The Roanoke County School Board voted in a special session today to rescind a motion just passed on Tuesday – to make mask wearing in the county public school system optional. Right now it is a state law – at least until Glenn Youngkin takes office on January 15th. The school board was advised it could…… Continue Reading
This is NOT the time to take universal masking out of the COVID safety tool box in local schools. So says the local health district director, as WFIR’s Gene Marrano reports: 1-6 Morrow Mask Wrap#1 The post Keep masking in schools for now says health system director first appeared on News/Talk 960-AM & FM-107.3…… Continue Reading
State health officials say at a time when demand for COVID tests remains high — and supplies remain low — there is one place most people should NOT go to be tested. They ask and urge you to avoid going to emergency rooms unless you are seriously ill or face some other medical emergency. WFIR’s…… Continue Reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Republican Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin has tapped a former coal lobbyist and Trump administration Environmental Protection Agency chief to join his cabinet in a role overseeing the state’s environmental policy. Youngkin’s transition announced Wednesday that Andrew Wheeler is his pick for secretary of natural resources. The news sparked immediate criticism from…… Continue Reading
A vigil to “pray for Democracy” is set for Thursday evening – exactly one year after the January 6th Capitol Riot. President of the GSWC-Star Women’s Club, Freeda Cathcart, chose a location she says has “plenty of room” to prevent spreading COVID-19. Local NAACP Chapter President Brenda Hale will also speak at the 5:30 vigil.…… Continue Reading
NEWS RELEASE: SALEM – With winter weather anticipated to impact portions of Virginia on Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is gearing up to treat and plow roads. VDOT suggests that drivers plan travel around the forecasted weather event, as slick roads and rapidly changing conditions are possible,…… Continue Reading
Local health department officials urge schools to continue practicing several layers of precautions as classes resume. It comes at a time of record community COVID transmission in the region. Those recommendations include indoor masking, physical distancing whenever possible, testing anyone who is sick or has had close contact to someone with COVID, contact tracing and…… Continue Reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Hundreds of people were trapped on an icy stretch of Interstate 95 in Virginia this week, but after Andrew Peters of Richmond finally made it home, he was hit with a giant Uber bill. Peters was returning from San Francisco and didn’t understand the severity of the situation when he took…… Continue Reading
A recent survey conducted by the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics found that those facilities are understaffed – as demand for services is up. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano: 1-5 Clinic Crunch Wrap#1 The post Free clinics continue feeling the strain from pandemic first appeared on News/Talk 960-AM & FM-107.3 WFIR.… Continue Reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia officials defending their response to a blizzard that stranded hundreds of motorists along a major interstate highway said conditions for the gridlock were caused by a combination of unusually heavy snowfall, plunging temperatures and a rainy start that kept them from pretreating the roads. There were no reported deaths or…… Continue Reading