A student was wounded by gunfire Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of the Berglund Center as his classmates gathered inside to rehearse for graduation.
Community leaders discuss impact of the murder of George Floyd one year later
Some say there is still work that needs to be done
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Efforts for criminal justice reform following the murder of George Floyd
ROANOKE, Va. – The murder of George Floyd sparked a year’s worth of conversations regarding police reform in the United States.
Here at home, local leaders say there’s still work to be done to prevent police brutality.
“That was a very tragic event,” Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea said.
For Lea, seeing peaceful protests following the murder of Floyd opened the conversation up for how the city can move forward.
A Democratic activist still needs thousands of signatures to advance a proposed referendum on whether Roanoke should elect its school board.
But Luke Priddy said his petition drive has some support, including from a city council member, and is preparing to launch what Priddy hopes will be a more eye-catching phase of the effort.
âI have 500 yard signs that just arrived recently that are in my garage,â he said Thursday.
If he submits the signatures of 6,500 registered voters who live in the city by July 14, the referendum would appear on the Nov. 2 ballot. Heâs received about 500 so far, he said Thursday.