A raccoon broke into a closed Virginia liquor store and drank alcohol from the bottom shelves over the weekend.

An immersion program that helps preserve an Alaska Native language has been a boon to children displaced by last month's severe flooding in western Alaska.

It’s been more than 50 years since a passenger train last stopped in Bedford County, but new funding could bring Amtrak service back to town. Bedford received nearly $1.5 million in federal grant money to fund environmental studies and preliminary design work for a potential passenger rail station.

Population growth drives a surge in apartment development across Roanoke, with downtown experiencing significant expansion through projects like The Bower, which opened its doors last year.

Malaya Grace Hammond is among the latest fatalities identified from the Texas floods.

Friday night family and friends gathered to remember 40-year-old Meagan Martin, whose body was found earlier this week outside a home on Downing Street

Search warrant documents reveal new details in Meagan Martin homicide investigation

This afternoon, Roanoke Police arrested 45-year-old Joshua Presley, for second-degree murder in connection with Martin’s death.

A Rockbridge County woman was just moments away from losing a thousand dollars in a jury duty scam — but an alert clerk helped keep that from happening.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a yearslong legal battle over an FBI raid on the wrong Atlanta house.

Roanoke City is proposing increasing its meals tax by 1.5%, which could increase the cost of eating out.

Roanoke businesses, like Martin's Downtown and Six and Sky, are preparing for a bustling Saint Patrick’s Day celebration despite concerns about severe weather potentially impacting the events.

After two days of dredging, a crane has pulled a Ford station wagon from the Columbia River that officials believe belonged to an Oregon family who disappeared while on a trip 66 years ago.

Authorities are pulling submerged vehicles from the Columbia River, including a car thought to have belonged to a Portland couple who vanished in 1958 while out for a drive with their three daughters.

The Rail Yard Dawgs extended their win streak to four games on Saturday night.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps defended the four drivers racing for the Cup Series championship even though others had better statistics than the finalists.

Martin Truex Jr. says he will retire from full-time racing at the end of the season.

This week’s new streaming entertainment releases include Beyoncé's “Act ll: Cowboy Carter,” a Amazon Prime docuseries about BTS member J-Hope and “Madu,” a documentary about a Nigerian boy who dreams of being a professional ballet dancer.

An elderly couple was displaced by a house fire just days before Christmas. Now, the Hillsville community is stepping in to help.

If you still haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, the clock is ticking.

A law enforcement official says the gunman who killed three people and critically wounded a fourth in an attack at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas was a professor who unsuccessfully sought a job at the school.

A person familiar with the trade says the Philadelphia 76ers have traded James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers.

There's an election for governor next month in Kentucky, and voters are trying to decide between Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican Daniel Cameron, the state attorney general.

John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and George R.

Artificial intelligence imaging can be used to create art, try on clothes in virtual fitting rooms or help design advertising campaigns.

Warner Bros.

Bars, restaurants, and other businesses are getting ready for one of the largest celebrations of the year in Roanoke.

In the early morning hours, behind a pub in Florida, Nancy Martin’s life changed forever.

The last time this happened was in 2001 with Hurricanes Michelle and Noel

Housing has long been a major benefit for service members, a subsidy to salaries that trail the private sector.

A mysterious tale about Christiansburg women will come to life on the screen in a new true-crime drama called “I, Miss Virginia.”

The ownership of the Chicago Cubs says it will make a bid to buy Premier League club Chelsea.

This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highly recommends trick-or-treating outside in small groups and avoiding crowded indoor Halloween parties.

The interactive photography studio provides content creation solutions to professional and personal creators in and around the Martinsville community.

Like many parents, Tiffany Martin says she received an online link from school leaders with bus information. However, their family’s information was incomplete, so she filled out a complaint and was forced to pick up her children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging all pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Sinkovic brothers won gold in men's pair, and Ireland won its first Olympic rowing gold in lightweight men's double sculls.

BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – Bedford Public Library System and Bedford 4-H are teaming up to create hands-on learning opportunities for kids. This month, Bedford 4-H is teaching a STEM science water education series that explores flooding, pollution, irrigation, water conservation and the different ways we use water. The series aligns with Virginia SOLs and more importantly gives kids another learning opportunity outside of virtual learning. It’s more than just learning the knowledge but it’s putting it into practice,” said Maribeth Martin, 4-H youth development extension agent for Bedford County. The series is only being offered at Bedford Public Library’s central location and forest recreation center for space to social distance.

