The former meat packing plant is being torn down and will be replaced by a 300-unit apartment complex.
Randy Walker
Randy Walker is a musician and freelance writer in Roanoke. He received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was formerly a staff writer on (as it was then called) the Roanoke Times & World-News. He can be reached at randywalker7983@gmail.com.
Posted inEconomy
Roanoke announces flood map updates
The maps reflect decades of flood mitigation work along the banks of the Roanoke River through the city.
Posted inEconomy
Preparing for ‘a much cleaner century’ with environmental cleanup of American Viscose plant
Conversion of Roanoke’s former rayon plant to Riverdale, a mixed-use neighborhood, has begun. Removing a million pounds of junk was the first major step for developer Ed Walker.
Posted inCulture
New River rocket club loses launch site
The group is looking for a new site within an hour of Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
Posted inEconomy
When everyone is streaming music, how can a record store survive?
Bluegrass outlet County Sales, celebrating 50 years in Floyd, shifts to nonprofit
Posted inPolitics
Roanoke and Lynchburg have youth curfews. Studies say they have little effect.
Roanoke has a Democratic council, Lynchburg a Republican one, but both have taken the same action to curb crime.
Posted inCulture
Rocket clubs launching from Highland and Montgomery counties offer STEM education, thrills
“There’s not much like rockets to get a kid excited about science, technology, engineering and math,” says one rocket club leader.
Posted inCulture
From NFL draftee to NASA astronaut
Leland Melvin’s journey began in Lynchburg. It took him to the NFL, then to Langley — and then into space.
Posted inCulture
Ladder sculpture brings ‘good attention’ to Pulaski
A project of the nonprofit Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley, “Together We Rise: Pulaski” will be formally opened with a ribbon-cutting at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. It will be on display at Jackson Park through June 1.
Posted inCulture
A 13-year-old girl solved her town’s duck overpopulation problem
Renee Tucker, an eighth-grader at Narrows High School, was assigned a public speaking project. She addressed the overpopulation of ducks and geese at the local pond–then took it a step further and found a way to solve the problem.