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The Virginia Department of Transportation advises us:

Location:Roanoke (County)
Description:
On I-81 South at mile marker 142 in the County of Roanoke, motorists can expect major delays due to congestion. Traffic backups are approximately 5.0 miles.
Last Updated: 11/20/2009 17:20:14

Stephen Lee McBride

The Salem Police Department has issued the following release:

On November 20, 2009 at approximately 1am, detectives from the Salem Police Department responded to the Lewis-Gale emergency room to check on the victim of an alleged stabbing. The victim, a 37-year-old male from Roanoke, advised police that he had gone to a residence in the 900 block of Delaware St. in Salem to visit an acquaintance at approximately 12:15am.
While at the residence, the victim says he was involved in an altercation with a third, unknown subject who attacked him with a knife. The victim was stabbed multiple times in the lower torso/abdomen area and driven to the hospital by his wife. The victim was treated and later released from the hospital.
Subsequent investigation by Salem detectives led to the arrest of:
Stephen Lee McBride, Jr., age 23, of Salem. McBride was charged with one (1) count of malicious wounding. He was arrested without incident at approximately 10:30am this morning at his residence. He is being held without bond in the Roanoke County/Salem jail.
The investigation is continuing.

The Fincastle chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution honored Salem police officer Mark Stuart on Tuesday, Nov. 17, with a law enforcement commendation medal for outstanding service.

Stuart was recognized for helping to save a woman who had gone into cardiac arrest while riding her bike one day last year. Responding to the call, he found the woman unresponsive on Colorado Street and called for medics. While he waited, he performed CPR. The woman made a full recovery, for which the Sons of the American Revolution credited Stuart.

Stuart has been a police officer in Salem for 21 years.

He accepted his award during a luncheon at the Shenandoah Club where Roanoke police officer Bryan Lawrence was also recognized with a heroism medal. Lawrence was paralyzed last year while making an arrest, and his since started walking again and returned to work as a crime prevention officer.

— Amanda Codispoti

Nicholas Galloway

Kenneth Tisch

Salem police have issued the following release:

On November 13, 2009, an 18-year-old female Roanoke College student reported that she had been the victim of an assault that occurred at approximately 4:30pm on that same day inside Crawford Hall, which is located in the 200 block of College Lane in Salem.
The victim advised that she was with two (2) male students in a dorm room at that location when she was held against her will and assaulted. The victim advised that the suspects restrained her to a bed, first by holding her down, then by utilizing a pair of handcuffs. The suspects then removed some of her clothing and fondled her.
Subsequent investigation by the Salem Police Department has resulted in the following charges:
Nicholas Alexander Galloway, age 19, of Wilmington, Delaware. Galloway is a freshman at Roanoke College.
He is charged with:
- Abduction (a felony)
- Sexual Battery (a misdemeanor)
Kenneth Eugene Tisch, age 21, of Haymarket, Virginia. Tisch is a sophomore at Roanoke College.
He is also charged with:
- Abduction (a felony)
- Sexual battery (a misdemeanor)
The abduction charges are the result of the victim being forcibly held against her will. The victim did not require any medical treatment.
Both subjects were arrested in the early morning hours of November 14, 2009 at Roanoke College without incident. Both are being held in the Roanoke County/Salem jail without bond pending arraignment.

We've just updated our Roanoke Valley crime map with the latest offenses from Salem and Roanoke County -- and Roanoke, as well. This batch covers about two weeks.

From Nov. 2 to 8, police reported three burglaries, five larcenies and two aggravated assaults in Salem.

Meanwhile, between Nov. 1 and 7, Roanoke County police reported one burglary and one larceny in western Roanoke County.

In all, that's four burglaries in and around Salem during that time.

You can see a map of where those incidents took place in Salem or western Roanoke County -- or you can search the map yourself, by location, by offense or by date.

Also, the Salem Police Department provides more detailed information than other localities -- so in addition to the Roanoke Valley crime map, we have a more detailed Salem crime map you can search, as well.

Follow the links above and you can see where they were and what they were. Our data delivery editor, Matt Chittum, has more information how you can use the searchable crime maps.

Also on our Datasphere collection of searchable data: Graduation rates for every high school in the state.

The Glenvar Coalition, Glenvar High and Middle Schools' student, parent, and community prevention council, began planning their year at their meeting on Thursday night, Nov. 12.

Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 17, the teens of the Glenvar Coalition, Glenvar High and Middles Schools' student, parent, and community prevention council, will present fifth-grade parents with ideas on how to get involved with their children to prevent risky behaviors.

The high school students will begin planning the sixth annual YADAPP conference for middle schoolers 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. High schoolers from all over Southwest Virginia come together to provide a program for middle school students that emphasizes making the right choices and avoiding risky behaviors. This year's conference will be held March 27, 2010. College students, in turn, plan one for high school students statewide that is held over the summer. Glenvar High students who attended the 25th annual conference at Longwood in July 2009 were Samantha Hannabass, Tucker Hudson, and Kendall Jarvis.

