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Got to Valley View Mall at 8:30pm (our drive was about 90 min). Before eating dinner with family at Abuelo's Mexican, decided to swing by the Barnes and Noble. Asked my wife if she thought there'd be a line (the signing was next morning at 10am) -- she said "no way". She was surprised (she's a big Palin fan, but gets her news through me as English is not her first language) -- well there was of course a line of chairs and tents that was already very long. It made our dinner at Abuelo's more hurried than we planned....

Most of Palin's supporters I talked to acknowledged that they had never heard of her until Sen. John McCain plucked her from obscurity last year and made her his running mate. They didn't care that she had quit the governorship of Alaska to personally cash in -- for millions -- with a ghostwritten-book bonanza. Or that the last elected office for which Palin finished her term was mayor of a town smaller than Vinton. When you wade into a pool of Palinmania like the one that collected outside Valley View on Sunday morning, you realize that stuff doesn't matter. Before...

More than 300 people camped overnight outside Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Valley View Mall for the chance to meet former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Today, she signed her new memoir, 'Going Rogue.'

11:40 a.m.: Palin signs the books at a table near the far left corner of the store, an alcove closed off by metal detectors and security guards. Her father, Chuck Heath, seated to her left, shakes people's hands and asks their names. Palin greets each fan with a quick 'Thank you, thank you' and grasps a hand if a fan offers, her smile barely budging. She rarely glances down at the stream of open books on the table top as she scribbles her loopy "SP" on each one. Barnes & Noble security is starting to bring the standby line inside...

Sarah Palin fans can’t seem to wait until Sunday to get their place in line for Sarah Palin’s autograph. Palin will stop in Barnes and Noble at Valley View in Roanoke, part of a stop for a tour to sell her book, “Going Rogue.“ More than a dozen people camped out just outside the bookstore. The first person in line got there at 8 a.m. on Saturday. “She has a lot of things I really admire but she has a very much of strong backbone,“ said Sunhee Muskopf, the first person in line. Others had to figure out ways to...

Roanoke, VA - More than 1,000 people are expected to swarm Valley View Mall this weekend for a chance to meet former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Palin will be at the Barnes and Noble Book Store to sign copies of her book, "Going Rogue." In the event of rain, Valley View mall has agreed to open its doors at 7:00 a.m. so people can duck inside. Palin is expected to address the crowd in front of the store, following her book-signing. The store will start handing out a limited number of wristbands at 6:00 a.m. A Barnes of Noble...

Sarah Palin's visit to Roanoke on Sunday for a book signing comes amid a tidal wave of publicity and national media attention. Barnes & Noble at Valley View Mall will be Palin's seventh stop on a national tour that has focused mostly on midsize markets, but also included high-profile interviews with Sean Hannity, Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey. "Going Rogue: An American Life," Palin's new memoir, occupied best-seller lists even before its release on Tuesday. It's currently the number one selling book in the country.

Be there!

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s book-signing event slated for Sunday in Roanoke has not been canceled by the publisher, despite online and local media reports to the contrary. Deanna Lemburg, Barnes & Noble regional community relations manager, said the confusion arose because of a glitch in the store’s computer system. The store had rescheduled the event’s start time to 10 a.m. from noon and had to take down the original posting.

"Going Rogue" Book Tour Dates Through Thanksgiving     Today at 2:59pm Here are some details of the upcoming book tour. I’m starting in Michigan and you’ll understand why when you read the book. Last year, I made a promise to the good people of Michigan that I would be back, and now I’m keeping that promise. (Michigan is near and dear to my family’s heart! Our eldest son, Track, lived with a great host family there during his hockey days.) From Michigan, the “Going Rogue” tour will cover as much of the country as possible. I’ve decided to stop...

Going Rogue" Book Tour Dates Through Thanksgiving Today at 5:59pm Here are some details of the upcoming book tour. I’m starting in Michigan and you’ll understand why when you read the book. Last year, I made a promise to the good people of Michigan that I would be back, and now I’m keeping that promise. (Michigan is near and dear to my family’s heart! Our eldest son, Track, lived with a great host family there during his hockey days.) From Michigan, the “Going Rogue” tour will cover as much of the country as possible. I’ve decided to stop in cities...

