new details on the search for a virginia abducting an amelia county woman. a judge reveals how many candidates will the trial against the

church in south carolina. "we need to tell the whole story. the whole ugly story of our history" tonight, the fate of two slave quarters in botetourt county is still in question. we are wdbj7. good evening, i'm melissa gaona. and i'm chris hurst. new at 11: people in some neighborhoods across our area are concerned after they went several days without getting their mail following last week's snow storm. w-d-b-j-7's khiree stewart spoke with those neighbors and tells us what's causing the problem. chris, melissa, it's been days since it snowed, but it's still causing problems for some people in roanoke. those who haven't gotten their mail say they want answers. 10:36:25 - 10:36:30 "just concerned about what could be coming in that i need to take care of." roy forbes sorts through several letters for the first time in days. he and others on ridgecrest drive said they haven't received mail since thursday... the day before last week's snow storm. 10:34:44 - 10:34:50 "we have bills and regular stuff that comes in that we

about them." 00:02:56 - 00:03:04 "our employees go to work. they try to get the mail delivered everyday. they're at the mercy of whatever the plow crews are able to do themselves." tad kelley is a spokesman for the united states postal service. he says part of the reason could have to do with snow piled near mailboxes, walkways, and some of the rural and secondary roads. kelley said they don't want mail carriers to risk slipping or falling on ice or snow. 00:08:29 - 00:08:41 "we see injuries rising because employees take a little bit too extra of a chance to try and make delivery. we don't want that to happen and i'm sure our customers don't want that to happen either." ((gfx over b-roll)) make sure curbside of snow so mail trucks can approach he says walkways should be clear of snow and ice to prevent falls... and roadside boxes should be free of any obstacles. forbes said it was frustrating, but he also doesn't want anyone risking their safety. 10:36:40 - 10:36:47 "i think it's evident when you look out there and see the snow that's piled up in front of the boxes, you can understand." kelley said he expects all mail

khiree stewart, w- d-b-j-7. theauthor back to normal the virginia ski season looking pretty good yellow fresh powder on the ground got all kinds of mates no earnings and good in nelson county skiers are taking advantage of that as well and here's the issue it was a little bit warm today snowmelt revealed the twenty seven write-down washington and lee is a good idea what's happening at the temperatures have dropped off can be pretty cold tonight. it is going to freeze might not be prepared for it you might think you're in a dry parking lot. just be careful tomorrow can be slippery first thing the morning we get the rather chilly overnight set up because of high pressure just to our west creating a northwest wind. it's fairly lights he fairly cold now to look at hour by hour for the next twelve we find yourselves in partly cloudy conditions

cloudy skies during the afternoon i think organist a dry during a break that down for you in the case of a virginia transgender student went to richmond today. this marks the first time arguments involving transgender students was presented to a federal court of appeals. last year, the gloucester county school board voted to deny gavin grimm's request for permission to use the boys' bathroom at school. grimm was born a female, but identifies of a male. grimm says this battle is about much more than just using a certain restroom. gavin grimm : to me this is one way that the school is saying we don't believe that who you are is legitimate and that is something that is very offensive to me. the school also built several unisex private restrooms for all students to use. grimm's attorney says gender should be determined by psychology, and the way one feels and presents him or herself to the world. a decision on the case is expected within weeks. police say the person wanted for killing a man and abducting a woman late last week in amelia county, died after shooting

today. investigators say it happened when police there tried to arrest dana william during a search warrant. investigators are now asking the public for help finding the abduction victim olene brooks. police say her husband, woodell brooks was found dead in their home. before the abduction, investigators say william zip-tied, duct-taped and held her family hostage at gun point. tonight roanoke police are looking for a missing man. investigators say no one has heard from jonathan kent since last week. his co-workers reported him missing on monday. call roanoke police if you have any information. police are continuing the search for a missing girl in blacksburg. nichole lovell , who is 13, 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 in pink and brown cowboy boots. if you have any information, call the blacksburg police

