WFIR News Express 8-13-2026

It is Thursday, August the 13th. I'm Clark Palmer. Our top story, Roanoke's Kwanis Club is set to unveil its 26 Star of the Year later this morning. More from WFIRs, Emma Thomas. For the past six years, Roanoke's Kwanis Club's Star of the Year program has shown a spotlight on individuals whose dedications to public service have left lasting impacts on the Valley. This year's star is Nancy Howell Agee, CEO Emeritus of Carillion Clinic. A Roanoke native, Aegee began her career in health care at the age of 18 as a nursing student, working her way up through leadership positions until she became CEO of Carillion in 2011. Jean Bolandorf, past president of Roanoke's Kwanis Club, says the impact Aegee has had on the Valley can't be overstated. She really helped grow Carillion during her tenure. I mean, some amazing things have happened during the time she was CEO, the medical school. the research center, the Children's Hospital. She notes that AG's care and thought for others extends even to the star of the year dedication ceremony held in her honor. So we had the idea that we wanted to honor Nancy, and when we approached her, she agreed, but said she also wanted us to really spotlight and lift up nursing. as a whole. The star of the year plaque will bear AG's name for visitors to see until next year's star is announced. To learn more about the star of the year dedication and other projects the Kwanis Club is involved in, click the link attached to this story on WFIR News. Emma Thomas, WFIR News. U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with 14 of their Senate colleagues, urged the Trump administration to employ all means available to secure the release of five U.S. nationals who have been detained by Russia. Virginia and Charles Zimmerman is one of the five U.S. nationals currently being detained. The group, Senator, David, quote, we are deeply concerned that the current administration has yet to utilize authorities outlined in the Levinson Act to designate the U.S. nationals detained by the Russian Federation as wrongful detainees and elevate their cases. The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed new rules for the Head Start program that advocates say would eliminate classroom size limits, remove extra support services for children with disabilities, and exclude parents from key decision-making processes. Don Alt, the executive director of the Virginia Head Start Association, tells WDBJ7, overall the new plan would gradually dwindle the program down. Children and families, especially those that are disadvantaged, are not just numbers on a page. And we can't just look at this as a budgetary item in terms of how much money they think they could save. The public comment period on proposed changes ends on October the 6th. A record year for tourism spending for Virginia in 2025, up over a billion dollars from the year before. Some of that spending on lodging, meals, shopping, and the like happened just up the mountain in Floyd County, which is also hailing more than 40 honors it received in a Best of the Mountains Reader's Choice Survey. More details from WFIRS. G More details from WFIRN.

Blue Ridge Country Magazine awarded Floyd 29 platinum awards for categories like Best Country Store, Best Place to Hear Country Music, and Best Town for the Arts. Plus 12 are the gold, silver, or bronze awards as judged by readers. Director of Tourism for Floyd County, Kathleen Legg, says smaller retailers are the heart of Floyd County tourism. Floyd survives on our small businesses, put a lot in effort and pour their hearts and soul into making the visitor experience memorable. Having that honor for them means everything, and having that honor for Floyd tourism. them. This is something that we can showcase more to get more people to come to Floyd and shop at our businesses. Floyd Fest, which is now located in the heart of Floyd County in the town of Czech, earned four platinum awards from readers of Blue Ridge Country Magazine. Floyd also earned a goal that's the best town, city, or county on a bucket list. Like the Commonwealth as a whole, tourism numbers have risen in recent years. Definitely. taking up post-COVID. I think last year or maybe the year prior, they start getting a little bit slower for Floyd. But we're hoping that visitation will increase, especially with all these honors that people see that Floyd has offered. We're hoping that tourism will start continuing and increasing as well. The Blue Ridge Country Magazine, 2026 Best of the Mountains contest was divided into three regions. Floyd was part of the Upper Blue Ridge Competition. Bernie Moreno, WFIR News. The Virginia Lottery is asking residents to check for a $50,000 winning ticket that is set to expire a week from today at 5 p.m. The Powerball ticket in question, which was purchased at a Quickie Foods on Waterlick Road and Forest, won $50,000 in a February 21st drawing. The winning numbers were 27, 28, 36, 48, 48, 49, with a Powerball number of 21. A two-year $27 million project at Glencove Elementary School in Western Rona County celebrated its completion yesterday with a ribbon cutting a day before the students will be back in class, which are all now enclosed in separate walled-in rooms, replacing the outdated open classroom concept from the 1970s. A new administrative wing was added as well. Principal April Brubaker saluted the patients demonstrated by students and staff during the upgrade process. That has been magical. Multiple room changes throughout the year. Students would start in one room and then in October we would pack up that room and we would have to move it again for a phasing. Our staff worked diligently to lessen the impact on students, which meant sometimes it impacted them more where they may have an additional move in order to keep it from having the students move as much. Roneau County School Board Vice Chair Brett Hudson lauded all involvement for juggling three construction projects over the past two years, including a similar upgrade at W.E. Kundaf Elementary and the new CTE Center, which will be opening up soon. The Ronellock Valley Holistic Hub recently launched a mission to make holistic wellness more accessible to anyone who is interested. More from WFIR's, Denise Allen Mbrano. The Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub is a new website that puts information on holistic practitioners and their modalities in one central place. Founder Tara Jay Jones says the goal is to make finding information simple, everything from providers to explaining what the different modalities are. It's a free online resource. We're offering, think about, we're up to 37 different modalities now. We've got about 30 practitioners, everything from, you know, Rake.

and meditation and yoga to therapy and counseling and aromatherapy and herbalism. It's kind of amazing a variety that's represented there. She says more and more people are looking for alternative ways to heal and stay healthy. And the Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub is a gateway to that. One of our practitioners actually has a book. She does hypnotherapy for pain management, for pre and post surgery. So there's a lot of crossover. People are really... waking up to different ways of living and wanting to feel better. And we have lots and lots of folks that can help them do that. The website is offering a community giveaway, a free session with one of their providers. No purchase necessary. Just go to holistic roanoke.com to enter by the end of the month. Denise Allen Membrano, WFIR News. That's the latest. You can check back tomorrow for our next update. Clark Palmer, WFIR News.