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Local News

  • Fire at Earnest’s Lake home still under investigation

    The cause of the March fire at the $1.2 million Smith Mountain Lake home of Wesley Earnest is still under investigation, according to Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Krantz.

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  • Council to fund Main Street

    Bedford Main Street, Inc. will receive funding from the city of Bedford for the next six months, but representatives from the organization must appear before city council in July to explain how they plan to reorganize.

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  • SRHS offices get a gut-check

    As soon as the teachers checked out, the construction crews checked into the administration building at Staunton River High School.

        As part of the project that included construction of a new gymnasium and classrooms at the school, completed earlier this year, crews from JSK Partnership are now working on a $750,000 remodeling of the office space at SRHS. The entire building was gutted and is being redesigned.

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  • Art camp

        The Bower Center hosted the first of two week-long art day camps last week.

        The goal of the program is to give children hands-on opportunities in art with classes taught by people who know their stuff. Arts offered were mosaics, pottery, painting, music lab, drama and drumming.

        “They are just so intense,” commented Sara Braaten of the youth participating. “They put their heart and soul into it.”

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  • D-Day camp draws 26

        According to Dr. William McIntosh, director of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, the D-Day Memorial’s purpose is education. Last week, the Memorial carried out one part of that mission with a D-Day day camp.

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  • Breaking: Fire at Forest shopping center was accidental, authorities state

    Though a definite determination will probably never be possible, authorities from Bedford County Fire and Rescue believe that a fire that destroyed a Forest shopping center on June 20 was caused from a cigarette, or the match that was used to light it.

        From photographs submitted to the agency, Fire Marshal John Jennings determined that the fire began in some cardboard boxes at a deck behind the Blackwater Bike Shop. Those photographs were taken by Laura Layton who was inside the I.C. Studios tattoo shop at the strip mall when the fire began.

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  • County supervisors say goodbye to Dr. Blevins

        Dr. James Blevins, Bedford County’s superintendent of schools until July 1, made one final appearance before the Bedford County Board of Supervisors.

        “Your job was to hold all the marbles,” Dr. Blevins told the supervisors. “My job was to get as many of them as I could.”

        This time he wasn’t there to ask for anything. Blevins is retiring after 11 years as the county’s top education official. His last day is June 30.

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  • Classical guitarist performs at Bower Center

        The Bower Center for the Performing Arts hosted Peter Fletcher, a classical guitarist, Saturday night.

        Fletcher’s acoustic performance ranged from baroque to a late 20th century piece by Carlo Domeniconi that borrowed from Turkish music traditions. One of the baroque compositions, a six part lute suite by Johann Sebastian Bach was particularly complex. Fletcher said it took him a year of practice before he was able to perform it in concert. Fletcher does not perform with sheet music in front of him — it’s all by memory.

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  • 72-year-old man convicted of sex offenses against 11-year-old girl

    As the result of a plea agreement, a 72-year-old Bedford County man now stands convicted of making indecent proposals to an 11-year-old girl.

        Charles Langley entered an Alford plea in Bedford County Circuit Court Friday to three felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. An Alford plea means that Langley still maintains that he is innocent, but recognizes that there is enough evidence against him that he may be convicted if the case goes to trial.

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  • Dominion’s Salem dealership closes; sales now focused in Bedford

    Chrysler’s decision to close 789 dealerships nationwide is giving Bob Kaplan the opportunity to focus his sales on the Bedford area.

        Kaplan owns Dominion of Bedford and, up until now, owned a Dodge dealership in Salem. The Salem dealership, which he has owned since 1976, was one of the franchises that got the ax.

        “You deal with changes that are put upon you,” Kaplan commented. “We can focus all our energies and sales work here.”

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