men charged in an alleged plot to attack synagogues and black churches pleaded guilty to a robbery conspiracy today. charles halderman faces up to twenty years in prison when he is sentenced in april. investigators say halderman and two others plotted to use money from a robbery for a race war. the trials for the other two men are set for march. today a charleston judge ruled that 600 residents will be called to court as potential jurors in the trial of dylann roof. roof is accused of killing nine during a deadly shooting at the emanuel a-m-e church. experts say the large pool is no surprise given how high profile the case is. a computer will randomly select the participants from a list of locals who are registered voters or have valid licenses or i-ds. the widow of an illinois police officer who killed himself last year has been indicted on six federal counts for her role in her late husband's theft of charity funds. melodie gliniewicz turned herself in

her husband was accused of stealing thousands from a youth police explorers program fund. he shot himself back in september but made it look like he was shot by suspects he was chasing. police say the couple used the money to go on vacation. gliniewicz's atttorney says she was a victim of her husband's secret crimes. she is being held on 50-thousand dollar bond. the mayor of flint, michigan says she's hired a virginia tech professor to oversee all water testing done by the state and federal governments. marc edwards and a team of researchers from virginia tech helped bring the city's water crisis to light after a mother discovered high levels of lead in her water. the team from blacksburg found alarmingly high rates of lead in the water - 18 times more than what was found in detroit's water. researchers are calling for more strict regulations on water throughout the country after working with this issue first hand. william rhoads/virginia tech doctoral student: "all this national attention that we're getting, that flint is getting over this issue is going to help push the changes that we need to make in how we regulate and monitor for lead to

changes." edwards and the team of researchers are sharing their findings with the virginia tech community thursday night at seven in goodwin hall. it will also be streaming live online. a community in moneta is finding out the hard way, just how much they rely on the internet. residents and businesses say they've been without their verizon dsl internet for two weeks now. they weren't getting any answers so they reached out to wdbj7 for help, and verizon responded. tom: "we called them on the phone to check on it and they said the internet was down and they would have it back up that evening. that's been going on for two weeks. i call them everyday." o'malley: we've got so many people on the dsl network in that specific location and they're using that service so much that we've just reached capacity in that location" verizon tells us they are now expiditing the process to add new equipment and run new fiber into the area. the company expects everything to

two weeks. however, residents and businesses will continue to see problems until it's finished. the botetourt county board of supervisors is creating a preservation advisory commitee to help with the relocation of two slave houses on the former greenfield plantation. wdbj7's noell saunders joins us live with an update. after heavy debates over the relocation, board supervisors are asking for outside help. they will also being doing archaelog i spoke to a descendent of the slaves that once lived on that land and she's not happy with county's decision. botetourt county is need of the community help with one it's oldest historical sites. "the greenfield preservation advisory commission will consist of citizens, representatives from community groups, historical preservation groups as well as technicalogical experts" but that's not sitting well with cheryl sullivan willis. willis is a descendent of the slaves who lived on the property more than 200 years ago.

takes away from....you lose it all. it doesn't just kind of takes it away the historical value and authenticity that they have where they are right now" willis says moving the slave houses would affect many people. "it doesn't just affect my family members eventhough i am unconditionally biased because it does affect family members" when the greenfield more than intention was to make it available for recreational and education use with the majority of it going toward an industrial business center. botetourt county has altered that plan. "in seeking to balance the needs for historical preservation and economic development the board feels that they have made the best decision possible for the situation to balance all of those competing needs" willis says she was also concerned about the possible gravesites that may be on the land. but the county has insured that if graves

with care. "we need to tell the whole story of our history" there is no set date to when the houses will be moved. both of them will be placed at at historical preservation site about a mile from where they originally stand. noell saunders wdbj7. we are your hometown news leader, wdbj-7. coming up, why the head of liberty university says donald trump should be our next president. we hear from bernie sanders about his private meeting with president obama today. and why a mother is

duct tape. liberty university is explaining his decision to endorse donald trump for president. jerry falwell junior made the announcement yesterday and says it was a personal show of support, not affiliated with liberty. he says trump offered no gifts to he or the school in exchange for the endorsement. falwell says he likes trump's business credentials and believes he's the best person to improve america's economy. jerry falwell junior/liberty university president: "we're in such desperate straights as a nation that we need somebody who has experience, who has done it in the real world, and would be a citizen legislator." falwell's endorsement does not apply to rest of his family. yesterday his brother jonathan, who pastors thomas road baptist church, put out a statement saying he won't endorse any presidential candidates. trump fans are weighing in on the candidates decision to skip the g-o-p

