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Today's News

  • Letters to the Editor for 12/28/09

    Smoking a privilege, not a right

    I’ve read the Hotline calls of irate smokers (and one non-smoker) who claim their rights were trampled by the recent law going into effect that bans smoking in restaurants.

    I certainly understand their anger, given how unreasonable it is to ask them to walk 20 feet to the door, open it, and stand in the open air to smoke. How unreasonable!

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  • Briarleigh Court in Hillsville burns

    HILLSVILLE — Following the Saturday morning blaze at Briarleigh Court apartments on North Main Street, one resident suffered burns and smoke inhalation and remains hospitalized.

    Emergency officials say that the fire started at about 4:30 a.m. at the apartments owned by Rural Development.

    All 37 residents of the independent living facility for the elderly were accounted for. Three of them had smoke inhalation.

    Resident Emily Bowman remained in good condition at Twin County Regional Hospital Monday after being admitted for treatment.

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  • Dept. of Health: Virginia flu levels dropping

    For the first time since mid-September, Virginia has dropped from the list of states that have widespread levels of flu, ending a 15-week run.

    Diane Woolard, division director of the department for surveillance and investigation at the Virginia Department of Health, said the state has reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that Virginia is no longer experiencing widespread levels of flu as of the week ending Jan. 2.

    The levels in Virginia are still higher than normal for this time of year, because of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu.

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  • Shock and Awe

    Despite the frigid weather last Thursday, many Twin County residents got hot under the collar.

    That heat was fueled by anger after opening their electric bills.

    While the bills should have been no surprise, given the months of debate about American Electric Power's 14.5 percent base rate increase request, seeing those figures in print was still a shock.

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  • Fiscal Foresight

    Foresight is a thing that's refreshing to find in government on any level.

    It's even more rare when desperation seems to run rampant, as it did while officials worked on their finances in the midst of the Great Recession last year.

    But the Carroll County Public Schools leadership managed to both avoid budgetary pitfalls and help prepare to meet future fiscal challenges for 2010.

    The federal government stepped in to help localities avoid crippling layoffs through the recovery act. Many places used this one-time infusion of cash as a short-term fix.

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  • Gov. Kaine proposes more cuts to Grayson

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  • General Assembly 2010: What's on tap for business?

    RICHMOND — The state budget and transportation funding, no doubt, will be dominant themes of the General Assembly session that starts today, Wednesday, in Richmond.

    But hundreds of other bills also will be introduced. Some of those would affect businesses: how they are taxed, how they bag merchandise, how they're insured.

    Many bills will be tabled as legislators try to hold down state spending this year and avoid tax increases.

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  • Grayson elects new chairman

    INDEPENDENCE — A new face will lead the Grayson County Board of Supervisors through what is expected to be a tough budget season.

    Former Vice Chairman Larry Bartlett will take the reigns of the county's highest board for 2010 after receiving the only nomination during the supervisor's reorganizational meeting Jan. 6.

    County Administrator Jonathan Sweet opened the meeting and called for nominations. Supervisor Doug Carrico nominated Bartlett, and with no further nominations, he was declared chairman by acclamation.

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  • Wired Road adds third service provider

    NationsLine has become the latest service provider available to businesses and homes through The Wired Road.

    The Wired Road is a community-owned, regional, open-access network serving Carroll and Grayson counties and Galax.

    Based in Roanoke, NationsLine will offer business and residential Internet access and voice-over-IP telephone, computer data backup and IP trunking. These services, which customers can purchase as a bundle on one bill, became available within parts of The Wired Road’s service area Jan. 5, said Debbie Bolen, The Wired Road marketing manager.

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  • Public record for 1/20/10 edition

    Editor’s Note: This information is taken from open court records and is a matter of public record. The listings are complete. The newspaper, as a matter of fairness, will not honor requests to omit any listing. 

    For information on this column or questions, call 236-5178, ext. 213.

    Land Transfers

    These land transfers were recorded Nov. 19, 2009 – Dec. 4, 2009, in the office of Carolyn H. Honeycutt, clerk of the Carroll County Circuit Court, Hillsville:

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