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Today's News

  • Twin County projects get $7.3 million in stimulus funds

     Carroll County will receive $7 million in a grant and a low-interest loan for its regional water project, and Hillsville and Fries will get $552,900 and $300,000, respectively, for wastewater system improvements.

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  • Fries man charged with 2nd-degree murder

    FRIES — A 22-year-old man is charged with second-degree murder in a death caused by a drug overdose.

    Daniel Laymond Ferguson, of 340 Grayson Street in Fries, was indicted by a Grayson County grand jury April 24 for the murder charge and one count of distributing a Schedule II drug.

    An indictment is a formal charge, not a finding of guilt.

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  • Playing on the big field

     The boy hadn’t broken out the wristband in years. Not since a couple of summers after his grandpa had passed away.

    On one side of the Nike swoosh, he had taken a Sharpie pen and scrawled his grandpa’s initials. On the other side of the swoosh was a 21, the number the elder gentleman had worn when he was a high school baseball coach.

    The handmade memorial showed its age. After all, it had been almost seven years.

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  • Letters to the Editor for 4/27/09

    Thousands of animals euthanized

    This information is to let everyone know how many pets are euthanized each year right in your own community.

    The statistics for dogs and cats for 2008 for Carroll and Grayson counties and Galax show there were 1,000 owner surrenders, 784 strays, 202 reclaimed by their owners, and 214 were adopted.

    The total was 1,928, of which 1,479 were euthanized. This means that 76.7 percent of dogs that entered the shelter were euthanized.

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  • Grayson should invest in education

    The Grayson County School Board has requested only level funding for our school system for the upcoming school year.

    This budget request is conservative and includes significant cuts in personnel, transportation, instructional materials and services.

    Our budget supports academic programs, career and technical education, technology, band, arts and sports.

    Our children in Grayson County deserve the same educational opportunities as children in surrounding counties.

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  • Galax council approves school budget, city projects

    Galax City Council adopted the $13 million 2009-2010 budget for Galax schools during Monday's meeting, which included a small increase in local funding.

    A public hearing on the proposed spending plan was held April 13, but council heard no comments.

    The school board requested city funding in the amount of $3.96 million, an increase of $125,000 from the current year's budget. The increase is mostly for debt service for the renovation of Galax High School.

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  • Barriers prevent propane explosion

    A possible disaster was avoided April 25, after a car plowed over heavy metal barriers buried in about two feet of concrete protecting two large propane tanks.

    One of the tanks was moved by the front of the car, but no gas leaked.

    The incident occurred behind Wal-Mart in Galax about 8 p.m.

    Galax police said a 1998 Ford Taurus, driven by Christopher Jordan Walker, 19, of Hillsville, was traveling at an estimated 45 mph when he lost control in the parking lot near the lube and tire department. Walker was not injured.

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  • VDOT begins layoffs

    RICHMOND — The Virginia Department of Transportation began notifying wage employees Tuesday of layoffs that are aimed at closing a $2.6 billion budget shortfall over the next six years.

    So Tuesday and Wednesday, Hillsville Residency Administrator Bob Beasley gave the notifications from Richmond to the four 1,500-hour wage employees locally that will have their positions eliminated by June 6 at the latest.

    One of the affected employees has worked for the Hillsville residency office for 15 years.

    "It's a tough day," Beasley said.

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  • Health problem caused fatal crash

    HILLSVILLE — A former commercial truck driver's seizure behind the wheel apparently resulted in a fatal head-on collision between two tractor-trailers on Interstate 77 in Carroll County on Feb. 17.

    Following the investigation of the accident that left the driver of the other truck dead, Virginia State Police charged Brian Scott Grubbs, 39, of Anderson, S.C., with involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving.

    Grubbs appeared with his attorney, Nathan Lyons, in Carroll County General District Court on Tuesday to answer the charges.

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  • Schools prep for swine flu outbreak

    Though no cases of the swine flu have been reported in Southwest Virginia, at this point Galax schools are taking a proactive position to prevent any cases of the disease, Superintendent Bill Sturgill told The Gazette on Friday.

    Administrators of the school division met Thursday to discuss the swine flu, using the guidelines of the Virginia Department of Education's health plan. “It was a discussion of what do we do now and to prepare in terms of precautionary measures,” Sturgill said.

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