the republican frontrunner says he will not attend the fox news debate because they refused to pull megyn kelly as moderator. he's faced critcism from other republican candidates including senator ted cruz. today trump tweeted out a poll asking supporters if he should go through with it after all. just 56-percent of his supporters say he should take part in the last debate before the iowa caucuses. democratic presidential hopeful bernie sanders was in washington today to meet with president obama. sanders praised the president for "being fair" with the democratic candidates by not endorsing any one of them. the vermont senator says the two sat down to talk about issues from politics to domestic policies. sanders says though they don't always see eye to eye, but president obama has always had his support. bernie sanders/(d) presidential candidate: "by and large over it is last seven years on major issue after major issue, i have stood by his side to where he has taken on unprecedented republican obstructionism, has tried to do the right thing for the

recent polls put sanders and clinton neck-and-neck in iowa, just days ahead of the caucuses. it was lady's day on the senate floor today. after the massive weekend blizza, it appeared all the male senators took the day off one senator praised her female colleagues for braving the conditions and showing up to work. a seattle mother is warning parents about the "duct tape challenge" after her son was seriously hurt. doctors say the teen is lucky to be alive duct tape his arms he fell and was later taken to the hospital with multiple injuries including a brain aneurysm. sarah fish - skylar's mother: "when he fell, he window frame...it crushed his whole eye socket and pinched off nerves in unclear whether the boy will get his vision back in that eye. he says he's happy to be alive and hopes others can learn from

groups all over the world held ceremonies to remember victims of the holocaust today. january 27-th is the 71-st anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz, and also serves as international holocaust memorial day. it's estimated that at least one million people died at the nazi's largest concentration camp. in 19-45 seven- thousand prisoners were freed there, most of them were ill and dying. in honor of the day president obama attended a ceremony at the israeli embassy in washington. aaron lyles was just 9 years old, when he drew a picture of the world trade center during a visit to famous anthony's restaurant. 15 years later he met the customer who has treasured the picture ever since. the simple drawing still packs an emotional punch for wendy jones. jones worked for the financial services firm morgan stanley in 2001, and she lost friends in the september 11th terrorist attack on the world trade center. the drawing she first saw on the wall

tanglewood mall became a treasured keepsake. wendy jones: as time goes, you still remember. it gets easier, but this picture has always been something that i have turned to. aaron lyles: 20, 30 minutes here at a table at famous anthony's, and to find out it's been hanging in her office for all this time, it's incredible. famous anthony's has been asking customers to share their stories about the restaurant. when company leaders heard from jones, they began searching for the artist. lyles doesn't actually remember completing the drawing, but says he's happy that it has held special meaning for someone else. up next, a virginia town can no longer boast the cheapest gas in the country. where drivers are fill up for less than 50 cents. and we'll look at how workers are preparing levi stadium for the super bowl. the complete first alert forecast

nextsnow snow everywhere would he say we get some of it melted and all we have to do to let that happen is to get into a situation with the temperatures are warming up a little bit we find that if we get to 40 a day we could lose one to two inches of snow but guess what were headed for the weekend at fifty degrees a day plus you lose one to two inches of snow a day so here officially we have about five inches on her snowboard at the moment and we think that if were at fifty degrees a day over the 50 a day over the course of the weekend we should be pretty good shape to lose almost all of the snow higher elevations may hang onto that does little while longer. we should be clear speaking of clear satellite radar at the moment is given us that look where it's comedic on a chilly tonight most of the southerly winds are not that strong and not holding upholding much more here so really chilly first

