🌱 Salem Tax Rebate Update + World Class Music At Jefferson Center

Hello, hello! It's me, Ian, host of the Roanoke Daily. Let's take a look at what's happening.

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny and warmer.

High: 84 Low: 68.

👀 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 in Roanoke today:

1. Salem City Council has updated its citizens on the status of a car tax refund that was decided upon in May. Salem City Manager Jay Taliaferro said employees are currently working with representatives of the software company the city uses for tax purposes to determine if there is a way to formulate how much each tax payer will receive. The city plans to give back roughly half of the surplus, which is between $900,000 - $1 million. Taliaferro said he's hoping a plan will be in place by the end of August. (Roanoke Times)
2. Farmers like Tim Belcher, owner of Rolling Meadows Farm and a frequent retailer on Roanoke's Market Square, said this summer's dry weather is having an effect on available crops. "Beans have been rough ... that’s what we hauled a lot of water for and dumped it in the fields. Corn, it made our stalks a lot shorter than normal. Normally, they were over our head," Belcher said. "We use drip irrigation and any method we can to help conserve water. We catch water from a lot of our buildings and have cisterns to hold water, but we depleted pretty much everything that we had. That’s why we had to resort to hauling." (WDBJ)
3. Roanoke City Police were called to the 800 block of Queen Avenue NW early Saturday morning by reports of a man with a gunshot wound. At the scene, officers found an adult male with a non-life threatening injury and EMS transported him to Roanoke Memorial for treatment. A suspect, Quintiy L. Steelman, 20, of Roanoke, was quickly identified, interviewed, arrested and charged. Police say the two men knew each other and that the shooting was related to an earlier disturbance call they received. (Roanoke Times)
4. Roanoke's Jefferson Center has a packed 2022-23 season that includes the Star City series featuring Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn and A.J. Croce, son of Jim Croce, on the main stage in the Shaftsman Performance Hall. The audience should expect Colvin’s "Sunny Came Home," Cohn’s "Walking In Memphis," and Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" to be on the set list. "We see a theme here. Lots of world-class, award-winning musicians in our lineup," said Jamie Cheatwood, the venue’s programming manager. (Roanoke Times)

Help us make this newsletter better!

We’ve been getting so much positive feedback about the Roanoke Daily that we’re starting to get a big head. Want to bring us back down to earth with some constructive feedback? If so, take our simple — and quick! — reader survey. Your feedback will help us make sure we’re covering the kind of local news, events and scuttlebutt you really care about. And it will help us toward our goal of being an indispensable local resource and the last email you’d ever unsubscribe from.

We’d be so appreciative of your feedback that, if you take the survey, we’ll enter your email address in a drawing for a small mountain of Patch swag. You know you want that tote bag — so click the link and give it to us straight. Thank you!

Take the Survey 👉

Today in Roanoke:

• School Board Budget Work Session - Roanoke County (11 a.m.)
• Free Yoga for the People at the Main Roanoke Public Library (5:30 p.m.)
• Children's Literature Professional Panel with Agent Victoria Wells Arms (7:30 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke: "Let it alllll hang out ... it's the weekend! These young Virginia opossums are taking a comfortable afternoon snooze. Wildlife deserves to relax too! These babies came in orphaned and will be released once they are big enough." (Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke via Facebook)
• Roanoke Sheriff's Office: "If you are looking for more than just a job and want to be part of a progressive organization we invite you to join our department. Take a moment and listen to a few testimonials and hopefully you will see why working at the Roanoke City's Office is the right decision for you." (Roanoke Sheriff's Office via Facebook)
• Roanoke Valley SPCA: "Who else likes watching the rain?" (Roanoke Valley SPCA via Instagram)
• City of Roanoke Government: "Check out the Tinker Creek Cleanup happening on August 6!" (City of Roanoke Government via Facebook)
• Roanoke Fire EMS Department: "Join us and find out why this is truly the best job in the world! The City of Roanoke's Fire-EMS department is looking for firefighter-EMTs. To learn more about the position's responsibilities and requirements and to apply, please visit our website." (Roanoke Fire EMS Department via Facebook)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

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

You're officially in the loop for today! I'll see you tomorrow morning.

— 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