good evening. i'm jean jadhon. and i'm chris hurst. our top story at six. residents and local businesses in moneta are feeling a bit off the grid tonight. and have been for some time. wdbj7's amanda kenney is here with their story. amanda, this internet outage has taken a toll on some verizon customers? yes, jean. you never realize how much we rely on the internet until it's gone, but these customers have been without it for weeks. some businesses say they're losing money or can't access it. and some resident are so frustrated they switched providers. when you're not connected it can be frustrating. everybody's upset about it right now, there's a whole community that's upset locally i can't even pay bills, i can't check my bank account it's extremely frustrating from a business stand point. we're paying for services and we're not getting them is the bottom line. but for this lakefront community in moneta, residents and businesses are downright baffled. cass taylor: we would have full

days and it was happen two times, three times, maybe more. then about two and half weeks ago, it went down completely. the router's working, there's just no signal coming in to the router tom gordon's restaurant, jake's place has not been able to process payments from credit cards. tom gordon: and so we've had money sitting in this equipment for the last two weeks. that we can't have access to. we've got power and we've got a dsl line which means there's connectivity but we've got no internet light and jim shauberger as halesford harbour inn can't use his reservation system or take phone calls. jim shauberger: the phone, it buzzes but does nothing, so wdbj7 contacted verizon for answers to this community's connectivity problem. turns out, there is a capacity issue with verizon's dsl network. and now, the company is working to relieve the congestion. john o'malley: we've got to add some new equipment into the location, we've got to run some new fiber, there's actually three separate locations that we need to do

make this happen while this time of the year is important for businesses here winter time here at the lake is difficult enough without having your cash tied up. it's not recoverable revenue, you lose the business, you lose the sales, it's not something you can make up later. verizon is asking everyone for a little more time to resolve the issue. it's a fairly involved process but we're expediting this and moving as quickly as we can to do it, we're looking at probably mid-february before everything is in place and operational. verizon tells me they hope the issue will be resolved sooner. in the meantime customers will continue to see problems with their service so jean and chris, they're just asking everyone to bare with them until it's fixed. norfolk southern corporation announced disappointing financial results today. outlined a cost- cutting plan that could eliminate two thousand jobs. for the full year, profits were down by

squires said the company will streamline operations and cut costs. a plan to save more than 650- million dollars a year by 2020, includes the elimination of 2,000 positions. we don't know how the latest announcement will affect jobs here in western virginia. the stock closed higher today. right now police are searching for a - missing girl in blacksburg. take a look. this is nichole lovell who is 13 years old. she was last seen early this morning on fairfax road. police say she is without her daily medication needed after having a liver transplant. nichole has a tracheotomy scar on her throat and was last seen wearing pink and brown cowboy boots. if you have any information, call the blacksburg police department. the president of a university in our region made national headlines yesterday when he endorsed a presidential candidate. today, jerry falwell junior is explaining why he wants donald trump to be the next commander in chief. falwell sat down with wdbj7's tim saunders for his only local t-v interview on

backing trump? chris, falwell sees a lot of parallels between trump and his late father, the televangelist jerry falwell senior. in our talk this afternoon, falwell wanted to clear up some misconceptions about his endorsement. in the hours since jerry falwell junior threw his support behind donald trump, he says he's faced a variety of false accusations. some even brought up his family, suggesting his son's recent wedding at the trump winery in charlottesville was a free gift in exchange for falwell's endorsement. jerry falwell junior: "he has not given us any gifts of any type. he has not given liberty any gifts." falwell's endorsement is personal and was not made on behalf of liberty university, where he serves as president. while liberty is an evangelical college and falwell himself is devoutly christian, he takes exception to those who believe he should support a more outwardly- religious candidate. falwell: "we're not voting for a sunday school teacher. that is what my father used to say. we're

