The hospital in Patrick County. Photo courtesy of Addison Merryman.

Four sites in Virginia will receive approximately $847,000 in Site Remediation Grants from the Virginia Brownfields Restoration and Economic Redevelopment Assistance Fund, according to a release from Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

One of those is the site of the former Pioneer Hospital in Patrick County; a Chicago-based company is now in the process of reopening the facility. See previous coverage.

The other sites are in Town of Bedford, the Town of Saltville, and Smyth County. The VBAF provides either grants or loans to local governments to restore and redevelop brownfield sites and address environmental problems or obstacles to their reuse in an effort to effectively attract new economic development prospects. Administered by the Virginia Resources Authority, the VBAF is a partnership between the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Department of Environmental Quality.

The sites are:

Source: Governor’s office

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Marion gets grant for police cars

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development has awarded a grant of $50,000 to the Town of Marion to purchase two law enforcement vehicles to replace older vehicles with high mileage, according to a release from Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.

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Fralin Institute sponsors Infectious Disease Symposium in Blacksburg

Fralin Life Sciences Institute is sponsoring the inaugural Infectious Disease Symposium on Oct. 7 at The Inn at Virginia Tech, located at 901 Prices Fork Road on the Blacksburg campus.   

The event is an outreach effort of Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Anthropod-Borne Pathogens (CeZAP), one of the centers within the Fralin Life Sciences Institute, to foster and promote a cohesive and synergistic environment for interdisciplinary and collaborative research. Welcoming remarks will be made by Kylene Kehn-Hall, director of CeZAP; Dan Sui, senior vice president for research and innovation; and Aimee Surprenant, dean of the Virginia Tech Graduate School.

More than 170 have registered to attend the event, with more than 90 students participating in oral and poster presentations. While registration is closed for the event, CeZAP will be hosting similar outreach opportunities in the future.