prevention council "we have an epidemic here. " nancy hans with roanoke county's prevention council says they've seen a rise in heroin usage over the last few years. nancy hans, executive director, prevention council "we know that it is easily accessed, it's cheap and we know that it starts with prescription drugs." chris perkins, roanoke chief of police "black market prescritpion drugs are very expensive. heroin is very cheap. " roanoke's police chief says you can buy a single packet of heroin for as little as five dollars in pennsylvania and new jersey. he says people then turn around and sell it in the roanoke valley for $20. chris perkins, roanoke chief of police "the profitability is what is attractive, but what we find is once people get hooked they're using that profitabilty to support their own habit. " he joined the prevention council at this thursday night meeting. he was there to help educate parents about how widespread the problem is. anti-drug coalitions say 1 in 14 teenagers in the roanoke valley have used heroin at least once in their life. chris perkins, roanoke chief of police "it's mind-boggling and they're being addicted in so many ways. " taylor powell, 12th grade "a lot of these adult problems have kid consequences " taylor powell and

high school seniors who came up with the idea for thursday's program. lidya tadesse, 12th grade "we can really make a difference and the best way to do that is educating and having an open dialogue. " about two dozen people attended. hans wants thursday's discussion to serve as a start to more meaningful talks. nancy hans, executive director, prevention council "i look at that as here's an opportunity -- there are new faces in there. so we want to continue to build on all of this." if you're interested in hosting an event, you can get in touch with the roanoke alliance. we have a link to their website on ours, wdbj 7- dot-com. christian heilman, wdbj7. new tonight, 67 people have been indicted on 188 drug charges in our area. this morning the alleghany highlands drug task force made the arrests with help from several local agencies and state police. those arrested face charges related to marijuana, cocaine and heroin. lynchburg police need your help solving several breaking and entering incidents around the

neighborhood. since the beginning of the month there have been nine burglaries on pulaski street, york street, chambers street, smyth street, 2-nd street and payne street. most happened during the day while no one was home. investigators believe the cases are connected. call police if you have any information. a judge has ruled that pictures of noah thomas's body can be shown to the jury during his parents' trials. the five year old was found dead in a septic tank four days after he went missing. his mother ashley white's trial is scheduled to begin february 8-th. both parents face felony charges including abuse and neglect. blackburg police are continuing their search for a missing teen and the f-b-i has now joined the effort. nicole lovell was last seen in the lantern ridge area early wednesday morning. this afternoon more than 12-hundred searchers canvassed her neighborhood to pass out fliers. authorities say they aren't sure whether lovell ran away or if she was taken. it's been more than 40 hours since she had her daily medication following

police say there will be an increased police presence in blacksburg because of the search. some people in bedford are so disturbed by an unwanted religious newspaper, they're contacting law enforcement. copies of "the islamic post" have been showing up in driveways and newspaper boxes around bedford for the last few months. wdbj7 was contacted by several people who were angered to receive the publication. none of them were willing to go on camera. the bedford county sheriff's office and bedford police department have both received complaints, but say residents should not be alarmed. chief todd foreman/bedford police department: "i would suggest they read it to see that it's not something inflamitory, but also report it to us because i would like to know who is delivering them." the newspaper is published in new york by a group affiliated with the muslims of america organization. it's unclear if that group is distributing the papers in bedford. thingthe

can be a limit on the windy side and certainly in the cold side in the next twenty four hours with some modifications of some school systems around the area and then include the bedford county system where the buses would be using snow routes craig county in giles county will be opening two hours late on friday the grayson highlands school be christian academy in reptile meat will be opening two hours late the river lawn elementary school is closed into ascii ascii county and kaslow county schools surprise and be going to hours later at write about recently with some disruptive weather grayson county will be in a wind advisory that means wind gusts over there at mark spector to be in the 30 maybe 40 mile an hour range and winter weather visors go up for western greenbrier and pocahontas county interviewing area and that's that's because one maybe 2 inches of snow could fall there it will be confined to the mountains it's him down now working through west virginia and showers continue to skirt the east coast we were in between major

