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Today's News

  • Cougars edge Cavaliers

    HILLSVILLE –– Pulaski County has evidently been working hard on its free throw defense.

    The Cougars took advantage of a chilly night at the foul line by the Cavaliers and held off a second-half rally to escape with a 48-41 nondistrict win Monday night.

    Carroll County hit just 6-of-19 from the stripe, or 31.6 percent, in falling to 4-5 on the year. The Cougars crept over the .500 mark with the win, improving to 5-4.

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  • Grayson to return water plant grant

    INDEPENDENCE — Grayson County will use $150,000 from its Community Development Fund to pay back money to the Virginia Tobacco Commission owed by Universal Food and Beverage Co.

    The company owned a water bottling plant in Independence before filing for bankruptcy about three years ago.

    Grayson National Bank purchased the plant, located off U.S. 21, following a public auction in November.

    Grayson is obligated to repay the money after Universal broke promises made in a performance agreement, which included creating hundreds of jobs.

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  • Hawthorne pays back $20,000 to chamber

    HILLSVILLE — Prosecutors reached an agreement with a former executive director accused of embezzling from the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce.

    During a court appearance Tuesday in Carroll Circuit Court, Roger Thomas Hawthorne, 56, of Hillsville, pleaded guilty to a single count of petit larceny and repaid $20,000 in restitution.

    Hawthorne originally was charged with a felony count of embezzlement, but the Commonwealth motioned to have that amended to a misdemeanor charge.

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  • Carroll to study tax collection options

    HILLSVILLE — As revenue from other kinds of taxes fall due to the weak economy, the Carroll County supervisors have voted to study twice-a-year tax collection.

    Supervisor Tom Littrell brought up the suggestion at the county board's Dec. 8 meeting.

    What affects the county's cash flow? One thing is that real estate taxes mostly come in once a year, in November and December, after tax tickets go out in October, he said.

    Littrell noted that tourism revenue appears to be down.

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  • McCraw wins Skeens title, Bowman second

    GRUNDY –– Carroll County had four wrestlers reach the championship finals and placed ninth out of 36 teams at the prestigious 29th annual Agie Skeens Memorial Tournament Dec. 29-30 at Riverview Middle School.

    Drew McCraw finished the event 4-0 and won the individual championship in the 275-pound weight class. McCraw drew a first-round bye and followed up with two pins, sticking Michael LaPrade of Turner Ashby in 1 minute, 34 seconds, then pinning Alleghany’s Martin Garcia 46 seconds into the championship quarterfinals.

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  • Cavaliers sweep Golden Wave

    GRUNDY –– Carroll County rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final four minutes to overtake Grundy 70-65 in a Southwest District boys’ game Saturday afternoon.

    Grundy’s Jordan Ellis sank two foul shots for a 61-53 Golden Wave lead before James Lanning’s 3-pointer sparked a 17-4 Cavalier run to the final horn.

    Tyler Reavis’ layup gave Carroll County the lead for good, 64-62, with 1:15 to play. Reavis led all scorers with 25 points, Lucas Marshall scored a career-high 14 and Lanning chipped in 12.

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  • Carroll tries for stimulus funds for schools

    HILLSVILLE — By going for federal stimulus package money, the Carroll School Board may have found a way to pay for phase three of its facilities improvement program.

    The improvements could include a new high school in the Woodlawn area, and renovations to Carroll Intermediate School and the current high school.

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  • Hammer defense building case

    INDEPENDENCE — Few updates were given during another court appearance of a man facing 16 charges in connection with three shooting deaths at a Christmas tree farm in Grayson County last January.

    Frederick Hammer — along with his four attorneys — appeared in Grayson Circuit Court last Friday to update Judge Brett Geisler on their investigation.

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  • Seeking Stimuli

    If the much-ballyhooed economic stimulus package from the federal government can create jobs, it's hard to imagine a place where that money could be better spent than the Twin Counties.

    The manufacturing job base was shrinking even before the recession struck the nation as a whole. Fewer jobs means less revenue for local governments, and less revenue means less money in the coffers for projects to benefit the area.

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  • Letters to the Editor for 1/12/09

    Make peace with greetings

    In the Jan. 5 edition of the Gazette, I counted seven Readers’ Hotline calls regarding a previous caller’s thoughts that “Happy Holidays” should be used instead of “Merry Christmas.”

    Frankly, I don’t care which one a person uses, since judging someone solely on the basis of a term they use or don’t use is akin to judging an entire steak based on one bite.

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