Here’s a roundup of news briefs from around Southwest and Southside. Send yours for possible inclusion to news@cardinalnews.org.
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Sarah Jarosz to play in Rocky Mount in March
Four-time Grammy winner Sarah Jarosz will take the Harvester Performance Center stage on Saturday, March 9, as part of the “Polaroid Lovers” tour.
Her album of the same name is set for release in January.
Tickets start at $67 and go on sale Friday, Oct. 13, at 10 a.m. at harvester-music.com.
Keep up with events around Southwest and Southside by signing up for our free weekly events newsletter, The Weekend. You can also check out our events calendar.
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Life Ring Foundation donates $2 million to Carilion’s cancer center
The Life Ring Foundation has announced a $2 million gift to Carilion Children’s, Southwest Virginia’s local Children’s Miracle Network hospital, for pediatric hematology and oncology at Carilion’s new cancer center.
(Disclosure: Carilion is one of our donors but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.)
The gift includes proceeds from the first in a series of fund-raising events organized by The Life Ring Foundation: The Darius Rucker concert in Roanoke’s Elmwood Park amphitheatre in June that attracted a sellout crowd and the Charlotte’s Play Yellow Invitational golf tournament at Ballyhack Golf Club in July with celebrity guests Julius Erving, Clyde Drexler, Joe Theismann, Roger Clemens, Billy Wagner and well-known current and former Hokies.
This gift is part of the Life Ring Foundation’s Fighting Kids Cancer campaign, which launched in January. This five-year initiative aims to transform the state of care for children diagnosed with cancer in Southwest Virginia by funding critical resources.
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Mill Mountain Theatre announces 2024 season
Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke has announced its 2024 season.
The Young Audience series includes “A Year with Frog and Toad” and “Finding Nemo Jr.”
Other shows include “Cabaret,” “Flat Stanley, the Musical,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Annie.”
The fall community tour will be “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Revised) (Again).”
For details, see Mill Mountain Theatre’s website.
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Natural gas company breaks ground on new headquarters in Richlands
CNX Resources, the largest natural gas producer in Virginia, broke ground last week for a Virginia headquarters in Richlands.
The Pittsburgh-based CNX employs 67 people at its Virginia office. The new headquarters will add eight more. A $900,000 loan from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority to the Tazewell County Industrial Development Authority was used to assist in the project. As part of the agreement, Tazewell County IDA has purchased some 121 acres of land in Tazewell from the company, giving the IDA property it can use for future economic development. Previously, the company had been leasing space in Claypool Hill, which it has outgrown. CNX Resources has entered into a 15-year lease with RPB Properties on the Richlands Professional Building. The move is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2024.
Virginia Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade James Campos spoke at the event.
In Virginia, CNX operates primarily in Buchanan, Russell and Tazewell counties. “Natural gas production plays a vital role in Southwest Virginia’s economy by employing hundreds of people and ensuring that dozens of local contractors can continue to work,” said Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell County. “This past General Assembly session, I passed legislation that will qualify coalbed methane to be an eligible fuel for Virginia’s Green Jobs Tax credit. This will give natural gas companies in Southwest Virginia more incentives to drill natural gas and create more jobs.”
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Forest Service road in Augusta County to be closed for repairs
Beginning October 1, the Forest Service will temporarily close a quarter mile of North River Road (Forest Service Road 95) in Augusta County to repair a section of road damaged by Hurricane Florence.
The quarter-mile of North River Road (Forest Service Road 95) will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, until October 23. Reddish Knob Road (Forest Service Road 85-5) will be fully closed from October 24-30 while culvert installation and grading are undertaken.
Depending on weather conditions, the road work should be completed by October 30. Once the repair work is complete, the roads will re-open.
Access to Reddish Knob will remain open but expect heavy truck and equipment traffic at the intersection of 85-5 while work is ongoing.