Education

    Like it or not, change is coming.

    Julie Austin-Witcher, Mrs. Virginia, has a heart for art.

    A Huddleston native and Staunton River High School graduate,  Austin-Witcher earned her bachelor’s degree in theater at Lynchburg College and serves on the board of directors for Little Town Players (LTP). She played the office drunk in LTP’s recent production of 9 to 5, a musical.
    “My bit was very comical,” she said.

    The new middle school in the Liberty Zone will be located either behind the current Liberty High School or on property donated to the county off U.S. 460 near the Bedford Area Family YMCA.
    Construction of the new school is expected to cost between $34 million to $40 million, if built for 800 students; less than that if the size of the school is smaller.

    Now there is only one.

    After having co-presidents for eight months, the National D-Day Foundation now has a sole president; April Cheek-Messier was offered the post and has accepted it.
     Cheek-Messier, the daughter of District 3 Supervisor Roger Cheek, is a Bedford County native and a 1990 Staunton River High School graduate. Her father was in Staunton River’s first graduating class and her mother, Sheron Allen Cheek, was in Liberty High School’s first graduating class.