About
About NokeNow
Roanoke, right now. A neighborhood-first news river for the Star City.
Mission
NokeNow is a hyperlocal news site for Roanoke, Virginia. We cover what is on the packet, on the blotter, on Grandin Road at 2:40 p.m., and on the river when the path is closed. Straight and specific. Fun in polls and Around Town. Dry in crime and City Hall. Sponsored is always labeled Sponsored.
We write Downtown, Grandin Village, Old Southwest, Wasena, Raleigh Court, South Roanoke, and Williamson Road into the copy because that is how people here give directions. Vinton and Salem show up as nearby, not as a rebrand. If it moves water, traffic, hospitals, colleges, or a regional rail stop, we cover it even outside the city. Smaller stories stay in the valley.
How we use sources
NokeNow writes its own short summaries and headlines, then links out. We do not reprint other outlets' articles, RSS bodies, or long quotations. Roanoke Times items are a NokeNow headline and a link only. Corrections via Contact. Crime: hundred-block addresses, no juvenile names, no neighborhood safety rankings. The Crime Map is a desk log of sourced public reports — not 911, not a ranking. Area alerts are not sending yet.
Every news item on this site is a NokeNow headline and a short original summary, with a link to the publisher or the official page. Google News is for finding stories, not for linking. If we cannot source it, it does not run.
Crime and the map
Crime coverage uses hundred-block addresses, does not name juveniles, and does not rank neighborhoods for safety. The Crime Map is a desk log of sourced public reports — not a live police feed, not 911, and not a heat map of "safe" and "unsafe." Pins go up when we log a sourced report. Area alerts are Coming Soon — nothing emails today.
The desk
Stories are published under NokeNow. This is a static news river, not a staffed newsroom. There is no masthead and no named editor on these pages. Kickers and the Star City Briefing carry the voice.
Tips
If you saw it on Williamson Road, at Grandin Court pickup, or in a City Hall packet we missed, use the contact page. The tip form is Coming Soon and does not send anything yet. There is no public mailbox on this site.