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Public Safety

  • I-77 safety an ongoing effort

    SALEM — The foggy and windy stretch of Interstate 77 in Carroll County requires vigilance — not only from speeding drivers, but from the state and local officials that oversee its safety.
    Virginia Department of Transportation officials have taken a long, hard look at the accident-prone highway and put into place numerous safety improvements over the years, starting with a weather station in the mid-1990s.

    As severe and sometimes fatal pileups continue to occur during poor weather conditions on Interstate 77, VDOT is not standing still.

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  • Snow, slick roads lead to I-77 wrecks

    A chain reaction of crashes in the snow and ice on Interstate 77 in Carroll County on Sunday resulted in minor injuries.
    The Hillsville Volunteer Fire Department was responding to a single-car crash involving a vehicle on its side on Sunday afternoon when firefighters received a call to a three-car accident in the southbound lanes of I-77, near the 21 milemarker.

    The crash involved a tractor trailer and six other vehicles.

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  • 911 call includes 'begging' voice, gunshots

    SPARTA, N.C. — The Alleghany County Sheriff’s Department may not have a body, but it does have a 911 tape of a man begging not to be killed.
    A Cana, Va., couple and a Mount Airy man have been charged with the murder of Michael Thomas Hawks, 40, of Mount Airy.
    The sheriff’s office received the call on Oct. 26 at 7:30 a.m. and later heard “muffled gunshots” in the background before the call ended.
    The information was taken off of a search warrant obtained to search the home of Wayne Thomas Lawson Jr., 39, of Mount Airy, N.C.

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  • Suspect charged in Fancy Gap armed robbery

    HILLSVILLE — A suspect has been arrested in connection with the Dec. 16 armed robbery at the Kangaroo Express in Fancy Gap.
    Joey Roby Sechrist, 48, of Brushy Fork Road in Cana, is charged with armed robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
    Carroll County deputies and Virginia State Police troopers scoured Interstate 77 and other areas of Carroll County after receiving a report that the business on Chances Creek Road had been robbed.

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  • Two charged with drug possession

    Two people were arrested in Galax on Tuesday after a traffic stop and charged with possession of methamphetamine, marijuana and a Schedule III drug.
    According to a Galax Police Department report, officers Shawny Jones and Drew Burnett stopped a vehicle operated by Richard D. Hash, 29, of Independence, who was driving on a suspended driver’s license.
    While the traffic stop was being conducted, observations made by the officers resulted in the arrest of a passenger, Leona Peoples, 27, of Independence and Hash.

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  • A month of fire and ice

    On sub-zero days and nights this month when many of us were huddled inside next to the fireplace, the Galax Volunteer Fire Department was out in the cold dealing with flames that were anything but cozy.
    With temperatures in the teens and wind chill well below zero, firefighters have answered several major calls to house fires.

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  • 'Herbal incense' overdose reported

    INDEPENDENCE — A popular and controversial new way to get high has found its way to Grayson County, according to Sheriff Richard Vaughan.
    The “herbal incense” products, marketed under the brand name K2 and available on the Internet, have come under fire for their health effects. Some of the K2 products are banned — but not in Virginia — and some are legal in all states.

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  • Robber hits Fancy Gap store

    HILLSVILLE — Authorities scoured Interstate 77 and other areas of Carroll County Thursday evening after a report of an armed robbery at the Kangaroo Express in Fancy Gap.Carroll County deputies and Virginia State Police troopers responded to the business on Chances Creek Road after the report came in at 8:35 p.m., Sheriff Warren Manning said.

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  • Weather coats roads, closes offices

    Sgt. S.E. Lowe of the Virginia State Police shared this information on the condition of the roads in Southwest Virginia:

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  • Businesses taking chance with law

    While Twin County authorities wait for clearer legislation from the General Assembly on Internet sweepstakes cafes, at least one prosecutor in Tidewater has moved ahead with legal action against business proprietors.
    Vague language from a previous Virginia General Assembly action inadvertently created a loophole for Internet sweepstakes businesses after they fled a crackdown in North Carolina, legislators and local officials agree.

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The Galax Gazette is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Galax, Grayson, Carroll, and surrounding areas.