The suspect, a Virginia Tech graduate and one-time Vinton resident, was shot but survived at Fort Hood, Texas. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of shooting 12 people to death and wounding 31 others at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday, was the son of Roanoke merchants and restaurateurs, lived in Vinton and graduated from Virginia Tech. Hasan was born in Arlington to Palestinian immigrants from near Jerusalem who later settled in Vinton. Neighbors on Vinton's Ramada Road remembered him as a "studious" boy who went by "Michael." While his brother Eyad -- "Eddie" -- would play football with...

The family of Nidal Hasan once owned the Community Grocery Store on Elm Avenue. The Hasans also lived on Ramada Road in Vinton. Charles Garlick, a former neighbor, remembers the family. He told News-7 Thursday night that he remembered Nidal Hasan as a clean cut , nice young man. Garlick remarked that Hasan had more hair in those days than in the photos circulating after the shooting. The family sold the house about eleven years ago, Garlick said. He also noted that Nidal Hasan's parents both had died. Obituaries in the Roanoke Times show Malik Hasan died in 1998 and...

The group of intelligent patriots swelled to around 100 yesterday, Oct. 30th from 4-6 PM in Roanoke County VA at the intersection of westbound Brambleton Avenue (US221) and Northbound Electric Road (VA 419). In keeping with the upcoming Halloween holiday, one lady dressed as a doctor with a mask and stethoscope. Her sign, with a drawing of a hypodermic syringe, read “Congress Sticks it to America Again.” One gentleman’s sign showed a caldron and a caption of “Obamacare, a Real Witch’s Brew.” The reaction of those drivers passing by who expressed opinions was overwhelmingly positive by about 20 to 1,...

Our Say No To Government Health Care rally is scheduled for this Friday (10/30) from 4:00-6:00 p.m. We will meet at Cave Spring Corner, at the intersection of Rt. 419 and Brambleton Avenue in SW Roanoke County, and start by occupying the grassy area in the northwestern quadrant of the intersection (just near Walgreens). As more people arrive, we will spread along the right of ways of 419 and Brambleton. If this area is completely filled when you arrive, please move down to another intersection such as 419 and Chapparall, 419 and Ogden Road (Republican Headquarters), or the Oak Grove...

At St. John Lutheran Church, Pastor Mark Graham is relieved because his congregation followed him on Sunday, where 70% of members voted to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which is their current national association. “Some of the things that the ELCA has adopted do not follow in with my beliefs regarding God and life and family,” said Judy Limroth who voted for the change. The ELCA is the largest Lutheran association in the country. This comes one month after the national church decided to recognize gay marriage and allow homosexuals in a relationships to become part of...

Following on the hundreds who protested Barack Obama this morning in Raleigh, the Associated Press reports several hundred protesters were gathered in Bristol, Virginia as of 3:16 p.m. for the scheduled 4 p.m. Obama town hall meeting at a Kroger grocery store:A crowd of more than 200 protesters opposed to President Obama's health care overhaul have gathered outside a Kroger supermarket in Bristol, Va., awaiting the president's arrival for a town hall meeting. Some held signs reading, "Obamacare is political malpractice" and "Keep your hands off my health care." The Wednesday protest drew people from the tri-state region of Virginia,...

They've been mistaken for Jedi-wannabes headed to a Star Wars convention. They've been investigated by police, approached by strangers, gawked at from cars and offered gifts of crumpled dollar bills and Little Debbie snacks. After trekking along more than 300 miles of dusty Virginia country roads and suburban highways, six Franciscan friars reached Washington on Tuesday, having seen it all during an offbeat modern-day quest for God. For six weeks, the brothers walked from Roanoke with only their brown robes, sandals and a belief in the kindness of strangers to feed and shelter them. The sight of six men in...

The orange and white stray cat was brought to Vinton Veterinary Hospital on June 26th and tested positive for rabies four days later. A notice went up on neighbors doors in the Garden City area of Roanoke City. The cat had been seen in the 1500 block of Hillview Avenue. Heather Reed is a Veterinary Technician at Vinton Veterinary Hospital and now has to undergo rabies shots after being bitten by the rabid cat. She says, “I was at home when the health department called me and um got a little frantic because i am five months pregnant and i...

http://www.wdbj7.com/global/Category.asp?c=168438&clipId=3927967&topVideoCatNo=57488&autoStart=true The media continues to miss the point.....

