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Local News

  • Planning commission approves B&B, private road request

    The county planning commission unanimously recommended a bed and breakfast inn proposal at the Smith Mountain Lake Airport.

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  • Bunker Hill rezoning approved

    Bedford County's planning commission and board of supervisors approved rezoning at a joint meeting last week that clears the way for the old Bunker Hill Plant to once again be used for industrial purposes.

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  • Earnest granted bond in murder case

    Having been incarcerated since his arrest Feb. 27 for killing his estranged wife, Wesley Brian Earnest, 38, of Moneta was granted bond during a hearing Friday afternoon in Bedford County Circuit Court.

    As of Tuesday morning, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office said it had not been notified Earnest had yet posted that bond. While bond is not commonly granted in a first-degree murder case, it wasn’t unexpected by prosecutors because the case is based on circumstantial evidence.

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  • Bedford Museum gets permanent director

    The Bedford Museum now has a permanent director.

    Although Melanie Stevens comes to the area from Indiana, she has Bedford County roots. Her father, Glenn Stevens, a Church of the Brethren pastor, was born and raised here. He came home some years ago.

    This doesn't mean that Doug Cooper, who has been managing the museum, is going anywhere. He still spends two days a week there. Cooper said that he originally agreed to manage the museum for a year, until the museum board could hire a permanent director.

    "The year turned into two somehow or another," Cooper commented.

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  • Car dealer to spend six months in jail for forgery

    Wholesale car dealer Gary Dean Burks, 43 of Bedford, will spend six months in jail after pleading guilty to 13 counts of forging checks while working for Terry Volkswagen.

    Burks' lawyer, Joseph Sanzone, had argued against jail time.

    Tony Terry, owner of the car dealership, testified during a sentencing hearing Friday that Burks had worked for him several times since the late 1980s, stating that he had no reason to not trust Burks.

    But then, he testified, he began to get calls that bills hadn't been paid.

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  • Industries ask city to curb electric rate increases

    Officials from several Bedford industries asked City Council Tuesday for relief from increasing city electric rates.

    The comments were made during a public hearing on the 2008-2009 budget.

    Larry Brookshier of Rubatex Corp. said he was concerned changes in the city electric rates are occurring during the middle of the year, instead of when the budget is being determined. He said rate changes in the middle of the year can’t be factored in to the company’s budget.

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  • County attorney: Deed doesn't restrict county's use of property

    According to County Attorney Carl Boggess, the deed by which Bedford County acquired 283 acres of land on what today is Falling Creek Road does not restrict how the county may use the land.

    Bedford County originally purchased the tract from James and Susannah Jopling in 1832 for the purpose of building a poor house. A poorhouse existed there until the middle of the the 20th century. The Bedford County Nursing Home is there today and the Sheriff's Office, the PSA office and Falling Creek Park occupy other portions of the tract.

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  • Breaking news: Earnest granted bond in murder case

    By Tom Wilmoth

    Editor

    news@bedfordbulletin.com

    Having been incarcerated since his arrest Feb. 27 for killing his estranged wife, Wesley Brian Earnest, 38, of Moneta was granted bond during a hearing Friday afternoon in Bedford County Circuit Court.

    During the hearing, in which several new twists in the case of the Dec. 19 death of Jocelyn Branham Earnest were revealed, Circuit Court Judge James Updike granted Wesley Earnest bond of $200,000 cash or $400,000 real estate.

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  • Deed doesn't restrict county

    According to County Attorney Carl Boggess, the deed by which Bedford County acquired 283 acres of land on what today is Falling Creek Road does not restrict how the county may use the land.

    Bedford County originally purchased the tract from James and Susannah Jopling in 1832 for the purpose of building a poor house. A poorhouse existed there until the middle of the the 20th century. The Bedford County Nursing Home is there today and the Sheriff's Office, the PSA office and Falling Creek Park occupy other portions of the tract.

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  • Couple pleads guilty to animal cruelty

    A Bedford couple will spend six months in jail after pleading guilty to animal cruelty in Bedford County Circuit Court last week.

    William Kurz, 66, and Libby Kurz, 48, were arrested last December following a four-month investigation into photographs that had been handed over to the Bedford Police Department in which they were engaged in sexual acts with a dog. They had originally been charged with felony crimes against nature, but pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.

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