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SW Va. sees COVID increase; governor urges caution
Although Virginia’s overall COVID-19 infection rate is much lower than other states that are currently experiencing spikes, the number of new cases in Southwest Virginia has been steadily increasing over the past two weeks, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday in a COVID-19 update. According to health directors in the region,[...]
Con man gets 7 years for $4.4M government intelligence scam
A former Drug Enforcement Administration spokesperson was sentenced to seven years in federal prison on Wednesday for defrauding at least a dozen companies of more than $4 million while pretending to be a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. In June, Garrison Kenneth Courtney, 44, of Florida, entered a guilty plea [...]
Downtown Norton gets a glow-up
Like other coalfield communities coping with the downturn of its signature industry, Norton is working to reinvent itself, says City Manager Fred Ramey. This fall, the city’s three-year, $2.3 million downtown revitalization reached a “technical end, but our project is not over and we’ll keep going,” says Ramey, w[...]
Hemp industry takes another step forward
The co-founders of South Boston-based Golden Piedmont Labs want to give the county a boost by processing hemp from local farmers. “We were looking for a way to give back,” says Rick Gregory, who started Golden Piedmont Labs with Sterling Edmunds Jr. Both are Halifax County natives with extensive backgrounds in real estate an[...]
New physical rehab hospital uses innovative tech
Michael Lowery pushed off gingerly at first and then gained confidence as he walked upright with the assistance of Andago, a mobile robot in the rehab gym of Central Virginia’s newest hospital. Strapped into the machine by a harness, Lowery, a 38-year-old Martinsville native suffering from paralysis, made his way around th[...]
A whole new ball game in Va. Beach
Attention, athletic leagues: The $68 million, 285,000-square-foot Virginia Beach Sports Center is open for business. “We’re ready to get this party started,” says Nancy Helman, the city’s director of sports marketing, who celebrated the facility’s Oct. 1 debut with Mayor Bobby Dyer and other city officials.[...]
Reagan National’s $660M expansion nearly ready for takeoff
The journey is nearing its end at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which started work in 2017 on a new concourse and two additional security checkpoints. Known collectively as “Project Journey,” the nearly $660 million expansion is expected to be finished by the third quarter of 2021. Overseen by the Metropolitan W[...]
Amid pandemic, Floyd holds on to musical roots
The town of Floyd has long been known for its musical offerings, particularly Friday night jamborees at the Floyd Country Store and the annual world folk music-focused FloydFest. So, what happens when public events are called off by the coronavirus pandemic? Dylan Locke, co-owner of the Floyd Country Store, has hosted online str[...]
Downtown Buena Vista buildings go to auction
Updated Oct. 29 Some things just don’t work out as planned, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end. Roanoke developer Ed Walker purchased 16 properties in downtown Buena Vista for $1.3 million during 2017 and 2018, with a plan to revitalize the small city nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains just southeast of Lexing[...]
Stars in their eyes
When 19th-century movers and shakers picked sleepy Roanoke as the site of the crossroads linking the Shenandoah Valley and Norfolk & Western railroads, the town grew with such force and speed that it earned the now-obscure nickname “Magic City.” Over the decades that followed, thousands of Roanokers toiled for the N&[...]
Mt. Jackson firm buys German lab company
Mt. Jackson-based preclinical and clinical archiving company StageBio announced Tuesday it has acquired Freiburg, Germany-based TPL Path Labs. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. StageBio provides GLP-compliant (good laboratory practice) necropsy, histology, pathology and specimen archiving services for both preclinical and clinical research. The combined company will offer other services including histopathology, molecular p[...]
CACI wins $86.5M Homeland Security task order
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded Arlington-based federal technology contractor CACI International Inc. a five-year, $86.5 million task order to analyze open-source data to prevent criminal, fraud, risk and terrorism activity. Under the task order, CACI will work to identify event patterns through data analysis approaches aimed at detecting criminal groups, conspiracies and activities […][...]