fast-moving clouds but no additional precipitation in our area visually think will happen during happen during the overnight invented tomorrow were looking at clear skies and in partly cloudy skies and gusty winds also known as tomorrow's little bit cooler across the the national oceanic and atmospheric administration says last weekend's blizzard is officially the fourth most powerful snowstorm to hit the northeast in more than 60 years. noaa says this storm affected more than 100 million people and covered about 26 states. the national weather service says almost 24 million people saw more than 20 inches of snow from louisiana to maine. seven republican presidential candidates met for their last debate before the first-in- the-nation iowa caucus. but frontrunner donald trump refused to show - hosting his own event for veterans instead. cbs's craig boswell takes us there. ((narr-1)) gop frontrunner donald trump staged his own show at drake university in des moines thursday night... just a few miles from the debate he boycotted over a dispute with fox news. ((sot trump))

your rights." ((narr-2)) capacity event of about 700 people was billed as a benefit for veterans. supporters ((mos #1 jim ) through a snow from canton to here if i needed to." ((mos george phathen/veteran from omaha )) "i like his boldness. i things done." ((narr-3)) but trump's decision to go- it-alone could alienate voters who expected him to debate. ((sot stan tehee/ veteran and undecided voter )) "it kinda concerns me - it felt like he was running away from fox news a little bit." ((standup bridge: craig boswell, cbs news, foundation more than five but his absence didn't go unnoticed. (three sots butted) ((sot cruz)) "i'm a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid fat and ugly, and ben you're a bad surgeon. now that we've gotten the donald trump portion out of the way." ((sot bush )) "i kinda miss donald trump he was a teddy bear to me." ((narr-4)) some of trump's rivals mocked him "in a debate on the fox news channel." they also sparred over illegal immigration. ((sot rubio)) i know that securing our borders is not anti immigrant. ((sot bush)) we should have path to legal status for the 12 million people here illegally ((narr-5)) iowa voters

a candidate at the caucuses. craig boswell, cbs news, des moines, iowa. democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders wants his supporters to know he's in good health. today his campaign released medical records proving he's relatively healthy. the move was especially important to some voters because sanders will be 75 years old on inauguration day. if he wins the presidency sander will be the oldest president ever elected. ronald reagan holds the record, taking office just a few days after he turned 70. the governor is also set to announce a gun control deal with virginia lawmakers tomorrow. the agreement reverses an interpretation by state police and the attorney general that invalidates concealed carry permits from 25 other states. in return republicans have agreed to require state police at gun shows to perform voluntary background checks on buyers. the deal would also keep guns out of the hands of people with permanent protective orders against them. it has to pass through the general assembly before it's

two independent candidates have joined the race for roanoke city council. john garland kicked off his campaign at the williamson road branch of the roanoke pulbic library. the engineer and developer told a group of supporters he will focus on building strong neighborhoods and advocating for citizens. john garland/(i) roanoke city council candidate: there have been several examples, especially over in southeast here of late where people found out about decisions too late. and it wasn't because people were trying to hide things, it just wasn't in public view quite as much as maybe it could be. michelle dykstra is the president of the mountain view neighborhood association and manager of the roanoke city market building. she announced her campaign with a promise to bring people together and build on the city's successes. michelle dykstra/(i) roanoke city council candidate: i think that we need younger voices on council. i think we need a government that's representative of its people. and i think that's just going to help us progress. seven democrats are also vying for three seats on city council. two are running for mayor.

