unanimously to move forward with the next planning steps for a proposed wind farm. wdbj7's noell saunders joins us now with an update from tonight's public hearing, tonight several expressed their concerns from wind experts to county leaders. even neighboring rockbridge county had some questions. a packed room with a lot of concerns about virginia's potential first commercial windfarm. botetourt county board of supervisors opened the floor at tuesday's meeting to anyone who had questions or statements. "most of time not all the time but most of the time localities are left worse off then when they started" "i don't have a problem with it, if they want to set one up in my yard they can set one up in my yard" the developer, apex clean energy spoke on the project it's calling the rocky forge windfarm. the company says it is going through all the necessary steps and rules in order to build it. "the botetourt ordinance was very thorough on what studies was required of us and we also have alot more studies to do down the road agencies" botetourt county voted unanimously to move forward with the planning and zoning commission's recommendations of the next stages in the process. the county is in full support in bringing clean energy to the area. "i'm somewhat of a conservationist and i approve it. i have looked at this hard enough and i really believe it is. i'm also a hunter. i'm on the mountains and i can't see anything wrong with it" on monday, rockbridge county board supervisors voted to ask botetourt to delay the zoning application for the project for 90 days until to give them a chance to learn more about it. boteourt acknowledged their resoution and said they have 11- months, the same time frame of the planning. "it's one step along the way and we're excited to have so much support along this path but there is still alot of work to do" the developer, apex clean energy will now start going through a state wdbj7. isokaykiddo this guy keep an eye on the moisture that is sliding its way across west virginia right now so far it appears to be primarily just some light rain showers about an hour ago there appeared to be some mix of the precipitation but right now does thickets of spotting light rain is a wine of the view just a little bit you see or talk about it as a cold strong cold front but a place for the showers i have a chance to line up in the cabin interesting here on the side of the front the coming straight up this way on the side they going this way and as such the running almost in parallel so the front doesn't have anything really taken a long such as meandering through southwest center virginia right now it will eventually clear by tomorrow afternoon you can see the light moisture working its way through the roanoke valley barely to get along, such as meandering through southwest ctr., virginia right now it will eventually clear by tomorrow afternoon. you can see the light moisture working its way through the roanoke valley registering on the rain gauges a few one hundred seven inch and that's about all we've seen so far they got up for tomorrow cycling have a fair amount of clouds but over the next few hours keep clouds temperatures drop down about 33 forcing the morning then the warm back up to about forty and we started trend in your first work forecast a much warmer by the remain in effect through 6:30 tomorrow evening. that means parking isn't allowed on snow emergency routes, and vehicles that park on those roads will be towed. there is also a 15- dollar surcharge for taxi rides through tomorrow night. the nation's capital is working to get back to normal after this weekend's monster winter storm. some city streets still haven't seen a snow plow yet, but government buildings reopened today, and city schools will reopen tomorrow. hour, the fbi confirmed the leader that has occupied a national wildlife refuge in oregon for more than three weeks has been arrested ammon bundy and his brother ryan and four others were taken into custody during a traffic stop this afternoon. one person was federal law enforcement. bundy was on his way to a community meeting in a nearby town. the group began occupying the refuge in eastern oregon on january 2nd to protest federal land use policies. tonight, the search continues for a virginia man who held a family hostage and abducted his former mother-in-law. authorities just outside of richmond say olene brooks was taken from her home thursday night. they say dana william broke into a home, zip-tied and duct-taped the family then held them at gunpoint for hours. brooks' husband in the same area where she disappeared. former pastor in norfolk has been sentenced to two-years in prison for secretly filming a clergyman's wife and teenage daughter. the pastor pleaded guilty back in july. surveillance video inside a home in december 2014 caught michael jones installing a clergyman's main months later, he again went in and installed two more daughter's bedroom. a three-year burglary sentence. new details tonight in a hammer attack in amherst county that we