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Local News

  • Grayson talks trash, taxes

    INDEPENDENCE — Grayson County leaders are considering charging for curbside trash pickup to close a nearly $1.1 million gap in the 2009-10 budget County residents could also face a 3 cent tax increase on the levy and a 25 cent increase on personal property.

    Supervisors began their budget workshop Tuesday night with a $900,000 deficit.

    The ongoing issue of how much money to provide the school system was again the highlight of the meeting.

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  • Tornado touches down

    It may have been minor, but the National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down near the Grayson/Carroll line on Martha's Knob Road on May 6.

    According to the NWS office in Blacksburg, the tornado was on the ground for approximately 1.8 miles along Martha's Knob Road. The tornado's EF0 rating on the scale means wind speeds were 65-85 mph and it was about 15-20 yards wide.

    The twister touched down around 10:25 p.m. near the intersection of Peaks Mountain Road and traveled east-northeast along Martha's Knob Road to the intersection of Dickey Road.

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  • Carroll water projects making progress

    HILLSVILLE — Supplying water for a new truck stop at Exit 1 in Lambsburg will proceed along two tracks as the Carroll Public Service Authority continues infrastructure work there.

    The Carroll officials will continue to work on a smaller water tank to serve the Love's Country Store and Travel Stop facility planned for the Interstate 77 exit just north of the North Carolina line, PSA members discussed at Monday's meeting.

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  • Grayson tackles tax bills

    INDEPENDENCE — Both the commissioner of revenue and treasurer are on board with the possible change to twice-a-year tax collections in Grayson County.

    Talks continued during a budget workshop on May 5. Grayson Supervisors’ Chairman Mike Maynard asked Commissioner of Revenue Larry Bolt and Treasurer Junior Young to attend the meeting and walk the board through the process.

    Young said the real estate taxes would be split into two payments — one half due on October 5 and the other half due April 5.

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  • Twisters strike in N.C.

    ENNICE, N.C. — The National Weather Service has confirmed that two different tornadoes touched down in Alleghany County, N.C., late last Friday night, May 8.

    That locality borders on Grayson County in Virginia.

    Cement silos were collapsed, five homes were damaged and several other structures were heavily damaged.

    There were some reported injuries, as well, including two people sucked out a hole in a roof peeled back by the winds.

    The first tornado registered an EF2 on the EF scale and was located 2.5 miles west-northwest of Ennice.

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  • Galax furniture makers encouraged by market

    Though Doug Bassett hasn't seen such an unstable economy in all of his career in the furniture industry, the vice president of sales at Vaughan-Bassett Furniture was pleased with how well the company's new lines were received at the High Point market last month.

    Attendance was down at the market in High Point, N.C., and Bassett said he had never attended when the stock market was at its shakiest.

    Since October 2002, the furniture industry has been in a major economic struggle, he said.

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  • Rescuers train for disaster

    HILLSVILLE — When emergency personnel from multiple agencies arrived Saturday morning on the scene of a grisly accident between a school bus and a pickup with an intoxicated driver, they found multiple victims scattered on the ground and in the bus, covered in blood.

    They faced lives hanging in the balance, a hazardous materials spill and distraught parents.

    Thankfully, it was all a simulation designed to prepare rescuers for the worst, held on Carroll County High School's driver education lot above the football field.

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  • Sign change could lure customers off highway

    Tourists coming to Galax this summer may get better directions to attractions off the beaten path of U.S. 58, if city council decides to implement a permanent off-premises signage program.

    That would direct traffic flow to food and lodging establishments located more than 100 feet off of East Stuart Drive/U.S. 58, council members discussed during Monday's meeting.

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  • Funds dry up for Carroll pool

    HILLSVILLE — Carroll's public pool might be a victim of the weak economy in the short term, but county supervisors still hope to improve recreational offerings in the long term, says board Chairman David Hutchins.

    The recession means less revenue for Carroll on a number of fronts, like state aid to localities dropping by $132,742, expected lower sales and real estate tax collections and extra costs for services the county has to absorb.

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  • New Grayson school slips further behind schedule

    INDEPENDENCE — Bad news continues for the Grayson School Board regarding the new school under construction in the western end of the county.

    Bill Ring, clerk of the works for the school's building projects, dropped the bomb during the school board's meeting May 12 — the new projected completion date is now February 2010.

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