MLILY Mattresses in Roanoke, VA

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Miss Virginia’s second annual ‘Show us Your Shoes’ parade kicked off Saturday in Downtown Roanoke.

The contestants rolled down the streets in style as they showed off their decorated shoes.

Miss Virginia 2022, Victoria Chuah, led the parade representing Virginia’s state bird, the Cardinal.

She says passing on the crown will be a bittersweet moment.

“It’s so crazy that this has been such a big part of my identity for an entire year and that I’ll no longer be Miss Virginia,” says Chuah. “But I know the title will be in good hands, and I’ll always be Miss Virginia.”

Miss Virginia is a title of honor, service, talent, and pride.

Miss Virginia Teen 2022 Ayana Johnson says she appreciates all the amazing things she could accomplish within the year.

“I got to meet the president of the United States and shared my journey with him as well as ask him about their plans on sickle cell and how we can continue to increase access to resources and care,” explained Johnson.

Johnson battles sickle cell disease and says her day was full of emotion.

“Before this, I was getting a little emotional,” says Johnson. “It’s a lot of emotions going into this, especially because I had a difficult year with health complications.”

She continued to use her platform to show others with chronic illnesses that the crown is something you can achieve.

“It means a lot to me because they look up to me and I’m a role model for these girls and in the Miss America organization,” added Johnson. “So many little girls look up to you and you have to be a role model for all of them.”

Both women encourage girls between the age of 13 to 26 to do it and lead with intention.

“Get out there, do it, it is such a confidence boost, you learn so much regardless of whether you walk away from a title,” says Chuah. “You learn so many skills, you participate in your community. It’s a priceless experience, and I encourage everyone to try it.”

The crown will be placed on Miss Virginia 2023 Saturday night at the Berglund Center.

Copyright 2023 WDBJ. All rights reserved.

Friday's games

Alleghany 25, Waynesboro 7

Appomattox 23, Buckingham County 6

Arcadia 53, Windsor 36

Atlantic Shores Christian 48, Isle of Wight Academy 6

Bath County 54, Mountain View 8

Battlefield 62, C.D. Hylton 6

Bishop O'Connell 10, Virginia Academy 7

Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot 30, Rappahannock County 6

