Local News

INDEPENDENCE — An Independence man has been arrested and charged with soliciting a minor through social media, allegedly through the abuse of public internet access at the local library.

According to a news release from Grayson County Sheriff Richard Vaughan, deputies arrested James Michael Fantazier, 25, on Sept. 1.

“I think most of our parents brought us here for a better life, for the American Dream,” says Gustavo Mar of Galax, who came to America from Mexico with his family in 1999.

He was 9 years old, and Mar and his two sisters were accepted into the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as soon as it was created. They’re among about 800,000 young people in the U.S. — from toddlers to millennials — often called “Dreamers.”

Staff Report

Attorney General Mark R. Herring is warning that more than 4 million Virginia consumers could be affected by a massive data breach from Equifax Inc., which is one of the country’s three major credit bureau monitoring agencies.

According to Equifax, hackers have exploited a vulnerability in the agency’s website application to gain access to files potentially affecting 143 million consumers nationwide.

By LARRY CHAMBERS, Staff

HILLSVILLE – The Carroll County Industrial Development Authority voted on Tuesday to borrow $250,000 to purchase the Cana Rescue Squad building and run it as part of Carroll County Fire-Rescue.

County Administrator and IDA Executive Director Steve Truitt said the squad has been running limited calls for the past several months, while about 70 percent have been answered by Carroll County Fire-Rescue.

The Cana squad was founded in 1971 and has been an all-volunteer organization.