Government and Politics Affordable Housing: Questioning the Meaning of Zero and the Importance of the Caper Report The PowerPoint presenting the annual report was left out in a sparsely attended City Council meeting, with no mention of the many zeros filling out this year’s scorecard for federal Affordable Housing initiatives.
Healthcare Roanoke Just Got $6.25 Million to Rip the Lead Out of Its Oldest Houses. Here's What That Actually Means The city already knows where the poison lives. The question was always whether it had the money to go get it.
Happenings Happenings: The Only Roanoke Events Calendar You'll Ever Need. Week of 9/9 to 9/16. We scoured community calendar, so you didn’t have to. From live music to theatre, lectures to shows, we’ve got you covered.
Sponsored Post Investing in Roanoke’s Future: Freedom First Powers New Downtown Concert Venue, Restaurant and Hotel A music hall, Spanish restaurant and boutique hotel are reviving a historic Downtown Roanoke building, thanks to Freedom First Credit Union financing.
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Literature Artemis 2026 celebrates its 50th anniversary since beginning in 1977 publishing over 3k poems The stars were shining brightly over the Star City Friday evening as poets, artists, community leaders, and lovers of the arts gathered at the Taubman Museum of Art to celebrate a remarkable milestone: the 50th anniversary of the Artemis Journal.
Addiction A Purple Box Next to the AED: How Roanoke's Neighbors Are Racing Fentanyl to a Draw In gas stations, libraries and high school hallways across the New River Valley, a video-guided naloxone kit is turning bystanders into first responders. What the ONEbox rollout means for Roanoke, where overdose deaths have been cut in half but still take a life almost every week.
Healthcare From Lab to Patient: Can Roanoke Build a Medicine From Start to Finish? Inside a new manufacturing facility in Roanoke, something ordinarily found in a refrigerator is being prepared for a far more ambitious purpose.
Social Issues An Ounce of Creative Prevention is Worth a Pound in Police Enforcement As a victory for local activism changes the city’s safety conversation, grassroots public murals demonstrate how altering Roanoke’s physical surroundings can organically help in securing our streets.
Happenings Happenings: The Roanoke Rambler Events Calendar 9/2 to 9/9. Find something to do in our comprehensive weekly calendar.
Education A Kindergartner's Scary 17 Minutes, A Superintendent's Last "First Day," and What the Numbers Say about Roanoke's Back-To-School Reset On the child's second day of school at Round Hill Elementary, a five-year-old boy named D’Terrion walked out to what he thought was pickup. Instead, he climbed onto a bus. He was a car rider, not a bus rider, he wasn't supposed to
Education The Hidden Threat to Roanoke's Digital Infrastructure Recent school cyber incidents are highlighting a broader challenge as hospitals, utilities and public services rely more heavily on connected technology.
Government and Politics Roanoke's Grand Dame in the Crosshairs: A Casino Fight, a Hidden NDA, and a Former Mayor's Warning Two of Roanoke's signature civic institutions are moving through pivotal, and separate, legal processes right now, and a former mayor is publicly asking whether they're more connected than City Hall is letting on.
Happenings Happenings: The Roanoke Rambler Events Calendar 8/25 to 9/8. Looking for something to do? Find numerous options in our Happenings calendar.
Happenings Happenings: The Only Roanoke Events Calendar You’ll Ever Need. Week of 8/19 to 8/26. We checked event Calanders, so you don't have to. As always, confirm times directly with the venue in case of last-minute changes.
Social Issues Too Many Mics and Not Enough MCs Deskchair, Phone Quarterbacks and the Blueprint for Lasting Progressive Wins in Roanoke
Food and Culture The Restaurant Math Behind Downtown Roanoke's Quiet Comeback Ask three business owners across three streets in downtown Roanoke what happened to their block this year, and you'll get the same undercurrent: something closed here, something else opened there, and nobody's quite sure yet which trend wins.
Policing Barricade on Bandy Road Ends Peacefully, Roanoke's Crime Numbers Tell a More Complicated Story A 59-year-old man is in custody after a five-hour standoff that ended without a shot fired. It's also a snapshot of a city that says its crime rate is falling — even as one alarming incident after another keeps testing that claim.
Climate Crisis Roanoke's Drought Is Getting Worse While the rest of Virginia's drought map turns from red to yellow, one number keeps sinking: the water level at Carvins Cove.
Travel Roanoke Memorial's Belleview Closure Will Stretch Into 2027, Hospital Confirms West Pavilion brick repair project won't wrap until summer 2027, more than two years after the street first shut down.
Neighborhoods Have Your Quesadilla and Eat It Too Inside the week in Old Southwest where progressive anti-ICE virality collided with a boozy arrest record and an ill-timed fundraiser, exposing the stark local divide between performative internet outrage and real grassroots immigrant defense. Roanoke, VA Author: Roanoke Rambler Staff, Hart Fowler Lead Published: 12:41 AM EST