August 5, 2009
Scott County Virginia Star
Tennessee Woman ‘Wins For Life’ in Virginia Lottery
Judy Slagle of Church Hill, Tenn. holds her representative check to display her earnings in the Win For Life Scratcher game.
Slagle scratched to win the top prize of $1,000 per week for life in the Lottery's Win For Life Scratcher game.
"You think it would be great if it happens and you can't believe it when it does," she told Virginia Lottery officials as she claimed her prize.
Read More...
August 05, 2009
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Tazewell looks to extend reach
By CHARLES OWENS
TAZEWELL, Va. — The town of Tazewell is growing by another 500 citizens.
A “friendly boundary adjustment” requested by the town of Tazewell has been approved by the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors. The plan brings Tazewell Middle School, Tazewell Community Hospital, the new Four Seasons Wellness Center and about 150 residential structures into the town limits.
Read More...
Aug 04, 2009
Southwest Virginia Today
Outside 101
By DANIEL CAUDILL/Correspondent
Wytheville Community College recently added outdoor education to its physical fitness curriculum. Four classes – backpacking, rock climbing, canoeing and kayaking – have all been part of WCC’s spring and summer agenda.
Along with providing students with subject information, these courses provide an opportunity to experience the outdoors and explore the surrounding area. Each class consists of a learning period followed by field experience and a final exam. The classes are taught by Rick Showalter, a lifelong outdoor enthusiast with years of experience and numerous certifications. This experience is what made Showalter the man for the job.
Read More...
Aug 04, 2009
Southwest Virginia Today
Fair to feature new pavilion
By NATE HUBBARD/Staff
The big tent is gone, but the fair is back.
The 83rd annual Bland County Fair will begin in earnest Wednesday night at 6 with a parade from Bland High School to the fairgrounds.
While many of the old fair favorites will return this year, a notable landmark will be missing.
The temporary tent erected – in a tedious and difficult process – each year for the fair has been replaced with a permanent wooden pavilion.
Read More...
August 4, 2009
The Roanoke Times
Some dealers keep clunkers program rolling
By Jeff Sturgeon
Daryl Keyes is a manager at Cycle Systems, where cars are being disposed of as part of the so-called clunker program.
A vehicle that is less than 25 years old with an mpg rating of 18 or below can be traded in under the program and then destroyed.
Consumers wanting federal assistance to buy a new car needed to call ahead Wednesday to see which dealers were participating in the so-called clunker program, which is struggling with cash and technological difficulties.
Read More...
August 3, 2009
Galax Gazette
Carroll Relay raises $69,700
By CHRISTOPHER BROOKE
HILLSVILLE — The Galax-Carroll Relay for Life raised a respectable $69,700, given the harsh economic climate gripping the nation and the region.
About 500 people turned out last Friday at the Carroll County High School athletic field for opening ceremonies for the all-night walk against cancer, according to organizer Judy Beasley.
"I think it was a bigger crowd than usual," she said.
Read More...
July 29, 2009
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Health plan comes to Va.
By CHARLES OWENS
BRISTOL, Va. — When asked if he would be willing to enroll his family in the same health care plan sought by his administration, President Obama didn’t hesitate in his response Wednesday.
“Yes,” Obama said before a crowd of invited guests assembled at the Kroger store in Bristol, Va. “As I said, this is similar to what I had when I was a member of Congress.”
Read More...
July 28, 2009
Bland County Messenger
Sesquicentennial celebration
By NATE HUBBARD/Staff
Bland County is getting ready to party.
Molly Thompson of the Bland County Historical Society approached the Board of Supervisors during its monthly meeting last week to ask for support for a celebration of the upcoming 150th anniversary of the county’s birth.
Although the county won’t mark its third half-century of existence until late March 2011 – 20 months from now – Thompson said the Historical Society has already begun to formulate preliminary ideas for the bash.
Read More...
July 24, 2009
The Bristol Herald
CNBC: Va. ‘Top State for Business’
Associated Press
CNBC has named Virginia its “Top State for Business” for the second time in three years.
The ranking was based on 40 measures of competitiveness in 10 categories, including the quality of its work force, the cost of doing business and its support for innovation.
The business channel also cited Virginia’s reasonable sales, personal income and corporate tax rates.
Read More...
July 24, 2009
Bristol Herald Courier
Two Southwest Virginia Companies Announce Expansion Plans
By Debra McCown
DAMASCUS, Va. – Two Southwest Virginia companies announced plans Thursday to expand, adding a combined 170 jobs to the region.
Longtime Damascus employer Columbus McKinnon will add 70 jobs over 30 months as part of a corporate restructuring, replacing roughly the same number lost to layoffs at the plant here during the recession.
In Lebanon, information technology company CGI will add 100 jobs.
Read More...
