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The list of harmful invasive species keeps growing, and one of the newest arrivals poses particular threats to area fruit growers — especially to vineyards.  The spotted lanternfly made its way to the U.S. from southeast Asia, and since it is good at hitching rides on almost any form of ground transportation, its spread has been constant. That’s especially problematic this time of year, when the bugs sample — and damage — fruit crops. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:

Click here for more spotted lanternfly information from Virginia Tech.

Floydfest is underway at its new location in Check. As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno reports the musical festival is a great place to listen to new music.

The members of Happy Landing are ready to rock the “On the Rise Artists” stage at Floydfest. WFIR’s Denise ALlen MEmbreno introduces us to the Folk/Rock band.

https://floydfest.com/

We talked with Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares this morning and as WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno reports he has questions for Vice President and potential Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares says if President Joe Biden is not running for office, Vice President Kamala Harris should leave with him. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more.

Some employees and customers of Member One Federal Credit Union are not all that happy about a proposed merger with a Richmond-based financial institution. The “yay or nay” vote online runs through next Tuesday, as WFIR’s Gene Marrano reports:

From the WFIR News room this is your Culture Calendar – With a look at some of the local events coming up this weekend and in the near future. Sponsored by the Roanoke Cultural Endowment.

Donald Trump’s running mate uses a speech at Radford University to call out Democrats who claim the former president is a threat to democracy. WFIR’s Clark Palmer has that story.

A local group of ‘real hillbillies’ protested J.D. Vance’s visit to Southwest Virginia yesterday. They say he is not fit as Vice President. WFIR’s Alex Torres has more:

July is National Disability Pride Month to celebrate the Taubman Museum is getting a new mural. This one is painted by a blind artist. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno introduces us to John Bramblitt.

The colorful new mural outside the Taubman Museum of Art celebrates all forms of expression. The new work is up just in time for National Disability Pride Month. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno introduces us to the BLIND artist that created it.

BY COLLEEN LONG, ZEKE MILLER AND DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Updated 2:31 PM EDT, July 21, 2024

AP — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.

The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to call out the former president’s many falsehoods. Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Trump, and encouraged his party to united behind her.

Biden plans to serve out the remainder of his term in office, which ends at noon ET on Jan. 20, 2025.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter posted to his X account.

Nearly 30 minutes later, Biden throw his support behind Harris, the party’s instant favorite for the nomination at its August convention in Chicago.

Biden’s decision came as he has been isolating at his Delaware beach house after being diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, huddling with a shrinking circle of close confidants and family members about his political future. Biden said he would address the nation later this week to provide “detail” about his decision.

The White House confirmed the authenticity of the letter.

The announcement is the latest jolt to a campaign for the White House that both political parties see as the most consequential election in generations, coming just days after the attempted assassination of Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.

A party’s presumptive presidential nominee has never stepped out of the race so close to the election. The closest parallel would be President Lyndon Johnson who, besieged by the Vietnam War, announced in March 1968 that he would not seek another term.

Now, Democrats have to urgently try to bring coherence to the nominating process in a matter of weeks and persuade voters in a stunningly short amount of time that their nominee can handle the job and beat Trump. And for his part, Trump must shift his focus to a new opponent after years of training his attention on Biden.

Biden won the vast majority of delegates and every nominating contest but one, which would have made his nomination a formality. Now that he has dropped out, those delegates will be free to support another candidate.

Harris, 59, appeared to be the natural successor, in large part because she is the only candidate who can directly tap into the Biden campaign’s war chest, according to federal campaign finance rules.

Biden’s backing helps clear the way for Harris, but a smooth transition is by no means assured.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, but the party had announced that it would hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin.

It remained to be seen whether other candidates woul challenge Harris for the nomination or how party may need to adjust its rules again to smooth Harris’ nomination on the floor.

In 2020, Biden pitched himself as a transitional figure who wanted to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders. But once he secured the job he spent decades struggling to attain, he was reluctant to part with it.

Biden was once asked whether any other Democrats could beat Trump.

“Probably 50 of them,” Biden replied. “No, I’m not the only one who can defeat him, but I will defeat him.”

Biden is already the country’s oldest president and had insisted repeatedly that he was up for the challenge of another campaign and another term, telling voters all they had to was “watch me.”

And watch him they did. His poor debate performance prompted a cascade of anxiety from Democrats and donors who said publicly what some had said privately for months, that they did not think he was up to the job for four more years.

Concerns over Biden’s age have dogged him since he announced he was running for reelection, though Trump is just three years younger at 78. Most Americans view the president as too old for a second term, according to an August 2023 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A majority also doubt his mental capability to be president, though that is also a weakness for Trump.

Biden often remarked that he was not as young as he used to be, doesn’t walk as easily or speak as smoothly, but that he had wisdom and decades of experience, which were worth a whole lot.

“I give you my word as a Biden. I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job,” he told supporters at a rally in North Carolina a day after the debate. “Because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high.”

But voters had other problems with him, too — he has been deeply unpopular as a leader even as his administration steered the nation through recovery from a global pandemic, presided over a booming economy and passed major pieces of bipartisan legislation that will impact the nation for years to come. A majority of Americans disapprove of the way he’s handling his job, and he’s faced persistently low approval ratings on key issues including the economy and immigration.

