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Amazon plans to buy Deschutes-owned property in Roanoke
The Fortune 50 company seeks to build a distribution center on a site formerly considered for a Deschutes brewery, according to city documents. City council will consider whether to approve a plan to repay a related federal grant, which would free the property from current restrictions on how it can be used.
Patrick & Henry expands workforce training opportunities with new building
The $6 million facility includes several welding stations, a robotic welding room and a virtual welding room, among other offerings.
Aging demographics are driving policy: From Evans Spring to Roanoke College football to Lynchburg school closings
Declining birth rates and an aging population are the forces that are prompting colleges and local governments to act.
Feds give grant to study wildlife crossings in Virginia; more . . .
Virginia Veterans Care Center in Roanoke to be renamed. Shell building coming to Buchanan County. Carliion names vice president for Carilion Mental Health.
Politics
Youngkin approval rating remains stable at 52% even after legislative losses, Roanoke College poll says
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s approval rating in Virginia is at 37%.
Economy
State regulators OK Appalachian Power rate hike
An average Appalachian Power residential customer’s monthly bill will increase by about $16, starting in 60 days. Meanwhile, regulators did not approve a proposed monthly service charge exemption for low-income customers.
Culture
A town’s ‘melting pot’ cemetery honored miners from many cultures but fell into disrepair. Supporters want to give it new life.
The Pocahontas Cemetery started out as the burial ground for more than 100 coal miners who were killed in an explosion in 1884. It became an important landmark in the Tazewell County town.
education
Sweet Briar College names new president
Mary Pope Hutson, who has been interim president, was involved in the movement that helped keep the school open eight years ago. She’s also the first alumna to lead the school.
weather
So far, 2023 has been a warm, dry year in much of Southwest and Southside Virginia. Here’s what December may bring.
Roanoke is close to its first year on record averaging 60 degrees or more, while many locations are still lagging in rain as weather pattern hints at getting wetter.
OPinion
Lynchburg City Council censures Misjuns. Now comes the hard part.
The Marty Misjuns controversy raises a question that goes beyond Lynchburg: Can someone be a disruptor of the status quo and still be nice?
news briefs
Bristol invites new Virginia Democratic leadership for firsthand look at city’s landfill woes
From elsewhere: Virginia continues to pursue rail service to Bristol. Bedford board petitions Gov. Youngkin to declare county disaster area due to drought. Virginia Supreme Court rules Patrick County felon must reimburse state Medicaid for victim’s medical costs.
Sports
Martinsville star wound up on a Canadian postage stamp for his football records north of the border
In the 1970s, Sonny Wade won three Most Valuable Player awards in the Grey Cup, the championship game for the Canadian Football League.
Cardinal 250
Proclamation Line of 1763 became a focus of anti-British resentment in Virginia
After the French and Indian War, King George III drew a line along the Appalachians and forbade settlement west of that. This became one of the sparks that lit the fuse for American independence.
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