The proposed change marks the third alteration to the city’s policy in two years, after the 40% funding policy was in place for over a decade.
Samantha Verrelli
Sam graduated from Penn State with degrees in journalism and Spanish. She was an investigative reporter for The Daily Collegian at Penn State and a freelance reporter with PennLive. She’s from outside Philadelphia, and loves hiking, live music and finding new restaurants.
Thursday Salem City Council: legislative agenda, breakdown of the city’s votes from the Nov. 4 election
Both Salem and Roanoke listed support for expansions at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport as a priority on their legislative agendas.
Roanoke to include casino project on wish list for General Assembly, despite lack of support from local legislators
Some city officials say that the casino and entertainment district is one of Roanoke’s most important priorities.
Agenda Salem: City council to consider appropriation of about $2 million to schools for capital improvements
The funds up for appropriation come from the school division’s FY25 fund balance.
Roanoke City Council to consider approval of historic marker at Fishburn Mansion, hear presentation on solar panels at schools
The marker would remember Junius Blair Fishburn, a businessman and philanthropist who donated land that helped establish many of Roanoke’s parks.
Roanoke to hold 4 community listening sessions in November
The sessions will be hosted by Virginia Tech’s Institute for Policy and Governance.
They saw the Flood of ’85
Area residents share glimpses of the flood, in their own words.
Hash reelected as Roanoke sheriff
In other regional sheriff’s races, Randy Hamilton Jr. was reelected in Buena Vista and Tony McFaddin Jr. was reelected in Lexington/Rockbridge County.
Forty years after the Flood of ’85, Roanoke is still doing what it can to reduce future flood risk. Mitigation efforts have proven effective thus far.
Mayor Joe Cobb says the biomedical industry the city has grown wouldn’t be possible without the Roanoke River Flood Reduction Project.
Roanoke City Council to consider appropriation requests from the school board, including for technical education, teacher quality
The funding awards support multiple initiatives, including increasing the number of qualified school mental health professionals in local education agencies, providing funding for adults who have not completed high school and others.