Biden’s age surfaced as a major factor during an investigation of his handling of classified documents. Special counsel Robert Hur said in February that the president came across in interviews with investigators as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

The president’s allies seized on the statement as gratuitous and criticized Hur for including it in his report, and Biden himself angrily pushed back on descriptions of how he spoke about his late son.

Biden’s motivation for running was deeply intertwined with Trump. He had retired from public service following eight years serving as vice president under Barack Obama and the death of his son Beau but decided to run after Trump’s comments following a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, when white supremacists descended on the city to protest the removal of its Confederate memorials.

Trump said: “You had some very bad people in the group, but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. On both sides.”

That a sitting president didn’t unequivocally condemn racism and white supremacy deeply offended Biden. Then, Biden won the 2020 election and Trump refused to concede and stood by for hours while his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, beating and bloodying law enforcement in a failed attempt to overturn the certification of Biden’s win.

“If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running,” Biden once said during at a campaign event.

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Biden’s decision to leave the race, but he and his team had made their preference for facing Biden clear.

Despite making clear their preference for facing Biden, Trump’s campaign has also ramped up its attacks on Harris as pressure on Biden to step down has intensified in recent weeks.

___
Superville reported from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.

A new community theatre launches in Roanoke tonight. Exit Pursued By a Bear, makes its home on the Community High School stage. As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno reports Crimes of the Heart is the Bear Theatre’s first production.

Roanoke’s newest community theatre debuts tonight with their production of the pulitzer prize winning play Crimes of the Heart. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more the the troop’s launch.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

(From RunAbout Sports Facebook page)

A Roanoke run store has been named one of the top 50 in the country. WFIR’s Clark Palmer has that story.

After a two-year hiatus as it moved to a new location in Floyd County – a shorter drive from Roanoke – FloydFest 2024-Horizon returns next week beginning on Wednesday. The music and outdoors festival off Bent Mountain Road is bigger, but will be less crowded. CEO John McBroom and COO Sam Calhoun spoke with WFIR’s Gene Marrano and here is a “Longer Listen” segment:

The Ballyhack Golf Club is hosting the 2nd annual Charlotte’s Play Yellow Invitational this Friday through Sunday, in partnership with the Life Ring Foundation and Carilion Clinic. Charlotte’s Play Yellow International started last year when the founders of the Life Ring Foundation launched the “Fighting Kids Cancer Campaign” that works to shorten the distance between means and needs for local kids suffering from pediatric cancer and blood disorders. Jordan Bousman, Vice President of Philanthropy for the Life Ring Foundation.

Click here to participate in the online auction. 

A Virginia State Police Trooper attempted to stop a motorcycle yesterday on Route 460 in Botetourt County for Reckless Driving. After the trooper activated his emergency equipment, the motorcycle refused to stop, and a pursuit ensued. The motorcycle exited Route 460 onto the Blueridge Parkway and continued north for another six miles to the 97.7-mile marker.

The motorcycle attempted to exit the Blueridge Parkway, crashing into a closed gate on the Bedford side of Black Horse Gap. The driver of the motorcycle produced a firearm, and the trooper discharged his duty weapon striking the suspect.

The 44-year-old male suspect died at the scene.

The passenger of the motorcycle was injured in the crash and was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital for the treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The Trooper was not injured and has been placed on administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation.

The incident remains under investigation.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the Virginia State Police will turn the findings over to the Bedford County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office for adjudication.

Its not the first time United Way of Roanoke Valley has received state funding to help those on the lower end of the income scale pay for childcare, but the Mixed Delivery program that launched in 2016 has continued to evolve. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:

Jefferson Rose otherwise known as “The Magnificent Lefty” is a Roanoke-based street performer/ busker who’s traveled all over the country entertaining. Recently, Rose has been working on balloon art for an online contest with pieces you can see at City in the Square, which is also the location of the first Roanoke “Street Performance Workshop” on Friday, which features other artists, musicians, and performers.

From the WFIR News room this is your Culture Calendar – With a look at some of the local events coming up this weekend and in the near future. Sponsored by the Roanoke Cultural Endowment.

Nancy Agee-Carilion

A longtime head at Carilion Clinic is stepping down later this year. WFIR’s Alex Torres has details:

Nancy Howell Agee, who led Carilion Clinic through more than a decade of transformative change, will step down as CEO Sept. 30. Steve Arner, who was promoted to president in May 2023, will succeed Agee and become president and CEO Oct. 1.

The leadership transition comes after Agee’s long and distinguished career at Carilion, beginning as a nurse in 1973. She was named president and CEO in 2011, becoming the system’s seventh – and only female – top executive.

Agee will serve as CEO emeritus through September 2025, focusing on philanthropy, growing partnerships and continuing to develop Carilion’s reputation statewide and nationally.

Roanoke City Police says two people were injured during a shooting early this morning on 16th St. near the intersection of Essex Ave. NW. The victim’s injuries are listed as non-life threatening. Authorities say ‘several people of interest’ have been detained.