Welcome Cardinal News readers! This is the second week of Roanoke Valley Field Notes, a collection of news and miscellaneous notes from the past week in the valley and a look ahead at what’s happening next week. Here’s last week’s edition if you missed it.
I primarily cover Roanoke, Roanoke County, Salem and Botetourt County — but those boundaries aren’t rigid when coverage is needed elsewhere. You can generally expect to see my column in your inbox on Thursdays.
There’s only one me, and there’s a lot of you in the valley, so news tips and feedback from readers are always appreciated. Email me at samantha@cardinalnews.org to share your thoughts, ideas, questions and concerns with me!
Let’s get into the news from this week:
Roanoke School Board approves changes to attendance zones for 2026-2027
The Roanoke City Public School Board unanimously approved new attendance zones that will affect about 250 Roanoke elementary students this fall in a special meeting Tuesday evening.
The board’s approval is for the first piece of the first phase of a multiyear plan to balance elementary attendance zones. For the 2026-27 school year, changes will affect the new Preston Park Elementary as well as Monterey Elementary, with minor adjustments to Fallon Park, Lincoln Terrace and Round Hill elementaries.
The new Preston Park will take on about 124 additional students, and about 141 students will move out of Monterey Elementary — which is overcrowded and does not have room for a preschool like the other elementary schools do, Chris Perkins, chief operational officer with the division, said on Tuesday. Perkins said Monterey Elementary’s enrollment will be at 82% capacity after the changes.
A total of 127 people responded to a division survey last month about the enrollment changes, Perkins said.
He said 54% of respondents were supportive of all or part of the project, and 29% were not. A major concern, he said, was regarding incoming fifth graders having to change schools in their last year.
Perkins said the division will extend the transfer request window for affected students.
The second phase of the plan, which will take place from 2027 to 2029, will affect Hurt Park, Lincoln Terrace and Fairview elementary schools. The third phase, from 2029 to 2031, will address aging schools in the southern quadrant of the city: Crystal Spring, Highland Park, Wasena and Grandin Court elementary schools.
Parents and families can access a list of affected addresses here, and will soon receive official notification if they are impacted by this first piece of the plan.
Signature Aviation breaks ground on a $10 million hangar at Roanoke airport
Signature Aviation, a hospitality company operating private airport terminals, announced on Tuesday the groundbreaking of a $10 million hangar and office development at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport.
The hangar will be 22,000 square feet and 28 feet tall, with an attached 3,000-square-foot office facility and a 14-bay parking lot.
The project, according to a Signature Aviation press release, will increase aircraft storage capacity and will add a large enough hangar to house the largest corporate jets currently in use, airport spokesperson Alexa Briehl wrote in an email. She said the improvements will increase the airport’s competitiveness for corporate business.
This is part of a larger investment program that Signature Aviation has taken on in Roanoke. At the end of last year, the company completed the installation of a self-serve fuel pump for small aircraft owners and pilots, according to the release.
The company will also be rebuilding the airport’s fuel storage facility. That expansion will meet growing traffic and longer destinations that require more fuel, Briehl said. She also said the airport will collect additional rental income and fuel sale commissions from these changes.
Construction will be completed by Lionberger Construction, a Roanoke-based general contractor, and is expected to be completed in 2027.
Presbyterian Community Center to expand resource center in Southeast Roanoke
The Presbyterian Community Center, a Christian resource center in Southeast Roanoke, will open a new building in their current location on May 29 to expand their work, which includes emergency financial aid, food access, after-school education and spiritual development, according to the center’s website.
Julia Loudy, a spokesperson for the project, said the center raised $6.5 million for the project, which she said was approximately 92% of their goal.
A new 15,000-square-foot building will house the food pantry, financial aid services and the Pathways for Youth after-school program for children in first through 12th grades.
This program includes tutoring, mentoring, on-site counseling with staff from Family Service of Roanoke Valley, life-skills training, field trips, cultural and academic enrichment opportunities, and community service activities, according to the center’s website.
Also, United Healthcare will fund a “Care Corner” with on-site laundry, a healthy cooking initiative and “wellness supplies” for families enrolled in the Pathways for Youth program, according to the press release.
Two more candidates announce run for Roanoke City Council
On Monday, former Roanoke City Councilwoman Stephanie Moon Reynolds announced she’s running again.
Three council seats are on the November ballot: those held by Democrats Peter Volosin and Vivian Sanchez-Jones and independent Evelyn Powers, who was appointed by the council in 2025 to take over Mayor Joe Cobb’s unfinished term once he was elected as mayor. Volosin and Sanchez-Jones are running for reelection. Powers is not.
Reynolds, who is running as an independent, worked in the City Clerk’s office for over 40 years and sat on council for four years. Moon Reynolds ran for mayor as an independent in 2024 and received about 25% of the vote, finishing third, behind Cobb, a Democrat, and David Bowers, a Republican.
Moon Reynolds, in a news release, listed four priorities for her campaign: responsive government, accountability and transparency, neighborhood investment and economic opportunity.
“Citizens deserve a government that listens, delivers quality services, and treats every neighborhood with care and respect,” she said in the release.
Moon Reynolds joins multiple other candidates, including new faces and former members of council.
Bowers, who once served as mayor as a Democrat before later running as a Republican, is running for the council this year as an independent.
Among new faces running for the council are:
- Republican Amanda Marko, a business owner focused on marketing.
- Democrat Harvey Brookins, vice president and city executive for National Bank of Blacksburg in Roanoke.
- Democrat Raekwon Moore, who works for Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare in electronic health record systems.
- Independent Kathy Cohen, retired rabbi at Temple Emanuel and former chairperson of the city’s Gun Violence Prevention Commission. Cohen was a candidate for the open council seat to which Powers was appointed.
- Democrat Danny Clawson, executive director of the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition.
Independent candidates have until June 16 to file for their campaigns. Cardinal News will report further on the candidates and their campaigns as we approach the Democratic primary election in August.
Randy Foley, longest-serving Salem council member, to end tenure
Randy Foley, the former mayor of Salem and a current council member, announced during Tuesday’s city council meeting that he will not run for reelection in the fall.
Foley first served on the Salem City Council in 2006 and then as Salem’s mayor from 2008 until 2020. He “never lost an election in his hometown,” according to a press release sent by the city.
Councilman Hunter Holliday’s seat is on the ballot this year, too. Holliday has filed as a Republican to seek another term, according to the state Department of Elections. Jonathan Taylor is also running as a Republican, according to a state filing. Neither Holliday nor Taylor could immediately be reached for comment.
Meetings next week:
The Roanoke City Council will meet at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Monday. The agenda for those meetings will be posted here at the end of this week.
