Today's News

"Old Yellow" is on the selling block.

The city wants to receive official proposals for a new use for the former elementary school, built in 1912 and empty now for close to two decades.

The goal, according to City Manager Charles Kolakowski, is "to get a positive reuse out of the building and preserve the building at no cost to the city."

Following a two-hour preliminary work session on the upcoming fiscal year budget, Bedford City Council heard proposals at its Tuesday night meeting from several local agencies on their request for funding in that budget.

"We have a real challenge in front of us," Bedford Mayor Skip Tharp said about work on the budget.

Among the agencies that requested funds from Bedford at last week's meeting:

I caught a small item in the sports pages of the Roanoke Times the other day. Instead of being buried in the bowels of the sports page, I feel it should have been front page news.

In anticipation of playing host to the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Chinese government is claiming that it can control the weather. Reportedly, they are able to prevent rain when dry conditions are desired and create rain when wet conditions are preferred. This is no joke.

Bedford County's sizable contingent that headed to the state wrestling tournament returned with four medals for its efforts. The group's four seniors were the ones that brought home the hardware. The younger bucks came away with a learning experience that should benefit them as they progress in their careers.

Jefferson Forest's Chris Bowyer led the way, taking second in the state at 189 pounds. Teammate Brandon Beemer fought his way back from a semifinal defeat to nab a third place at 215.