Virginia AG Defends New Gun Laws, Roanoke's Gunshot Sensor Scandal Deepens | Roanoke Valley's Morning News – June 24, 2026
Showing mention at 0:51 — highlighted below
Transcript
37 segmentsThis is the Roanoke Valley's morning news with Joey Self on WFIR, Roanoke. Beautiful start to the morning here. We have sunshine right now at 58 degrees. After a brief lull in heat and humidity, both are on the rise over the next several days. And our top local story this hour, the Commonwealth's Attorney General says gun bill signed into law by the governor and not an attack on responsible gun owners. We get details. WFIR's clock Palmer. As we were previously reported here on WFIR, legislation scheduled to go into effect on July 1st would create standards of responsible conduct for firearm industry members and would allow civil lawsuits against the firearm industry should those standards be violated. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones used a press conference in Richmond this week to say that gun industry members who are negligent should be held accountable for their actions. Accountability is not a radical idea. Accountability makes up the foundation of our legal system. We expect accountability from individuals. We expect accountability from our government. And we should expect accountability from industries whose decisions have impacted and affected the health and safety of those that we love and hold so dear. Joe says he wants to make one thing perfectly clear. This law does not target responsible gun ownership. This is not about shutting down responsible Virginia businesses who follow the law and take seriously their responsibility to keep guns out of the wrong hands. In fact, responsible gun dealers should welcome accountability because they're already doing the right thing every single day. Gun rights groups have called on Attorney General Jay Jones to punish those who commit gun violence, not gunmakers. Claude Palmer, WFIRE News. Coming up analysis of the state budget as it stands. And the latest on those gunshot detection devices being found in the wrong places in Roanoke and Joey Self. Eidim, Ian Price, still ahead. Searchers looking for a missing Washington Lee alumnus have a new area of focus after a possible unconfirmed siting in one region of Peru. Today is a hometown home run. Hise this afternoon max out in the low to mid-80s with some clear skies. Humidity tapers off as well, so we'll be feeling comfortable in every... sense of the word today. Overnight lows cool down to the 50s, but the cool down doesn't last for long. Thursday brings some sizzling air in the low to mid-90s, and humidity is on the rise once again. We look to stay dry during the daytime hours tomorrow and into the evening. From WDBJ7, I'm First Alert meteorologist Ava Herrera on WFIR. All right. Traffic low looks good. Right now we have sunshine 58 degrees. More news, sending in price. Joey, some Virginia Republicans say the new state budget falls short on one major issue, affordability. House Minority Leader Joe McNamara argued lawmakers did little to address rising costs for Virginians. Radford University Political Science Chair Chapman Rackaway says McNamara from our area has a point, but with a catch. It kind of supersedes a lot of that. So any stuff that we would do here in Virginia. focused on affordability is going to be at the margins. So does McNamara have a point? Absolutely. Are the state legislators and governor, regardless of which party is in power, somewhat handcuffed by the larger national dynamics of the economy? Also, yes.
Rackaway says any state level affordability measures are limited because Virginia's economy has tied to national economic forces lawmakers in Richmond can't control. And Governor Abigail Spanberger says she now plans to propose some amendments to the budget, which she describes as largely technical and requested by legislators. The city of Roanoke says a data entry error is to blame for 16 gunshot detection sensors being installed at locations. City Council never approved. One resident discovered a device mounted in our own yard last week and said an officer who responded did not initially recognize what it was. City Councilman Nick Hagan, the Republican on Council, who first learned of the problem from a Reddit post, says the breakdown raises serious questions about oversight since the devices remain in constant listening standby mode. Renoke Delegates, Amber Soule says the city should remove the surveillance technology altogether rather than simply pause installation. The city says the vendor, Flock, is covering the cost of removing and reinstalling the misplaced devices. And that contracts with the company were actually signed back in November months before counsel's April vote on encroachment permits. A former Allegheny Highlands public schools employee is serving time after admitting she gave alcohol and vapes to minors at her home. Ravenham was convicted of three counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing alcohol to someone under 21. She's serving a four-month sentence. The school division says it placed Ham on leave once it learned of the investigation in April and terminated her contract in May. Sixth District Congressman Ben Klein says Congress should take a closer look at how the NFL sells access to its games. Renov Gary Congressman Ben Klein recently questioned witnesses during a House hearing focused on sports broadcasting and antitrust issues. Witness Clay Travis, who listeners may recognize from our airwaves, told lawmakers concerns about NFL Sunday ticket pricing have already drawn scrutiny from the courts. I think the fact that a jury and a court have been examining this issue, again, kind of speaks to your ability and your opportunity on behalf of constituents across the political spectrum to try to make their favorite sport. more affordable and ensure that they're not getting gouged in the process. That feels like a very legitimate perspective given that you guys have already interjected yourself into this with the 1961 Act. It feels incumbent upon Congress to address this. The legal fight is still pending in federal appeals court after a 2024 jury verdict against the NFL was later set aside. Live in the WFIR News Center, I'm Ian Price.
