Today's News

LAUREL FORK — Firefighters responded to a report of a fire at 8062 Dugspur Road Aug. 26 at about 6:19 a.m.

Laurel Fork Fire Department volunteers found smoke coming out of the eaves of the home, owned by Mark Bolt, according to information from the fire department. Firefighters made entry and knocked down the fire in the living room.

Some of the fire got up into the attic.

HILLSVILLE — In a 12-month period, Twin County E-911 dispatchers received 25,000 calls, which turned into 44,000 dispatches for emergency responders and Galax police, according to Jolena Young.
The regional 911 director shared information about the dispatching service with the Carroll Board of Supervisors at its August meeting.

The City of Galax is facing $33,425 in state budget cuts from the 2012 budget, and the police department will take the biggest hit — a $17,471 reduction.
Galax City Manager Keith Barker told city council members earlier this month that the reductions are being imposed on the city due to the state budget cuts made by Gov. Bob McDonnell.
The city was required to respond to the state by yesterday, Tuesday, about how it will address these cuts.

As standards continue to rise for Adequate Yearly Progress, the benchmarks are becoming more and more unobtainable, said Galax Schools’ Superintendent Bill Sturgill.
“No Child Left Behind served as a great platform to encourage high expectations for schools,” said Sturgill. “But benchmarks of 100 percent are unrealistic... By design, No Child Left Behind has ran its course.”