choose the democratic ticket for the election in may. governor mcauliffe will be in roanoke tomorrow to make an economic development announcement. it's happening at 11:30 on eastpark drive. we will bring you updates on the announcement on air and online at wdbj-7-dot-com. a follow up tonight to a story we first told you about last night. nelson county commonwealth's attorney's office says anthony martin accepted a job at a central virginia law firm. martin submitted his resignation on tuesday. the former commonwealth's attorney was the prosecutor in the case against randy taylor, who is serving time for alexis murphy's death. a dollar tree in rocky mount may reopen tomorrow after police say someone drove into the store today. it happened this afternoon on old franklin turnpike. investigators say the woman driving the car went to the hospital, but is expected to be ok. it's not clear what led to the crash yet, but police say it was possibly a medical emergency. the crash caused about 20-thousand

tonight danville police are investigating a five car crash on the 13-hundred block of south it happened just before 6 this evening. authorities say a driving westbound crossed a median into the eastbound lane. it hit a 2002 volkswagen, causing a 2004 hyundai. the hyundai was knocked into a chevy s-u-v, which backed into another drivers of the nissan, volvo and 2004 hyundai were taken to the hospital for treatment. the driver of the nissan was charged with failure to drive on the right side of the highway. 30 years ago today the space shuttle challenger exploded over the skies of florida. nasa determined a faulty o-ring on the rocket booster caused the disaster, killing the six astronauts and one school teacher on board. nasa administrator charlie bolden laid wreaths at arlington national cemetery to honor all of the people killed in the exploration of space. nasa also commenmorated the

1967, and the space shuttle columbia that broke apart on re- entry in 2003. we are following up on the coal ash transfer from the banks of the dan river in north carolina to a landfill in central virginia. it's been two years since a coal ash spill contaminated 70 miles of the river. earlier this month, we told you about contractors removing mounds of it to send to amelia county, virginia. about 30 rail cars take coal ash there from the duke energy impoundments about three times a week. those shipments are scheduled to double next month. the transfer is expected to take up to two years. we are your hometown news leader, wdbj7. coming up, how one group is raising awareness on human trafficking in our area. "tonight, hear what people had to say at an open house for the future of explore park." and a new child care center in one hometown is helping kids and college students.

new at 11: leaders in roanoke county got to hear the public's take on conceptual plans for explore park tonight. w-d-b-j-7's khiree stewart was at that meeting and tells what people are saying about the county's ideas. chris, over the last few months, park leaders have been gathering feedback from the public... and used it to craft the plan. this open house comes before things enter the final stages. jim hoover loves explore park. 11:03:17 - 11:03:23 "the old settings, the displays and exhibits they use to do. it just feels like a piece of history." he and his wife are one of dozens of people at the vinton

on the most recent plan for the park. over the last few months, park leaders collected feedback from hundreds of people online and at community meetings to come up with this plan. 11:12:44 - 11:12:57 "people want to have overnight camping, they want to have cabins, they want to have zip lines and ropes courses, they want to have more river access, they want to be able to put their kayaks and canoes in and out of the river at more points." doug blount is the director of parks and recreation for roanoke county. he says ideas from the public are important... because the changes they make to the park will have a big surrounding community. 11:14:56 - 11:15:14 "this is a very special opportunity, that's why we think it's very important to get all of our citizens comments and see how they think that we're doing, because we think we have an opportunity not only to create such a great park for our citizens but it can also be a destination to bring tourist to the roanoke valley." blount said they'll decided whether to make adjustments to the plan based on the comments they receive here. they will take the finished plan to the board of supervisors later this year for their review... and hope to implement it next fall. 11:06:48 - 11:07:03 "we just need stuff

people need to come see anyway, but explore park is just a jewel ready to explode and i hope it explodes soon." if you missed tonight's meeting, leaders plan to hold another on tuesday at the south county library. khiree stewart, w- d-b-j-7. virginia ranks number five in the country for human trafficking calls. that's why straight street wants you to get educated this saturday at the blue campaign. it's an event that's focused on trafficking in virginia, how to recognize it, and what to do about it. those who work on the front lines will be there to speak and you'll learn more about sex trafficking from a victim's perspective. "if you know the signs and symptoms of what to look for you may realize there may be more of a problem right before you than you thought was there so are goal is to do our best to educate " the event will also give an update on the shelter street ransom for sex trafficking victims coming to roanoke. it's an eight bed

thirty acres of land and you'll see pictures of the progress. the event is from one to four on saturday, more information is posted at wdbj7.com. tax refund loans have grown in popularity over the years, but are they a good idea? gigi peck is a tax preparer and says nothing is free. it's not a scam, the money is backed by a bank and is usually available the same day. but, many tax facilities say they'll only give you up to 750 dollars, not the full amount of your refund if it's more. gigi peck/tax preparer "the reality of it is do you really want to pay anywhere from 35 dollars to 200 dollars just to get 750 dollars and there's no guarantees you're going to get that much." peck says you also have to pay fees and interest on that loan. her recommendation is to wait 2-3 weeks for your full refund. a new state-of-the- art center is opening soon in radford. the radford early learning center is set to start welcoming kids