This year's combined PTA meeting for Glenvar High and Glenvar Middle will be held at 7 p.m. February 22. The coalition will also present a talent show open to middle school students again this year, with the performance date of February 5.

Community members as well as students and parents are welcome to be a part of the Glenvar Coalition. Their next meeting is 11:30 a.m. Dec. 16 at the Glenvar Middle School forum. Contact Tabitha Cain at tabithaandrew@verizon.net for more information.

The Salem Prevention Planning team hosted a "town hall" meeting at the Salem YMCA on Tuesday night, November 10, to discuss the results of a youth risk behavior study taken by kids in the sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades in Salem city schools in the spring.

The team is made up of citizens, parents, and professionals, including Salem City school officials and employees.

Although similar surveys have been administered in the past, this one is identical to the one that Roanoke city and Roanoke, Botetourt, and Craig Counties use and will let RAYSAC compare overall youth risk in the Roanoke Valley. Once the test is used in Salem for a few years, RAYSAC will be able to determine trend data.

"We're all here because we care about our youth so much. We want to be there to help them to move into adulthood as safely as possible," said Brooks Michael, teen pregnancy prevention coordinator in Roanoke city. "Although the survey is given in the school, we don't look at these as school issues, we look at these as community isssues," she said.

The survey measures youth attitude and behaviors in five areas: alcohol, drug, and tobacco use; sexual activity; violence; depression; and other health related behaviors like bicycle and vehicle safety. Some of the results in Salem were alarming but were in line with the figures presented from other school systems' surveys:

-It was easy or very easy for a percentage of high schoolers to: 87% get alcohol, 77% get marijuana. Forty-three percent of middle schoolers said it was easy or very easy to get alcohol.
-One in five high schoolers used alcohol in the past 30 days
-23% of high schoolers engaged in binge drinking (Four to five drinks in a row in a two-hour period)
-28% of high schoolers said they were between 13 and 15 years old when they first tried marijuana

Tobacco use was not as overwhelming: 16% of high schoolers smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days; 9% used smokeless tobacco; 9% of middle schoolers smoked cigarettes.

"The things that kids feel like are dangerous they're going to steer clear of, but then there are these mixed messages in the media about the use of medical marijuana and the healthful benefits of a glass of alcohol a day" said Curtis Hicks, a member of the prevention planning team and secondary education coordinator at Salem city schools. He noted the anti-smoking rhetoric of the last five to ten years that has impacted the perception of tobacco.

The team's and RAYSAC's goal is to make youth and parents as aware of the harmful effects of other risky behaviors as they are of tobacco. Salemites, don't be surprised if you start seeing more anti-risky behavior rhetoric around in the coming months and years.

Basic family behaviors that severely reduced the likelihood of risky behaviors included: having clear rules and expectations, eating dinner together, parents knowing childrens' friends and their childrens' friends' parents, and parents modeling good behaviors.

For more information about RAYSAC and the Salem Prevention Planning team, visit www.raysac.org.

Roanoke County is offering a "Guiding Good Choices Workshop: building strong family ties" in January, April, and June of next year for parents of students in grades three through eight. Workshops are also available for schools, community coalitions, faith based and civic organizations, and health/human services organizations. For more information, email Brooks Michael at Smichael@carilion.com or call 314-5030.

The waters have receeded, but interest in Thursday's flooding remains high. Laura Tucker shares this photo gallery of flooding around Salem -- which also includes a video.

You can view her photos in the slideshow above or in this gallery format.

OTHER FLOODING UPDATES:
* All streets in Salem now open
* Video of rising floodwaters in Salem
* Two videos (and more photos) of flooding in Salem
* Curtis Howell shares flood photos from Salem
* Mike Stevens shares photos of flooding on Mill Lane
* The Krzyskos share photos of flooding around Salem
* Sump pumps are big sellers in Salem today
* Colorado Street Bridge is open
* Riverside Trailer Park residents being evacuated
* Salem schools will close two hours early
* Flood warning in effect for Salem and Roanoke County

Mike Stevens from the City of Salem sends the following news:

Crews from the Streets and Maintenance Department came in at 3am this morning and were able to get all of the debris and mud cleared along Mill Lane and Riverside Dr.

As a result, all streets in Salem are now clear and open, including the Mill Lane Bridge.

OTHER FLOODING UPDATES:
* Video of rising floodwaters in Salem
* Two videos (and more photos) of flooding in Salem
* Curtis Howell shares flood photos from Salem
* Mike Stevens shares photos of flooding on Mill Lane
* The Krzyskos share photos of flooding around Salem
* Sump pumps are big sellers in Salem today
* Colorado Street Bridge is open
* Riverside Trailer Park residents being evacuated
* Salem schools will close two hours early
* Flood warning in effect for Salem and Roanoke County