🌱 Unlikely Friends Find New Home + New Gun Violence Approach

Hello there! Here's a look at what's going on in town. Ready?

First, today's weather:

Hot with a heavy thunderstorm.

High: 93 Low: 69.

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Here are the top five stories today in Roanoke:

1. Duck! Duck! Goose! The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke is set to release an unlikely pair of friends that met during their rehabilitation stays at the center. A mallard duck and a Canadian goose who came in about a month apart, were in rough shape, and became the best of friends will now be calling the Virginia Tech Duck Pond home. The center nursed them back to health and will be celebrating their release back into the wild at the Virginia Tech campus duck pond gazebo at 4 p.m. today. Haley Osborne-Hodges, the center's director of Operations, will be on hand to conduct the release and answer any questions. (WSLS)
2. Elevation Roanoke, a church organization that meets at the Berglund Center on Sundays, is planning to pack 40,000 meals for people around the world dealing with hunger and food insecurity and they're asking for help! As part of its Love Week, the church is partnering with area nonprofits including Rise Against Hunger. "It’s wide open to the community. You don’t have to be part of our church to do this. Anyone can come. This is an opportunity for you to help make a difference and after coming through COVID and everything, more than ever we want to be the type of people, the type of community that invests into others,” said David Shearer, the pastor of Elevation Church Roanoke. (WDBJ)
3. Roanoke City's Gun Violence Prevention Commission is beginning use of an approach that targets the communities most effected. Called “Operation Pinpoint,” Commission Chairman Joe Cobb said, "This is a grassroots program that engages neighbors through door-to-door engagement, through meetings. It engages business owners, faith leaders, anyone who lives and works in those neighborhoods we want to have input from to help us develop programs and strategies to help that neighborhood reclaim itself from gun violence." Roanoke City Police data shows that more than half of Roanoke's shootings happen in Northwest Roanoke. (WSLS)
4. A Roanoke area outpatient drug treatment and counseling center has settled claims that it billed Medicaid for counseling sessions that were not performed by licensed counselors. The Roanoke Comprehensive Treatment Center paid $348,934 to resolve civil claims according to federal prosecutors. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit led the investigation into the center. "At a time when addiction disorder is running rampant in many Virginia communities, we must continue to be vigilant in holding accountable those who seek to defraud Medicaid through fraudulent billing schemes like this one,” U.S. Attorney Chris Kavanaugh said. (Roanoke Times)

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Today in Roanoke:

• BOCO Young Professionals Networking at 1772 Rooftop on Main (5 p.m.)
• Party in the Park featuring Gary Lowder & Smokin’ Hot (5:30 p.m.)
• Live music: The Chuck Johnson Experience at Big Lick Brewing Company (6 p.m.)
• Creek Freaks Skills Session on the Roanoke River Blueway at Rotary Park (6:30 p.m.)
• “Godspell” presented by Showtimers Community Theatre (7:30 p.m.)
• Live music: Kind Hearted Strangers at Martin’s Downtown Bar and Grill (9:30 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Downtown Roanoke, Inc.: "We are excited to announce that the final concert in the Budweiser Summer Series for 2022 is Brett Young! The concert will be on Friday, September 30th in Elmwood Park. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 22 at 10 a.m." (Downtown Roanoke, Inc. via Facebook)
• Roanoke Valley SPCA: "Meet Milton! This distinguished young man is as affectionate as he is handsome. He's not too keen on being held, but he absolutely adores being petted. He will prance around and make biscuits in the air when you pet him." (Roanoke Valley SPCA via Facebook)
• Roanoke Public Libraries: "We were so excited to see the hundreds of you tonight at the Melrose Branch Library for the All-America City Awards Community Kick-Off Party! A very special thanks also goes out to Elaine Bays-Murphy Photography, LLC!" (Roanoke Public Libraries via Facebook)
• Virginia Children's Theatre: "MEET THE CAST of our Summer Concert BRAND NEW DAY: A CELEBRATION OF UNITY Today we introduce you to our Youth Lead Singers who will join us on stage at Elmwood Park." (Virginia Children's Theatre via Facebook)
• Roanoke, Virginia: "The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can now be reached by calling or texting 988. These mental health crisis services are available 24/7." (Roanoke, Virginia via Instagram)

You're officially in the loop for today! I'll catch up with you bright and early 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