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Golfers: What are your favorite holes in the area? See if our Timesland Dream 18 is up to par and nominate your favorite.
"Understanding Obamacare" is a series of occasional stories examining how the Affordable Care Act — widely called Obamacare first by critics and now also by some supporters — will change how you access and pay for health care. The series will look at the impact the new law has on individuals, businesses and health care providers in Southwest Virginia.
From the first installment:
- Virginia still undecided on Medicaid expansion
- McDonnell wants 'dramatic' cost-saving reforms to expand Medicaid in Virginia
- See how health care overhaul has already started changing coverage for many Americans and how it will change things even more in 2014.
Join the conversation:
Talk about the series and suggest future story ideas on Laurence Hammack's MedBeat blog.
Related:
Listen to reporter Laurence Hammack talk about the series with WVTF's Beverly Amsler.
Blue Ridge Behavior Healthcare director to retire
Six years ago, when Tim Steller took over the community services board that serves the Roanoke Valley's mentally ill, change was in the air. A mass shooting at Virginia Tech by a mentally disturbed student had raised public awareness of shortcomings in the state's mental health system. Steller's agency, Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare, stood to benefit from more funding and resources. Then came the recession of 2008, and with it
Shenandoah Life names new president and CEO
Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. announced Wednesday that Paul Mistretta has been hired as the president and CEO of the company. Mistretta will replace Hans Carstensen who has been president since May 2012. Carstensen was put in place after Prosperity Life Insurance Group, an Arizona-based company, bought Shenandoah Life after three years of state control. The 97-year-old Roanoke-based company, which has its headquarters on Brambleton Avenue, was placed in state receivership in 2009
Blue Ridge Catering taking over management of Norah's Cafe at Taubman Museum
Blue Ridge Catering, a 10-year-old Roanoke company, is taking over management of Norah’s Cafe, the restaurant at the Taubman Museum of Art in downtown Roanoke. The cafe, which is closed for cleaning in preparation for the takeover, is scheduled to reopen about July 9. The museum’s chief operating officer, Kathryn Garvin, said last week that the museum put out a request for proposals for the cafe management a few months
LewisGale appeals official’s decision on neonatal care unit
LewisGale Medical Center is still trying to open a neonatal intensive care unit, a process so lengthy that a child born at the Salem hospital when it began would now be turning 3. In a petition filed in Salem Circuit Court, the hospital is appealing a decision by the state health commissioner, who determined in April that there was no public need for the unit. A previous commissioner reached a
Rancho Viejo opening restaurant in Roanoke City Market
The Mexican restaurant Rancho Viejo is opening an eatery in downtown Roanoke. The restaurant will be located on the city market in the space where Horizon Bar and Grill closed last year. Rancho Viejo has restaurants in Roanoke County near Tanglewood Mall, Vinton, Daleville, Salem and Moneta. The company also owns several Rancho Viejo locations elsewhere in Virginia. Rancho Viejo will join two other Mexican restaurants downtown: Alejandro's and Queso
Roanoke native to discuss her book ‘The Richer Sex’
Women will become the main breadwinners in U.S. households by 2030. This is a big flip predicted by Liza Mundy , a Roanoke native and author of “The Richer Sex.” Mundy, 52, has a long-time interest in family and gender issues. She grew up in the 1970s and said feminism helped shape her views on women and society. Her ideas and interests have been fuel for many writings, including the
Bike shop to work on future location
A Roanoke County bike shop is almost ready to begin work on its future location on the Roanoke River Greenway . East Coasters Bike Shop last year purchased from Roanoke the old Virginia Museum of Transportation along Wiley Drive in the Wasena neighborhood. The building is a shell, and bike shop owner Wes Best has said he will need to invest about $500,000 to install heating and cooling, a new
Riding smartly: Roanoke business offers safety tool for cyclists
Warren Schimizzi has had a few sparks of entrepreneurship before, but none that really stuck. Schimizzi, an avid bicyclist, said he finally found the right idea last year with the birth of his business, QRide. The company sells stickers meant to be placed on a cyclist’s helmet that can be scanned by a smartphone in the event of an accident. The stickers use a QR code, a type of bar
It pays to be financially informed
WASHINGTON — Whenever I urge people to stop being serial auto-loan consumers, I get bewildered looks. I mean it. Pay cash for your car and make the math work in your favor. I get that you might not be able to get off the car-loan circuit right away. But once you pay off one car loan, continue making the payments — but to yourself. The average length of vehicle ownership
REALTY TRANSFERS
ROANOKE Over $400,000 Harris, Evelyn T. to Compton APT, 1523 Compton St. N.E. Roanoke VA 24013, $421,000 05/28/2013. Kienle, Richard W. and others to Joyce C. Jager, 2812 Rosalind Ave. S.W. Roanoke VA 24014, $490,000 05/29/2013. $300,000 to $400,000 David Lucas Development LLC to Carol Deyerle, 2940 Carolina Ave. S.W. Roanoke VA 24014, $343,000 05/28/2013. Markey, John and Dorlyn M. Yates Estate to Cari C. Gates and Nancy M. Smith,