someone who has my theological views. we're voting for someone who is qualified to run the nation." falwell says trump is the most qualified candidate to improve the economy. he compares our nation's financial situation to a crisis liberty faced in the early 90's, when the school was in debt and almost had to close. it was rescued, falwell said, by business experts like trump. falwell: "these weren't people who necessarily shared the same faith as liberty. they were just professionals who came in and made hard choices and changes that needed to be made." trump is making news this week for dropping out of a debate thursday. falwell says he doesn't completely understand trump's reasoning, but doesn't think it will hurt him. falwell: "everything he's done in the last six months, most people thought it would hurt his campaign but nothing seems to have hurt it. i'm not in a position to second guess whether that's a smart thing or not." falwell's endorsement does not apply to the rest

jonathan, who pastors thomas put out a statement he will not be endorsing any candidates. as the pastor of a local church, he says it's his job to point people to jesus christ, not a political candidate. live in the lynchburg bedford newsroom, tim saunders, wdbj7. fromtraffic moving smartly find anyone this evening as we have a lot of good nolting today roads are in pretty good shape even most of the secondary roads are starting to look pretty good it's always nice to get temperatures in the forties and little the sunsets to help things out well that's what matters i too fairly quiet at the moment we're basically looking at a big area of high pressure covering up most of the nation's midsection and it's not till we get into the

that we run into somein this colder temperatures and a rather chilly overnight ahead so you know what that means we have a good melting earlier today and so by tomorrow morning if were starting out with temperatures that are running around 24 or so. i could be a bit of an issue so on urging now be extra special careful tomorrow don't think that just because irrevocable sunny days he does go right up there not look down and make sure the road is too slippery for the sidewalks are not too sl new river valley? a group researching routes wants to hear about your ride. the new river valley regional commission is conducting a survey to find out which bus stops are used the most and what routes overlap. the findings and suggestions from the survey will help enhance the appearance and accessibility at those bus stops. elijah sharp/nrv regional commission planning director: "part of this process is for us to discover and really make folks aware in the community that there are these overlaps and ultimately that extends their service area and accessibility to public transit." there are four public transit systems in the new river valley. sharp says each transit system has found a slight increase in ridership each year. the survey is available through february 5th. a link is on our website, wdbj7-

the american armored foundation tank museum in danville needs of a new roof! with the snow, ice and then the warm weather--- the roof is leaking water in its future education center. the director says they patch different parts of the roof almost every year. but right now, it's beyond repair. museum director daniel gasser "it's extremely important, for the growth of the museum, for the collections sake. for educational purposes, we definitely want to fix the roof. leaders say this will not be an easy task. the new roof will cost upwards of six hundred thousand dollars. they are working to find grants and have created a go-fund- me account. head to wdbj7 dot com for more information. the roanoke valley governor's school is celebrating 30 years of challenging and enriching students. now, it's ready to continue that tradition. wdbj7 anchor nadia singh talked to some of the students about how this type of education is preparing them for the real world. jean, one of the governor's school's directors tells me

milestone, the school, its teachers and its students are always looking for ways to get even better. john kowalski/director "it's a very rigorous program and we specialize in particular with the math, science technology." the fields that will catapult these students into competitive career paths. cindy boland/teacher "one of the characteristics of gifted students is that they have really strong interests and really specialized topics and this gives them the chance to really go in depth." with projects that challenge them. gabriel scott/student move but will be interrupted hears a loud noise." jaelen guerrant/student "a comparison of rna protein production in genetically modified e coli." we don't have enough time to explain exactly what that means, but the bottom line is as a sophomore, jaelen guerrant is already working with science professionals. jaelen guerrant/student "over the summer i tech so i'm just taking samples that were genetically modified over there it's a project that for scientists in the students spend half

