The warmer weather has been a welcome change, as the deep freeze of the last few days begins to thaw. While we saw more pavement and better driving conditions, thousands of people in central and western virginia are still dealing with Power Outages. The storm moved on, and made way for blue skies, bright sun and a beautiful winter landscape. As the ice began to melt, the Power Outages lingered. Applachian power crews were on the job, assessing the damage and attacking the problems they found but the layer of ice brought down many tree limbs and power lines in neighborhoods throughout the area, including roanokes raleigh court. Aleta delaplane actually at 3 45 we woke up to a transformer exploding. It was big green arc light in the back. It was amazing. It was kind of cool. And then the power went out. And then it came back on. And then it went out again, so i think weve been without power since 6 45 this morning. 10thousand people without power in southWest Virginia. The hardest hit areas are Roanoke County and franklin county. Coming up later in this mornings newsmakers segment, well talk with teresa hall from appalachian power about when the lights might come back on. It was a close call for a henry county family after a tree fell on their mobile home. Wanda morgan says her grandson was sleeping on the couch where the tree fell, just moments before it happened. She says her family heard what sounded like a frieght train and then a big boom. They do not have Home Insurance but her son and friends are helping to remove as much debris as they can. Wanda morgan homeowner someone could have been hurt really bad or killed in there. That tree should have fell all the way down. In the same area, trees brought down power lines and wind blew over an old gas station overhang. Leaders say it could be days before some people in henry county get their power back. If your powers off, there is a safe way to stay comfortable until it comes back on. Experts say the best thing to do is wear powered candles instead of real ones. If you use real candles, you should keep it at least 12 inches away from anything that could burn. You never put gasoline into a kerosine heater and never use a generator indoors. That puts you at risk of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Experts also say to never burn charcoal indoors or use your oven as a source of heat. Tiffany bradbury its important because we never think fire is going to happen to us. We always think were going to go along a normal day and nothings going to happen so we want people to be armed with this knowledge so they can keep themselves and their families safe, because we dont want to come out to a house fire, especially in temperatures like this. We have more heat safety tips on wdbj7 dotcom. Temperatures are still above freezing but we are expected to get much warmer during the weekend. We go to meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner with your forecast. Andyeah lunacy nice warming trend over the next several day late last night early this morning a clipper came through trigger couple rain snow showers most of that is arty exited the area where twenty nine bluefield look you roanoke well above freezing thirty seven same down in danville bit below freezing lynchburg thirty one twenty six hot springs thirty one martinsville galax reporting a temperature at this hour of thirty three still finding a little bit of that clipper system bring maybe a couple sprinkles the south eastern parts ofhalifax county but that is about it during the day today might see a few snow showers in the western facing slopes up toward pocahontas and Greenbrier County thereve a little moisture heading in their direction from the northwest but the rest of us will end up with a mix of sun and clouds flood warnings continue because of the rain and the snow melt along the dan river in danville paces south boston and in the Roanoke River over in randolph all expecting some minor to moderate flooding. Hopefully by thursday morning all that should come to an end up partly sunny today High Temperature mid forties plus depending on your location one front exits a little system to bring a few snow showers to the mountains other than that a look sick would have relatively quiet conditions over the next several days a very welcome across the area partly sunny a few mountains snow showers you temperatures in the mid forties a little bit warmer down toward the south side of course a little bit cooler as he had back toward the mountains of West Virginia for tonight partly cloudy on the chilly side lows dropping back into the twenties and your first alert wtvj seven day planner check that out not one impact day there just lots of sunshine warming temperatures saturday and sunday both in the low sixties cant loud astray sprinkle sunday morning would overall todays looking pretty good better chances showers is you had toward later monday into a former Bedford Police officer whos facing child pornography charges will get a chance to leave jail before his case goes to trial. Release Brian Mcalexander on a 20thousand dollar bond. Mcalexander was arrested earlier this month when a grand jury indicted him on six felony counts of possessing child pornography. A hearing in his case is scheduled for friday. Big changes for blacksburgs planned parenthood. A representative says its now referring new and current patients to roanoke for medical services because it wont be provided at the center anymore. The