The state is helping fund an expansion of the reading program across the state.

Ralph Berrier Jr.
Ralph Berrier Jr. is a writer who lives in Roanoke. Contact him at ralph.berrier@gmail.com.
Schools await details on Youngkin’s plan to boost dual enrollment
Youngkin says he wants all high school students to graduate with college-level associate degrees. Right now, less than 3 percent do.
Virginia Tech Board of Visitors approves 5,000-bed on-campus housing plan
This doesn’t mean the $935 million project will be built, just that it’s now in the university’s master plan. Local developers had opposed the project.
Virginia Tech is considering adding more student housing. Town officials support the proposal. Housing developers don’t.
Town officials who want Tech to house more students on campus hailed the proposal for its innovative ideas. Developers worry that the Student Life Village could leave their apartment complexes vacant.
Roanoke council election tests voter feelings on Democratic leadership
No Republican has won a council seat in the Star City since 2000. Democrats are saying stay the course, but Republicans (and some independents) are making the case for change.
Community center opens near Roanoke public housing to improve access to education, health care
Virginia Western will operate a satellite program in the center, offering career advising, financial aid assistance, job training, and other classes. This is part of the college’s recent effort to make going to college easier for low-income Roanokers.
Norton writer finds a diamond among coalfield baseball history
Baseball author Lynn Sutter of Norton is the first woman to win honors from the Society for American Baseball Research. She’s done it twice.
Hometown heroes 49 Winchester: ‘There’s no place like Appalachia’
The Russell County band is rising on the country charts. This week, it played the Grand Ole Opry.
The first integrated Little League team in the South was in Norton
On Saturday, a historical marker about the 1951 team will be unveiled.
The French baron who tried to start a colony in Southwest Virginia comes to life on stage
A play staged this weekend in St. Paul will tell the story of Pierre Francois du Tubeuf, who tried to create a French colony on the Clinch River.