Quite the mess we notice it on the forecast model this is its three a. M. Starting to happen there is precipitation just getting cold enough to change over to snow only have some snow showers driving to the region dont think its can be a big player think the biggest thing youre going to notice tomorrow is how we need windy it is first thing in the morning yes we have sunshine coming in the afternoon yes we have temperatures around forty three degrees the first thing in the morning those wind gusts topping thirty miles an hour at times so bundle everybody up according the new river valley want to make sure no one in their Childrens School goes home hungry over the weekend. As wdbj7s Christian Heilman found out, the group is going strong, but needs more help. Chris, three moms founded the program that helps feed Radford City School kids each weekend. Unfortunately, the need is growing faster than they are. Nat thank you all so much for coming to help pack this is what a mom on a mission looks like. Nat were going to loop around and get one of each of the items,. A mission to make sure Radford City School kids have something to eat over the weekend. Backpacks co founder and when your own child has a classmate sitting next to them whos hungry, we just couldnt ignore that. Jenny riffe is one of the three moms who founded the bobcat backpacks program. They and their many helpers gathered at the Presbyterian Church thursday evening to pack with a fury. Nat grabbing snack each of the 65 kids in the program recieves breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack. Radford University Students started a similar smaller program almost ten years ago. Cheryl outland, highlander Helpers Program and we said, do you guys want to take over it . Because as College Students its a lot for us to handle school and basically running all of this. Lynn jacomen, principal, Bell Heth Elementary School in my office i have a snack closet and it is depleted by the end of the week. Lynn jacomen is a principal at bell heth elementary, where 25 students are in the program. According to the department of education, about 44 percent of students in Radford City Schools recieve free and reduced lunch. Thats up from about 28 percent ten years ago. Jenny riffe, bobcat founder its a problem. We need our kids to be fed so they can learn and they can be the best kids they can be at school. It costs 400 per week for the food. Now, the group is maxed out and cant help any more kids. Nat and then we need two snacks. Put a second snack in here. These moms hope volunteers, grants and donations can help their mission to feed this growing hunger in the district. Jenny riffe, Bobcat Backpacks Co founder well, we cant let our kids be hungry. We just cant. They applied for a four thousand dollar grant, but wont hear back about that until april. If youd like to find out how to help, weve got a link to their site on wdbj7. Com Christian Heilman, wdbj7. New tonight, a lynchburg woman has been charged with embezzling thousands of dollars. Jennifer musick was the treasurer of the Parent Teacher association at paul munro elementary for three years. Investigators say from august 2012 to september 2015, she embezzled mroe than 31thousand dollars. Musick was indicted on six counts on monday and turned herself in today. Natalie keepers is staying in solitary confinement tonight. The killing of blacksburg teenager Nicole Lovell. Today, a Montgomery County judge denied her bail after an hour long hearing. Lovells parents were there in the courtroom as keepers told the judge about her childhood and trouble with mental illness. She said she had seen a counselor at Virginia Tech because she had issues with the transition between high school and college. Her parents told the court she came from a christian home and was looked up to by her siblings. Her dad said she wanted to follow in his footsteps to become an aerospace engineer. Prosecutors gave a detailed timeline of what happened the night lovell went missing. Thats on wdbj7 dotcom. Just hours after keeperss hearing family and friends laid Nicole Lovell to rest. The 13yearolds funeral was held this afternoon. People paid their respects and shared special memories of lovell with one another. Galax Police Confirm theyve arrested a former employee of the vaughanbassett Furniture Company for causing more than a hundred thousand dollars corey hodges is charged with breaking and entering and felony destruction of property. Because of the extent of the damage, vaughan bassetts finishing room will be closed again tomorrow. Virginias house has unanimously approved a bill that would let National Guard members with valid permits carry concealed weapons on duty. Commanding officers would still be able to prohibit guard members from carrying guns in certain cases. The legislation is a response to last years deadly shooting at a recruting center in tennessee. It now moves on to the senate. After last nights town hall, the two remaining democratic president ial candidates went head to head again in new hampshire. Its fivedays before the primaries there, with Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton in the polls. Tonight, both debated over who is best able to effectively represent progressive values. Sanders says despite spending his political career an independent, his liberal vision makes him worthy of the nomination. Clinton responded with Many Democrats