuter already offers fix operations at a low cost and thanks to a charity grant they'll be even less expensive than normal. the clinic says their research over the years shows getting pets fixed does help prevent overpopulation and the eventual killing of unwanted animals. getting your pets fixed now can save you from paying lots of other costs in the future. and this february is another chance to get them fixed on the cheap. corrie prater with mountain view spay and neuter, corrie we're wrapping up january what had you pumped in january and what are you excited for in february? we are wrapping up happy neuter year it was a fantastic january at mountain view humane, we neutered over 600 male animals, 400 male dogs, 200 male cats, 20 bucks a piece. so neuter is for the men, ladies this is their time. spay absolutely, we want to beat these cats before they go into heat in the spring we want to beat the heat so in february we've got a 20 dollar special, petsmart charities gave us the grant for $20 we can spay your female cat. and what does that operation consist of? operation is very simple you bring them in in the morning, they go

home with a pain medication injection so you don't have to try to give your cat a pill becuase that's never easy. so they just come in it's a very simple procedure, the younger we can get them in to spay them the better, they're kind of like kids they rebound quickly when they're young so we can spay them when they're three months old so give us a call we'll help you out. and how many appoints are available? we have 420 female cat appointments in february between both of our clinics, we have the christiansburg clinic and the roanoke clinic, so we've got 420 appointments and we're already booked up into the second week of february. so these spots are going fast? spots are going fast, check out our website, you can request an appointment right on the homepage of our website it's mountain view humane dot org. in roanoke shayne dwyer, wdbj7 here's a look at what's trending on twitter this morning. one person was killed, and several arrested after a shootout at a wildlife reserve in oregon. that's where an armed militia group had been protesting for more than three

the protestors were heading to a public meeting when they were stopped by the fbi. so far there's no word on why shots were fired. -------- donald trump says he won't participate in tomorrow's republican presidential debate. he says it's because anchor megyn kelly has refused to step down as the event's moderator. many say trump's absence could only help the other candidates. ------- and, people are already tweeting about groundhog day. it doens't take place until next week, but after the recent winter storm along the east coast, many people hope the groundhog won't see his shadow. according to folklore, that would mean spring is coming early. birthdays for 1/27 (wednesday) lacey guilliams - ferrum - 20 joey sheppard - summersville, wv - 55 kaiya lian - 9 tameshia nicole

devoyce rashia manns - 34 latasha suggs - roanoke - 38 devan brunk - vinton - 10 zoey robinson - dublin - 4 mckenzie branch - bassett - 10 john wesley clements - lexington - 7 jeffrey smith - lexington kimberly smith - 40 noma knopp - roanoke donna pride - roanoke - 50 jermiah fitz, sr. - 69 catie gillespie - franklin county - 9 marie akers - riner - 45 carolina bowers - covington - 25 zaniyah taylor - roanoke - 9 tony clark - boones mill - 14 grayson ward - bent mountain - 1 jamere artis - roanoke - 13 bradley & martha sexton - 13th

sir, could you step aside? "sir"? come on. you know who i am. progressive insurance? uh, i save people an average of over $500 when they switch? did you pack your own bags? oh! right -- the name your price tool. it shows people policy options to help fit their budget. [ scanner warbling ] crazy that a big shot like me would pack his own bags, right? [ chuckles ] so, do i have the right to remain handsome? [ chuckles ] wait.

nowtemperature starting off in the twenties and thirties across the area thirty nine roanoke forty three new york city fifty down alanna temperatures again a drop off a little bit more than rebound a little as we head through the afternoon riner auburn middle school below freezing at thirty 31 watch for slick road conditions there northwest wind around five to ten miles per hour still find

our area most of that falling apart but again if you're seeing a little mist and drizzle keep that in mind special your temperatures are at or just below freezing we could see the back edge arty moving into southwest virginia that will continue to slowly progress to the east weeding to more the way of sunshine as we head through the afternoon checking out the doppler radar right now no areas of organize showers across our area my clip down toward south eastern halifax thirties a little bit comes up from north carolina but the rest is now to our east other than maybe drizzle hour by hour will tell you what's going on today were in the low forties mid forties thursday low forties friday and him back into the fifties to near sixty for the we can enter early next week today starting off in the mid to upper thirties dropping off a little bit but then we rebound with that sunshine as you maker way through the afternoon you forecast model keeps is quiet we have that coastal system throw some clouds our way on thursday but

snow showers building tothe mountains a west virginia late friday out late thursday into early friday today though early clouds slow, clearing temperatures pretty much into the upper 30s low to mid 40s head out tonight partly cloudy cold lows in the teens and twenties although wet roads will refreeze again keep that in mind evan day planner partly sunny thursday and friday low to mid forties back into the mid and a plan is moving forward for a proposed wind farm in botetourt county. the county board of supervisors have voted unanimously on the issue last night. several residents express concerns about the project. but the developer, apex clean energy, says it's going through all the necessary steps and rules to build the wind farm. the company will now start going through a state process. an image uploaded to facebook is causing controversy and now police are investigating death threats to a school in galax. the picture is a meme mocking ptsd for veterans. now the chestnut creek school of the arts is receiving threats. but the person whose page it was published on says he didn't upload it. he claims someone hacked his account trying to hurt him.

facebook page lists the city-run business as an employer. but they say those who know them know they would have nothing to do with the post. two people are dead and three others were hurt after a shooting at a homeless encampment in seattle. the incident happened last night and a police source said multiple men were involved in the shooting but no one is in custody at this time. seattle mayor ed murray called the shooting an active crime scene and has asked people to stay away from the area. according to a t-v station in the area, this is the biggest shooting scene in seattle since 20-12. donald trump says he won't be at tomorrow's republican debate. he has been at odds with fox news since the first gop debate. the gop front- runner got angry at host megyn kelly for allegedly questioning him unfairly. fox news says he's still welcome at the event if he changes his mind. seven candidates will face off in the debate even if trump isn't there. it's the last debate before the iowa

a few sprinkles early followed by a little more sunshine this afternoon. high