clipper is just upstream of this clipper has very limited moisture but certainly we have a chance to see some snow showers flying around thursday night or maybe early friday tailless flying around today and that was heavy rain in florida and tornadoes as well iraqi a satellite back about to twelve hours and you can see how that had wave after wave of the super soaking rains of event not only totaling big rain but they had damaging wind today are some videos out on social media we can watch the tornado go right over a highway vehicles so certainly an rambunctious weather day they're partly cloudy and cold tonight teens to 20s teens to twenties that's a hard freeze all the places that are wet on the roadway you can bet first thing tomorrow morning they're going to be very very slippery really want to take that seriously mine is a think maybe we let our guard down a little bit since a lot of roadways look pretty good and things appear to be a little bit dryer but it's can be slippery you can see how abide

twenties its not till noon we approach the forty degree mark there were mostly cloudy after that reasonably mild but here's what can happen in the cold front just to the west of us as that slides across during the day thursday we will season in greece clouds we offset increasing clouds coming about himself from up on the south from a low-pressure area that just missing us out to the coast behind we get this a clipper system into the snow showers by six in the evening working their way through cincinnati and cleveland that drops down in the mountains of west virginia are coming up pretty early friday morning and then that will be yet that'll take care of the cold-weather plunge and we will start to go back to something that resembles a warmer weather outlook so for your thursday for the most part some early clouds some clearing the maybe clouds again by the evening hours forty five in roanoke and martinsville handle and 42 greece and lexington your seven day planner shall you will coast of the weekend of

when it looks like this mostly sunny skies and fifty five on saturday mostly sunny skies and fifty nine on sunday we check in on monday with a partly sunny day a slight chance of showers within the enough clouds for groundhog day will see is what you will the closer it certainly will be my out avenue wednesday showers early on high i temperaturup at the pump in sunray, texas today to fill up for only 39 cents a gallon. it was all part of a promotion by a co-op for grain farmers. recent falling oil prices have helped steadily bring down fuel prices. the last time gas prices were 39-cents per gallon was back in 19-69. prices for coffee beans are at their lowest in two years, but experts say don't expect to save money. a pound of arabica coffee, like the type served at starbucks, has fallen by a third in just the last year. and officials in brazil say coffee farmers will have a larger than normal harvest. analysts say a rise in wages across the country affects all

your local coffee shop. that will keep prices right where they're at. it looks like the customer is always right... even if it's a six-year-old! a baker got an order for a birthday cake drawn by a child. being the professional, she made it exactly like the picture. even down to the swirl in front and the star wars guys on top. the work continues on the super bowl stadium for next month's big game. take a look at levi's stadium, just outside of san francisco. today workers added logos and hashmarks to the field. the carolina panthers and denver broncos will take the field february 7-th to determine who will be the n-f-l champion. this weekend pre- game and half-time entertainment will start rehearsing. a pro basketball player from virginia chose to come home for surgery and recovery after tearing her acl in a game in october. maryah sydnor plays in finland but

down in a game, rather than staying overseas, she went to the carilion clinic in radford to have her acl repaired and for physical therapy. she says the move was what she needed, and her doctor says staying to recover is best for everyone. maryah sydnor, professional basketball player: "coming over here, i think, pretty much was the easiest decision and definitely the smartest. just having all of my family around as a support system." dr. christofer catterson, orthopedic surgeon, carilion clinic: "i think you want to have good communication between the teams, between the surgeon and the physical therapy department, as well as the athlete. it's ideal for that type of environment." maryah is expected to fully recover. her full story is available on wdbj7 dot com. hoops from the acc court as the hokies take on louisville and roanoke college tangles with randolph in the odac, plus this week's edition of weekly but first our extra point, the jmu softball team is ranked number 19 nationally in the preseason polls. led by bath

pitcher jailyn ford the dukes are also the preseason favorites to win the caa once again. eight major contributors return for head coach mickey dean off last year's team that went 48 and 10. (phone ringing) you can't deal with something, by ignoring it.

seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise)

dropped its last 2 games, hoping to get back in the win column against 16th-ranked louisville tonight. the hokies hosting the cardinals for the first time since 1995, looking to snap a 10-game losing streak in the series. hokies rocking the pink shoes and pink trim for cancer awareness. early on, tech off to the solid start. seth allen gets to the rack for 2. he scored the hokies' first six points tonight. then it's jalen hudson, pushing ion transition, and how about the acrobatic finish that gave tech a 12-7 adavantage and the crowd was into it. justin bibbs then got freed up for a long 3 point bomb in the corner pocket.