NAMES AND CHANGES
EDUCATION The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has conferred the title of emeritus on the following faculty members: Gary Brown, Bradley Distinguished Professor of Electromagnetics in the College of Engineering; Timothy Pratt, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering; John Randolph, professor of urban affairs and planning in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies; Richard Sorensen, dean of the Pamplin College of Business. X.J. Meng,
Virginia still undecided on Medicaid expansion
Lois Casto takes home $1,260 a month from her job serving students at a Virginia Tech dining hall, hardly enough to feed her family of six. Unable to afford health insurance, she gets most of her care from a free clinic. But in some times of sickness, she says, “I’ll just ride it out.” She does not qualify for Medicaid. * * * In the small white frame house where
McDonnell wants ‘dramatic’ cost-saving reforms to expand Medicaid in Virginia
If Medicaid is expanded in Virginia, it will only be after major changes are made to what some call a cumbersome and inefficient system. “The federal mandates, regulations, taxes and spending create an expensive, top-down, bureaucratic system,” Gov. Bob McDonnell wrote in a March 5 letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. McDonnell made it clear that he does not support an expansion, and that the state
Henry County manufacturer announces expansion, job fair
A Henry County food factory this morning announced 100 new job openings and a job fair Saturday for people who wish to apply. Monogram Food Solutions LLC, a private Memphis, Tenn., maker of snack foods, plans to expand its work force of 425 to more than 500, according to an announcement by the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. The starting pay for the new jobs is $8.50 an hour, said
Blacksburg kids' museum gets a place to call home at First & Main
The Blacksburg Children’s Museum is starting to feel a little more real, but it’s still a long way from welcoming the region’s kids. The nonprofit now has a place to call home after it was donated space in the First & Main shopping center on South Main Street. But Janine Kniola , chair of the museum’s board, said it still needs to raise about $1 million to fill that space
'Steady as she goes' at Homestead after purchase by Omni
The Texas-based luxury hotel group that is buying The Homestead will not be making any personnel changes at the storied Bath County resort. "It's business as usual," said Lynn Swann, spokeswoman for The Homestead. Omni Hotels & Resorts agreed to buy The Homestead and four other resorts from KSL Capital Partners, LLC, the Irving, Texas, firm announced Wednesday. It did not disclose a price. In addition to The Homestead, Omni
Piggly Wiggly store returns to Roanoke
The pig is back. Piggly Wiggly, the first supermarket to open in Roanoke in 1919, is returning to the valley. The Super Save IGA on Riverland Road in southeast Roanoke will change over to Piggly Wiggly in about two weeks, said Chad Burdette, who runs the store with his wife, Dawn. “We’re thinking of it as a fresh start,” Burdette said. The Burdettes applied to become an independent grocer under
Downtown Roanoke Inc. picks Tina Workman as new president
A longtime employee of Downtown Roanoke Inc. has been named the organization’s new president. Tina Workman will take over July 1 at the nonprofit organization, which is focused on economic development downtown. Workman is DRI’s current vice president of events and operations, overseeing strategic planning, community outreach, sponsorships, fundraising and events. The 14-year employee of DRI was appointed unanimously by the organization’s board of directors at its May meeting, according
LewisGale leader's move to Tenn. ends one of his "most rewarding leadership roles"
Victor Giovanetti is resigning as president of LewisGale Regional Health System to take a leadership position with a hospital chain in Nashville, Tenn. Giovanetti, who has led the Salem-based health system since 2008, has accepted the position of chief operating officer of LifePoint Hospitals Eastern Group. LifePoint has nearly 60 hospital campuses in 20 states, with 28,000 employees and 3,000 physician partners. The division that Giovanetti is joining consists of
StellarOne Bank would be renamed after $445 million merger deal
StellarOne Bank, the leading bank in the New River Valley with deep Christiansburg roots, will change names as it is folded into a larger, Richmond-based bank, according to plans announced Monday. The proposed merger of StellarOne Corp. into Union First Market Bankshares Corp. will be put to a vote of shareholders of both companies this summer or fall. If approved, Union will acquire StellarOne in a stock transaction valued at
1. COMMENTARY: A letter to the ones left behind
2. Military bristles at Roanoke County woman's 'Operation Bedsheet'
3. Blacksburg police investigate death of 24-year-old woman
4. Marion fires police chief after his arrest on drug charges
5. Archaeologists uncover pieces of the past at Washington & Lee
6. 2 men charged in Blacksburg break-in Monday
7. Dublin town attorney Baker found guilty of reckless driving, not DUI
8. FRONT BURNER: Wake-up call: Dealing with diabetes
9. New River Community College shooting suspect waives right to preliminary hearing
10. Study to gauge possibility of national park at Natural Bridge
THE ROANOKE TIMES
