roanoke.com - local news

A majority of the Roanoke School Board is interested in pursuing legal action against the commonwealth of Virginia for an alleged breach of state constitutional rights.

A regional gifted program for high school students that emphasizes mathematics, science and technology may be in trouble if one or more of the larger participating divisions withdraws.

The church's leader sees the crosses as a symbol of redemption. And the local Planned Parenthood administrator sees them as a political statement.

What's clear is this: There were 729 abortions during 2008 in the areas between Alleghany and Roanoke counties, and members of Rainbow Forest Baptist Church commemorated them by staking the same number of crosses on a grassy hill the church owns beside U.S. 460 near Bonsack.

Four people were at the house in the 100 block of Ninth Street when the fire broke out just before 10 p.m. Two people suffered broken bones while escaping and a third was severely burned, fire officials have said.

Doris E. Tucker's trial on federal fraud charges wasn't about whether her name was properly spelled in all caps or other oddball tax defier schemes. It wasn't about a kickboxing champ, sometime movie actor and purported financial adviser named Dennis Alexio.

Salem schools Superintendent Alan Seibert issued a sharply worded statement Thursday regarding the impact that impending state budget restrictions could have on schools, and warned of shrinkage of staff salary and benefits.

A former Troutville Volunteer Rescue Squad captain who was convicted of embezzling nearly $10,000 from the organization won't serve jail time.

A Bedford County woman was convicted Tuesday of shooting her boyfriend dead under circumstances she says she does not remember.

Carl Cooper enters the Roanoke City Council race as the only independent candidate.

Cooper, 53, formally announced his candidacy Friday. He was the last of seven candidates to enter the race for three council seats that will be decided May 4.

Roanoke spokeswoman Melinda Mayo said that a couple of bulbs and a transformer have blown out on the star. It takes time to order and replace the parts, she said, so workers fixed the star so that it will continue to shine in the meantime.

Oak Grove Elementary School Principal Cris Flippen was given pink slips in 1981, '82 and '83 -- the first three years of her teaching career with Roanoke County Public Schools.

Health insurance rates for individual plans offered by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia have increased as much as 20.5 percent within the past six months, with more increases planned for April.

Three women were robbed at gunpoint inside a Southeast Roanoke parking garage early Sunday, police said.

The Yokohama Tire Corp. plant in Salem was evacuated for almost two hours Monday afternoon after roofers accidentally started a fire on top of the building.

At a meeting tonight, the Roanoke School Board is scheduled to discuss a list of proposed cuts to balance its budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Arson may have been the cause of a Roanoke house fire over the weekend that seriously hurt three people, according to court records filed on Monday.