I am a journalist working in Southwest Virginia. I cover mostly crime, public safety and community issues. Here you will find my random journo thoughts, best stories and interesting links. Follow me on Twitter @Sheilamae. Continue reading →
preciousheart12 1 photo · 0 followers Continue reading →
Sheila Ellis | The Roanoke Times Jeff Artis, a community activist and city schoolteacher, reflects on prejudice and poverty in the post-civil rights era during a remembrance of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. By Sheila Ellis981-3234 Forty-four years ago, when Jeff Artis was 11 years old, his heart filled with hate when he learned that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been killed."I couldn't wait to get to school and beat up every white student I saw," he said.The next morning before Artis left for school, his mother stopped him."Don't go to school and do something that will disrespect Dr. King's memory," she said.Artis spoke to about 15 people Wednesday evening who gathered at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge in ... Continue reading →
The Wolverines, who have won 11 national titles and 42 Big Ten championships, have an additional "it factor" in quarterback Denard Robinson. The junior will power what can be an explosive offense against the Hokies. Continue reading →
Virginia Tech students are joining nationwide protests of the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, graduate student Jordan Hill said today.Marchers are gathering at 6 p.m. at the Memorial Chapel on Tech's Drillfield to start a loop of campus. They will wear hoodies in memory of Martin, Hill said.A Facebook event page for the march is here.Martin, 17, was shot on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., a community near Orlando, by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman. Martin, who was unarmed, was walking to his stepfather's finance's from a convenience store when Zimmerman phoned police to say he’d spotted a suspicious person wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Zimmerman told the dispatcher he was following the teen. Later 911 calls from residents recorded shouts and Zimmerman firing ... Continue reading →
ABC News has uncovered questionable police conduct in the investigation of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white neighborhood watch captain in Florida, including the alleged "correction" of at least one eyewitness' account. Sanford Police Chief Billy Lee said there is no evidence to dispute self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman's assertion that he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin out of self-defense. "Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don't have the grounds to arrest him," Lee said. Martin had been staying at his father's girlfriend's house during the night of the NBA All-Star game Feb. 26. The teenager went out to get some Skittles and a can of ice tea. On his way back into the gated suburban ... Continue reading →
Photos by Rebecca Barnett | The Roanoke TimesWillie Mae Ingram, (left) of Roanoke; Norma Hairston (center), of Roanoke, and Delores Finney (right), of Roanoke, sing after saying a dismissal prayer at the end of a Gospel Pearls practice Tuesday night. Nineteen churches are represented in the choir.Ed Griffin (left), of Roanoke County, plays the trombone, Earle Woodliff (center), of Roanoke, plays the piano and Antoinette Hatten (right), of Roanoke, plays the tambourine during a practice for The Gospel Pearls of Roanoke on Tuesday night. Woodliff started the group almost two years ago.Loretta Barksdale of Roanoke sings during The Gospel Pearls of Roanoke practice Tuesday night. This is Barksdale's first time singing with Earle Woodliff, who started the Gospel Pearls, but Barksdale has been in other ... Continue reading →