in sanders home state a new poll shows donald trump continues to hold a wide lead among likely republican primary voters in new hampshire. Marco rubio climbed to second place, followed by ted cruz. The poll also found about a third of likely gop primary voters say theyre still trying to decide. Theres another name added to the growing field of candidates for Roanoke City Council. Amy carter is running as an independent and has worked as a teacher and Small Business owner. She said today education was one of her main concerns. Amy carter independent candidate Roanoke City Council empowering our kids to be whatever they want to be is very important but to do this we have to provide a safe environment for them, in the schools and out of the schools. Nearly a dozen people are running for three open seats in the election this may. Floridas top officials are preparing to fight the zika virus after 12 cases have been confirmed there. Governor rick scott has declared a state of emergency for five counties. The virus is quickly spreading in latin caused thousands of babies to be born with small heads. Health officials are making voluntary screening for pregnant women a priority. Florida gov. Rick scott we have 20. 3 Million People living in our state. Were a state that has mosquitoes that are similar to the mosquitoes that can carry this, so its better than we get a head of this. The governor is asking the cdc to provide testing kits to help speed things along. Mosquito spraying is also happening in many atrisk counties. New tonight we hear from the first confirmed zika patient in virginia. Heather baker says shes traveled to guatemala four times in the last two years to help missionaries and special needs children. She returned from her last trip in november, and said she didnt feel right a few days later. Heather baker diagnosed with zika virus says body aches started, photo sensitivity, fatigue, brain fog, just a nothing completely severe, enough i knew something was wrong. Weeks later, baker recieved a letter from Disease Control and prevention confirming she had the zika virus. She says she wants people who may be traveling to central or south america to know their risks, especially woman who may be pregnant or may become pregnant. New tonight, a Rockbridge County clinic has big plans to expand after it received a Million Dollar government grant. Wdbj7s Khiree Stewart spoke with leaders at the Health Center who say this expansion is needed. The Rockbridge AreaHealth Center served more than three thousand low income, insured, and uninsured people last year. That number is growing really the people that need help the most arent able to get it. Its terrible its a terrible situation. Suzanne sheridan is the ceo of the Rockbridge AreaHealth Center and shes hoping to change that. The center plans to use the Million Dollars in grant money to renovate and add to the building. We want to expand our program areas, so were going to be adding medical exam rooms, well be adding dental operatories, we want to be able to serve more people. Sheridan says its still hard for some people in our area to get access to healthcare, partly because virginia hasnt expanded medicaid. Theyre too poor or they make too much money to qualify for medicaid, but they dont make enough to qualify for the special tax incentives that are available through the Affordable Care act. Just because you have Health Insurance doesnt mean you have access to healthcare services. This is especially a problem in rural area where you dont have a lot of doctors. She hopes this expansion solves that problem. Sheridan says the facility is still in the design phase of the project. Rockbridge area Health Center expects to serve more than five thousand people this year and add jobs once construction is complete. She hope this will get people the Health Care Treatment they need. Being able to see a doctor for routine care without having to sue an emergency room. Sherridan says construction is planned to begin in march. Theyre also for the center in april. You can read more about it by clicking on this story on our website. Khiree stewart, w dbj7. Botetourt county is moving forward with the plan to relocate two slave houses on the greenfield plantation. Leaders have hired a team of archaeologists to investigate and confirm whether there are unmarked grave sites of slaves on the land. The decision to move the two houses has caused a lot of controversy in the county. Theres also a lawsuit pending from a woman who says her relatives buried on the land. County leaders say the plan is to move the houses a mile away to a Historic Preservation site. Botetourt deputy county administrator David Moorman the anticipation is that the Building Work will continue and those buildings will be relocated as planned judy morris im completely against it. There are slaves that are buried all over this hilltop. They should be honored and they should stay exactly where they no date has been set on the relocation. Roanoke valley stakeholders are hoping to help find the right buyer for the former happys flea market. Its been on the market now for more than two weeks after it was shut down last year for code violations. The local Business Association met with city and county planning and economic officals today to discuss the best uses for the property. New, troubling details are out on the water crisis in flint michigan. A warning for dog