Brentsville 28, Sherando 21

Briar Woods 27, John Champe 13

Broadwater Academy 26, Chincoteague 24

Brunswick 16, Mecklenburg County 13

Bruton 41, Northampton 3

Carroll County 22, Grundy 16

Catholic 29, Kill Devil Hills First Flight, N.C. 22

Cave Spring 42, Western Albemarle 3

Central - Wise 14, Eastside 7

Central of Lunenburg 26, Altavista 14

Centreville 28, Alexandria City 3

Chantilly 37, Falls Church 0

Chatham 44, Prince Edward County 30

Chilhowie 21, Marion 9

Christiansburg 42, Floyd County 0

Clarke County 42, Rock Ridge 7

Colonial Forge 48, Woodbridge 22

Courtland 40, Orange County 14

Craig County 32, Bland County 6

Dan River 43, Tunstall 7

Dinwiddie 52, GW-Danville 7

E.C. Glass 14, Lord Botetourt 0

East Rockingham 28, Luray 14

Eastern View 49, Culpeper 7

Essex 24, Sussex Central 6

Fluvanna 28, Broadway 27, OT

Fort Chiswell 14, Rural Retreat 12

Franklin County 28, Bassett 24

Gainesville 56, Potomac 20

Gar-Field 41, Unity Reed 6

Gate City 34, Richlands 7

George Marshall 27, Annandale 21

Giles 35, Blacksburg 8

Glen Allen 25, Prince George 13

Glenvar 39, Galax 21

Graham 14, Bluefield, W.Va. 9

Granby 49, Denbigh 7

Grayson County 14, Alleghany County, N.C. 12

Hampton 31, Woodside 6

Heritage (Lynchburg) 24, Albemarle 7

Herndon 55, Justice High School 0

Highland Springs 20, Miramar, Fla. 14

Holston 41, Eastern Montgomery 8

James Madison 28, Stone Bridge 24

James River 13, Buffalo Gap 12

James Wood 14, Warren County 10

Jamestown 24, Nottoway 6

Jefferson Forest 29, Gretna 26

John Battle 26, Abingdon 21

Kecoughtan 23, Gloucester 6

Kettle Run 41, Liberty-Bealeton 20

King William 7, Stuarts Draft 6

King's Fork High School 26, Churchland 13

Lake Braddock 48, Colgan 19

Lancaster 50, Charles City County High School 0

Langley 35, Oakton 13

Liberty Christian 21, Salem 14

Lightridge 33, Freedom 0

Loudoun County 19, Woodgrove 15

Louisa 35, Patrick Henry 14

Madison County 15, Staunton 14

Magna Vista 41, Staunton River 6

Mechanicsville High School 28, Deep Run 7

Mills Godwin 45, Goochland 7

Monticello 42, William Monroe 28

Mountain View 38, Forest Park 0

Musselman, W.Va. 44, John Handley 34

Nandua 32, Rappahannock 17

Nansemond River 41, Bethel 21

Narrows 46, Auburn 12

Norcom 38, Grafton 14

Norfolk Academy 46, Currituck County, N.C. 21

Norfolk Christian School 34, Manteo, N.C. 0

North Cross 15, Nansemond-Suffolk 13

North Greene, Tenn. 36, Castlewood 0

Northumberland 49, Surry County 0

Norview 11, Smithfield 10

Osbourn Park 61, Manassas Park 0

Oscar Smith 39, Hermitage 25

Parry McCluer 55, Rockbridge County 14

Patrick County 21, Martinsville 15

Patrick Henry 25, Virginia High 15

Patrick Henry 58, Brookville 25

Person, N.C. 62, Halifax County 20

Petersburg 14, Booker T. Washington 6

Poquoson 56, Southampton 7

Potomac Falls 28, Dominion 0

Pulaski County 42, Northside 7

Radford 42, George Wythe 7

Ridgeview 44, J.I. Burton 0

Riverbend 55, Chancellor 0

Riverside 30, Broad Run 29

Rustburg 28, Spotswood 24

Rye Cove 48, Hancock County, Tenn. 0

Sherman, W.Va. 20, Hurley 12

Smith Mountain Lake Christian 56, Fishburne Military 8

South County 39, James Robinson 0

South Lakes 46, Osbourn 6

Strasburg 18, Skyline 16

Thomas Dale 35, Cosby 0

Thomas Walker 20, Cumberland Gap, Tenn. 0

Turner Ashby 51, Fort Defiance 22

Tuscarora 9, Heritage 0

Twin Valley 28, Phelps, Ky. 16

Union 34, Lee High 0

Varina 13, Indian River 0

Warhill 49, Manor High School 8

Warwick 53, Grassfield 7

Washington, W.Va. 49, Page County 6

Washington-Liberty 45, Edison 13

West Springfield 42, Hayfield 13

Westfield 35, Patriot 7

Westmoreland County 38, West Point 16

William Byrd 72, Liberty-Bedford 0

William Campbell 46, Cumberland 16

William Fleming 32, Hidden Valley 0

Wilson Memorial 55, Charlottesville 8

Woodstock Central 8, Riverheads 7

Yorktown 21, W.T. Woodson 14

Huguenot vs. TJHS, ccd.

James Monroe vs. Stafford, ccd.

Contact Matt Case at mcase@roanoke.com

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Xylazine, also called tranq, can cause large open sores and infections, sometimes leading to amputation

Deadly drug found in the Roanoke Valley

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ROANOKE, Va. – This article is part of “Solutionaries,” our continuing commitment to solutions journalism, highlighting the creative people in communities working to make the world a better place, one solution at a time. Find out what you can do to help and subscribe to our Solutionaries channel on youtube.

In August, we’re looking at solutions to the drug problems our communities are facing.

A new, deadly drug is here in the Roanoke Valley. Xylazine, which is also called tranq.

10 News told you about it before, when in July, federal officials called for more testing and research on the powerful animal sedative that’s spreading through the nation’s illicit drug supply, but they stopped short of recommending new restrictions on the veterinary medication.

The White House declared xylazine-laced fentanyl an “emerging threat” in April and called for a national strategy to combat its use. Xylazine, sometimes known as tranq, can cause breathing and heart rates to fall to dangerous levels when used in humans. When injected it can cause large open sores and infections, sometimes leading to amputation.

