🌱 Famous Anthony's Lawsuits + Increase in Carilion Scam Calls

Hey, fellow Roanokers! Ian here with the Friday edition of the Roanoke Daily. Let's see what going on around here.

First, today's weather:

Times of clouds and sun.

High: 86 Low: 67.

👀 Attention local businesses & marketers: Attract more customers in Roanoke by sponsoring this daily newsletter, which gets read by the same people you're trying to reach. Click here to learn more.

Here are the top five stories today in Roanoke:

1. Roanoke Fire-EMS and Appalachian Power crews met Arton Williams, owner of downtown Roanoke restaurant Caribbica Soul, Wednesday morning after the maintenance department of his building asked him to come down. When he arrived he was met with an investigation into an exploding manhole cover right in front of his place of business. “I had a phone call from the maintenance of the building. He was informing me that there was some type of slight explosion and smoke coming from the front part of the restaurant. They informed me that they had already got inside and checked the basement and everything was good but there was an explosion," said Williams. Thankfully there was no damage and no injuries from the event. (WDBJ)
2. The Bradley Free Clinic in downtown Roanoke is celebrating the opening of its most recent expansion, the Robertson Behavioral Health Wing. Employees and donors are excited about the effort to increase accessibility to mental healthcare and say the new wing houses six counseling rooms and group counseling spaces. "I found who I was and I’m happy again. And it’s such a relief. It’s so gratifying to know that the community is able to help each other out like this because without this there’d be a lot more people in trouble," said Elizabeth Keeley, a patient who benefited from the Bradley Free Clinic. (WSLS)
3. Virginia Tech Carilion and Black Father Family, a Virginia based nonprofit, recently brought nationally renowned cancer center director, Dr. Robert Winn, to Roanoke for 'Generational Health: An Intimate Conversation on Black Men and Health Disparities.' Dr. Winn is a pulmonologist with a focus on lung cancer at Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center and eagerly agreed to come to Roanoke to lead the discussion. "One in two men will be diagnosed with cancer and the fact of the matter is that it could be prevented in many of them. Proper screening is the first step toward reversing these numbers and increasing overall health. Men matter!" said Dr. Winn. The event was also sponsored by the United Way of Roanoke Valley, New Horizons Healthcare, and Alpha Kappa Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. (WDBJ)
4. Famous Anthony's Restaurants have been served with approximately 40 lawsuits since two of the local chain's locations were the center of a deadly Hepatitis A outbreak. Now a federal judge is being asked to weigh in on whether there is $7 million in insurance coverage available to the victims or $14 million. The insurance carrier for the restaurant said the policy allows for $7 million in coverage, but the lawsuits argue that the coverage should be $7 million per location , which would make the coverage $14 million. "Frankly, whether it’s $7 million or $14 million, there just isn’t enough money to cover what happened to these poor people,” said Bill Marler, a Seattle based attorney who represents 32 of the plaintiffs. Judge Michael Urbanski will decide the coverage question in Roanoke's federal court. (Roanoke Times)
5. Carilion Clinic representatives are warning area residents about a spate of recent scam calls by perpetrators claiming to work for Carilion and either selling diabetic supplies or pretending to work for a lab collecting overdue bills. Reports indicate that the perpetrators are spoofing numbers, which means they may look like Carilion numbers, but are in fact scammers looking for personal information. "If you get a call from someone claiming to be from a source that you are supposed to trust, my recommendation is to tell them you are going to call them back and to hang up and call back a phone number that you find in a published source like a website or from a letter that you know is trusted,” said Rob Perry, Chief Information Security Officer for Carilion Clinic. (WDBJ)

Today in Roanoke:

• Budweiser Summer Concert Series - Roanoke City Special Events (5 p.m.)
• First and Third Fridays at 5 - Roanoke City Special Events (5 p.m.)
• Fooz Fighters at Dr. Pepper Park - Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce (6 p.m.)
• Brothers Osborne - Budweiser Summer Series (8 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Roanoke Fire EMS Department: "Please keep our Swiftwater Team in your thoughts as they work to help with the situation in Buchanan County, as well as the residents there who are dealing with a catastrophic loss." (Roanoke Fire EMS Department via Facebook)
• Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke: "It’s time for opossum season part two! We see two batches of opossums every year — once in the early spring and one in mid-summer lasting through the fall — and the avalanche is just starting." (Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke via Facebook)
• Roanoke City Public Schools: "Families and staff, you should have just received a robocall from Superintendent White with information about how to access the comprehensive list of additional safety measures the School Board recently adopted for the 2022-2023 school year. If you did not receive any notification, please contact your school this week to update your contact information." (Roanoke City Public Schools via Facebook)
• Roanoke Valley SPCA: "In an effort to get noticed so they can find their new home, Rose and Izzy are showing off their gorgeous whiskers." (Roanoke Valley SPCA via Instagram)
• Roanoke Animal Hospital: "We were featured in The Roanoker Magazines 2022 FACES of Virginia's Blue Ridge! We are so thankful for our awesome team and all of our amazing clients and your furry family members!" (Roanoke Animal Hospital via Facebook)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• Purcellville Wine and Food Festival (July 16)
• Add your event

That's it for today! I'll catch up with you bright and early tomorrow with a new update.

— 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