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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Salem Specialties to relocate to Craig County

A family-owned Salem machine shop has purchased a building in Craig County and will relocate to New Castle, the county announced Thursday.

Salem Specialties Inc. has been in business for more than 50 years and specializes in small and medium-sized machined parts, according to a news release from the county. The company bought the Crown Building, a former furniture manufacturing plant that previously housed Manifold Mining, from the Craig County Economic Development Authority.

According to the news release, Salem Specialties will bring 19 full-time jobs to the county.

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Lunchbox Lectures return to D-Day Memorial

The National D-Day Memorial kicks off its 2024 Lunchbox Lecture Series at noon Jan. 25 with a talk by John Long, the memorial’s director of education.

Long’s lecture, “Tragedy and Secrecy Collide: Exercise Tiger and the Shaping of D-Day Memory,” will discuss Operation Tiger, practice exercises at Slapton Sands, England, where more than 700 Americans died in a calamity that was hushed up for many years.

The public is invited to join the in-person audience at the memorial’s Fleda A. Ring Education
Quonset Hut or watch the livestream at dday.org.

The Lunchbox Lecture Series will continue into the spring. All lectures will start at noon:

  • Feb. 21: “Black Americans Who Worked on the Manhattan Project” with David Snead, professor of history, Liberty University.
  • March 7: “More than Just Hemingway’s Wife: The Wartime Journalism of Martha Gellhorn” with Maggie Hartley, director of public engagement, the National WWII Museum.
  • April 25: “4,415 Souls and Counting: The National D-Day Memorial Necrology Project” with John Long, director of education, National D-Day Memorial Foundation.
  • May 16: “Fighting for Peace with Peace: Conscientious Objectors in World War II” with Mitchell Gehman, education and public outreach coordinator, National D-Day Memorial Foundation.

Previous Lunchbox Lectures are available online.

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Applications sought for Youth Conservation Corps program

Virginia State Parks are recruiting candidates for the Youth Conservation Corps program for 2024.

Eligible applicants must be 14-17 years of age and going into at least their first year of high school.  

Crew members will spend two weeks living and working in a state park while completing trail maintenance, basic construction and park beautification projects led by adult crew leaders and park staff. 

The first session runs June 16-29, the second July 7-20. Applications will be accepted until March 15.

Room and board are provided, and crew members will receive a $750 stipend at the end of the two-week session.

For more details on how to apply for the program visit, https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/youth-conservation-corps.