Featured Articles from WDBJ7

A local pastor calls marriage the one thing that combines both church and state. So it's no surprise that gay marriage has sparked intense debate especially now that the President Barack Obama has weighed in. There was a lot of talk about the President's remarks at Fort Lewis Baptist Church in Salem on Wednesday. The pastor made the church's position clear. "I think gay marriage is wrong," says Pastor Leonard Southern, "I believe it's a sin. I believe it teaches that in the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

A spike in burglaries is keeping Roanoke Police busy. WDBJ7 first told you about the 31% increase in burglaries three weeks ago. Since then the city has seen nearly 50 more burglaries including four churches. On April 29 Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church was broken into.  Then on May 2 it was the Guiding Star Praise Worship Center. Someone broke into Forest Park Baptist Church on May 4 and on Wednesday, Truevine Church of Christ was hit. "They don't think as highly as we do of the worship place," says Truevine's Pastor Cecil Scott.

A new high-paying employer is moving to Danville. Web Parts will move its computer programming and data center to the city from Guatamala. The operation will start with just ten positions, but the company expects to grow to more than 250 in a few years. Average pay for people with programming skills is about $65,000, according to a company news release. Here is the news release from the city of Danville: Web Parts LLC has relocated its computer programming, applications and data center operation to Danville from Guatemala.

Kim won and it's not shocking. We dealt with some horrible editors. The winner is supposed to be hidden and someone we can root for. The only reason Kim has fans is because she was seen doing all the work. The edit was 80% Kim, 20% everyone else. Kim was edited as strong and sure. This is not true because according to Tarzan in an interview, Kim was very mercurial (fickle) I really wish the editors could have built up Alicia as Kim's antagonist with the final 6 as a showdown.

The man who hid in the back of a woman's car, then forced her to withdraw money from her bank account, says he was depressed at the time. A judge in Salem sentenced James W. Moore to 35 years in prison Friday.   Nearly a year ago, Moore held a woman hostage when she was walking back to her car from an ATM on Apperson Drive. He threatened her at knifepoint and made her drive to a second bank to take out even more money.  She was able to eventually escape.

Because of a faulty gage, Appalachian Power was releasing too much water from Smith Mountain Lake. Appalachian Power says it is not exactly sure how much water was released from the lake. Here is a statement from Appalachian Power: "After being notified by Appalachian Power, the USGS made adjustments to the Brookneal gage based on hydrographic comparisons. As a result we were able to reduce the amount of discharge from the project. The Brookneal gage was underreporting flow.

Putting one foot in front of the other looks easy but for Charles Duprey, it took eight screws and a rod through his spine.     Problems began when Duprey had extreme pain in his right leg.     Duprey says at times it would go numb. "I had to hold onto things walking through the house. I would stumble and fall," explained Duprey.     But the issue was not his leg.     Duprey's spine had lost its natural curvature in his lower back. Dr. Nicholas Qandah is the Neurosurgeon who operated on Duprey.

A 32-million dollar upgrade by the Western Virginia Water Authority is bringing thousands of new water meters to customers in the Roanoke Valley. Employees of the authority and a private contractor are now replacing 58-thousand water meters in Roanoke City and County.  The new electronic meters will transmit readings back to the office, eliminating the need to visit every home.  They will also reduce the time it takes to detect a leak. Sarah Baumgardner is Environmental Communications Coordinator with the Western Virginia Water Authority.

WDBJ7 has uncovered a startling lawsuit that claims a large company in Roanoke was negligent and caused a woman to be raped. It sues Cosmetic Essence Incorporated, or CEI, a makeup manufacturer, housed in the old Elizabeth Arden plant on Plantation Road. The suit claims, CEI hired a violent sex offender who sexually assaulted the woman, and then tried to cover up the attack. We've chosen not to name the woman, even though she's not anonymous in the suit, because she's the victim of a sex crime.

Over the next several days, graduation ceremonies are taking place all over the country, including Virginia Tech. But this year, the university will be hosting a very special commencement speaker, America's First Lady - Michelle Obama. The First Lady is expected to speak at Lane Stadium, and it appears ready to go Our crew was able to park right next to the stadium.  We were even able to walk right onto the field, but that's going to change by Thursday. A good old-fashioned push lawnmower and strong legs, part of the preps at Lane Stadium as Virginia Tech gears up for another graduation.

WDBJ has uncovered information about a massive drug bust in Lynchburg. A couple months ago, the FBI raided a storage unit and found a slew of drugs, guns and more than 100 thousand dollars in cash. With that, they also found millions in marijuana. Just this week police have made another arrest in this case. Two of the suspects are from Lynchburg, the third is from Arizona.

With more than 34,000 people, including a presidential candidate, expected to pack Williams Stadium Saturday, Liberty University is having to take a lot of steps to make sure everything runs smoothly. Because Romney is protected by the Secret Service, LU's 2012 commencement will involve a lot more security than the average graduation.  Anyone participating in the ceremony will have to be at the stadium no later than 6:30 Saturday morning.  Everyone who enters the stadium will have to go through a metal detector.

There's only one word to describe it out there: hot! People on the ground felt it, and possibly in the air. The hot weather can cause turbulence. It's called convective turbulence. As the hot air rises, it hits a certain point where it cools off and then falls. The up and down motion can make for a bumpy ride for passengers. It typically happens during a landing or take-off. Usually this kind of turbulence causes mild bumps but that can get worse as the temperature rises.