Today's News

By SHAINA STOCKTON
Staff
For Randy Harmon of Galax, life has almost always been on a fast track. From motocross to race car driving, he has worked to leave quite a memorable impression on the circuits long after the dust clouds settle.
To continue what seems to be a growing family tradition, Harmon is now shifting more of his focus on to the next generation. His son, Derek, is now following in his father’s tire tracks, and it has already been said by some that he could someday qualify against the titans of racing — NASCAR.

CANA — A pedestrian who was on scene at a vehicle accident on U.S. 52 Wednesday suffered injuries after she stepped into traffic, according to Virginia State Police.
Angela Jones, 47, of Cana and her husband received a call from her son, saying that he had been in an accident Wednesday morning, according to investigating Trooper S.M. Phillips.
The couple found an accident at the intersection of U.S. 52 and Flower Gap Road.
(It turned out that this incident was not her son’s accident.)

By SHAINA STOCKTON
Staff
Imagine the anticipation and nervousness that Galax Fire Chief David Hankley felt when he first saw the e-mail from FEMA in his inbox.
After a month of hard work put into writing a grant that would help assist the department in getting replacements for outdated equipment, it call came down to one click of the mouse.

Key committees in the General Assembly have advanced proposed revisions to Virginia’s two-year budget that include opening a mothballed state prison in Grayson County.
The original request called for opening the prison by 2014, but a House of Delegates committee wants it to be operational later this year.
Republican-controlled budget committees from the Senate and House of Delegates produced plans on Feb. 3 that build upon Gov. Bob McDonnell’s amendments to the state’s two-year, $86.5 billion budget.