The Roanoke Weekly

After five weeks of a shell company, the regional authority selling land at Wood Haven Technology Park confirmed the buyer behind the planned data center: Google. We get into why the reveal came now, why the deal went through a separate company, and what local leaders said, including Roanoke County saying it knew all along while Roanoke's mayor learned Friday. Plus why Google is now tied to bo...

With city council elections three weeks out, Cardinal News dug into the census: from 2020 to 2025, Roanoke grew by just 75 people while Salem added 522, 44% of the valley's growth. Salem is the only place in the valley where the number of kids is rising. HopeTree's 340-home development in Salem cleared an appeals court, and Evans Spring came up again at a Roanoke candidate forum. In the Ru...

The drought went regional this week. Carvins Cove, which supplies much of the Roanoke Valley, dropped to nearly 21 feet below full, its lowest level since December 2002. Bedford Water expanded its conservation request to the whole county, Rocky Mount asked residents to cut back after the Blackwater River tripped its drought plan, and Amherst moved into emergency provisions. Mayor Joe Cobb explaine...

The regional authority that voted behind closed doors to sell land at the Wood Haven Technology Park confirmed this week that the buyer, Clearview Dynamics, intends to build a data center. The Roanoke Times obtained the purchase agreement through a records request and found nearly every dollar figure redacted except a $500,000 deposit. The buyer has until as late as next March to study the site, t...

A week after the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority voted behind closed doors to sell the Wood Haven Technology Park, we have a buyer's name and almost nothing else. WDBJ reported the purchaser is Clearview Dynamics, a limited liability company formed in January, and the Roanoke Times noted its registered agent has been linked to other data center projects. A Roanoke Count...

Two big pieces of Roanoke land changed hands this week, one in the open and one behind a closed door. Friday evening the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority came out of closed session and authorized the sale of land at Wood Haven Technology Park, then released nothing else — no buyer, no price, no stated use. The Roanoke Times ran it as a "secretive land sale" and rep...

The Flock story stopped being a string of separate local votes this week and turned into something closer to a regional decision. Lynchburg's city council voted in a special meeting to begin ending the city's contract and take down fifteen license plate readers. The sheriff's offices in Amherst and Bedford counties stopped using their cameras immediately, citing discrepancies they want...

We're back after a few weeks off, and back to weekly. Flock license plate readers are coming down across the region. Christiansburg's town council voted 6-0 to end its contract and remove all six of the town's cameras, with three members citing privacy and the Fourth Amendment and three others pointing to community distrust. Giles County's sheriff's office ended its contract a...

Roanoke votes in a Democratic city council primary a week from tomorrow, Tuesday, August 4th. Five candidates are running for three nominations, and because only one Republican is on the November ballot, this is the contested race this cycle. Virginia doesn't register voters by party, so any registered voter in the city can vote in it. On the ballot: incumbents Vivian Sanchez-Jones and Peter V...

The Roanoke region has crossed from drought warning into drought emergency status. We've received 57% of the rain we should have by this point in the year, and statewide this is now the second-driest water year on record. Carvins Cove is 15 feet below full pond, Smith Mountain Lake is five and a half feet low, and groundwater across the region is below the 5th percentile with wells setting rec...

For the first time in its 22-year history, the Western Virginia Water Authority has activated its drought contingency plan, asking residents and businesses across Roanoke, Salem, and beyond to cut back. Carvins Cove Reservoir sits at about 66% — nearly 15 feet below full pond — and the whole valley is now in "severe drought," with neighbors to the south a step worse. It's voluntary f...

A botched rollout cracked open a bigger debate. After Roanoke approved 75 Flock "Raven" gunshot-detection devices, a data-entry error left a batch installed at the wrong locations — including on a resident's property she found out about only when a mystery pole appeared in her yard. The misplaced sensors are coming down, but the conversation has shifted to surveillance itself: the gr...

Early voting is already underway. Ahead of an August 4th primary, nine candidates are running for three open seats on Roanoke City Council — including incumbents Peter Volosin and Vivian Sanchez-Jones, a five-way Democratic primary, and familiar names like former mayor David Bowers running as independents in November. The same ballot carries the U.S. Senate and U.S. House primaries, pushed back ab...

The biggest jobs news the valley has seen in 30 years: Austrian skincare and supplement maker RINGANA is bringing its first U.S. headquarters, production, and distribution operation to Roanoke — an $85 million investment and 435 jobs over five years, moving into the old Johnson & Johnson building in Blue Ridge Commerce Park. Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced it Friday. Plus a week shaped by ti...

On Saturday, the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford marked two anniversaries at once: 82 years since the Normandy landings, and 25 years since the memorial itself opened. Fourteen names were added to its wall of the dead — men confirmed, after decades of uncertainty, to have died on June 6, 1944. We get into why the national memorial sits in Bedford in the first place (the Bedford Boys), and why a...

Roanoke City Council adopted a $421.5M FY27 budget in a 5–2 vote, closing a $19M shortfall without raising taxes by cutting roughly 30 positions and pulling $50M from the capital improvement plan. The real estate tax rate stays at $1.22 per $100 of assessed value. Days later, the Roanoke School Board unanimously approved its own slate of reductions: the PLATO gifted program gets trimmed, activity...

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4–3 on Friday to strike down the April redistricting referendum, voiding the new 10–1 map voters had narrowly approved. The 2024 congressional maps stay in effect for November. The local impact is direct: Rep. Ben Cline (R-Botetourt) is back in his current Republican-leaning 6th District, where author Beth Macy is still challenging him. Tom Perriello is pivoting fr...

The Virginia Supreme Court could rule any day on whether to throw out the redistricting referendum. Reps. Ben Cline of Botetourt and Morgan Griffith of Salem are among the plaintiffs trying to overturn the result, and former Roanoke delegate William Fralin is leading the opposition group. Last week, the court declined to lift a lower-court order blocking certification, and the State Board of Elect...

Virginia voters narrowly approved a mid-decade redistricting referendum, redrawing Roanoke's 6th Congressional District from heavily red to slightly blue — and the local field is already shifting. Sam Rasoul announced he won't run, while former Congressman Tom Perriello pivoted from the 5th to the 6th. The Virginia Supreme Court hears arguments Monday on whether the amendment itself stands...

The 2026 Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon brought thousands of runners downtown Saturday, with an estimated $2 million economic impact. Plus: Roanoke and Carilion Clinic launch RoVa Labs, a biotech incubator projected to create 250 jobs. The City of Roanoke closes most of a $19 million budget gap without raising taxes — cutting 100+ vacant positions and pulling $50M from the five-year capital pla...

Virginia Tech President Tim Sands announces he's stepping down after 12 years — and questions swirl about whether the timing is political. Plus: the Rail Yard Dawgs sweep Birmingham 13-1 to advance in the President's Cup Playoffs. The 611 locomotive is running summer excursions. Salem Valley 8 closes after 50 years. Elbit Systems brings 288 jobs to Roanoke County. Star Trail parking closes...

The community responds to Google's $3 billion data center in Botetourt County — supporters see a generational investment, critics want answers on water. Plus: Vinton's new War Memorial Park opens with a playground, skatepark, and pickleball courts. Smith Mountain Lake faces drought, rising cyanobacteria, and an invasive species debate. Rising costs squeeze Southwest Virginia farmers. Caril...

Our first episode — Google officially announces a $3 billion data center in Botetourt County, the city and schools face budget cuts, thousands rally for No Kings, Blacksburg preps for legal marijuana, UVA women make March Madness history, plus the week's events and a therapy dog named Maggie.