blacksburg location is instead, focusing on Community Outreach and educational programs. Read more about the decision on wdbj7dotcom. Were learning more about why prosecutors charged a Northern Virginia man with perjury in connection with a Bedford County murder case. Leslie engleking entered a no contest plea to perjury yesterday. Prosecutors say, at two separate times he knowingly gave false testimony when asked about the disappearance of katherine and sheila lyon, two girls who went missing from a maryland Shopping Mall in 1975. They say he was sister, patricia welch, who is also charged with perjury in the case. Engleking faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted at a hearing june 7th. Weve introduced you to her several times here on wdbj7, and this morning, were sad to report to you that Alpha Averill has died. People knew her as granny averill and she died monday night in her sleep at the brian center in low moor. She ran averills Country Store in low moor for decades, and even calculated your bill in her head or on paper until she turned 100. Her 109th birthday was just a few weeks ago on january 30th. Yesterday we talked to her son, wayne. She died on his birthday, but wayne was able to see her a few hours before she died. His last words to her were i love you. Be careful out on the roads this morning as there are still a few troublesome spots in our area. Your ihometown traffic report is next. Africanamericans are being arrested at a higher rate than the rest of our countrys population. How Police Departments in our figure out whats causig that trend in southWest Virginia. If you sustained damage from this most recent winter storm do you know what your insurance covers and doesnt cover . The answers that may surprise you coming up in about thirty minutes. Showers last night i think we shouldve taken a left at the river. Tarzan know where tarzan go tarzan does not know where tarzan go. Hey, excuse me, do you know where the waterfall is . No, me tarzan, king of jungle. Why dont you want to just ask somebody . If youre a couple, you fight over directions. If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Oh ohhhhh its what you do. Ohhhhhh do you have to do that right in my ear . Rain snow showers last night will lead to partly sunny skies today. Highs near 47. Ice and downed ice and downed trees continue to cause problems throughout our area. Roanoke, craig, wythe and botetourt counties have the worst conditions right now. A fallen tree is blocking route two20 north in Botetourt County near old fincastle road. Also in that county, lee highway is closed at bryant road because of a downed tree. Were seeing some flooding in pittsylvania and well. Were taking a live look at i81 in christiansburg from a Virginia Department of transportation camera. Expect some isolated slippery patches on the highways this morning. Bridge work is scheduled to start this morning in Bedford County. Stoney creek road will be closed just north of wheats valley road until 4 30 this afternoon. Across the nation, more African Americans are being arrested at a higher rate than their overall population. We wanted to know if that was also happening here in southwest and central virginia. Wdbj7 anchor chris hurst found out, and explains how departments hope to change the numbers. When a citizen of danville asked city council to address the Racial Disparity of drug charges, police chief Philip Broadfoot took it seriously. Philip broadfoot, Danville Police chief and thats why we acted when we did. We had a citizen who came to council and said this is a problem. In 2014, he had a light duty officer spend weeks going over the paperwork for each drug to know were his officers targeting africanamericans more than whites . Philip broadfoot, Danville Police chief we could find no institutional bias in the Danville Police department for that disparity. We could not find any reason for the disparity but the location where the officer was and what the assignment was. In danville, about half the city is white and half is africanamerican. But blacks make up nearly three quarters of all marijuana arrests. Wdbj7 compiled numbers for pot posession arrests for every Law Enforcement agency in the viewing area from 2012 to 2014 most had higher numbers of africanamericans arrested when compared to overall the largest gaps were in our three largest cities danville, roanoke and lynchburg. Its no reason when the population is so different in lynchburg. Lynchburg naacp suprised at the data and wonders if some kind of bias is at play. Gerald cheatham, president lynchburg naacp clearly you have got to look at some Human Behavior as to why that happens. That cant be all objective like something stupid like standing on the street puffing on a joint. Those areas where we recieve the highest number of calls for service are the places where we have the highest populations of color. The Minority Community is so hopeful new police chief raul diaz will address concerns in lynchburg, he is on the cover of colors virginia magazine. He says arrest rates in general impact the poor and more minorities live in poor areas. Bottom line is all the studies ive ever seen show People Living in poverty commit more street crime than people who are not. Thats of little reassurance to cheatham because marijuana offenses can severely limit ones potential to person to the point where no you cant get Public Housing if you need Financial Aid if you need it to go to