donald trump held a rally at radford university and wdbj7's tim saunders was the only local reporter who got a one-on- one interview with the candidate. tim, what did you ask him? chris, we got five minutes with trump and there were no restrictions on what we could ask. i posed questions that relate to our region's economy and asked trump how he might address those issues. tim saunders: i wanted to talk to you about coal. it's a big part of the economy in southwest virginia and the coal industry is producing about half of what it was putting out 10 years ago. i'm just wondering, since you are a businessman, do you feel like that has to do with the rise of natural gas in this country or is it due to the regulation that the epa has put on coal? donald trump/(r) presidential candidate: "it's the regulation. it's terrible. you can do clean coal and it's great. we're sending our coal to china and it. that i can tell you. coal is a terrific source. we're going to go back to it if i am elected president." saunders: "i want to ask you about manufacturing jobs. the city with the second highest

when you look at that damage, that is certainly a very strong storm there, tim saunders. thank you very much. >> well, jean, i do want to say that the house behind me, we don't know for sure that that person or if anybody was in that house. the home that i was talking about that had an elderly woman in it is a brick home off to my left. it's out of view. i don't know if anybody was in that home that has the really severe damage. >> okay, tim. thank you you for that clarification. damage and continuing on to take a look at appomattox county. heavily hit area there. >> damaged homes and a farm in good view, virginia. it could have been from a possible tornado. wdbj 7 joins us now from mill iron road. >> chris, jean, it was absolute devastation out here today. i mean, roofs were missing off some homes. several trees were down. neighbors each tell me some of them, they only had time to run from it. they say the strong wind storm just came out of nowhere and they didn't have any warning. now, one of the places we went to today was the triple m farm on mill iron road. there was

you have a live picture from tim saunders camera. you can see that exact location location. that house. driving by there and probably not adviseed a lot of down trees in that area. power outages are reported. but this shows the amount of this is a very unusual homes flying. amanda taylor will spend the rest of her life in prison. montgomery county judge marcus long certified the sentence a jury recommended following taylor's murder trial in november. she asked the judge to reduce her sentence in court this morning and said her father-in-law, charles taylor "didn't deserve to be here anymore." she killed charles taylor in april after stabbing him 29 times. taylor is accused of later shooting her friend, sean ball. former state senator madison marye has died at the age of 90. the shawsville democrat represented western virginia for almost three decades in the general assembly. wdbj7's joe dashiell covered marye for many years, and he's in the studio tonight with colorful career. jean, madison marye was one of a kind, known for his length of service, his determination to repres

tim saunders, wdbj7. the secret service is investigating a physical altercation between an agent and a photographer during trump's rally today. this is video of the photographer being escorted out. it happened as protesters were being kicked out of the event. the secret service says it's investigating the "exact circumstances." trump's campaign says it is not aware of all the details surrounding the incident. we continue our election coverage now: i'm here with wdbj7 political analysts harry wilson and bob denton to get their impressions the candidates' visits to our area ahead of super tuesday. jean: let's start out talking about today's you were there. what different about this campaign events you've been to? jean: dr. harry: what do you make of this: what did you think of rubio and his effectiveness last what did you think of rubio and his effectiveness last night? ' jean: what are you hearing toay from election officials are hoping to avoid confusion with tomorrow's primary, especially in the city of

tim saunders has been surveyingal the damage. tim, what are you seeing today? >> well, jean and chris, a lot of people here in appomattox county are still just trying to wrap their head around what happened yesterday and again the recovery process. i visited the promised land community today where cleaning up was a team effort. 123 years of history were destroyed in a matter of seconds wednesday afternoon as heavy winds tore apart central baptist church in southern appomattox county. devastating. you know, it's still not going >> a steeple that was perched atop the roof now sets in ruin about a quarter mile away. the church's brick facade was peeled away. stained glass windows are mangled and twisted. just part of your life is gone. all kind of memories here. they're gone. >> central baptist is an example of both the devastation in appomattox county and the community's determination to persevere. members of the appomattox county high school football team showed up at the church early thursday morning to help clean up. >> all of the kids volunteered and said, co

