Good morning, Roanoke.

Total Action for Progress held its State of TAP address at Melrose Plaza today and honored Renee Brown of DePaul Community Services with the 2026 Cabell Brand Hope Award for leadership on behalf of children and families, while naming Lindsay Fitzgerald and Jessica Jackson as 2026 Success of the Year recipients.

The Roanoke Foodshed Network is launching a Farmer Emergency Fund to raise at least $25,000 and attract a matching donor.

It kicks off with a benefit concert at the Floyd Country Store on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6:30 to 9 p.m.; album sales and donations will support the fund.

FloydFest 27 (Echoes) will run July 22 to July 25, 2027, at the festival site off Bent Mountain Road in Floyd County, and ticket packages plus the initial lineup will go on sale Thursday, Nov.

5 at noon.

Several longtime Roanoke restaurants have closed as rising costs squeeze small owners, and leaders say new projects (Google and Ringana) could bring workers and customers later this year, so officials urge restaurants to prepare to capture that growth.

Damascus is seeing more bikers and new shops as the Creeper Trail is being rebuilt; the lower trail is open now and the full trail will reopen March 31.

The upper section is under a $240 million U.S. Forest Service rebuilding contract.

Roanoke City Public Schools officials warn the district could receive about $6 million less in state funding this school year after Sept.

30 enrollment dropped to about 12,217 (roughly 500 fewer than expected), with an estimated 300 students shifting to Roanoke County and about 90 to Salem, and staff say mid-year budget adjustments may be needed.

Coursey Springs Fish Hatchery in Bath County lost about 130,000 trout after a recirculation pump failed overnight, and staff buried the fish; 11 nearby counties (Alleghany to Fauquier) will get fewer stockings through the end of spring, and the state will shift fish from other hatcheries and increase feeding and treatments to mitigate losses.

Local leaders in Central Virginia — including Botetourt near Roanoke — should require clear answers now about site setbacks, noise limits, water and sewer capacity, permanent jobs, and who will pay for power upgrades before approving data center projects.

Roanoke County neighbors are asking the county & VDOT to install guardrails and other safety improvements on a steep mountain road near I-81, and officials plan to review the petition.

WDBJ7’s Here @ Home devoted an hour in October to breast cancer awareness, with clinicians from Carilion and Lewis-Gale and family nurse practitioner Alison Walker explaining screenings and risk factors, patient Megan Jackson sharing her experience, and Roanoke boutique Second to Nature outlining post-mastectomy fittings (bras, prostheses, compression garments).