Four men accused of planning to kidnap two Roanoke County women and hold them for ransom were indicted Thursday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke. Joshua Kasongo, 19, of Roanoke; Mohammed Hussein Guhad, 19, of Roanoke; Luke Musa Elbino, 19, of Vinton; and Anthony Eugene Muse, 18, of Roanoke are each charged with conspiring to kidnap and attempted kidnapping. Guhad and Muse are students at Patrick Henry High School. Elbino is a student at Virginia Western Community College.

Great turn out for the Roanoke Virginia Tea Party! I attended with my son and we truely enjoyed it. Like one of the speakers said we partied like it was 1773. Someone here said we had 500 to 750 people. I thinking a few more than that. I hope Washington is listening.

People across the country are gathering today for “tea parties.“ It’s all a part of a tax day protest. Those involved say they aren’t happy with how the government is spending tax payer dollars. Among those events going on in our area is a demonstration at the Franklin County Courthouse in Rocky Mount. We’ll have a full report from that tea party tonight on WSLS at 5:30 p.m. A tea party is also planned in Roanoke along Wiley Drive from 5:00-7:00 p.m. We’ll bring you what happened there, tonight on WSLS at 11:00 p.m. Huber: Over 500 in attendance along...

Reduced to barely a trickle in a not-so-distant drought, the slender and shallow Roanoke River is a rotten substitute for Boston Harbor. Sharon Nicely and Elena DeRosa are well aware of that. Nevertheless, they're vowing to make do when they host a "Tax Day Tea Party" at River's Edge Park on April 15. It's part of a national grass-roots movement of like events sparked by an off-hand comment from a cable news guy and spurred on by conservative bloggers. The two women, who had never met in person before Tuesday, wouldn't strike you as revolutionary icons. DeRosa, 49, who lives...

Robert Anthony, curator of the North Carolina collection at the Wilson Special Collections Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill... was one of the 24 scholars who holed up last month in the Tower of London, the dank quarters where Raleigh spent most of the last 15 years of his life working on Volume I of the "History of the World." When the academics emerged from the Tower after two days, it was agreed that a critical analysis of the writings and works of the man largely responsible for persuading the queen to launch the 1584-87 Roanoke...

“We found the houses taken down and the place very strongly enclosed with a high palisade of great trees, with curtains and flankers very fortlike, and one of the chief trees or posts at the right side of the entrance had the bark taken off, and five feet from the ground in fair capital letters was graven CROATAN, without any cross or sign of distress. We entered the palisade, where we found many bars of iron, two pigs of lead, four fowlers, iron sacker-shot and such like heavy things, thrown here and there, almost overgrown with grass and weeds.” --...

Highlands Union’s chief operating officer appears to have committed suicide in the bank's office on Thursday morning. Abingdon Police say the body of Tom Riffe was found about 7:30 a.m. in a second floor office of Highlands Union Bank, 340 West Main Street. Riffe, 55, of 847 Old Airport Road, Bristol, Va., died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police say the office was secured until investigators arrived. A firearm was found at the scene and collected as evidence. Surveillance video from the bank shows that Riffe arrived at the bank alone around 3:30 a.m. The victim’s body was taken...

Palin in Salem Virginia

For the third time in six weeks, the McCain campaign has to adjust where Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin holds a rally in Virginia because she is proving to be such a big draw. The campaign announced today that Palin's visit Monday to Salem, located near Roanoke, is being moved from the city's civic center to the Salem Football Field to accommodate the expected crowds. Gail Gitcho, a McCain spokeswoman, said there has been "overwhelming response" for tickets for the event. Two weeks ago, a Palin rally in Richmond had to be relocated to the parking lot of the Richmond Motor...

Campaign Calendar "I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me." - John McCain Use this calendar to find the latest events for McCain-Palin 2008. 10/26/2008 9:00:00 AM - Tampa , FL Road to Victory Rally in Tampa, FL Please join...

Sarah Palin's visit to Salem has been moved. The City of Salem says the response to the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate's visit has been overwhelming and the rally will be moved outdoors to Salem Stadium.