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in our lynchburg bedford newsroom. tim, how will the money be used? it will be put toward a loan program, chris. new incentives for entrepreneurs to locate in the heart of town. once the commercial center of bedford, many storefronts along main and bridge streets now sit empty. jim messier/business owner: "it's been a little discouraging." says jim messier, who owns one of the town's oldest and most established businesses. he's also the board president of bedford main street, an organization that's trying to attract new merchants to the downtown area. messier: "we have a lot of programs and projects now that are geared toward getting business people and entrepreneurs educated on how to do business." those projects are getting funding from the state. the virginia main street program is giving bedford 20- thousand dollars. bedford main street will use the money to offer zero-interest loans to people who want to operate or expand a business downtown. charles kolakowski/town manager: "we're hoping it will encourage property owners and business owners to i

live in appomattox, tim saunders, wdbj 7. >> thank you, tim. appomattox county for anyone needing assistance. here is the number: one- (434)352-2637. >>> governor terry mcauliff has been in the air and on the ground today in the airs affected by the storm. he made stops in appomattox county, waverly, and essex count toy look at the damage. wdbj 7's shayne dwyer is live in appomattox tonight. shayne, what did the governor say about the damage there? >> jean, the theme of his comments today was that virginia will not back down in the face of this destruction in the storm and that the commonwealth will be there to provide any support you can to the residence who are so badly hurting in this area and in other areas across virginia. the big winner arrived here just before noon by helicopter. he met with first responders and victims at the evergreen baptist church, which is the command post for this year. evergreen is the epicenter of damage in appomattox county. people here have lost everything is only one death from our area. the governor says that

live in appomattox county, tim saunders, wdbj7. charities and organizations are accepting money and food donations to help people in appomattox affected by wednesday's tornado. wdbj7's noell saunders joins us live tonight to tell us about how volunteers are getting food to those in need. jean, volunteers have been setting up tables and food trucks to help feed both people and pets. today, gleaning for the world set up a donation table at the sam's club in lynchburg. the group set up early this morning for eight hours taking in money, all kinds of food items and clean up supplies. many sam's club coming out of the store and visiting the table. gleaning for the world volunteers tell me their trucks are filled. the community in the area is just coming together. it's just been amazing. lynchburg always come together but i think when it hits closer to home. the community is awesome". gleaning for the world will set up again tomorrow in the sam's club parking lot from 10 a.m. to 6. they will also have another team at the walmart on oakvil

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in rustburg, where the case wrapped up less than an hour ago. jean, spinner waived his right to a fate in the hands of a judge, who rendered his verdict this afternoon. over the course of a three-day trial, prosecutors argued vincent spinner killed his father-in- law, james payne, because he needed money to buy cocaine. payne, the retired owner of a construction business, was found dead at his home near evington in august of 20-12. he was stabbed 25 times, according to prosecutors. cell phone records presented in court show spinner called payne multiple times on the morning of the murder. prosecutors say spinner drove from his home in winchester to carry out the crime. his cell phone made contact with a tower near payne's home around the time payne would have died. several witnesses testified that, on the afternoon of payne's murder, they saw a car matching the description of spinner's vehicle speeding out of payne's driveway. when payne was later found dead, prosecutors say a wallet was missing from his pocket. a friend testified that, on the s

in altavista, tim saunders, wdbj7. new at five: two sheriff's deputies are in the hospital and a suspect is dead after a shootout at a shopping center in maryland. authorities say it happened after a deputy responded to a call for shots fired inside a panera restaurant. that deputy was shot and the suspect ran away. another deputy was able to catch up with exchanged gunfire. the suspect died on the scene. officials say no one else was hurt. so far we don't kow the condition of the deputies. rocky mount police are still looking for the man they say robbed family pharmacy at gun point. investigators are looking for joshua cundiff - they believe he skipped town after robbing the pharmacy around 5:30 last night. a state police helicopter was called in and police searched four hours for him. if you have any information about the robbery or know where cundiff's is call police. dozens of people had to evacuate the j-c penney at valley view mall after the sprinkler system malfunctioned. it caused water to flood parts of both f