But now there’s a specific warning for our region because Xylazine is being found in the Roanoke Valley.

The Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition gives out Xylazine and fentanyl test strips and says they’ve been coming back positive. It can make the high last longer, but there are huge, deadly risks.

“The problem with xylazine is that it doesn’t respond to Narcan. It is not an opioid, and therefore, the opioid reversal medication Narcan doesn’t work on it. And so when you have this adulteration in the product, we’re seeing more overdoses because of that and unfortunately, more fatal overdoses because of that,” said Danny Clawson, the Executive Director of the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition.

Clawson says the test strips give drug users knowledge to know what they’re using, so they can use safer and stay alive, hoping that eventually, they can get the help they need. But Clawson said if xylazine doesn’t kill you, it can cause other problems.

“It produces really terrible wounds that can get incredibly infected and even lead to amputation. So we’ve been doing a lot of work with our participants to educate them on abscesses,” said Clawson.

The Virginia Department of Health says they’re monitoring tranq and know its an issue, but it’s not tracked in the medical examiner’s reports the way that cases involving other drugs like cocaine or heroin are tracked.

A VDH spokesperson tells 10 News they don’t have data to share currently because the medical examiner’s office just started testing for xylazine within the last month. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia has recently added xylazine to their lab panels and VDH expects to have better statistics going forward.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story has also been updated with new information from VDH, after the initial story was published.)

This article is part of “Solutionaries,” our continuing commitment to solutions journalism, highlighting the creative people in communities working to make the world a better place, one solution at a time. Find out what you can do to help and subscribe to our Solutionaries channel on youtube.

Copyright 2023 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Roanoke City has more people experiencing homelessness compared to summer 2022. Roanoke’s Council of Community Services recently released data about the number of homeless people in our city.

There are more people without a permanent residence in the city, but there are fewer people living on the streets. The 2023 Summer Point-In-Time count taken on July 13 shows more people are staying in shelters compared to 2022.

RAM House’s executive director explained it’s a growing issue in Roanoke.

”We’re on the cusp of being like other cities that have major problems,” Melissa Woodson said.

The July 2023 count shows 305 people are experiencing homelessness in Roanoke City. That number is taken from counting the number of people staying in shelters, grouped in the ‘sheltered count’, and the number of people in encampments on the street, grouped in the ‘unsheltered count’.

While the overall number of people experiencing homeless has increased from 269 in 2022 to 305 in 2023, the number of unsheltered has decreased from 91 in 2022 to 70 in 2023.

“These are tough challenges, obviously, that we’re trying to solve,” Roanoke’s human services administrator Matt Crookshank said.

Crookshank explained there’s been a 13% increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness from summer 2022. The recent data show a 54% increase when compared to summer 2021.

“We’ve started to see more people accessing shelter over the last couple years, while the unsheltered numbers are slightly decreasing, so overall, we’ve seen an increase,” Crookshank said. “I think it speaks to the lack of affordable housing, challenges with inflation, and the economic situation of households.”

Many of those without a home stay at Roanoke’s Rescue Mission. The director of communications explained while there’s been an increase, the shelter is not full.

“Many of those folks who are coming to us, they’re struggling to find housing, there’s no doubt about that,” Kevin Berry said. “But many of them are also struggling with substance abuse, and many are struggling with mental health.”

There are resources to help those struggling, but the executive director of RAM House explained help may not be accessible for everyone.

“The idea that they have to go around town and get services doesn’t make sense; we need a one-stop shop for them in the day shelter,” Melissa Woodson said.

To help more people get back on their feet, RAM House is looking for a new building to provide resources for the homeless community.

“We want showers in a building, we want a clinic that Virginia Tech residents can come to and treat people, because the people that are coming into RAM House are not getting the clinical services that they need to get better,” Woodson said.

The City of Roanoke is dedicating more than $6 million in ARPA funding to 50 affordable housing units.

“In this city, we are doers,” Woodson said. “I am optimistic that things can be better in the future.”

Roanoke’s homeless assistance team says it’s better to donate your time and money to community partners like RAM House and the Rescue Mission rather than panhandlers on the street.