VP Candidate Sarah Palin will be in Roanoke on Monday, Oct. 27. She will speak at the Salem Civic Center (which is probably too small). The doors will open at 3:30 PM and the event starts at 5:30 PM HQ location below...We have TICKETS TODAY.... In the Branch Highways building, near IHOP and the Great 611 Steak Restaurant, Roanoke, off 220 South on Frontage Rd. 3904 Franklin Road SW, Suite E Roanoke, VA The better way is to print your own ticket from your computer...fill out this form and you can print however many tickets you need http://www.johnmccain.com/ste/eventrsvp.aspx?guid=753fe61a-b3e3-4dd7-be34-e2763a734fdf

Sarah Palin in Roanoke/Salem, VA on Monday, Oct. 27!!! VP Candidate Sarah Palin will be in Roanoke on Monday, Oct. 27. She will speak at the Salem Civic Center (which is probably too small). The doors will open at 3:30 PM and the event starts at 5:30 PM Tickets will be distributed via the Virginia McCain Victory locations, including the one in Roanoke, VA .... but they do NOT have tickets today, Thurs. 10/23...they might start giving them out tomorrow, Friday. Stay tuned....More details to follow.....

Just got word that VP Candidate Sarah Palin will be in Roanoke on Monday, Oct. 27. She will speak at the Salem Civic Center (which is probably too small). No word yet on time, but we anticipate the late afternoon. Tickets will be distributed via the Virginia McCain Victory locations, including the one in Roanoke, VA This is still in planning but the local media has already been notified by the campaign....More details to follow.....

ROANOKE: Barack Obama hunted deep on Republican turf Friday as he campaigned to seal the deal with voters 18 days from election day, while warning Democrats of their historic ability to 'snatch defeat' from victory. The Illinois senator campaigned in Virginia, which has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 but is now very much in play as Republican John McCain struggles to shore up his own support for November 4. But while he is flush with cash, and some poll readings in battleground states such as Virginia hint at an election wipeout, Obama is stepping up warnings...

Roanoke, VA – Thousands of people were confronted with the truth about Sen. Barack Obama’s extreme support for abortion during one of his campaign stops in Roanoke, Virginia, on Friday, October 17.Denny Green of Life and Liberty Ministries drove the Truth Truck to the Obama event that displayed panels depicting images of aborted babies and encouraging visits to the AbortionIsAnObamanation.com website. That site, launched in August by Operation Rescue, documents Obama’s radical support for abortion, including his position that babies that are born alive during failed abortions should not be protected by law.Mr. Green reports: When we first pulled...

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Barack Obama's transition team recently held a large organizational meeting as part of an accelerated effort to plan for a possible new administration, Democratic officials said Friday, as the nominee embarked on a late-campaign tour of traditional Republican states with a fresh attack on John McCain. Under the direction of John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, the transition effort includes a dozen separate groups divided into different areas of responsibility, these officials said. One added that Cassandra Butts, a longtime associate of Obama, is in charge of the group dedicated...

ROANOKE, Virginia (AFP) – Barack Obama hunted deep on Republican turf Friday bidding to seal the deal with voters 18 days from election day, while warning Democrats of their historic ability to "snatch defeat" from victory. The Illinois senator campaigned in Virginia, which has not voted for a Democratic White House hopeful since 1964 but is now very much in play as Republican John McCain struggles to shore up his own support for November 4.

At a rally for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in Roanoke, Virginia, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Vir., cited Sen. John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- and Obama's pick of Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. -- as evidence that Obama would be a better president. "What is the one decision that a candidate for president makes before he or she is elected that clearly indicates what their judgment is?" Webb asked the crowd. "The selection for who is going to run with that individual as Vice President." "Do you really think that Sarah Palin is the most qualified person in the...

Plungers greet Obama at Virginia Rally Posted: 12:44 PM ET From CNN Political Director Sam Feist ROANOKE, Virginia (CNN) — The new symbol of the McCain campaign: the plunger. As Democratic nominee Barack Obama pulled into the Roanoke Civic Center on Friday, he was greeted by the usual McCain campaign supporters that show at Obama rallies. But this time, those waving McCain-Palin signs were joined by dozens of people waving standard-issue plungers. Some wore white t-shirts emblazoned with "I AM JOE THE PLUMBER" on the front. The protesters all said they were volunteers and not paid by the McCain campaign.