All right, coming up this morning, more of your top local news that missing college alum from our region could have been abducted. The latest on the search in South America. A lot to get to in sports in a couple of minutes. This is WFIR. Depend on it. The Play and Buck Show. Weekdays noon to 3 on WFIR. Virginia DMV Star City Motor Madness, presented by Bergland Automotive this Friday, a party of the Virginia Museum of Transportation 5 to 9. Cars show this Saturday, downtown Roller 10 to 4, details StarCity Motor Madness.com. Sunday today and 84. Right now, Sunny a 50 gate back over 2 in Price. Joey searchers looking for missing Washington and Lee alumnus Ian Trager have a new area of focus after a possible unconfirmed siding in Peru's Agassanda mountain region. Trager's mother, Michelle Ludwig, says teams are now searching from both sides of that mountain. And Trager was last heard from May 13th while hiking in the Kuska region. Ludwig says if extensive searching turns up no sign of her son. The case could shift from a search and rescue effort to an abduction investigation. The family is asking anyone with information about Trayker's whereabouts or travel plans to come forward. Feeding Southwest Virginia celebrated its 45th anniversary last month after launching as a TAP program before spinning off to set-up shop in Salem with a satellite warehouse in far Southwest Virginia. Now the Food Bank's president and CEO is winding down her tenure. Spending those same 45 years. More from WFIR's Bernie Moreno. President and CEO Pamela Irvine has had several different titles, and so has feeding America, Southwest Virginia, but the mission has always been the same, providing food to those facing hunger, the food insecure. At the most recent strategic planning session with the board of directors, there was a revelation. But in our last strategic plan, the first sentence of our mission statement is nourish our neighbors. As we continue to do our work, we realized that many. Many of our neighbors that were fed through the programs, either our direct programs, partner agencies, had health issues. Some of that was driven by their lack of availability or cost associated with better food. Now Pamela Irvine, who drives more than 50 miles from her home in Covington to the Feeding Southwest Virginia offices and warehouse in Salem for work, is getting set to retire at the end of the year. It comes amid challenges to keep the warehouse and pantries fully stocked. Our agencies are seeing more people and less resources and the economy, right, in 2008, when you think about our service area.
textile furniture, coal mine, tobacco. And when those industries started collapsing, it became a crisis situation for us economically to try to address those issues. Today, feeding Southwest Virginia says it distributes more than 20 million pounds of food annually to around 400 partners in local pantries. Pam Irvine says the board will lead to search for her replacement. Jean Morano, WFIR News. Jane Morgan Harris was a nurse almost a century ago who realize the need for more health care services in the Roanoke Valley that served women and those of limited means. Her base of operations was a farmhouse that was located on what is now the Friendship Richfield Living Salem campus. Yesterday they dedicated the Jane Morgan Harris Daylily Garden in her honor at Ridgefield. That's according to Kim Braditch, the executive director of advancement. I don't know if we're always appreciating the history that is alive here in Southwest Virginia, but to have Jane Morgan Harris, again, a female pioneer in health care back from the 1930s be a part of our legacy is absolutely outstanding to be able to embrace that through this garden. Jane Morgan Harris was inspired to help create a better health care safety net after helping a mother give birth in an abandoned gas station. The garden dedicated in her name at Friendship Salem includes hundreds of varieties of blooming plants. You're never more than 10 minutes from local news. Morning's here on WFIR. I'm Ian Price. 716. We go to sports basketball where the Washington Wizard, selected forward A.J. Debats of BYU, the first pick in the NBA draft. Utah, followed by choosing Darren Peterson from Kansas. Memphis took Duke's camera boost at third. Final round, the draft is tonight. WNBA this evening, we have Minnesota, Washington, Phoenix, and Indiana. Baseball and Carolina Lake Hickbury, Overhill City, 11 to 10, and Myrtle Beach beat Salem 7 to 2 in the opening game of the six-game series in Salem. Braden Shag voice, Sillard Sala, Salem Ridge Jack, says Myrtle Beach catcher Logan Boteep has been on a homer's streak of late, and he added to it yesterday in Salem. The decisive blow would come for Myrtle Beach, the top of the seventh. Eli Lovitch drew a one-out walk for Logan Potee, who has homered in three straight ball games, and he does what he does best. 2-0. Swinging a fly ball down the left field line. This ball is absolutely tattooed off the bat of Logan Pote. And Poteet has left the yard for a fourth consecutive ball game. Floodgates have opened for Myrtle Beach. It's now a 6 to 1 lead on the 14th home run of the season for Logan Poteet.
And game two of that six game series. On the way tonight, first pitch 635 in Salem. Avalanche League Fulaski by Johnson City, 9 to 4. Big leagues, Boston, Colorado, 5, 2, Angels over the Orioles 5-1. Yankees, Edge, Detroit, 4 to 3, Philly to Washington, 14 to 9, San Diego by Atlanta. It was 7 to 6. Hockey, the NHL draft set to start Friday in Buffalo. Toronto with the first pick, the Caps with two picks in the first round, 16th and 18th. Carolina will go 31st. Word that Edmonton has hired Mike Babcock as head coach. He'll make his return to the league after more than six years. And reports say the NHL is exploring expansion in the state of Texas, focusing on Houston or Austin. The league last expanded in 2021 in Seattle. Soccer World Cup winners Tuesday, Portugal, Croatia, Colombia. Six games today. Among the teams in action, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. Tomorrow, the U.S. plays Turkey and their final match at group play. The game 10 p.m. Eastern from California. World Cup is packing plenty of surprise outcomes with matches taking place into July across the U.S., Canada, Mexico. FIFA President Gianni Infantino joined Fox and Friends to talk about the huge turnout. for this World Cup. Bigger than anything the world has ever seen, not just any soccer or football event, but any event in any way. It's the most successful event in history. NASCAR, the Cup Series Sunday at Sonoma, and Virginia Tech will formally introduce the vice president, director of athletics, Brian White. This morning at 10. It'll be at a press conference at Lane Stadium in S-Sports. WFIR. From the heart of Virginia's Blue Ridge, this is WFIR. Roanoke.