The Excel Center Adult High School at Melrose Plaza is expanding, adding new teachers and growing its student population. The Excel Center debuted one year ago with around 50 students returning to earn their high school diplomas, and in addition certifications that – together with their newly-minted diploma that meets all state standards – will help them land a better job. This week several educators hired to teach electives classes are in training. Goodwill Industries of the Valleys operates the Excel Center. The Excel Center will expand to accommodate 75 students this fall, a 50 percent increase. There are 11 classrooms at its Melrose Plaza campus with room to grow, with local businesses “sponsoring” those spaces, to 300 students but that depends on funding; the Center is a line item this year in the Commonwealth’s new two year biennial budget.

Its the opening weekend this Friday night through Sunday at the Bear Theatre in downtown Roanoke for the Tennessee Williams play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as a family gathers for Big Daddy’s 65th birthday in a tumultuous reunion. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Bear runs next weekend as well, August 28th through the 30. At the Eleanor D Wilson Museum on the Hollins University campus a new exhibit – Jake McCord: Jolly Company. The late artist and Georgia native had no formal art training and painted, mostly on wood, in particular animals, buildings and women. He was a folk, naive or outside artist, Wilson Museum director Jess Ambler prefers “self taught.” Hear much more via the link to story below:

With summer starting to fade away and Fall around the corner its a good time to look for some deals on end-of-season summer clothing -and this Saturday Downtown Roanoke Inc. says the annual Sidewalk Sale is a good place to start looking for a bargain or two Brittany Smith, DRI’s marketing and communications director, says their mission is to bring people to Market Square, Campbell Avenue, South Jefferson and other downtown streets for events like Dickens of a Christmas, the St Patrick’s Day Celebration – and the Sidewalk sale, back this Saturday from 10 to 5:

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The Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub recently launched with a mission to make holistic wellness more accessible to anyone who is interested.  WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more.

The Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub is a new website that puts information on holistic practitioners and their modalities in one central place.  Founder Tara Jones says the goal is to make finding information simple everything from providers to explaining what the different modalities are.

“It’s a free online resource,” explained Jones. “We are offering think about or up to 37 different modalities now. We’ve got about 30 practitioners, everything from Reiki and meditation and yoga to therapy and counseling and aromatherapy and herbalism. It’s kind of amazing the variety that’s represented there.”

She says more and more people are looking for alternative ways to heal and stay healthy and the Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub is a gateway to that.

“One of our practitioners actually has a book,” said Jones. “She does hypnotherapy for pain management for pre- and post-surgery. So there’s a lot of crossover. People are really waking up to different ways of living and wanting to feel better. And we have lots and lots of folks that can help them do that.”

The website is offering a community giveaway-a free session with one of their providers.  No purchase is necessary.  Just go to HolisticRoanoke.com to enter by the end of the month. Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.

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Massage, meditation, aromatherapy and yoga are examples of the modalities you can learn about when you visit the Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub website.  As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno tells us the goal of the new site is to make it easy to access holistic healthcare.

Tara Jones is a certified meditation teacher.  When she started her holistic health journey there was no centralized location for information on all the modalities available. She wanted to make it easier for anyone who is interested in holistic wellness to access it. So she founded the Roanoke Valley Holistic Hub.

“Holistic wellness is about the wellness of your body, mind, and spirit,” said Jones. “And we believe that if you heal yourself, you can heal the world around you.”

Early in her career she worked in medical offices doing administrative work and medical coding. Before she transitioned into holistic work full-time she worked for Microsoft for 5 years developing AI to produce doctor’s notes.  She says more medical professionals are seeing the value in holistic practices.

“They’re doing functional MRI scans now of folks who are meditating, and it shows the change in their brainwave patterns and the different parts of their brain that are lighting up live on the screen regulates your heart rate,” continued Jones. “So it’s not even just for their patients, it’s for them as care providers as well. Even just doing meditation every day is really gonna help you be more present for your patients.”

Jones says if doctor then teaches their patients meditation the patients will receive their treatment in a better way.  You can learn more about holistic healing at holisticroanoke.com.  Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.

