The facility will also include a worship space; programs will begin over the next few months.
Jeff Lester
Jeff Lester served for five years as editor of The Coalfield Progress in Norton, The Post in Big Stone Gap and the Dickenson Star in Clintwood. He has worked in rural community journalism in Southwest Virginia for nearly 35 years, beginning as a Coalfield Progress staff writer in early 1990. Lester grew up in Marion and in the Glade Spring area and is a proud graduate of Virginia Intermont College and Virginia Highlands Community College. He has won numerous Virginia Press Association awards, including the 2002 statewide best in show writing award for nondaily newspapers. Under his guidance, Coalfield Progress reporters won the same award in 2008. He can be reached at jeff.c.lester819@gmail.com.
Posted inSouthwest Area
Plans to open an Islamic center in Norton have caused an uproar; nothing has been approved by city officials
The Islamic Leadership Institute of America is holding an open house Tuesday to discuss the project.
Posted inSouthwest Area
Two years after Hurricane Helene ravaged Southwest Virginia, a study of the storm’s effects on the Clinch River is underway.
The debris left behind by Helene and other storms makes it easier for flooding to occur again.
Posted inEducation, Politics
As the question of consolidation swirls, Washington County plans a public hearing Tuesday on whether to raise the sales tax to pay for school upgrades
The increase could raise $200 million over 20 years, local officials said. But the need for renovations across the school division has been overshadowed by talk of combining two high schools.
Posted inSouthwest Area
Washington County courthouse will remain closed until Sept. 14 due to discovery of ‘microbial growth’
Plans for handling court proceedings in the meantime have not yet been announced.
Posted inSouthwest Area
Upper half of Virginia Creeper Trail, destroyed by Hurricane Helene, set to reopen March 31
The rebuilt trail, which is expected to be completed in December, will have three months over the winter to “settle.”
Posted inLocal
Coalfields Expressway gets another $10 million for widening work
The timeline to bid and complete the project is about three years. It will focus on the section of road that connects Buchanan County to eastern Kentucky.
Posted inEconomy
2 pumped storage hydroelectric stations could be located just miles apart in Wise County
A Florida company has a preliminary permit from the federal government for one site and is pursuing another.
Posted inLocal
Henry County supervisors will consider data centers, battery energy storage in zoning rules
The board of supervisors will meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Posted inLocal
Nearly $400,000 in building upgrades and $3.85 million in federal grants on the Henry County School Board’s agenda
The board will also consider auditorium, curtain and rigging system upgrades at four schools.