Barak Obama attacks John McCain on economic and Medicare issues. He tells the Roanoke audience that McCain wants to cut $882 billion from Medicare and says older citizens will pay more for drugs. Obama attacks McCain for the economic problems and renewed his campaign theme of tying McCain to President Bush's policies....

This Sunday, October 12th, please join President Bill Clinton for a rally in Roanoke, where he will talk about Barack's vision for creating the kind of change we need. Change We Need Rally with President Bill Clinton Market Square 1 Market Square Roanoke, VA Public Entrances: Corner of Jefferson St. and Campbell St. Corner of Church Ave. and Market St. Sunday, October 12th Gates Open: 4:45 p.m. Program Begins: 6:15 p.m. http://va.barackobama.com/Roanoke The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required; however an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For...

Once it became clear Monday night that she was missing, a little more than 20 police personnel were looking for 10-year-old Molicia Tumaline....

A Clayton man convicted of lying to the government about his military service and submitting more than $18,000 in false disability claims was sentenced to 3 years in prison in a federal court in Virginia this afternoon. Randall A. Moneymaker will also serve 36 months of supervised release after his prison term and must pay $18,449 in restitution and a “special assessment” of $600 to the court. Moneymaker was convicted in March in Roanoke, Va., where he has also said he lives. Prosecutors refuted Moneymaker’s claims that he had seen combat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Panama and Grenada by producing...

Elliston Site Confirmed as the Only Feasible Location The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) released its final report on the Roanoke Region Intermodal Facility [April 7, 2008]. In January 2008, the DRPT Economic Assessment Report confirmed that the intermodal facility, as part of the Heartland Corridor initiative, could achieve significant economic benefits for the Roanoke region, including an increase in annual employment of up to 2,900 jobs and tax revenues of up to $71 million annually. The Heartland Corridor multi-state freight rail initiative will save more than 30 hours over the current freight rail shipping time between...

It's said that dead men tell no tales. But a severed arm and hand that emerged from a Wrangell Mountain glacier nine years ago just might -- with the help of two pilots, several forensic and genetic scientists and a raft of state and federal officials. Their combined efforts, detailed at an Anchorage press conference Friday, have determined that the human remains belong to one of the passengers on board a DC-4 airliner that slammed into the side of Mount Sanford 60 years ago last spring. More specifically, they belong to Francis Joseph Van Zandt, a 36-year-old merchant marine from...

Authorities investigated the mysteries surrounding the death of U.S. Senate aide Fred Hutchins on Wednesday, a day after his body was found beside his sport utility vehicle on U.S. 220 near Fincastle. "We're just working to let the evidence go wherever it goes," said Botetourt County Sheriff's Maj. Delbert Dudding. One of his deputies obtained a search warrant to look through the downtown Roanoke apartment of Hutchins, who was 26 and ran U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's office in Roanoke County. According to the search warrant, potential evidence was sought that might exist in Hutchins' computer, his cellphone, his answering machine...

An aide to U.S. Sen. Jim Webb was found dead alongside a Botetourt County road yesterday, according to a Richmond newspaper. Frederick Wayne Hutchins Jr., 26, apparently had been shot once in the head and a gun was found under his body, the Richmond Times Dispatch was reporting. The body was discovered outside his vehicle on an embankment on U.S. 220 near Fincastle.

** Originally published January 12, 2007 ** The Botetourt County kid who handed out political business cards as a grade schooler is now the local face for U.S. Sen. James Webb in the Roanoke and New River valleys. Fred Hutchins, who has spent the past several years as state Del. Onzlee Ware's legislative aide, has been hired by Virginia's new Democratic senator to run his Roanoke-based U.S. Senate office. For the time being, it will be in the same place as former U.S. Sen. George Allen's, in an office complex off Virginia 419 near the Roanoke County Administration Building. "I'm...

Authorities in Botetourt County this morning discovered the body of a well-known Democratic operative and U.S. Senate aide along U.S. 220, dead from an apparent gunshot wound. The body of Frederick W. Hutchins Jr., 26, of Roanoke was found shortly after 7 a.m. along southbound U.S. 220 by a Botetourt County deputy who had stopped to check on a vehicle parked on the highway's shoulder, according to the sheriff's office. Hutchins was an aide to U.S. Senator Jim Webb, D-Va. Hutchins had been shot in the head, and a gun was found beneath his body, Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle said. The...