zach leday then goes right down the lane and banks it off the window. but the cardinals went on a 19 to 6 run to end the half. the hokies simply had no answer for damion lewis as louisville went on to win it 91 to 83. zach leday/scored 20 points vs. louisville: oh yeah, that was the game. they shot a whole lot of threes and made a whole lot of threes. that's not usually what happens so that was just random. we contested and played as hard as we can. we're just gonna keep on getting better and better and move on from this. seth allen/scored 26 points vs. louisville: they hit some big shots. they got going and got in a rhythm early and anytime you get in a rhythm and you're on the road, i feel like they got confidence too early and that's what it was. in salem, roanoke college hosted randolph in the odac. the visiting wildcats were in control from the outset. seth wimbish with the blow by and the hard earned bucket in traffic. reid jacoby then beats his man off the dribble for two more on the easy lay in and randolph led by as many as 15 in the

roanoke went nearly 12 minutes without a single field goal, this one on the dish from cj miles to dustin hassell for the reverse lay in. then just before the half john caldwell gets a 3 ball to go down. roanoke battled back to force overtime but randolph won it 91 to 86. there aren't many high school basketball players in our area with more acclaim than virginia episcopal school's sacha killeya-jones. zac glover has the story of one of the country's top up- and-comers in this edition of hometown hoops weekly. zac glover: recently named one of only 24 mcdonald's all- americans, virginia episcopal school big man, sacha killeya- jones is one of the top high school basketball recruits in the country. sacha killeya-jones, ves power forward: "it really takes you places that you never really thought you would go. i've been to la, vegas, new york. it's taken me all of florida, atlanta, and texas. i like going out there and taking on different teams every night. i like playing against the other top-ranked guys, and guys ranked ahead of me. you know, just go out there and compete with the best, and try to show

yourself every time you go out on the floor." curtis staples, ves head coach: "sacha's a legitimate 6'10" with shoes off. he's able to face the basket, handle the ball. it makes him extremely hard to guard." zac glover: ves head coach, curtis staples, was also a highly-touted player coming out of roanoke's patrick henry high school, and went onto a successful career at uva. sacha killeya-jones: "he's been a nationally-ranked guy, he was at oak hill, a mcdonald's all-american, set records in college in the acc, went to the nba, played overseas. he's been everywhere in the basketball world you could want to go." curtis staples: "one of the most common denomenators in our similar paths is just the work ethic. sacha works extremely hard, and i did the same growing up." zac glover: and while sacha was, at first, going to follow in his coach's footsteps by committing to play at virginia, he has since changed his mind, signing with kentucky. sacha killeya-jones: "i had just taken a visit to virginia, and i really liked it, and i still like virginia a lot. coach bennett was great with me, and i committed, and i didn't really think a whole lot about it. i started to think about it, and talk to my parents a little bit more. we figured we should just take a

thought, after my visit, coach calipari and kentucky would really be the best fit for me." zac glover: and though kentucky leads the ncaa with most players drafted since 2005, sacha says he isn't getting too far ahead of himself. sacha killeya-jones: "that's my goal, to get to the nba and get drafted. but i don't want to make too big of a leap. you want to focus day by day, and what's right ahead of you right now. so right now, that's a state championship." zac glover: in lynchburg, zac glover wdbj7. all: milk! milk! milk! milk! milk! okay! fun's over. aw. aw. thirsty? they said it would make me cool. they don't sound cool to me. guess not. you got to stick up for yourself, like with the name your price tool. people tell us their budget, not the other way around. aren't you lactose intolerant?

woman got quite the scare when woke up to find an exotic animal sleeping on her chest! her family took the creature to an animal hospital and found out it was a kinkajou the animal is usually found in central and south america. police say it was being kept as a pet and somehow escaped. the owner picked it up from the animal

for the latest weather anytime, turn to our webpage at wdbj7.com and be sure to follow us on facebook and twitter for weather headlines and more at wdbj7weather. thanks for watching