told you about last night. the sheriff says it appears that the argument was over child care issues. holly jo morgan davis is charged with aggravated malicious wounding after a dispute with her neighbor turned violent. investigators say she attacked manuela andrews with a claw hammer sunday night. andrews was rushed to the hospital with cuts on her head and chest. the father of a bedford boy who was suffocated by his mother was sentenced today for crimes related to the child's death. prosecutors do not believe michael smith had anything to do with the murder of his 2-year-old son, jordan. he was charged with conspiracy to manufacture meth and several counts of child abuse in connection with the incident. a judge found him guilty today and sentenced him to four years in prison. randy krantz/ commonwealth's attorney: "we did feel very strongly that mr. smith should be held accountable for his level of wrongdoing. that was not necessarily the same level of witt." smith's wife, shana witt, was convicted of murder in august and sentenced to 52 years in prison. prosecutors say she put a stuffed animal over her son's face and left it there until he stopped breathing. we are learning more about why a couple anti-abortion activists were indicted by a texas grand jury charged with investigating undercover planned parenthood tapes. an attorney representing one of the indicted activists who made the videos says the two plan to turn themselves in to investigators. both are charged with tampering with a governmental record, a felony. they're accused of using fake driver's licenses and posing as buyers for fetal parts. michael dorf/cornell university constitutional scholar: "this could set a dangerous precedent and chill undercover investigations by legitimate journalists." the video showed planned parenthood leaders discussing fetal tissue and appearing to talk about the price for such tissue. it maintains that it does not profit from recovers its costs. the grand jury cleared planned parenthood yesterday. republican presidential frontrunner donald trump says he is "definitely not" taking part in fox news' debate thursday night. this comes after two big endorsements for him today. liberty university president jerry falwell junior said this morning he's throwing his support for trump. in a series of tweets today, liberty university says falwell's endorsement is a personal show of support and not as president of l-u. and today, maricopa county, arizona sheriff joe arpaio joined him on the campaign trail in iowa. arpaio is known for his efforts against illegal immigration. right now in iowa, ted cruz is polling neck-and-neck with trump, with marco rubio in a distant third. state health officials say the zika virus has been confirmed in virginia. the department of health made the announcement this afternoon. it says the person who tested positive for it recently travelled to a country where the zika virus has been reported. it's suspected the mosquito-borne illness is linked to birth defects and pregnant women to avoid traveling to latin american and caribbean countries. the red cross says it's in desperate need of blood and platelet donations, and mother nature is to blame for the short supply. in southwest virginia, 13 blood drives had to be cancelled because of severe weather since january 23rd. that means 400 blood and platelet donations went uncollected. donors are urged to make appointments to help save lives. clean bottled water is on the way for people in flint, michigan. walmart, coca cola, pepsi, and nestle are sending six- and-a-half-million bottles of water to the city. the donated water is expected to last 10-thousand students through the end of this year. flint is still dealing with a health crisis after virginia tech researchers found its tap water is contaminated with high levels of lead. new tonight, a dinosaur attraction is returning to natural bridge, some think could draw lots of tourism. w-d-b-j-7's khiree with the man behind the idea and tells us how he plans to make it happen. melissa, it's called dinosaur kingdom ii. it's going to be the second amusement park of its kind in natural bridge after the first went extinct. the owner says it's sure to cause a roar in the area. very soon a raptor, triceratops, and other jurassic creatures will call natural bridge their home. "dinosaur kingdom is so outrageous, it's fun. it's just fun." mark cline is their owner and will soon open an attraction called dinosaur kingdom ii. this comes four years after the first park was closed after a fire. "they enter into a train car that's been ravaged by a dinosaur. as they go through go through that they enter into a time cone and that's what takes them back to 1864 cline said people will take a self-guided tour with a spin on civil war history... while running into more than 25 automated and motionless dinosaurs. he plans to build the park here...across from the natural bridge zoo. "it's a lot of part of the county has natural bridge, the zoo, and this is another attraction i think will fit in with that." sam