live in the lynchburg bedford newsroom, tim saunders, wdbj7. a new report indicates there are not human remains houses are being plantation in botetourt county. according to dovetail cultural resource group, which performed the field investigation and study for there's no evidence of burials at the location. there's also no the proposed area for the road where the buildings will be moved. final preparations for the move could be finished by the a monument pioneer is getting some new help from wythe county. but the county needs your help to continue honoring stephen f. austin. wdbj7's eamon o'meara brings us to austin's birthplace to tell us what's being done. stephen f austin is known as the father of texas after helping to colonize it as a state in the 19th century. but he was born in virginia. fast forward to several years ago and locals wanted to honor him in the town named after him, austinville. (jeremy farley, wythe county pio) this land here is dgif property and so dgif maintains the property but beyond that the actual monument, it was p

live in the lynchburg bedford newsroom, tim saunders, wdbj7. u.s. officials have confirmed it's not just mosquitoes, there's another way the zika virus is spread. dramatic cell phone video captures the moments after a deadly explosion on a plane in somalia. and being outspoken on social media can be fun, job. (scal): good day, m'lady! i am sir-can-a-lot, here to save you from another breakfast bore. wake up those eggs with glorious spam! concerns are growing about the zika virus now that u-s health officials have confirmed it can spread through sexual contact. health officials around the world are paying close attention to a dallas case of zika virus that was transmitted through sexual contact. the patient was infected by a person who picked up the virus in venezuala. u-s health officials say they're not surprised about transmission through sex but emphasize the disease is generally spread through mosquito bites dr. tom frieden/cdc director: us remains the same. if you are pregnant and thinking of travelling to a place with zika spreading.. don't th

live in campbell county tim saunders, wdbj7. >> we appreciate it, tim. there are a couple of accidents on interstate 81 in pulaski that are affecting traffic. report just ahead on >> current time coming in at 6:14 as we head through the morning. temperatures in the teens, snow falling heavily at times for some. begin to mix with some sleet even freezing rain far southwest virginia as they warm up quicker and then by the lunch hour all start to see some of that change over. we do get a couple of breaks in the shield of moisture from time to time. 3:00 sleet, freezing rain and then if you head through later tonight we see that transition over to plain old rain. look at thing outside meteorologist lindsey anderson talking about how much snow some areas have seen. >> on average we have seen between 4-7-inch of snow across the area. just measured the weather deck out here. reported 6 inches of snow as of 6:00 a.m. places like campbell coming in between 6-5 inches and also continue to update the snowfall amounts you see throughout the the day. you can e-mail u

live in the lynchburg bedford newsroom, tim saunders, wdbj7. new at six, the blue ridge autism and achievement center announced two new programs to help people with disabilities. this afternoon leaders announced the creation of family and adult services.. the programs will help people with disabilities find jobs and help families in crisis find counseling and take part in support groups. angie leonard: "we have a lot of work to do to get our community prepared and get our families expecting a little bit more out of their kids. they're totally able to do things, it just takes a lot of hard work and that's why we're here so we can come in and provide that hard work." you can find out how to sign up for the program by clicking on this story at w- d-b-j-7 dot com. tonight at 11, hear from families on how this program could change their child's life. weather just ahead with warm temperatures and heavy rain. here is a look at the highs, lows and precipitation at the regional airports. we are back with the complete first alert break absolutelybut woul

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in our lynchburg bedford newsroom. tim, this isn't the first time a vote like this has come up. commit 38-million dollars for the same project. school leaders and some parents say tonight's decision provides a more "realistic" amount of funding. they didn't quite pack the house, but supporters of a new middle school in bedford came out in large numbers monday night. they urged the board of supervisors to commit what they believe is a necessary amount of money for construction. thomas messier/student: "this building will be reason it's important to build it right and build it right the first time." to do things the "right way," school leaders say they need no less than 44 million dollars. that amount would build both a new middle school and a competition gym for liberty high school. supervisors voted last june to commit 38-million for the project, and some county residents urged the board monday to stick with that amount. josiah tillett/forest resident: "i don't believe that resolution last year was passed haphazardly or

in lynchburg, tim saunders, wdbj7. with active weather expected tomorrow, your first alert forecast is available on-air, on-line and on your mobile device. download our free weather app to stay engaged. the complete one day a rider made a decision. the decision to ride on and save money. he decided to save money by switching his motorcycle insurance to geico. there's no shame in saving money. ride on, ride proud. geico motorcycle, backthe views this afternoon and this evening coming out of the deep south louisiana, mississippi, alabama, florida panhandle this kind of damage done from tornadoes that were touching down in addition or that there were a couple of wordplay and then they came ashore as tornadoes did damages well were looking at the last few hours. coming into the florida panhandle and we can see from panama city to jazz east of pensacola now going into georgia boy those are some big storms are still spending and that is a concern this evening this is a monstrous storm is enormous and it has all kinds of weat