136 infants, toddlers, rooms are already lesson plans. it's even equipped with a toddler sized gym that has for toddlers. bethany mott/radford child development, inc.: "it's a very holistic, childhood appropriate, developmentally appropriate, play based and nurtured education that they're going to be getting here." it's also one of two places in the new river valley radford university can intern and get credit towards their degree. parents can tour the facility saturday starting at 10. are you in need of a flu shot? new research at virginia tech shows who should be getting immunized to prevent a spread of the virus. achla marathe is a professor who works at virginia tech's biocomplexity institute. she and her team used a computer simulation of the new river valley to follow how influenza spreads through a community. they found it's about finding who has the most contact with others for long periods of time. (achla marathe, professor of agricultural and applied economics at the biocomplexity

large households contact time and number of contacts. marathe's been published so communities could begin implementing vaccination priorities based on her findings. coming up, barbie what mattel is doing to make her more relatable. man paid to get his hands on a picture of a potato. the complete first alert forecast

forecastyou could definitely tell that the upper-level winds where schooling and across virginia to as clouds goes singing by i'm no precipitation from this batch clouds just yet certainly won't be surprised to see a few snow flurries flying across the region by tomorrow morning attorney dropped to twenty seven degrees in covington relative humidity of ninety percent in right now the winter not too strong they will likely pick up a little bit later on tonight and tomorrow sites clipper it's in now with the front and some snow showers as well and when guests arrange in the 30 to 40. mann arranged at the ridge tops lower areas

twenty twenty five mile an hour winds sulfuric north or south on on eighty one tomorrow the window becoming from your left every now and then it's been a guest review really hard. exit there on the counter driving conditions or can have tomorrow right now looking at the uniform temperature profile in central virginia in the mid thirties i'm in the western side the stated ranges anywhere from thirty one thirty seven ultimate lewisburg west virginia thirty five galax and thirty three in martinsville the showers along the coast 31 to 37 up in lewisburg, west virginia 35 galax and 33 in martinsville the showers along the coast today didn't invade our region did keep some clouds nearby in southside and they started up today with really quite a bit of fall and that was in lynchburg is well administered to clear out a little bit the big story for big rain was down. once again and thankfully florida's catching a little book right now after another david soaked frenetic wins in the early afternoon so showers inbound and it made it across the state line now into a charleston huntington and into

they go and we'll see some of those movements of the west central highlands by tomorrow morning when it emphasize that in the overnight forecast was scattered flurries twenty six in bluefield twenty seven the galax and thirty one degrees and brought up the overnight temperatures from there we watched the progress of the clouds during the day friday and snow showers ceiling can get hung up in the mountains and don't really advance but a few snow streaks every now and then make it across and those of the snow showers and snow flurries agency on friday then it shuts off there wasn't much moisture to begin with it's fairly cold and then it's amazing how quickly it will get warm so this is your setup for friday thirties and forties and on the lower end 30s and 40s and on the lower of the 40s that we will be easily in the fifties on saturday review really close to sixty on sunday it is a warm end of january all the average temperature i would be in the 40s and 50s and you can see the warmest day of the

sunday's forecast high is committee at the nine the 9 70 planted with you here go get the thirty nine on friday the fifty three on saturday and 59 on sunday the complaints there the snow will probably be completely gone by then just type for groundhog day fifty nine on tuesday were right to looking at a mix of some clowns will see what punxsutawney and all the other groundhogs have to say then rain showers definitely sell the doll in three new body types --- tall, curvy and petite. the dolls will also come in seven different skin tones. some parents thought the blonde bombshell barbie was sending the wrong message about beauty new tonight: we have learned of another million dollar lottery winner. randy hall is from madison heights, and won the prize on a virginia lottery scratcher ticket. this weekend's storm kept him from claiming his money, so he hid the ticket in his house and babysat it all weekend, checking every hour to make sure it was still there. hall bought the

