🌱 Election Board Hears Campaign Complaints + Human Remains Found

And it's Thursday. Almost there. Has this week seemed fast to anyone else? Anyways, here's a look at some local news while your coffee finishes brewing.

First, today's weather:

A thunderstorm in spots.

High: 81 Low: 64.

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Here are the top five stories in Roanoke today:

1. The Roanoke City Police Department closed the Franklin Road exit off of northbound Route 220 Tuesday afternoon and asked drivers to avoid the area after human skeletal remains were found. The Medical Examiner's Office removed the remains while the Forensic Investigations Unit responded to the scene and prepared to investigate. Later in a post on its official Facebook page, the RPD said the exit had reopened, but that the investigation was ongoing and it had no further details to share at the time. (WSLS, RPD Facebook)
2. The Virginia State Board of Elections took up complaints filed against two candidates in the campaign for open Roanoke City Council seats. Democrat Peter Volosin and Independent Jamaal Jackson each face civil penalties in relation to the lack of proper disclosures on advertising materials produced by the campaigns. Volosin's campaign passed out sample ballots without required identifying language and Jackson's signs lacked a disclosure stating who paid for the signs and why. The board imposed penalties reflective of a first offense for each candidate with Jackson’s being $25 and Volosin’s being $50, doubled because it happened within 14 days of an election. (WDBJ)
3. The Roanoke Equal Justice Initiative Community Remembrance Project Coalition, a racial justice group backed by the NAACP, will be hosting an educational workshop on September 8 proceeding the September 21 unveiling of a sign along Route 220 on Franklin Road marking the place where a mob lynched a Black man in 1893. Brenda Hale, the chair of the local NAACP chapter and one of the organizers, said she hopes the event will increase the awareness in the Roanoke area and begin discussions about racism. "There are thousands of people that live in this city that are not aware that two Black men have been lynched in Roanoke," she said. (Roanoke Times, EJI Website)
4. Popular fast food chain Cook Out has announced that it will be opening a second location in the Roanoke Valley. For years now the Georgia-based chain has had only one location in the area on Hershberger Road near McDonalds and BJ's Wholesale Club, but recently issued a press release saying it had purchased a long-vacant Long John Silver's location on Franklin Road for $590,000. Real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer handled the sale negotiations. (WSET)
5. The 47th season of Opera Roanoke is set to begin with a concert of opera’s greatest hits on September 16 at the Jefferson Center. Helena Brown, Hollins University graduate and now full-time chorus member of the Metropolitan Opera, will be returning to the Opera Roanoke stage for the first time since 2016. The concert is designed to have a little bit of something for everyone from diehard opera fans to complete newcomers to the work, the literal translation for opera in Italian. "By making it a celebration of opera’s greatest hits, we are encouraging people to come out and hear all that this vast art form has to offer," said Brooke Tolley, general director. (Roanoke Star)

Today in Roanoke:

• Thursday Overtime Presented By: Tech Squared at Starr Hill Pilot Brewery (5 p.m.)
• Part-Time Party Band at Party in Elmwood (5:30 p.m.)
• Creek Freaks Skills Session on the Roanoke River Blueway at Rotary Park (6:30 p.m.)
• Florencia & The Feeling at Martin’s Downtown Bar and Grill (9:30 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Downtown Roanoke, Inc.: "We would like to extend a warm welcome to Ursula’s Café, which is now open! Ursula's Café is a donate-what-you-can café and community arts venue in downtown!" (Downtown Roanoke, Inc. via Facebook)
• Roanoke City Public Schools: "Congratulations to our new assistant principals for the 2022-2023 school year! Last week, we started introducing them to you, and now we'd like you to meet a few more!" (Roanoke City Public Schools via Facebook)
• Roanoke Fire EMS Department: "Last week, our C-shift HAZMAT regional team went to the overturned fuel tanker in Buchanan. The team worked to clean up fuel that had spilled, and also drilled into the overturned tank to pull the fuel out of the damaged container." (Roanoke Fire EMS Department via Facebook)
• Roanoke Valley SPCA: "My name is Merlot and although I'm 8 years old, I still love to learn new things! For example, I learned that having a toy in my mouth helps me while I am walking. My favorite toy to carry around is a Kong bone." (Roanoke Valley SPCA via Facebook)
• The Rescue Mission of Roanoke: "We had SO MUCH FUN at @blueridgepbs last night. Thank you to all who watched and all who donated. It was such a special program where we were able to share all about what the Rescue Mission does well, helping hurting people in Jesus’ name!" (The Rescue Mission of Roanoke via Facebook)

Alrighty ... you're all caught up for today! I'll see you tomorrow.

— Ian

About me: Ian Graham is a novelist, screenwriter, and freelance contributing writer. His interests are in politics, history, and religion and the stories and characters he writes about are centered on the explosive conflicts created when the three intersect. He is a firm believer in being yourself… unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Roanoke Daily? Contact me at roanoke@patch.com