research. jaelen guerrant/student "i plan to go into the medical field one day so this whole science and math and technology, i'll be super prepared for the future." because these students are learning concepts they hope will change the world. gabriel scott/student "it's a baseline foundation for what could be greater for human kind, like inventions that could break the mold." and the program's success continues to show beyond the classroom. john kowalski/director "we're seeing increased success of students doing well at the state science fair, or the international science fair so we're always looking to improve in those particular areas." seeing this kind of forward thinking goes beyond pride for the teachers and sets the standard for another 30 years of excellence. cindy boland/teacher " investment that the state of virginia and the roanoke valley is making in students and working with these students everyday makes me feel optimistic about the future." those projects you just saw are part of the school's curriculum. january to them and they'll be presented at a forum on

the governor's school covers 7 school districts and has 270 students. nadia singh, wdbj7. next on wdbj7 at 6. three organizations join forces to help those in need in the roanoke valley. how the merger will work. a simple drawing held special meeting for a customer at this roanoke restaurant and a search for the artist served up an

organizations are now working together to make sure the given a chance at a at a press conference today the creation of arch, which stands for, change and heal was announced. arch is a merger between the non- profits, trust house and bethany hall with the help of united way of the roanoke valley. leaders say the collaboration of services will change lives. afira devires/ceo united way of roanoke valley "it's a positive thing for the health and human service sector, it's a positive for those who are needing that service, needing that intervention and it's actually a really wonderful thing for those who are investing in the work." ali hamed- moore/arch executive director "i'm hoping to see a bigger, stronger agency that can deliver more services to the most vulnerable people we

talks for the merger started more than a year ago. a child's drawing in the days after after 9/11 led to an emotional meeting in roanoke. wdbj7's joe dashiell explains how a simple act almost fifteen years ago continues to have a personal impact today. a popular roanoke restaurant, a busy kitchen nat sound and the search for the young artist who drew the twin towers in the days after 9/11. wendy jones: they can destroy our famous american buildings, but they can't destroy our famous american pride. a short message, and a simple drawing still pack an emotional punch for wendy jones. now the executive director of the williamson road area business association, jones worked for the financial services firm morgan stanley in 2001, and she lost friends in the terrorist attack. the drawing she first saw on the wall of the famous anthony's near tanglewood mall became a treasured

wendy jones: and these words have been so comforting to me for so many years, i want to thank you for that i really want to thank you. wednesday morning, she hugged aaron lyles, who was just nine years old when family members say he dashed off the drawing during a visit to the restaurant. so what's your story? famous anthony's has been asking its customers that question since october. when company leaders heard wendy's story, they put up posters looking for the artist. in mid-january, the posters paid off. bonny viar: you know when we rolled out this story, we were hoping he may stillbe in the areas or that his family would still be coming to anthony's or somebody would recognize it so we were really excited when we were able to find him. aaron lyles: i think it's great that she did feel that way, and it's meant a lot to somebody. 20, 30 minutes at a table here at famous anthony's, and to find out it's been hanging in her office all this time is

dashiell wdbj7 with the melting snow comes slippery spots first thing in the morning. meteorologist robin reed says be extra aware as you head

nextfrom the safety of the camera view and a little warming today this is pretty use against us and we anticipate that tomorrow i have a little more the way,

moisture starts to slide her wet thirty one degrees of auburn middle school right now dewpoint temperatures in the mid twenties we had some moisture over the last of 24-hour submitted through the gauge and in some cases was little that melting precipitation and others it was a few sprinkles around as well windsor avenue ave., east and only 3 miles an hour thirty seven lynchburg thirty three in martinsville rfer whistle as well twenty nine and bluefield thirty one openings feel it appears that our temperatures tonight it can be dropping him pretty quickly with relatively clear skies so we're day-to-day in south florida with tornadoes on the ground and damage there it's an interesting time with fast-moving winds down the florida peninsula he had more severe weather while we been in the winter mode they been in canada spring thunderstorm season clouds obviously in place over southwest region and moving along but no moisture associated with that is not to get up to a clipper system up in the high plains. we start to see colder shot a bear and a reinforcement of maybe a few snow showers are

