What's News Today: July 23, 2019

Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following today as they make headlines across the country and Southwest Virginia.

The Virginia Technology and Engineering Education Association holds its annual conference, starting today, in Roanoke.  Educators from across the Commonwealth will learn from each other, getting ideas they can take back to their classrooms.  The conference lasts through Thursday.

The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing about the 419 Town Center Plan today.  The plan is a list of goals for the corridor over the next twenty years.  The plan covers roughly 400 acres near Tanglewood Mall, looking at housing, retail, transportation needs and more.  The original plan was passed in 2016, but revised this year.  

There's a free community block party in Roanoke tonight.  Members of a church in New Jersey are in town to work with Habitat for Humanity of the Roanoke Valley.  They're holding the block party so they can get to know the people of the community.  It runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Kennedy Park.  This is the 9th year the church has traveled to Roanoke for a work trip and the third year for the block party.

The case of a Virginia teen, suing his school system over its transgender bathroom policy returns to court today in Norfolk.  Gavin Grimm sued the Gloucester County School Board, after it adopted a policy saying students cannot use the restroom corresponding to their gender identity.  A federal judge ruled last year, that the school board violated Grimm's rights when it banned him from using the boys' bathroom.  The U.S. Supreme Court did not hear the case after the Trump administration reversed an Obama-era decision saying students should be allowed to choose.  The judge could enter a final judgement, ruling on if there was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.