school. Both chiefs diaz and broadfoot are empathetic to the consequences and agree more can be done to help first time offenders. An addiction treatmentfocused coming to lynchburg and chief broadfoot wants reforms to the states first time offender program. All races is the goal, isnt just a task for police. Philip broadfoot, Danville Police chief i think there is a desire to have more parity not only for drug charges but for all charges. Chris hurst, wdbj7 a spokesperson for Roanoke Police says use patterns could be a factor too. The Department Says white people tend to consume marijuana indoors while more African Americans consume it outdoors. Chief diaz in lynchburg also says a different approach may be slowly helping perceived injustice. A few years ago, a street crimes unit was reassigned and changes were made to increase the threshold for an person or their car. Memorial hospital of martinsville and henry county is looking to former patients on how to improve their facility. And nearly 2 dozen students have moved to virginia from africa to get an education and help their home communities. Why some of them virginiawill looking out live through our Mill Mountain camera across the beautiful Roanoke Valley this morning no real concerns relatively quiet conditions everyone sunlight can see the roanoke blacksburg Regional Airport control tower beacon right there showing you the visibilitys ninety two would all this morning thirty seven roanoke a bit colder visibility is not natured all this morning 37 roanoke a bit colder lynchburg 3137 Danville Blacksburg coming in at thirty three broader picture bristol thirty four charlottesville thirty six washington dc right at the freezing mark and richmond coming in at thirty nine still a few leftover showers would that clipper outside of our region we do rain showers. Last night that is exiting we should end up with a partly sunny day today because few little areas of snow showers back toward ohio Northern Kentucky that could clip the mountains of West Virginia as you maker way through the afternoon severe heading up skiing maybe might see a few snow showers drive through the area from time to time the rest of us not much going on again average winter snowfall for the Roanoke Valley eighteen. Five inches in january we had the bigger storm thirteen. Five inches fell and then this month of course recently couple days ago we had 18 a half inches fall so far this winter we of 22 inches so far last winter or we had last winter of twenty one. Two so pretty close so far we get any more time will tell you fitness forecast better data had out this morning for walker jog than yesterday morning we should get some sunshine. Highs in the low to mid 40s sunrise coming up at 707 sunset at six oh one you forecast model gets rid of the snow showers in the mountains other than that not much going on you forecast across the area would talk about High Temperatures today in the forties plus and minus a little bit colder as you maker way over toward the mountains a West Virginia with a couple snow showers partly cloudy chilly tonight lows dropping back into the 20s seven day planner mix of sun and clouds mopes lease sunny by say friday and saturday maybe astray sprinkle early sunday morning a better chance for couple showers on monday but still highs harboring in the 50s and Memorial Hospital of martinsville and henry county wants to hear from you on how to improve treatment. Hospital leaders have started the patient Family Community advisory council. Its a Diverse Group made up of people who have been treated at the hospital. The members are supposed to be another set of eyes and ears for the from patients. Liz harris, marketing director, Memorial Hospital of martinsville and henry county we wanted to give patients a voice and that i think it something that can get lost day to day. That Patient Experience is so, so important. The group is working to create better communication for everything from marketing for the hospital to how well patients understand their medications. Students from tanzania, africa are now getting an education here in virginia to become successful leaders back home. The city of Hope Organization has helped move 23 students so far to the Mountain Mission school in grundy. Yesterday, the students traveled to the new river valley to meet with others who support their education. The kids all say this opportunity is a dream come true. Esther simion 10years old i prayed for god that i can come to america to study in a school, a christian school, and he blessed me with the Mountain Mission school. Im so happy. Ty hopkins, chairman, city of hope them being here is investing in them, and they take that investment back to their communities and be a positive influence there. Each child will and many will go on to a college here in the United States. The daytona 500 is this weekend, and nascar drivers are getting ready to start their engines. In sports, highlights from media day, ahead of the big race. Plus, your child can have a car just like yours, only a lot smaller. The model s that Companies Tesla and radio flyer are release soon. Skies turn partly sunny today with a high around 47. Well see 60s by media day is always a fun one down in daytona, as we continue to count down to the Great American race. Heres zac glover with more in sports. Good morning, im zac glover with your look at sports. Defending daytona 500 Champ Joey Logano drew a crowd yesterday at media day leading up to sunda