Latest Roanoke metropolitan area Stories
TROUTVILLE, Va., March 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Roanoke Cement Company released 350 rainbow trout into a manmade quarry pond on their site late last Friday, in recognition of a new relationship with Trout Unlimited, a national organization dedicated to conserve, protect and restore North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. Executive management, including Aris Papadopoulos, Chief Executive Officer of Titan America -- Roanoke cement's parent company -- was on-hand...
EVANSTON, Ill., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Manufacturers' News, Inc. -- Industrial employment in Virginia fell just a half percent over the past twelve months according to the 2009 Virginia Manufacturers Directory, a compilation of state industry published annually by Manufacturers' News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL. MNI (http://www.manufacturersnews.com) reports Virginia lost 2,699 industrial jobs from October 2007 to October 2008, a smaller loss compared to the steep industrial employment...
ROANOKE, Va., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Norfolk Southern Corporation has offered a challenge grant of $1 million to the Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) for capital and operating expenses over a three-year period to help the museum implement certain recommendations from Museum Management Consultants. The challenge grant is contingent on equal commitments of support by both the governments of the Roanoke Region and by other private donors to meet the estimated $3 million...
TROUTVILLE, Va., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Three Roanoke Cement Company (RCC) sites have achieved 11 years without a lost time accident: Castle Hayne, Richmond and Winston-Salem terminals. The Portland Cement Association, a national trade group located in Skokie, IL, has recently recognized RCC with a certificate commemorating the event. "This is a special milestone in that for 11 years, no employee of these three terminals was injured or had to miss work," says Ronnie Collins, who has...
By Amanda Codispoti amanda.codispoti@roanoke.com 981-3334 The children shuffled slowly onto the stage, the bells tied around their wrists and ankles jingling. Few of them dared to look out at the crowd seated in the grass around the stage at Elmwood Park. Instead, they kept their eyes trained on their dance teacher, Rosario Byrd, who sat in front of the stage signaling their next move with her hands. When the music started, the 12 children stomped, skipped and swayed their arms, keeping...
By Rob Johnson rob.johnson@roanoke.com 981-3234 Dicey economic conditions threaten to put a dent in special offerings at some churches, including collections for overseas ministries and the domestic poor, some pastors say. One measure of how strong the current support is for such causes will surface Sunday, when the annual Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty walk in Roanoke counts its contributions. The money donated by sponsors of the 300 or so volunteer walkers isn't collected...
By JoAnne Poindexter joanne.poindexter@roanoke.com 981-3232 Laney Mofield has no qualms about asking customers to drop loose change into the collection canisters at McDonald's restaurants. As executive director of the Ronald McDonald House on Jefferson Street Southwest in Roanoke, she's seen those coins go to work to operate the house as a temporary residence for parents of hospitalized children and to support many programs that provide services and assistance to children throughout...
By David Harrison david.harrison@roanoke.com 777-3523 Roanoke public schools are boasting a slight increase in enrollment this year, halting a decade-long slide. But other public school systems in the Roanoke region, which had been growing, are posting moderate decreases in enrollment. According to statistics compiled by school officials at the end of September, Roanoke now instructs 12,489 students, not counting preschool students. That's 159 more than last year, perhaps a reflection of...
Last year, 77.4 percent of high school seniors across Virginia graduated on time and with a standard or an advanced diploma. At Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, just 47.7 percent of its seniors did so. The rates released this week by the state Department of Education are not surprising. Yet, they are still stunning. There couldn't be a teacher, parent, administrator, school board member or city taxpayer who didn't, at least momentarily, feel a mixture of anger, pessimism and, yes, even...
FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAIL) announced today that it has entered into a new senior secured revolving credit facility for $60 million through its subsidiary JAIX Leasing Company. The facility will be used for general corporate purposes, including the financing of railcars to be leased. Simultaneously, the Company reduced the commitments under its existing revolving credit facility from $100 million to $50 million to meet expected borrowing needs. "This new facility provides us with...