July 24, 2009
The Roanoke Times
Minimum wage raise goes into effect today
By Adriana Gomez Licon
For many Americans 70 cents may not be much, but Jeremy Rhodes already contemplated getting health insurance or saving more money before the federal minimum wage increased from $6.55 to $7.25 today.
"It will make a difference on my paycheck," Rhodes said.
As a part-time barista at Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea in Roanoke, 23-year-old Rhodes prepares and serves drinks and helps in the kitchen by cleaning and carrying products in and out. He also earns money by playing with his band Grass Monkey, and his combined wages pay for rent, utilities, car insurance and food, among other expenses.
Read More...
July 23, 2009
The Bristol Herald
Columbus McKinnon To Create 70 Jobs At Damascus Plant
By The Continuous News Desk
DAMASCUS, Va.—Columbus McKinnon Corp. announced this morning plans to invest approximately $5 million in its Damascus Hoist Division operation here.
The investment is part of a corporate restructuring that will consolidate part of its hoist operations into the Damascus plant. It is expected to create 70 jobs and retain 174 current positions, according to a news release from Gov. Tim Kaine’s office.
Company and county officials held a news conference at 11 a.m.
Virginia successfully competed against three other states for these jobs, the news release states.
Read More...
July 20, 2009
Bristol Herald Courier
Is Abingdon on the Brink of a New Renaissance?
ABINGDON, Va. – This little town might be the next Asheville, at least according to the buzz downtown.
It’s been a sudden, subtle change, but seemingly overnight, the same sort of art galleries and crafty, eclectic shops that define that North Carolina tourist center are popping up in Abingdon, Va. – another artsy mountain town that some say is on the verge of discovering its creative economy.
As a regional artisan center prepares to break ground and Abingdon’s existing arts center prepares for a major overhaul, the downtown area is seeing a wave of creative entrepreneurs setting up shop.
Read More...
July 20, 2009
Galax Gazette
Results hiring for call center
By April Wright
The Results Galax call center transitioned its services, which will allow the company to hire about 140 employees.
Employment at the customer service call center for XM Satellite Radio company has increased to 236, including 168 product agents, 44 in training and the rest in management and administration. All but six are full-time workers.
For the past couple of years, the call center set up for customer trial subscriptions to XM radio and took customer support calls.
Read More...
July 19, 2009
Roanoke Times
Answering the call for jobs
Call centers, which value being located in rural and semirural areas, are hiring despite the economy.
By Duncan Adams
Y'all come.
Southern twang works just fine -- unless the accent is heavier than a pickup load of grits and the caller ends up longing to speak to a customer service agent in Bangladesh.
Many callers find a drawl charming, said Robert O'Leary, site director for the StarTek call center in Lynchburg.
Western and Southside Virginia host clusters of call centers that collectively employ thousands of people -- offering decent to high hourly wages with benefits. And even in the midst of the recession, many, if not most, are hiring workers to take customers' catalog orders and calls on service, billing and technical problems, to collect debts or to sell services.
Read More...
July 17, 2009
Roanoke Times
Living off the land: Community gardening becoming more popular
Roanokers cultivate the benefits of a community garden.
By Matt Chittum
The boy rode up on a wobbly girls 10-speed bike.
He dragged along a hose to water his garden, a pair of raised beds neatly bordered with stones and filled with beans, tomatoes and leafy greens, and opened the nozzle up to a heavy mist.
Ezekiel Shemezimana is 17, a refugee from Burundi, and he tends this plot to help feed himself and his parents.
"In my country, if you don't have garden, you die," he said Wednesday evening.
Read More...
July, 16, 2009
Roanoke Times
After-hours visitors see Taubman museum's collection in different way: through their hands
By Pete Dybdahl
On Wednesday night, two hours after the Taubman Museum of Art had closed, 35 people and one black Labrador retriever gathered in the museum's large, glass atrium. Half the group had trouble seeing, or could not see at all.
But sight did not enter in to it. Nor did the "no touching" rule.
"I've got detailed visual descriptions," the evening's guide, Abbie Gail Edens, announced to the group. And she had a box of surgical gloves for the sculpture on the tour, she added.
Read More...
July 16, 2009
Roanoke Times
Students in Floyd, Rocky Mount to attend White House concert
The roughly 20 young musicians will get to see Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss perform.
By Tad Dickens
About 20 children from Floyd and Rocky Mount will join kids from around the country at the White House next week to hear a concert from country music superstars Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss and Union Station.
The Tuesday event will be the second in first lady Michelle Obama's music series, which began in June with jazz musicians including Wynton, Branford and Ellis Marsalis. A classical music-themed show is scheduled for fall.
Read More...
July 15, 2009
Roanoke Times
Two-year colleges welcome more aid
Virginia Western Community College says enrollment could top 10,000 this year.
By David Harrison
Robert Sandel has seen enrollment at Virginia Western Community College shoot through the roof while his budget is getting cut. Space has gotten so tight that the president of the Roanoke school has had to dig up green space to provide more parking spots.