in lynchburg, tim saunders, wdbj7. it's not too unusual to hear about baby's being born by c- section. but a delivery in england was so unusual, even the i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. her life's work has been about breaking barriers. and so would her presidency. which is why, for every american who's not being paid what they're worth... who's held back by student debt or a system tilted against them- country can't reach it's potential... unless we all do. together. there's a new baby gorilla at a zoo in britain. but this little girl was delivered by caesarean section. the decision to use the procedure came earlier this month when the mothe showed symptoms of a potentially life- threatening condition. zoo officials say the birth marks one of only a handful of times that a baby gorilla has been delivered this way. it was a first for the zoo, and the doctor - who usually delivers haman babies. the third one's the charm for donald trump after last night's victory in the nevada caucuses. why voters and pol

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in evergreen. tim, what are the students doing out there this afternoon? they're assisting any way they can, jean. these students are part of a group called "l-u send" it's an organization that formed a few months ago to provide humanitarian relief in disaster zones around the world. they didn't realize one of their first assignments would be so close to home. more than 125 students have been sent here to do everything from roof repairs to clearing debris. their goal is to help with any immediate needs they might find. students say this experience is having a profound impact on their own lives. micah green/student: "i was honestly heartbroken to see demolished, down to the ground, and familiy belongings and treasures just out on the grass. laying there. what used to be in their house." benjamin sisco/student: "our goal out here is not to point at us or bring any glory to us. it's to point back at the mission and show the love of christ." more than 13- hundred students are involved with the l-u send

tim saunders, wdbj7. about 800 teachers were in roanoke to talk about ways to make stem courses enjoyable and understandable to students. the whole mission of the virginia children's engineering convention is to get kids interested in pursuing careers in engineering, math or the sciences. yesterday, stations were set up to show instructors that those subjects can be taught in new and unique ways. some vendors showcased items kids enjoy like legos to demonstrate hands-on, real-life problem solving. joan harper- neely/teacher: "we solving skills so these challenges get them to think, to collaborate, to be innovative and use their math, science, social studies, language arts they've been using to solve problems." this is the 20-th year for the convention. e sure you bundle lot it's very cold that winds are blowing on top of those cold temperatures and factor is a wind chill advisory out until early tomorrow morning around ten a.m. mainly along interstate eighty one quart and two areas the west because we cou

wdbj7 tim saunders standing along the road in the county good morning, tim. >> good morning, kimberly mcbroom. as you said i'm here along wards rode and this is known as route 29 this. rode has actually been plowed several times. about 30 minutes ago. and they have the road down almost to the pavement. you're going to still see some slush. a little bit of snow out on the pavement if you have to travel this road. of course quite a few people are on this rode this morning. this is the main highway between lynchburg and danville and even on a holiday like today you see a lot of traffic on a road like this. a lot of people have to get from point a to . b. it functions like an interstate this part of our viewing area so a lot of people on this particular road as for your secondary roads those have not been plowed and some have at least been scrapeed once and the one i traveled here on had been scraped and it leads into other neighborhood roads. they have not been touched yet depending on where you are. those may not be plowed by vdot in the city of lynchburg the city cruise public works pl

wdbj7's tim saunders explains why this isn't the first time this vote has come up. pack the house, but supporters of a new middle school in bedford came out in large numbers they urged the to commit what they believe is a necessary amount of money for thomas messier/student: standing for a very long time. for that reason it's important to build it right and build it right the first to do things the "right way," school leaders say they need no less than 44 million dollars. that amount would build both a new middle school and a competition gym for liberty high school. supervisors voted last june to commit 38-million for the project, and some county residents urged the board monday to stick with that amount. josiah tillett/forest resident: "i don't believe that resolution last year was passed haphazardly or carelessly. i don't think it was a guess." the board voted 5 to 2 in favor of the 44- million dollar commitment. two supervisors, tommy scott and john sharp, voted against the resolution. scott said he worries the school system hasn't nailed down a final cost and will keep asking for m