ROANOKE, Va. – Once again, due to the coronavirus, Roanoke has canceled its St. Patrick’s Day festivities. “It’s by far our busiest day of the year, I mean hands down,” said Jason Martin, the owner of Martin’s Downtown. Downtown Roanoke Inc. announced Monday that it’s canceling the city’s annual parade and Shamrock Festival, citing current restrictions. Business owners will be thankful for any kind of boost right now, but even more thankful when things return to normal. “I think our goal is to weather the storm,” Broyles said.

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The roster of teams continues to grow as people across Virginia get ready for this year’s Special Olympics Polar Plunge. Some of the teams participating in the 2021 Plunge have partnered with Special Olympics for years, including several fraternities and sororities from Virginia Tech and Radford University. “We’ve been really, really blessed to still be able to work with Special Olympics regularly, weekly, still see the athletes’ faces,” said Erin Upton, service officer for XDA. In years past, XDA members took part in a variety of sports with Special Olympics athletes. “In the past, XDA has worked with athletes and Special Olympics to do a variety of sports from swimming to bowling and everything in between,” Upton said.

FILE - In this March 11, 2015, file photo, then-Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew speaks during a news conference in Allen Park, Mich. Washington has hired Martin Mayhew to be its new general manager. The hiring of Mayhew makes Washington the only team in the NFL with a Black team president and GM. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)Ron Rivera bulked up his front office Friday, hiring Martin Mayhew to be Washington's general manager and Marty Hurney to serve as executive vice president of football and player personnel. Mayhew joins Washington after four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. Marty has a proven track record as a successful scout and general manager and will be a vital part of shaping our roster."

The Washington Football Team now has a new general manager. Martin Mayhew will now be at the helm, according to an announcement from the team made Friday morning. Mayhew has 20 seasons of NFL experience and was general manager of the Detroit Lions for eight seasons. He also played on the Washington Football Team from 1989 to 1992 and was on the Super Bowl XXVI team. “Martin is a proven general manager who will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the organization,” said Head Coach Ron Rivera.

ROANOKE, Va. – New COVID-19 restrictions are now in effect across Virginia, limiting what people can do as we head into the holidays. After starting to build back a little normalcy over the last couple of months, new restrictions are bringing new challenges for the hotel. “Now it’s really back to really quiet,” Wells said. “It’s going to cost us tens of thousands of dollars a week,” Martin said. “It’s been painful to do, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much we try to enforce stuff to keep people distanced and safe, it doesn’t seem to matter,” Martin said.

Still, any fragment of possibility is enough for some Trump supporters to reject reality, feel aggrieved and rebuff Biden's calls for unity. Several Trump supporters interviewed by The Associated Press in recent days were rankled by widespread celebrations of Biden's win in liberal cities. They saw hypocrisy in the public, outdoor gatherings after Democrats condemned Trump supporters for attending big rallies — some were held indoors — during the coronavirus pandemic. Piotrowski, like many Trump supporters, wants to see Trump’s legal challenges continue. Unlike many Trump supporters, Michelle Sassouni wasn't shocked by the outcome of the election or the aftermath.

ROANOKE, Va. – In a year full of fright, Halloween is presenting a new predicament: to party during a pandemic or not. “The big event just felt too big for right now and the right thing, it just felt like the right thing to do was just kind of pull back,” Martin said. “We wrestled with it and knock on wood, everything up-to-date has been pretty successful,” said Bryan Summerson, president of Big Lick Brewing Company. Big Lick Brewing Company is still celebrating Halloween thanks to outdoor space and guidelines they’ve been enforcing for months. Big Lick Entertainment in conjunction with the Berglund Center is also implementing strict policies to keep its outdoor celebration safe.

SANTA FE, N.M. – “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin won't be able to build a seven-sided, castle-style library at his compound in Santa Fe that drew objections from neighbors. The city's Historic Districts Review Board on Tuesday denied a request to allow Martin to exceed the building height limit in the historic district where he lives, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. “It is a medieval castle, and I don’t understand how we could possibly approve it in this style,” board member Frank Katz said. “The fact remains that the proposed building is still a prominent castle in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Santa Fe,” the letter said.

RINER, Va. – Under the VHSL’s Phase 2 guidelines, Auburn High School volleyball practice was pretty quiet. “We couldn’t touch a ball at all, we had to be 10 feet apart, we were pretty much just conditioning,” junior Anna McGuire said. Recently, Montgomery County agreed to move forward with the new Phase 3 guidelines, allowing the use of shared equipment. “I was super excited to actually be able to play even though its just hitting and passing,” junior Allyson Martin said. “You get to get out and see your friends every day so that’s fun, and we get to touch a volleyball and that’s what we love,” McGuire finished.

