If you're going to a game tonight, prepare to bundle up. Here's what weather journalist Kevin Myatt says to expect:
"Cloudy, damp and chilly ... temperatures mostly in the 40s. Snowflakes are not impossible in colder areas mainly west of I-81."
For more weather news, see Kevin's Weather Journal blog.
As always, though, take pictures! You can share at newriver@roanoke.com.
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors meets at 7:15 p.m. Here's the agenda.
Shawna Morrison
SHAWSVILLE — When Master Deputy Chris Lucas asked a Shawsville Elementary School class what they had learned during their first day of the DARE program, hands flew up.
“Don’t smoke.”
“Don’t chew tobacco.”
“Don’t be drunk.”
“How to make good decisions.”
In one day, the fifth-graders had already learned the gist of much of what Lucas was going to spend the next nine weeks teaching.
Lucas — who taught DARE at Price’s Fork Elementary School for 10 years before adding Shawsville, Elliston-Lafayette and Belview elementary schools this year — is good at connecting with children.
It’s part of what earned him the Mike Bentowski DARE Officer of the Year Award from the Virginia DARE Officers Association in July.
“I was pretty flattered,” Lucas said. “There’s a lot of folks who are probably more deserving than I am.”
Lucas, who works for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, tries hard to drive home to fifth-graders the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use and how to resist peer pressure.
At the same time, he manages to become their buddy.
He gives them high-fives. He gets down on his knees to talk to them. He eats lunch and plays kickball with them.
In the letter she wrote to nominate Lucas for the Officer of the Year award, Jenna Swann, a fifth-grade teacher at Price’s Fork Elementary, wrote, “I believe in the lessons taught, but no matter how great the lessons are, they cannot reach troubled children or make a difference in all of our children’s lives unless the DARE officer teaching them inspires, motivates, and excites.
“This is exactly what Chris Lucas does.”
She included in her nomination a comment from the DARE essay Nathan Hjulstrom wrote last year when he was a fifth-grader at Price’s Fork. Hjulstrom said Lucas “has the playfulness of a kindergartner, the respect of an adult, and the love of a huge stuffed teddy bear all rolled into one.”
“Chris has a remarkable talent for relating to all types of audiences, especially kids,” said Montgomery County Lt. Brian Wright.
Lucas said he thinks DARE — Drug Abuse Resistance Education — classes are effective.
“I tell all of our kids that at some point in time they’re going to be faced with a situation where they’re going to have to make some type of decision about whether to do something or not to do something,” Lucas said. “You can’t get that message out early enough.”
Another benefit to DARE, Lucas said, is that the program allows children to meet a law enforcement officer.
Some youngsters, he said, will greet him right away. Others are shy around officers.
Senior Trooper Gene Ayers of the Virginia State Police, the state’s DARE coordinator, said he doesn’t know how many times he has heard a parent say to a child, “There’s a police officer. If you’re not good, he’s going to lock you up.”
One girl began to cry as soon as she saw Lucas at Elliston-Lafayette, saying she was scared of police, he said. He went to talk to her.
“She said, 'I thought you were going to shoot me,’ ” Lucas said. “I told her, 'I’m your friend.’ ”
The next time she saw Lucas, the girl high-fived him.
That sort of interaction, Lucas said, helps children trust their school resource officers when they enter middle school. He also stops by the preschool through fourth-grade classes at each school to introduce himself to the children and make sure they know how to dial 911.
Lucas, a 41-year-old Blacksburg native, has been with the sheriff’s office since Jan. 1, 1997. He began teaching DARE 10 years ago. He worked as a school resource officer at Christiansburg Middle School until a Christiansburg police officer took over this year.
Now, Lucas is one of two full-time crime prevention officers at the sheriff’s office.
Lucas is also running the department’s Citizens Police Academy. The father of two boys, 11-year-old Aaron and 8-year-old Jacob, he helps coach football and baseball.
He is also a tournament bass fisherman — with a room full of trophies — and is the director of the Angler’s Choice Marine Team Tournament at Smith Mountain Lake.
Part of what makes Lucas a good DARE officer is his natural ability to communicate with children, teenagers and adults, Ayers said.
“He is one of the fellows that I’ve always looked at as a strong DARE officer,” he said, even when Lucas went through the two-week class required to teach DARE several years ago.
Now, he is working to become a DARE mentor to teach other DARE officers. He spent a week late last month in Kansas City, Mo., taking class all day and doing several hours worth of homework each night. He will shadow another mentor for two weeks, then will be shadowed while he mentors before he becomes certified.
Lucas said it’s rewarding to watch a group of fifth-graders complete the DARE program, knowing they may be better prepared to face tough decisions.
“If you touch the life of just one, it’s worth it,” Lucas said. “But I think, by far, you touch the lives of many others.”
It's nearly mid-season, and our Varsity Cast center for high school sports has three new webcasts up looking at the season so far.
One looks at the top teams -- undefeated Eastern Montgomery gets a lot of attention there.
Another looks at the top players so far -- with special attention paid to Eastern Montgomery's Shawn Christian.
You can find them here. What do you think of the season -- or seasons -- so far? You can leave a comment below.
A defense technology firm will relocate from Roanoke to Blacksburg, Montgomery County has announced in a press release:
Cobham Sensor Systems will relocate its manufacturing, research and development operations from Roanoke to the Technology Manufacturing Building in the Blacksburg Industrial Park.
Cobham acquired M/A-COM’s defense business in 2008, including the Roanoke facility, and will lease 50,000-square-feet of office, laboratory and manufacturing space. The move is expected to bring 90 jobs to the facility with a total $7 million invested in its relocation and expansion over the coming 12 months.
“The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors is extremely pleased to see Cobham leasing space in this high-tech building,” said Board Chair Annette Perkins. “This is a first-class company with global operations. It is a great example of the high paying, targeted industries the County strives to attract.”
Cobham Defense Systems is a division of the British defense contractor Cobham plc, which generates more than $2.1 billion in annual sales and employs 12,000 people worldwide. This division develops and manufactures critical technology for the aerospace and defense industries.
It is also the world leader in advanced digital military vehicle tactical communications systems, soldier situation awareness and integrated navigation management tools.
“With the leasing of this fantastic facility, Cobham is relocating its operations from the ITT Building in Roanoke,” said Greg Caires, Vice President Media Relations. “This expansion in the Greater Roanoke and New River Valley Regions will enable Cobham to retain all of our operations in the region and allow opportunities for future growth.”
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors meets tonight. Here's the agenda.
An wreck near Christiansburg sent four people to a hospital early Saturday morning.
We have more details here.
Despite various rumors spreading on the online social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, the Montgomery County Animal Shelter in Christiansburg will not be closing Wednesday.
Messages appearing on these outlets Tuesday stated that the no-kill shelter would close Wednesday and those interested could adopt pets there for free.
Ruth Richey, public information director of Montgomery County, cleared up these rumors stating that they were not true and that there was a mix-up of information with another animal shelter, the Montgomery County Texas Humane Society.
There are media reports that the shelter there will be closing.
Convicted murderer William Morva has lost an appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
The state's high court today issued an opinion affirming Morva's capital murder convictions and death sentences.
Reporter Shawna Morrison has more on this story.
The regular meeting starts at 7:15 p.m.
Here's the agenda.