in brookneal, tim saunders, wdbj7. the political forum is tonight at 7 in the brookneal community building on main street. it's a non-partisan event and francis is hoping for a good turn out. students at radford university are reacting to the news that donald trump is heading to campus on monday. the noon rally is at radford university's dedmon center. even though it's not a university sanctioned event, students will be part of the crowd. layne dibuono "i am interested in going just to hear what he has to say and just get my own opinion instead of just hearing what other people are saying about him." tyler rosenblatt: "i'm definitely going to go and i want to hear what he says but i'm just going to take it with a grain of salt." doors for the trump rally open at 10 am monday. and as we told you yesterday, marco rubio will be speaking at roanoke college sunday night at 8:30. r-s-v-p's are required for anyone 12 and older. it's a surprising turn of events in the race to become roanoke's next mayor. for their party. and,

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in our lynchburg bedford newsroom. tim, what's changing and what impact will that have on lakes in our area? jean, the state agency that governs dams is reclassifying certain lakes in our region. the change comes after a push from lynchburg lawmakers and which owns one of the affected lakes. water levels at ivy lake in forest have been low for more than two years, because state regulators have been concerned about the lake's dam. the structure is one of hundreds across the state that were deemed inadequate to handle a catastrophic rain event. lee beaumont/senior vice president for auxiliary services: "the old values were very unrealistic." says lee beaumont, a construction manager at liberty university, which owns ivy lake. the state was estimating that a maximum rainfall of 35 inches could fall during one storm at ivy lake and it was forcing l-u to make around 2-million dollars worth of changes to the lake's dam. charles spence/senior vice president for construction planning: "we looked throughout the whole state and t

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in our lynchburg bedford newsroom. tim, what's being done to resolve the issue? jean, the school board is trying to cut costs but some happening at the expense of quality. if current plans move forward, a new middle school will sit on this land off centerville road by 2018. sarah mayhew's children will attend the school and she doesn't want contractors to cut corners. sarah mayhew/parent: "we should be choosing materials that will last 50 or 100 years. not what looks nice or is the cheapest." mayhew is part of an advisory board that's planning for the new school, which will replace the current bedford middle school built in 19-28. a competition gym for liberty high school is also part of the project. contractors have indicated the cost will run between 45 and 51 million dollars, a figure that angers steve arrington. he was serving on the county board of supervisors last year when the group reached a consensus to spend no more than 38-million. steve arrington/former county supervisor: "the $38 million is a number we pick

wdbj7 tim saunders is leaving along the mountain road in lynchburg. good afternoon, tim. >> good afternoon, kimberly. we have some light sleet falling at my location right now. shovel your sidewalk or driveway. i found one man in lynchburg who is helping his neighbors. jason said he just wanted to be productive on his snow day. spent his morning shoveling driveways and sidewalks along memorial avenue. >> i just felt like doing something nice and try to clean the sidewalk off. let the city know i'm interested in doing my part. i just wanted to help out. >> of course there is more than one way to move the snow. i found several people using leaf blowers to use the cars and driveway. snow is light enough to actually work. as for the roads lynchburg public work plowed a few of the main roads through neighborhoods like the san dust dusty area. most of the side streets are not touched until tomorrow. if you get around by bus the greater lynchburg is operating today on a modified schedule and they're only running right now on the plowed street. something to ke

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in evergreen, where harris lived his entire life. and most of his family lives here too, jean. keith harris was one of 18 children. his siblings say he was the glue that kept the family together. near the end of twin tunnel lane sits a plot of land that was farmed by keith harris for 50 years. macauther harris/brother: "we all grew up on a farm and we all enjoy farming. we all worked hard together." macauther harris was one of keith's 17 brothers and sisters, most of whom live nearby. when he wednesday's tornado, it didn't take party to form. was harris' newphew, ricky. harris/nephew: "i went through the woods seven times looking for him. we went under trees and what not. we went through this brush pile over here and couldn't find him, but he was right in the middle of the field."