Many areas of the country are experiencing drought right now – including southwest Virginia, where the Town of Pulaski recently put mandatory restrictions in place. With the Roanoke Valley looking to grow its business and residential population, eventually additional water supply planning will be needed. The public has the chance to get a sneak peek at that process during an Open House meeting on August 25. Water has been on a lot of people’s minds in the area recently, especially with the proposal from Google to build three data centers on a campus in Botetourt County that could require as much as six million gallons a day to cool the chips that power artificial intelligence functions. Laura Schirmer, the public relations program manager for the Western Virginia Water Authority, says right now the current storage and distribution should be adequate until at least 2060. WFIR’s Gene Marrano reports:

And the winner is … The Town of Floyd and Floyd County. The readers of Blue Ridge Country magazine voted for the 2026 Best of the Mountains awards – and Floyd took home more than 40 top finishes. 29 in the Platinum category, 11 more gold silver or bronze recognitions. for categories like Best place for Agritourism, Farmer’s markets, to savor southern cooking, to hike or go antiquing, for the arts and much more. The Director of Tourism for Floyd County Kathleen Legg says with gas prices and living expenses higher, come check out Floyd as a nearby getaway destination.  WFIR’s Gene Marrano reports:

A two year, 27 million dollar project at Glen Cove Elementary School in western Roanoke County celebrated its completion today with a ribbon cutting – one day before the students will be back in class – which are now all enclosed in separate, walled in rooms – replacing the outdated “open classroom” concept from the 1970’s. A new administrative wing was added as well.  Roanoke County School Board vice chair Brent Hudson lauded all involved for juggling three construction projects over the past two years – including a similar upgrade at W.E. Cundiff Elementary and the new CTE Center that will open soon.

Glen Cove and WE Cundiff Elementary – where a similar upgrade was completed in 2025 – and the new CTE center under construction along Peters Creek Road were all part of a 130 million dollar capital projects plan approved by the school board several years ago. Principal April Brubaker saluted the patience demonstrated by students and staff during the upgrade process:

The Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech opened in 2013 as the Moss Arts Center. One thing that has been a constant since then is the annual Fall-through-early spring slate of events covering a wide range of artistic genres. The 2026-27 season gets under way in late September and may be the best ever says its director. Take for example 15 time Grammy winner and cellist YoYo Ma – he’s at the Center for the Arts next March. An Australian Cirque group brings Ten Thousand Hours to the stage – and the space above it – this October 13th. Center for the Arts executive director Ruth Waalkes says a live reading and reflections from author David Sedaris on November 4th will be an event to remember. WFIR’s Gene Marrano has that story:

Amanda Marko is looking to be elected to Roanoke City Council this Fall when three seats are up for grabs – the economic development specialist and chair of the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission would become just the second Republican elected to Council in two decades. Marko says that GOP label shouldn’t stop some voters from considering her credentials – or her stance on bread-and-butter issues like parking.  Hear much more from Roanoke City Council candidate Amanda Marko about housing, economic development and other key points by clicking the link to this Longer Listen below:

From the WFIR News room this is your Culture Calendar – With a look at some of the local events coming up this weekend and in the near future. Sponsored by the Roanoke Cultural Endowment. See more at Roanoke Cultural Endowment.org. Tickets are on sale now for the new season at Jefferson Center, featuring a range of music genres, not to mention Latin dance parties, comedians, the Barter Players and more. One week from this Friday night at the Bear Theatre in downtown Roanoke, Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof comes to the stage for 2 weekends beginning August 21st, as the family gathers at their Mississippi plantation for “Big Daddy’s” 65th birthday, there’s family strife and personality clashes, questions about inheritance, intimacy – and sexual orientation that were bold when the play was written in the 1950’s.  Single event tickets are now on sale for the 2026-27 season at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, which debuts next month with classical music – and featuring renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma next March – jazz, dance, live theatre and guest speakers including David Sedaris on November 4th. Ruth Waalkes is executive director at the Center for the Arts: