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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Feds give grant to study wildlife crossings in Virginia
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program has awarded $604,318 to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The grant will allow VDOT to develop a statewide plan to identify roads with the highest risk of large mammal (such as deer, bear and elk) collisions in the state, according to a news release announcing the award. The plan will include geographic models to better identify wildlife crossing sites and provide site-specific recommendations.
This is potentially important to Southwest Virginia, in particular, where there’s now a herd of elk in Buchanan County that is expanding. A hunter in Giles County recently killed an elk that’s thought to have wandered away from that herd. (See our previous story on the elk.)
“This important funding will help the Virginia Department of Transportation create a plan to identify high-risk wildlife crossings and collision sites statewide,” Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said in the release. Identifying these potentially dangerous sites and developing improvement recommendations will help make roads safer for Virginians and animals alike.”
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Virginia Veterans Care Center in Roanoke to be renamed
The Virginia Department of Veterans Services will host a renaming ceremony of the Virginia Veterans Care Center in Roanoke at 11 a.m. Dec. 12.
The Virginia Veterans Care Center will be officially renamed in honor of two military heroes with connections to Virginia. The names will be revealed during the ceremony, according to a news release from the department.
Dedicated on Nov. 11, 1992 —Veterans Day — the Virginia Veterans Care Center is a 224-bed comprehensive nursing facility offering short-term rehabilitative and long-term care options to qualified military veterans.
Since the opening of VVCC in 1992, DVS has also opened and is operating the Sitter & Barfoot Veterans Care Center in Richmond (January 2008) and the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center in Virginia Beach (November 2023). Plans are to open the new Puller Veterans Care Center now under construction in Fauquier County in 2024. Each of these centers is named in honor of military heroes and with the renaming, so will be the Roanoke center.
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VCEDA, Buchanan County IDA close on $1.53 million loan for shell building
A $1.53 million loan to be used to construct a new 20,000- to 30,000-square-foot shell building at Southern Gap was closed recently between the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and the Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority.
The IDA is currently without a single industrial type building to market, according to a news release announcing the loan. The last industrial building constructed by the IDA was an 80,000-square-foot shell building built in 2019 as part of Phase II of the Southern Gap industrial park. It was immediately taken by a local manufacturer, Paul’s Fan Co.
“As leads for new projects and expansions are developed, having available and ready industrial property to market is very important,” Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA’s executive director/general counsel, said in a statement. “The current lack of marketable industrial buildings is causing Buchanan County to lose out on many opportunities and requests for proposals from prospective businesses. We are pleased to see the IDA take this step forward to build a new marketable building.”
The building will be expandable to 50,000 square feet, which is the largest size the site currently can accommodate. The proposed location for the building is on approximately 5 acres near Paul’s Fan Co., less than a half-mile from the U.S. 460/U.S. 121 (Coalfields Expressway) Southern Gap intersection.
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Carilion names Sprinkel as vice president of Carilion Mental Health
Lisa Sprinkel, vice president of Carilion Clinic Home Health and Hospice, has been selected to also serve as vice president of Carilion Mental Health. She will lead the mental health team with Dr. Robert Trestman, chair of mental health at Carilion. Sprinkel has served as interim vice president since May 1.
Sprinklel has held a variety of clinical and leadership positions during her tenure with Carilion and has led the Home Health and Hospice department for 17 years.
She began her nursing career as a diploma graduate from Roanoke Memorial Hospital’s School of Professional Nursing, received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mary Baldwin University and earned a master’s degree in nursing administration from Jefferson College of Health Sciences.
(Disclosure: Carilion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions. See our policy and full list of donors.)