live in campbell county, tim saunders, wdbj7. new at 5: salem police have identified the man they led them on a chase this morning. israel cunningham larceny and felony eluding. the roanoke county salem jail without bond. officers responded to a call this morning for a shoplifiting incident in salem. cunningham's car but he refused to pull over. the chase eventually ended at an apartment city. no one was hurt. a spokesperson from the mobile messaging app service kik tells us the company cooperated with the fbi investigation into nicole lovell's death. the company released her account information to investigators which could have lead to arrests. prosecutors say she talked to her accused killer, david eisenhauer, on a messaging app, didn't name kik as that app. thursday the company updated its guide for parents, highlighting specific safety questions. danville police are offering a 30- thousand dollar reward for information on a shooting. it happened monday on mount vernon avenue. doctor randolph neal and one other victim were tak

wdbj7's tim saunders has been digging into this issue for us. tim, what did you find out? it's not having a big impact right now, but that's because the economy isn't growing a lot and companies aren't looking to relocate. economic developers say it has been an obstacle in the past. i talked to at least one former economic development director who said companies flat out refused to interstate. despite that challenge the city has successfully attracted large scale manufacturers like j. crew and frito lay. those companies initially wanted to be on an interstate, but chose lynchburg after learning about the region's other assets. lee cobb/former economic development director: "there were a lot more companies moving around in those days. it was before the real effects of nafta took place, driving manufacturers out of this country." so how much does an interstate matter in today's economy and what are lynchburg leaders doing to overcome their transportation challenges? we'll answer those questions and take a closer look at the issue in a special report called "off the map," ton

wdbj7's tim saunders is live at the national guard armory in campbell county. handling weapons is a big departure from the civilian life douglas harris lives in lynchburg. in that world he manages insurance policies, but he's putting his career on hold to serve his country. spc. douglas harris/virginia national guard: "i'm actually excited. i have a great group of leaders to deploy with and fall under." harris is one of 450 soldiers in the 1st battalion, 116th infantry who are preparing for deployment. they'll be serving in the persian gulf country of qatar, where they'll be protecting other members of the military. it will be the fifth deployment for sergent first class james bartels. sfc james bartels/virginia national guard: "each one presents its challenges and it's fun working through those challenges." perhaps the biggest challege, personally, is preparing his wife and children for his time away. bartels: "making sure call if the sink breaks. i also want to make sure my children, as much as they can be, are prepared emotionally and physically as well." gi

wdbj7's tim saunders also has an interview with trump that you can catch tonight on wdbj7 at five and 6. when it comes to exploring your hometown, sometimes you have to challenge yourself. during the winter time it can be hard to advantages. in this week's your hometown, wdbj7's garrett turner tells us why winter camping is a good thing and how to make it a successful trip. i'm going to interject an idea here--winter camping. it may seem crazy but there's a lot of people that take advantage of it. my favorite part about camping in the winter is the....the lack of competition for good campsites is the biggest. not many people go winter camping around here. the other would be the lack of bugs, spiders, arachnids, snakes and all those creepy crawling things i'm sold. pat metheny from backcountry ski and sport says there's three keys to a good winter overnight backpacking trip. first, you have to have the right gear. keeping your feet warm and dry is huge. it's probably the most imporant. i think marino wool socks does the best job of keeping your foot warm and it tends to get a little bi

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in bedford with a preview of tonight's meeting. jean, school leaders have been talking about this project for a long time and tonight they're hoping they need to move forward. supervisors will consider a resolution on construction of a school and a competition gym for 40-million of that amount would be borrowed. the board cast a similar vote last june, limiting the project to 38-million. since then three new members have been elected. some members of the school board have said the project can't be done for 38-million and tonight they'll get support from parents like john messier, who plans to speak at the meeting in favor of the larger amount. john messier/parent: "we need to let the five supervisors who are in favor of the project at 100% of the funding know that we support them and appreciate that, and the other two supervisors we need to try and convince them that it's full funding of this school." tonight's meeting starts at 7. the resolution dealing with school the first items on the will have 15 minutes to share their feedbac

wdbj7's tim saunders is live in our lynchburg bedford newsroom with the new information. jean prosecutors say leslie engleking gave false testimony to a grand jury, because he was trying to protect his family. engleking pleaded no contest to one count of perjury this morning. prosecutors say he knowingly gave false statements on two separate occasions when a grand jury asked him questions about richard welch. welch is a person of interest in the disappearance of katherine and sheila lyon, two sisters who disappeared from a maryland shopping mall in 19-75 and may have been killed in bedford county. welch is married to engleking's sister, patricia, who is also facing a perjury charge in connection with the lyon's case. tim, you said engleking entered a plea. what did the judge decide to do about his case? those matters were postponed until june 7th. if engleking is found guilty of perjury, he could be sentenced to 10 years in prison. tim, do we know any more about what engleking may have said during his false testimony? we don't, jean. the commonwealth's attorney was intent

