Due to structural concerns, volunteers and staff of Blacksburg’s Progress Street Rescue Station will be temporarily operating out of the Fire Department building beginning today. These structural concerns do not affect the separate Fire Department building which has its own support system.

For the past year, Town inspectors and an outside structural engineering firm have been monitoring the late 1950s era building for signs of structural degradation. “Overnight, old cracks expanded and new cracks formed in the bay areas and in the boiler room, likely due to frozen ground and ground shift,” said Blacksburg Building Official Cathy Cook.

At this time, the building is being closed and personnel and equipment relocated as a precautionary measure while further investigation takes place. Fire and Rescue service will continue with no interruptions.

The Blacksburg Museum hosts a holiday open house today (Friday, Dec. 17) from 2-6 p.m. (more…)

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today that Dove Vinyl Windows will invest $2 million to open a manufacturing operation in Pulaski County. The project will create 100 new jobs.

Speaking about today’s announcement, McDonnell said, “Dove Vinyl Windows has come a long way from the small company founded in Pennsylvania 65 years ago. Pulaski County is a strategic location for the company’s first Virginia operation, offering an available manufacturing facility that meets the company’s needs. The new location provides competitive advantage for Dove to meet its customer’s timelines from product manufacture to order delivery. I congratulate Pulaski on 100 new jobs and its newest corporate partner.” (more…)

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell issued the following statement today regarding the ruling by Judge Henry E. Hudson of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that Section 1501, the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision, commonly referred to as the “individual mandate,” of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is unconstitutional. (more…)

Gov. Bob McDonnell released the Multimodal Strategic Plan for the Commonwealth of Virginia today at the Governor’s Transportation Conference in Roanoke. This plan will guide policy making for the Commonwealth’s transportation agencies to achieve a unified vision and goals for multimodal planning in Virginia. (more…)

Nia Indelicato was named executive director of Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley earlier this year.  She was selected from among several finalist candidates interviewed by the Board of Directors.

LVNRV is a United Way agency that provides free, private tutoring for adults who read or write at or below the fourth grade level and for adults whose first language is not English. Using a simple service model, LVNRV matches caring adult tutors with learners in the NRV who wish to improve their English conversational, reading, and writing skills.  (more…)