to move into west virginia but i'll agree how much a result here in southwest virginia partly cloudy and cold overnight nineteen in blacksburg twenty two of the roman metro outliners you be colder than that stupid snow on the ground snowpack is an interesting things with temperatures in hopes of drop downs when the air is dry and skies are reasonably clear hour by hour thursday we start up plenty chilly but we will make it into theexpect to see mainly cloudy skies and it's associated with the front. it's currently to be draped at person in the morning from near cleveland down the cincinnati busy afternoon wears on you conceal hubbell brushed by with some rain showers to the south. moving along the coast looks like that was just in a mrs. cold closer there's a clipper system behind that so we would some bbc and some snow showers snow flurries in the mountains increasing clouds for the rest of the folks of it with as we lay it out early clouds on thursday was slow clearing

forties forty mid-40s 45 enrollment 45 and martinsville will be six the 6 in danville is the next seven days were indicating warm-up that starts in jumps on the weekend saturday up around fifty five degrees with mainly sunny skies to do it again on sunday it would appear so fifty nine monday also run fifty nine but a slight chance for shower ages is a big day i wonder what softball notes, and joey logano had a disappointing end to 2015 on the track. how he plans to bounce back in

cup title. an 8pm tip at the cassell with another chance to pick up a marquee win in the acc. close calls against notre dame and north carolina have left the hokies at 4 and 3 in the conference. slow starts have been an issue at times and that has to be fixed with the meat of the league slate coming up. seth allen/virginia tech point guard: you can say we're supposed to be 6 and 1 but we're 4 and 3 so when we play louisville, we're gonna have to come and play harder than we ever played. buzz williams/virginia tech head coach: we've got to figure out how we can make it more of a pseudo fight from the beginning because we can't play three rounds of a fight and just get beat up because we're already trying to make up ground. uva pulled-out a buzzer-beater over wake forest last night, picking-up a

the cavaliers have had plenty of success on their home court at 10 and oh there this season, but winning an acc away game is something they hadn't achieved until last night. tony bennett, uva men's basketball head coach, "we'll take the win. the quality wasn't there the way we needed it to but it did i guess get the monkey off our back as far as a road win in the conference. every win is just a fight for us for sure. in this league, it's so deep and so balanced in a lot of ways." anthony gill, uva senior forward, "you know, because we haven't been getting road wins. it's something that we really needed to go out here and prove that we could get another road win and that's what we did. it was big for us not only just for the outside world but for our own confidence to just go in here and get a win at wake forest." malcolm brogdon, uva senior guard, "when you talk about ncaa tournament time and you talk about standings in the acc, we hadn't had a road win yet and we needed this win for sure." as the racing season gets closer, penske racing's joey logano still can't help but think about what might have been at the end

to claim his first sprint cup title until the series came to martinsville in late october. that's when he was leading in the closing laps only to be spun out ending his shot at the win as well as his hopes for a championship. times last year, has experience and has tried to put it behind joey logano/six we've just got to keep refining the wheel a little bit and keep making it a little better and finding our weaknesses. at this point last year we go into daytona and they say it's our worst racetrack. superspeed ways were our worst. we won two superspeedway races last year. really identifying your weakness and working at it. our weaknesses have gotten smaller which is a good sign. it's a sign of strength but we also do have some for sure. but they're not big adjustments now. they're a bunch of small ones and really trying to get the most out of everyone on our team. the jmu softball team is ranked number 19 nationally in the preseason polls. led by bath county product, pitcher jailyn ford the dukes are also the preseason favorites to win the

eight major contributors return for head coach mickey dean off last year's team that went 48 and 10, making the ncaa tourney. also today, liberty university softball was tabbed to finish 4th in the big south. wall street ended the day with losses. the dow dropped 223 points. the nasdaq fell 99.

>> they can't toy with me like they toy with everybody else. >> pelley: trump pulls out of the debate, but will he change