crickenberger is the director of community development for rockbridge county. he says it's too early to say what the impact of the park will be... but he hopes it encourages more people to stop and explore the area. "i'm thinking kids riding down the road, look over and see a dinosaur. they're going to make their family stop os they can walk in through the park and see what's going on." "i believe there's not enough here for families and not enough here for kids." "hopefully, things will start turning around for everybody in this whole area " cline says they've already finished building some of the dinosaurs and he's been working with the county to get the right permits. he hopes families are ready to take a bite out of history. "no dinosaurs will be harmed in the construction of this park. maybe a few humans." cline said construction is expected to begin in the spring and the park should open around june. khiree stewart, w- d-b-j-7. tonight, how an sparking outrage for a school in the new river valley. recommendations on screening for depression, as a new hope to patients. shot barrage of bullets in 2012 that killed two unarmed people. the shooting happened after a high speed chase. six other officers were suspended, and another officer retired. one officer was acquitted of manslaughter for firing 49 of those 137 shots. all had been cited for endangering other officers by creating a crossfire situation. tonight, fans are remembering beloved character actor abe vigoda. he died in his sleep today. vigoda was a veteran of the stage when, in 1972, he got his big hollywood break as mobster sal tessio in "the godfather". he then moved to television, earning three emmy nominations as a worn-out new york sitcom "barney miller". in his later years, vigoda regularly appeared on david letterman and conan o'brien's talk shows. he was 94. authorities in richmond say a homeless woman committed felony vandalism and assault last week so she could be arrested to escape the cold. capitol police say the woman threw a piece of concrete through a window of the general assembly building thursday night. they say she also punched a virginia commonwealth university student before she threw the concrete. an image uploaded to facebook is causing controversy and now police are investigating death threats in galax. the picture is a meme mocking ptsd for veterans. now the chestnut creek school of the arts is taking attacks over it. but the person whose page it was published on says he didn't upload it. he claims someone hacked his account trying to hurt him. the problem for the school is his facebook page lists the city-run business as an employer. but they say those nothing to do with this. (keith barker, galax city manager) looking at the people that actually responded to the facebook page, they were not local citizens, they're not local people that are familiar with the school, what we do, what we stand for. our local people people know we wouldn't support something like this. for more on this story, head over to wdbj7 dot com. it's another hit to appalachia's coal industry. alpha natural resources plans to lay off more than 800 miners and dozens neighboring west virginia. 60-day warning notices were sent out yesterday, with the layoffs happening officials say the cuts oversupply of coal and the dramatically lower demand that's driven prices to "unsustainable levels." sprint is getting rid of 25-hundred jobs. the company says it's part of a plan to cut two-point- five-billion dollars turn business around. sprint is closing call new mexico, texas. today a government advisory group recommended all adults, including pregnant women and new mothers should be screened for depression as part of routine health care. it's because mental health issues often go unnoticed. new treatments for depression are offering new hope for patients. depression affects about one in 10 american adults. right now, there's a clinical trial at mass general hospital in boston that's testing a promising non drug treatment called "near infrared light. dr. paolo cassano, psychiatrist, massachusetts general hospital: "the near infra-red light thru the forehead gets to the powerhouse of the the cell which are the mitochondria and leads to more energy in the brain area that are close to the source of light." the light also decreases inflammation in the brain and increases the connections between neurons - all of which seems to help a person feel better. it's still in the experimental phase in the trial say they believe the treatment works. the better business bureau is warning people about a new scam. a patrick county man received a letter this week, claiming to be from capital one bank. it said a final notice deadline was in effect, and to contact the office immediately to receive a prize. the signature at the bottom of the letter is that of founding father benjamin franklin. the bbb says scam attempts will often use recognizable names to appear legitimate and will often target senior citizens. smith mountain lake is known as a summer destiation. but