Copyright 2023 WDBJ. All rights reserved.

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - After the Environmental Protection Agency proposed drinking water guidelines for PFAS, known as ‘forever chemicals,’ communities around the nation are now scrambling to test and treat impacted water sources for the potential health threat.

WDBJ7 reported in March about testing showing concerning levels of PFAS in the Western Virginia Water Authority’s Spring Hollow Reservoir. That prompted the water supplier to stop pumping water from the Roanoke River in August.

We can’t see PFAS chemicals with the naked eye. In fact, many labs can’t even detect PFAS at the levels the EPA says are dangerous. The new proposed guidelines released by the federal agency are now putting the pressure on water suppliers nationwide.

“With water, you’re putting it in your body and ingestion has been identified as the primary source,” said Leigh-Anne Krometis, Associate Professor of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Krometis explained PFAS are so common, we are likely exposed to small amounts of the chemicals on a daily basis, and there really is no safe level.

“PFAS are associated with a variety of health impacts. Everything from cancer to reduced immune function,” she told WDBJ7.

In parts of Roanoke County, the Western Virginia Water Authority said a type of PFAS chemical was detected in its drinking water supply, and later in the Roanoke River.

“Out of the 6,000 possible PFAS compounds that are known to exist, one of them, commonly known as Gen X, showed up in our Spring Hollow drinking water reservoir,” explained Sarah Baumgardner, Director of Public Relations at Western Virginia Water Authority.

Baumgardner said through testing they were able to trace the chemical to a facility owned by ProChem, which discharges wastewater into the Roanoke River.

We reached out to ProChem, which told us in a statement, “We remain extremely diligent in monitoring for GenX and PFAS compounds at our facility and levels continue to be well below the drinking water limit.”

ProChem said it took immediate action to eliminate Gen X from its facility. Baumgardner told us the Western Virginia Water Authority is still treating the remnants of the chemical in its Spring Hollow Reservoir.

“We started working to install and utilize granular activated carbon for treatment,” Baumgardner said. “It’s the only proven treatment to reduce or minimize this compound.”

The most recent tests show the level of Gen X in the Spring Hollow drinking water April 12 was at 12 ppt (parts per trillion), which is above the EPA’s proposed recommendation of 10 ppt. The following week, the Gen X was at 2.7 ppt. Testing before April shows much higher levels of Gen X.

ProChem explains it was able to trace the Gen X to equipment from its client, Chemours. They’ve been working with that company since 2015.

Out of the thousands of PFAS chemicals, Gen X is one of only six the EPA plans on regulating.

“Gen X was designed as a replacement, but then it turned out it had health impacts as well, so it is one that EPA is specifically looking to regulate, " Krometis explained.

The Western Virginia Water Authority’s testing was voluntary. Even if you don’t consume water from Spring Hollow – it doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. Right now, water providers are not required to test for PFAS chemicals.

“This is going to be a huge burden for the drinking water industry, because once EPA sets these Federal Guidelines, every drinking water system is going to have to abide by them.”

That means once the EPA does set limits on the potentially dangerous chemicals, Krometis said water suppliers across the country will need to test for PFAS and treat any contaminated water.

“There aren’t a lot of laboratories that can do that testing,” Krometis explained. “Supply and demand, it’s going to get expensive as well.”

For the Western Virginia Water Authority, it’s going to cost more than $13 million.

In the meantime, the Western Virginia Water Authority told us the water is safe to drink, even for residents in Roanoke County who get water from Spring Hollow Reservoir. The water authority is using advanced filters to reduce the levels of Gen X. A spokesperson says that high reading from April is likely from work they were doing on a valve.

Both the EPA and Western Virginia Water Authority don’t recommend switching to bottled water, as there are far fewer safety regulations for it than tap water.

The EPA’s public comment period about the proposed ruling ends May 30.

We also reached out to other water suppliers. The City of Lynchburg Water Services told us over the phone it has tested for PFAS, and the tests came back non-detect for its primary and secondary sources of drinking water. The utility plans to continue testing in the future and follow the state and EPA guidelines.

The City of Salem also gets its water from the Roanoke River, and told us it has not had a positive PFAS test to date.

Copyright 2023 WDBJ. All rights reserved.