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Latest news
A decade ago, Roanoke leaders took a chance on a new way of helping people with addiction. Today, the Hope Initiative serves nearly 1,000 people a year.
The Hope Initiative focuses on addiction as a health crisis instead of a police matter. It helps connect people in active drug addiction to treatment resources nearby.
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Politics
Notes from the Square: 2 former 6th District competitors swap endorsements
Plus: Attorney General Jay Jones issues a message to the firearm industry and $6.19 million to be disbursed from the EPA to clean up brownfields in Southwest and Southside Virginia.
Local
Lynchburg Fire Department assessment calls for hiring process overhaul with emphasis on diversity
The report outlines 14 areas of improvement that the city’s incoming fire chief, who starts July 1, should address in the department’s climate, culture and human resources practices.
Culture
Natural Bridge Zoo case will lead to three separate trials, judge rules
The judge also said he’d issue a gag order against most parties involved in the case, including the attorney general’s office.
education
Emory & Henry no longer on probation with accreditor
The university was put on probation in June 2025 after several years of monitoring over financial concerns.
eCONOMY
Investment firm to buy troubled tech company Luna Innovations
The company, formerly headquartered in Roanoke, had recently settled a class-action lawsuit for $7.3 million, after plaintiffs alleged securities fraud.
OPinion
Former higher education attorney: The new cold war in higher education
Name, Image and Likeness has become the higher-ed equivalent of an arms race. Wealthy institutions with deep donor pools can assemble powerful collectives that attract top athletes, who in turn drive enrollment, visibility and revenue. Smaller institutions cannot match the pace.
HealthCare
The Pulse: The General Assembly restores some funding for HIV healthcare programs
Plus: Carilion workforce program earns an award; a far Southwest recovery-to-work program receives opioid abatement funding
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news briefs
Headlines from across the state: Farmers, retailers worry as state and federal regulations for hemp, marijuana shift; more …
From elsewhere: Mayor addresses Richmond city embezzlement investigation as second suspect is charged. Lineburg named Mecklenburg’s next school superintendent. Virginia, French wines to face off in Paris judging.
Sports
VHSL 2026: With victory in girls tennis, Bland County wins its first team championship ever in any sport
Meanwhile, Ridgeview High won the Class 2 girls championship Thursday at Liberty University with a 5-2 victory over Bruton.
WEATHER
Temperatures heat up with only some spotty storms as July approaches
It can hardly be called “unseasonable” in late June and early July, but temperatures will be above normal with 90s highs many days.
Cardinal 250
Jefferson gets the acclaim for independence, but it was another Virginian who first proposed a formal break from Britain
Richard Henry Lee has become something of a forgotten founder, reduced to a comic figure in the musical “1776” or ignored altogether. But he was the one who first formally proposed that the Continental Congress declare the Colonies independent.
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