there are small businesses that are open all year round. staying open during the winter is no easy task. some small business owners have, in a sense, become a jack of all trades. the general store does laser engraving, opened a quilt shop in the basement, and is attached to a coffee and sandwhich shop. vitazen, is not only a vitamin store but also sells pet food and offers yoga classes. while some stores have closed over the business owners say they found the key to success. brett keister/store owner: "probably the big thing at the lake is consistancy and being there for your people, open when they need you and always providing what they want" if small businesses don't get creative, their only other option maybe be to either cut back hours during the winter or close their business. virginia lawmakers in richmond honored vicki gardner today for her success as executive director of the smith mountain lake chamber of commerce. she received a standing ovation from the state senate. she's back at work, working part-time and feeling good. she survived the shooting that killed our coworkers alison parker and adam ward. gardner says today's recognition was an incredible honor. why a cool place to stay in new york didn't sit too well with the business it was listed with. "it almost seems like it's a bunch of cowboys out there, trying to steal cheese." this story is a talker, no matter how you slice it! a cheese bandit strikes again, in where else but cheese state of wisconsin. blink and you'll miss it. just wait until you hear how fast a rubik's cube can be solved. the complete after the break warmercause clouds everywhere in the newer valley today in sharp contrast was like danville which had plenty of sunshine still warming temperatures were evident lotta snow melting as you can see looking across are the roads are in great shape right now and clifton middle school thirty five degrees one of the colder spots on the web about network right now and see not much moisture has registered in the gauge there have been some sprinkles and not all that elementary school forty seven at the moment with a higher today at about twenty five miles an hour i temperatures around the region are all over the place but generally pretty safe nor have any freezing issues right now forty in lewisburg's thirty eight with phil forty one and martinsville and thirty six degrees and lexington the numbers exit out of the degree or two in the last few hours here's the 40 in lewisburg, 38, with phil 41 and martinsville 136 and lexington. the numbers exit out of the degree or two in the last few hours. here's the setup we get this affront, that's not really on the move, but the moisture is moving along the front that over the southeast this is where some of the warmer temperatures are out ahead of the boundary and behind it this is our cold air right now it looks like the bulk of its can the stages to the west of us this is not a power punching cold front highs tomorrow around forty in the nearby friday were up in the 50s in my ex monday were up in the sixties if we will trend this particular setup we will keep some light showers were forecast for now was the morning fog as you can see 30s through roanoke martinsville danville lower thirties up toward covington bluefield degrees see how that works out as eleven the forecast model starting now we've got showers nearby push it forward in time and can see that central virginia may have a brief little. person in the morning with some slightly first thing in the morning with some heavier showers over toward richmond petersburg and then after that nice of drying area starting to show up here with clearing skies by the evening on wednesday thursday as well as back here as you can see nothing bearing down on us so that sets us up with tomorrow showing some slow clearing after some early day clouds temperatures in the upper thirties and the nrb mid- forties along the south side and lower forties to write around forty from lexington in verona then the seven-day planner sets us a motion for slightly warmer temperatures it won't happen until after friday warning those of you in the twenties but we will go from clouds to more sunshine. that's a pretty good saturday sunday this bonus will become it if you're for sure with more sunshine building it overnight will start to drop down into the upper thirties monday a brooklyn man built this "boutique winter igloo for two" in his backyard during the weekend's winter storm. he described it as a chic dome style bungalow and wanted to charge 200-dollars a night. but air b-n-b removed the post, saying the igloo didn't meet its standards. authorities in southeast wisconsin are looking for who stole 70-thousand dollars worth of cheese from a truck. what's worse, this is the second big cheese heist this month for the region! police were able to locate the stolen stash through the help of facebook but say since the lock was cut on the trailer, the cheese can't be resold. insurance may cover the costs. investigators say this theft might be connected to 90- thousand