"It's almost silly," he said. "I'm a green-space guy, and here I am cutting out my green space, but I don't have any more room to go."
On Tuesday, Sandel and other community college leaders welcomed a proposal from President Obama to pump an additional $12 billion into two-year schools to help them deal with higher enrollments and shrinking state budgets.
Read More...
July 15, 2009
Associated Press – Bristol Herald
Va. To Participate In Energy Rebate Program
Virginia plans to participate in a federal program that offers rebates to consumers who buy energy-efficient appliances.
Gordon Hickey, spokesman for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, says the state must apply to participate by Aug. 15.
The U.S. Department of Energy is setting aside nearly $7.5 million in stimulus funding for rebates in Virginia.
Read More...
July 01, 2009
Scott County Virginia Star
CenturyTel, EMBARQ Complete Merger
CenturyTel, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) and Embarq Corporation (NYSE: EQ) announced July 1 that they have completed their merger. The combined company, which will be known as CenturyLink, serves more than 2.1 million broadband customers, more than 440,000 video subscribers and approximately 7.5 million access lines in 33 states, based on operating results as of March 31, 2009.
"The completion of this merger is a significant event for our customers, communities, investors and employees," said Glen F. Post III, president and chief executive officer. "CenturyLink has the advanced networks, the people and the financial stability to deliver the reliable and innovative services that our customers want and need. We look forward to this exciting new chapter in our company's history."
Read More...
July 01, 2009
Wytheville Enterprise: News
Local film maker hopes for hit
By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff
Charles Howard Thomas is learning to navigate the choppy waters of independent film making. He is the founder of Drydock Film Corp., which has produced three feature films and several documentaries and health videos.
“I wanted to name the company Boat out of Water,” noted the Brush Creek resident, “but can you believe it was taken?”
A graduate of Greensboro College in North Carolina, Thomas has a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish with a minor in biology and political science. His master’s degree also is in Spanish.
“I was an interpreter for all three courts in Wythe County at one time,” Thomas said. “I did it part-time and now it’s a full-time position.”
Read More...
June 30, 2009
Bland County Messenger: News
Soccer, social services on board’s agenda
By NATE HUBBARD/Staff
Fútbol in Bland County will no longer have to make way for football this fall. Or, more importantly, horse manure.
After struggling for years to find a playing space of its own, the Bland County Youth Soccer Association ended that problem last week when it received approval from the Board of Supervisors to establish fields on county-owned property south of the courthouse.
In an interview after the supervisors’ meeting, Todd Hoge, president of the soccer association, said the group hopes to have four fields ready for play by this fall. “I think it’s a pretty big thing for us,” Hoge said.
Hoge and Randy Newberry of the Bland County Recreation Committee approached the supervisors during their June 23 meeting to ask for permission to have access to the property off Main Street approximately one mile past the courthouse. “We don’t really have a good place to play,” Newberry said.
Read More...
June 25, 2009
The Southwest Times
Plans coming together for Civil War sesquicentennial
By: Jena Hardy, Staff Writer
In 2006, the Virginia General Assembly created the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission (HB 1440) to prepare for and commemorate the sesquicentennial of Virginia's participation in the American Civil War. Locally, plans are beginning to be made for Pulaski County to commemorate the 150 years that have passed since the Civil War.
At their most recent meeting, members of the Pulaski County Courthouse Exhibits Committee designated a committee of local leaders, historians, educators and interested citizens to plan events to commemorate this historic anniversary. The committee will tentatively hold their first meeting in July.
Read More...
June 24, 2009
Scott County Virginia Star
VCEDA Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Since its creation by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority has helped Southwest Virginia grow by approving $117 million in funding for more than 200 regional projects and helping to bring nearly 12,000 jobs to the region.
These economic development figures were part of the information shared today during the annual meeting of VCEDA's executive advisory board and a 20th anniversary celebration for the organization, "Twenty Years of Economic Transformation and Diversification," held at the Russell County Conference Center in Lebanon.
"In these 20 years, VCEDA has had a hand in helping to bring more than $2 billion in announced investments to the region, including new opportunities in information technology, manufacturing, energy, and other basic job-creating operations," said Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director.
Read More...
June 23, 2009
The Galax Gazette
Federal funds get water flowing in Carroll
By CHRISTOPHER BROOKE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Even as Virginia's senators announced the $1 million grant to help build the regional water system last week, 9th District Rep. Rick Boucher made preparations to visit Carroll County for another infrastructure announcement.
Both Carroll and federal officials invited people to the new announcement today, Monday, at the board of supervisors meeting room at the governmental center at 1 p.m.
According to officials with the offices of Boucher and senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner, the announcement will relate to a grant for Carroll's part of the regional water project as part of the federal stimulus package.
There will be a second part to Monday's announcement, according to the federal officials — Rural Development funding for Lambsburg,.
Read More...
|