owners. Little bows look cute and fashionable, but they can pose a huge risk. How theyve changed one dogs life forever. If you had trouble filing your taxes through the irs website today, youre not alone. It will not stop looking into Flint Michigans water crisis. A 30Million Dollar spending proposal has been approved to help residents with their water bills. Weve also learned michigan officials warned of the link between the contaminated water and a surge in legionnaires disease. Internal emails reveal an aide in michigans Governors Administration were aware of the connection long before the governor reported it to the public. Rick snyder disclosed the spike last month after he said he just learned about it. But public records show the Governors Office knew about the outbreak 10months before that. Actor george takei is coming to roanoke to help promote the acceptance of refugees and immigrants in the community. Hosting the event on may 4th. The star trek alum will talk about his experience as a japaneseamerican being held in an internment camp during world war two. This comes after roanoke mayor david bowers said in november, he didnt want Syrian Refugees in the Roanoke Valley and compared the refugee crisis to those japanese internment camps. The event is open to the public. Officials say the time and location of it will be announced closer to the date. A dog in tennessee is recovering after what turned out to be a lifealtering trip to the groomer. Her owner says the dogs ears had turned black a little more than a week after getting groomed. For years, the dog wore bows put on by her owners groomer. The vet ended up having to amputate them because the circulation had stopped. She found rubber bands had been wrapped around her ears. Veterinarian monica webb instead of just getting in the hair, [the groomer] actually got them around the pinna, the ear flap, and basically caused her ear to basically die the dog had dead tissue removed and had laser surgery to heal the wounds. The owner of the grooming school says the student groomer did not put the rubber bands around the ears, but paid for the dogs treatment. Fresh off yesterdays hearing in new york for federal securities fraud, former drug company ceo Martin Skhreli was on capitol hill today. Martin shkreli was subpoenaed to testify at a hearing looking into highpriced drugs, but refused to say anything. Lawmakers didnt let him off the hook. They criticized him, and asked if he felt that he did anything wrong. After the hearing shkreli fired back on twitter, calling the Committee Members imbeciles. His attorney insists he is misunderstood. Itll be another year before legislation to make drug makers revel how much they spend marketing highpriced drugs will be talked about in virginias general assembly. Health insurers pushed the bill as a way for companies to from happening. Senators say the bill wasnt ready for primetime, but will be reviewed in 2017 after more studies are done. Technical difficulties hit the Internal RevenueServices Website yesterday and continued through today. The irs says hardware failure brought down some tax processing systems, including the one that allows people to file electronically. The good news is, the systems are back up and running now and taxes arent due for another two months. Carilion clinic has become one of the only hospitals in southwest virginia to participate in the healthier hospitals intiative to reduce its carbon footprint. Hospital leadership was on board to incorporate sustainable and green practices throughout the hospital system. This green roof helps keep the building cool in the summer and prevents excess runoff. From more bike racks and recycling bins, to fresh, local veggies, fruit and meal options in the cafeteria, the hospital is dedicated to going Sara WohlfordEfficiency Sustainability Program manager it is a nationwide initiative to help us reduce our energy use, reduce our waste, purchase products that are safer for the environment, using safer chemicals, more Sustainable Food sources. Hospital leaders say green initiatives help the hospital run more efficiently and saves money. A group working to bring a passenger train station to bedford is keeping its effort on track with some help from richmond. The Bedford FranklinRegional Rail initiative is partnering with a conulting firm called wendell companies. They helped study the feasibility of a train station in roanoke. Now, theyre doing the same thing for bedford. The study will estimate the number of riders who might travel from a bedford stop, and the Economic Impact a station would have on the area. Chip badger consultant well need to convince the state that its worth the Public Investment and that its a net benefit to the rail line. The study should be finished by march 15th. The Rail Initiative will use the information to convince state and railroad leaders to stop. Ahead, a cop that protects, serves, and babysits a former war vet teaches a wouldbe robber that crime hard way. In music and radio are singing the praises of country star, who just so happens to be from galax the complete first alert forecast after the break these lil chickies and lil doggies are small, but theyre intense. Oh, yeah. Small but intense like my niece, hannah. Oh, yeah. And you, uh, take karate . Yeah she does. Show him how intense you are, hannah. Yah yah ah karate sounds oh, my. Hey bow to her, peter. Im not gonna bo