dollars worth of parmesan days ago. a lost story by one of the world's most popular children's book authors will be published in september. it was written by beatrix potter, who created the character peter rabbit. the lost story is called "the tale of kitty-in-boots," is being published more than a century after she wrote it. a publisher found the manuscript in 2013. the publication was delayed until this year to coincide with what would have been potter's 150th birthday. how fast can you solve a rubik's cube? there's a robot than can do it in less than one point two seconds. the video has been viewed more than four milloin times on youtube. the creators have applied for it to be certified a world record. virginia wins a thriller at wake forest, highlights and postgame reaction on the way botetourt and much more but first our extra point, former virginia tech assistant coach bryan stinespring has landed on his feet in harrisonburg. stinespring is joining the staff of new jmu head coach mike houston. he is a 1986 jmu grad who years in blacksburg. (donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) (elephant sound) (donkey sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk. road in acc play yet this season, starting 0 and 3. tony bennett's team tried to buck the trend tonight in winston- salem against wake forest. on tobacco road where they didn't play particularly well tonight. malcolm brogdon certainly did his part. uncle malcolm comes up with the steal and scores at the other end. uva trailed by as many as 9 in the first half but cut it to two by the break. the demon deacs extended the lead to 14 midway through the second half, hitting from long range and from in close and things didn't look so good for the hoos. down 7 in the final minute, brogdon gets a three to go down. he finished with 28 points tonight and the lead was down to one. wake made one of two at the line before the cavs got it to darius thompson and he throws in themoon ball high and off the window for the game winning three. virginia survived in dramatic fashion, 72 to 71 over wake forest. here's zac glover from winston-salem. zac glover: uva was on the verge of their fourth consecutive acc road loss when darius thompson his one and only shot of the entire game capping off 18 virginia points in the final 70 seconds to win the game. darius thompson/hit game winning shot: i was trying to get a foul call at first, didn't get the foul call and threw it up and it happened to go off the backboard and went in. i didn't even see it go in actually. i fell on the ground and then i happened to look over and see all my teammates running at me jumping up and down so i guess i made the shot. i do trick shots all the time in practice, just throwing up crazy shots so i guess it worked for me tonight. tony bennett/virginia head coach: they were saying stuff in the huddle, let's keep trying, you never know, you never know but deep down in side, if i'm being honest, you say this isn't happening. we were very fortunate. zac: so with the win, uva moves to 16 and 4 overall, 5 and 3 in conference play and they will look to get their second acc road win this weekend at louisville. in winston-salem, north carolina, zac glover, wdbj7. on the high school court, teams were trying to get back in the groove following the winter weather. tonight lord botetourt played host to rockbridge started quickly at home. they work the rock to trey hornback and he rattles it home for two and the cavs had the early lead. but the wildcats answer. shameik ware drains a three ball from the top to keep rockbridge county in this thing. then it's botetourt on the break. ryan fralin to bryton dalglish who can't finishbut fralin makes the athletic play to tip it in. lb had to work for it but the cavaliers held off rockbridge 55 to 54 the final. virginia tech and virginia football fans can start to make their tailgating plans for the fall with the release of the acc schedule earlier today. it's a challenging slate for the hokies in coach justin fuente's first season, which includes liberty in the season opener on september 3rd followed by the tennessee game at the bristol motor speedway. the hokies are on the road for three of their four games in october. the only home game is a thursday night affair against miami on the 20th and they'll finish out the month a week later at pitt. tech will finish the season with a trip to south bend to face notre dame, while virginia comes to blacksburg for the traditional thanksgiving weekend finale. as for the cavaliers, bronco mendenhall's come against richmond on september 3rd. the cavs also have early season trips to oregon and connecticut. they'll open acc play on october 1st at duke and follow that up with three straight conference home games. miami will be the only home game for uva in the final month of the turn to our webpage at wdbj7.com and be sure to follow us on facebook and twitter for weather headlines and more at wdbj7weather. thanks for watching your hometown

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