on lakeside drive in lynchburg. would you pay one million dollars for a picture of a potato? a celebrity photographer managed to auction off this photo of an organic irish spud for more than a million bucks! a european businessman bought the portrait after seeing it in the photographer's home in paris. if the sale goes through, this will be the 15-th most expensive picture ever sold. coming-up in sports, virginia tech's women's basketball team tries to snap an 8-game lose-streak in their series against miami, and get back in the win column after dropping back-to-

next in sports. good evening everyone, i'm karen loftus in for travis wells. after a 13 and one start to the season, the virginia tech women's basketball team has stumbled a bit lately, losing 4 of their last 5 games.

to bounce-back from a road loss to third- ranked notre dame against another ranked opponent in miami, hosting the 17th-ranked hurricanes thursday night. chanette hicks gets it to dominique powell for the jumper, giving tech the early lead. they stay out front thanks in part to regan magarity who gets back-to-back buckets. the 3-ball first and then she gets the steal and the finish on the other end. she led the hokies with 11. sidney cook chipped-in 8 points for tech, but miami took the lead by the end of the first quarter and never trailed again. they go-on to beat virginia tech 57 to 45, for their 9th-straight win over the hokies. the salem-roanoke baseball hall of fame is celebrating 25 years this year, and honored their 4 newest members thursday night. this year's class included don gresh, josh herman, bo trumbo and tom williams. before the banquet, the 4 inductees of the 2016 class met with the media in the hall of fame building next to the salem red sox stadium, signed baseballs,

plaques on the wall next to all the other members. ray cox received the community service award and the guest speaker at the banquet was randy tomlin, a 2000 inductee who played for the pirates and is now the head coach at lca. for the new members, they're humbled by the recognition. bo trumbo, 2016 salem- roanoke baseball h.o.f. inductee, "this has been a very unusual and very unexpected honor. i've known many people in this organization prior to that through my scouting and coaching days and several of my coaching mentors and my scouting mentors are here. to be included in them as for posterity has been very much a great priviledge." tom williams, 2016 salem- roanoke baseball h.o.f. inductee, "it's a great honor to get in the hall and be with my friends. i played a lot of ball and softball in town. played a little pro baseball and i enjoyed that." dale earnhardt, jr. got engaged last summer, and is coming-off a 3-win season on his way to making the chase, and he's never been in a better place, personally or career-wise heading into daytona. junior turns 42 this

most popular driver 13 times. winning certainly has a way of bringing about happiness, but junior says he's enjoying racing now more than ever, which wasn't necessarily the case early in his career, especially during his early days at hendrick motorsports. dale earnhardt, junior/three wins in 2015: it's peaking. it's heading in the right direction for sure. i think there's a lot of great things on the horizon is what i mean by that. i'm getting married soon and a lot of good things are happening to me professionally on and off the track that are awesome so, i'm having fun inside the car. super bowl 50 is a week from sunday and we thought we'd enlist some help from some of the area's biggest high school football stars to help us countdown to the big game between the panthers and broncos. we're ten days out, so tonight, salem quarterback noah beckley lends a hand in our countdown in his #10 jersey. beckley helped lead the spartans to the

and just a reminder, that super bowl 50 will be right here on wdbj at 6:30 next

went above the line of duty to help deliver a baby! officer michael garcia spotted a car driving erratically last night and pulled the car over to find the passenger in labor. he called for back up but ended up delivering the baby just a minute later right outside of a gas station. garcia has been with the alexandria police department for 3 and a half years, but this was his first time delivering a baby. the mother and child are said to be doing well. 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

wdbj7weather. captioning sponsored by cbs ( band playing "late show" theme ) stephen colbert, y'all!