Restaurants across the commonwealth are preparing for a sight they haven’t seen in months: customers dining inside. Under Phase One guidelines, they’ve been limited to outdoor seating at half capacity. Martin’s was able to add temporary outdoor seating to get by, but the once-bustling restaurant has been empty inside for months now. Outdoor seating at Martin’s only runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, Tuco’s will expand its outdoor seating, adding more tables in the parking lot.

DETROIT Joe Biden has hired a national director for voter protection, a role his campaign says will focus broadly on voter rights, including the disenfranchisement of people of color amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Martin, who has a strong background in voter protection work, previously worked as chief operating officer of the Democratic National Committee and the DNC's director of civic engagement and voter protection. The push for voter protection rights has only intensified in recent weeks, after some primary elections, including Milwaukee's on April 7, sparked concern that voters were forced to wait in long lines to cast their ballots. Voter protection will play a central role in Biden's overall election strategy, the campaign said, noting that several states over the past few years have passed laws relating to voter ID and purges of voter rolls that could make it harder for people to vote. Last year, Georgia made national headlines when it purged nearly 309,000 voter registrations from the states voting rolls.

ROANOKE, Va. – Michael Brown is wanted for murder and considered armed and dangerous. While they want to arrest him, Amy Martin and other members of the “We Support Justice For Michael Brown” Facebook group hope he keeps up his life on the run. The Facebook group was created Sunday and had more than 365 members by Thursday evening. In a statement, the creator of the Facebook group said the group was created to encourage Brown to stay safe and to let him know people want to hear his side of the story. According to King, Brown being portrayed as someone people can sympathize with and the 'instant celebrity’ status of suspects in cases like this are reasons why Brown is getting so much support.

HENRICO, Va. – A McDonald’s employee in Virginia was attacked on the job -- from the drive-thru window. On Nov. 9, a man and a woman approached the drive-thru window and within seconds, started wailing on the employee in the window. “That is crazy, that is really crazy,” said Wallace Washington, a McDonald`s customer. “I guess that’s the world we live in now.”“Oh my goodness that’s crazy, what’s going on?,” said Regina Martin, another McDonald`s customer. “I hope they catch them, that’s bad that’s terrible,” said Martin.

AMHERST, Va. - Five Amherst county deputies received lifesaving awards on Monday. Martin and three others were on the scene of a bad car accident on Route 29 in Amherst. Martin said he arrived on scene first and put a tourniquet on the driver's leg of the Ford pickup truck. Another deputy held the neck of the other driver in the four-door sedan to keep him breathing until paramedics arrived. Micah Stephens was also recognized for bringing a heart attack victim back to life.

(CNN) - There could be more winter coming to HBO, with another "Game of Thrones" prequel potentially advancing to the pilot stage. Martin is working on a project set roughly 300 years before events depicted in the series, according to Deadline. HBO has already produced another related pilot that takes place thousands of years before "Game of Thrones," starring Naomi Watts. Additional spinoffs of the series were placed in development when HBO learned that "Thrones" would be ending, as the cable network -- like CNN, a unit of WarnerMedia -- sought to retain a connection to its most popular franchise. Martin has periodically kept fans abreast of possible additions to the "Game of Thrones" mythology via his blog.

CNN VideoWIILMINGTON, North Carolina (CNN) - A doggy play date in a North Carolina pond turned tragic after three pups died from toxic algae. Melissa Martin and Denise Mintz took their beloved dogs Abby, Izzy and Harpo to a pond in Wilmington on Thursday night to cool off. She said she didn't see any signs warning of toxic algae near the pond, which sits next to a popular walking trail. It's her mission now, she says, to erect signs about toxic waters and warn pet owners about the blooms. Blue-green algae is most common in the summerToxic algae blooms are more likely to infest bodies of fresh water when the weather is warm and waters are stagnant, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Just hours later all three dogs were dead, their owners lives now shattered, according to WECT. What is Blue-green algae? Their sudden and tragic deaths were caused by blue-green algae. Exposure to this toxic algae is often fatal, as it was in the case of Abby, Izzy, and Harpo. Now, Martin and Mintz plan to work towards ensuring more people know about the dangers of blue-green algae.

ROANOKE - Pay what you can to get your hair done. That is the new policy at Nissi Salon in Roanoke off Orange Avenue. She is still operating the salon as a business but will not charge for services. You can donate after you get your hair done or just come in and donate so someone else can get a little pampering. A lot of people testified that they feel different when they leave and they feel blessed when they leave," said Martin.