live in appomattox county, tim saunders, wdbj 7. >> the virginia national guard is on active duty. the guard is expected to have more than 50 soldiers on duty today. a guarded spokesperson says the initial plan is to provide manned, and patrick counties. >>> we continue our storm with damage that's been left behind. wdbj 7's amanda kenney joins us live from appomattox county. good afternoon, amanda. >> good afternoon, kimberly. this morning we were in the neighborhood of evergreen, that's where homes, among 20 that were destroyed. there were more than 100 other homes that have been damaged. families made their way back to their homes today to see what was left. some people were lucky enough to only suffer minor damages. others left everything and what they say was a really quick storm. >> hit the side of the house and you could hear the roofing going off and that was right then. >> now, the murphy family says they weren't home at the time three cats are still missing and right now they're finding whatever they can salvage, but thank you seems like people have already come together

wdbj7's tim saunders is following the progress. he's live in our lynchburg bedford newsroom with an update. jean, a consulting firm is studying whether a train station in bedford would be feasible. it's a necessary step needed to change minds at the state level, where officials have previously said trains will come through bedford traveling to and from roanoke. instead of passing by the town, one group wants the trains to stop at a bedford passenger station. on thursday the bedford/franklin regional rail initiative announced it's partnering with a consulting firm out of richmond, to try and make the bedford station a reality. charles kolakowski/bedford town manager: "this is a major step and significant milestone in the process." wendel companies, a group that studied the feasibility of a roanoke station, will now conduct similar research on a proposed stop along bedford's plunkett street. the project is needed to show the virginia department of rail and public transportation that a bedford stop would be viable. chip badger/consult

students from liberty university are among the volunteers providing wdbj7's tim saunders is live in evergreen, where the l-u students are helping with clean up efforts. kimberly, these students are part of a group called "l-u send." the organization just formed earlier this year. it's a way for students to volunteer and help with disasters and humanitarian crisis around the world. this disaster was an opportunity for them to do mission work right in their backyard. students are clearing debris and helping any way they can here in the community of evergreen, one of the hardest hit parts of appomattox county. benjamin sisco/student: "just fixing up some of the houses and trying to clear away the damage after the tornado that came through on wednesday. we're just trying to lend a helping hand and be the hands and feet of christ wherever we can be." just got back from greece, where they were providing aid to middle eastern refugees. another group will head to flint, michigan this weekend to help people effected by the water crisis in that community. live in appomattox county, tim aheadyeah lunacy

wdbj7's tim saunders has more from our lynchburg bedford newsroom. jean, leslie engleking is charged with perjury. prosecutors say he gave false testimony to a grand jury that was trying to figure out what happened to katherine and sheila lyon, two sisters who were kidnapped from a maryland shopping mall and may have been killed in bedford county. engleking is related to a family that's being scrutinized as part of the investigation. prosecutors say engleking admitted that he gave false statements in an effort to protect one of those family members. we'll tell you who that is and explain their relationship to the case tonight at six. 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. thank you for choosing your hometown news let the melting begin! the snow and ice are beginning to disappear, but the latest round of winter weather has left thousands without power. when it will be restored

wdbj7's tim saunders is live there tonight. melissa, this is what we're seeing all over this area. trees are down and so are power lines. virtually no one in appomattox county has electrictity dozens of homes are damaged, and a mobile home across the highway from where i'm standing was completely torn apart. the woman who lived there says she doesn't understand how she survived. the storm that did this to alice clerval's house wednesday afternoon came so fast, she didn't have time to do anything but run outside. alice clerval: "i don't know how i made it. i really don't." clerval says her son got an alert on his cell phone that a tornado was approaching the area. clerval: "just a minute after that my son opened the door and said tornado! tornado! he took off and i took off." less than a mile away, jason smith was taking these pictures of the storm on his cell phone. jason smith: "i thought i heard a train. we live right here next to the train tracks." he captured what appeared to be a funnel cloud approaching his house. smith: "i watched it for a few minutes and then grabbed the do