Luke Weir

1 day ago | roanoke.com | Luke Weir

Solar panels will produce serious cost savings for the school system in Roanoke, and prepare some students for careers in renewable energy, officials announced Tuesday. Installation of rooftop solar panels at 17 more school locations will save the division an estimated $46.5 million over the next 35 years, said Jeff Shawver, senior director of physical plants, during a news conference Tuesday morning.

1 day ago | roanoke.com | Luke Weir

Roanoke School Board members say they are worried by rumors about further budget cuts, this time with city officials potentially reaching into the schools’ emergency reserve fund, as funding disputes deepen. Discussions of funding cuts continued during a school board workshop Tuesday night, after Superintendent Verletta White proposed a plan to use the schools’ emergency fund balance, otherwise known as the rainy day fund, to close a growing gap in school funding.

2 days ago | roanoke.com | Luke Weir

A battalion of volunteers fished more than 35,000 pounds of trash out of the New River in Giles County this spring, including heaps of discarded tires, nonprofit officials said. There are now three fewer refrigerators in the waterway after this year’s ReNew the New River cleanup event on April 5, said Ann Goette, a founder of the ReNew the New nonprofit group that started in Giles County 20 years ago. “We pulled out one 18-foot Fiberglas boat with a large outboard motor as well,” Goette said.

2 days ago | roanoke.com | Luke Weir

Pleas to fund the school system topped the list of requests that Roanoke City Council members heard during a marathon session Monday night. The city council held a series of five public hearings starting at 7 p.m., including a hearing to receive the views of citizens regarding the city budget for fiscal year 2025-26. The budget will be approved prior to the start of the fiscal year on July 1. It’s a $403 million city budget, partly funded by a proposed meals tax increase of 1.5 percentage points.

5 days ago | liverpoolecho.co.uk | Jess Molyneux |Luke Weir

There's so many we'd love to enjoy again for one last timeIt's that time of year when our local shops and supermarkets are full of Easter eggs and other seasonal sweet treats. Today, there's so many variations to choose from that we're spoilt for choice. And every year, we're wowed by the new creations and trends that hit the shop shelves. But Easter time also reminds us not only of the lost eggs we loved from childhood, but the delicious chocolate bars too.