Today's News

Close to 40 classes at Bedford County high schools have fewer than 15 students, and the decision to approve those classes for the upcoming year will be left with School Superintendent Dr. James Blevins.

The Bedford County School Board, during its meeting Thursday, gave Blevins that responsibility after failing in its own vote to approve the classes. Any high school classes with less than 15 students must be approved by the school board for the upcoming school year.

A contractor has concluded several weeks of work to make the Bedford Museum present a prettier face to the public.

"This job has been 80 percent prep," noted Ivan Kirby, owner of Kirby Custom Painters, of Lynchburg. Kirby said he has been in business for 18 years.

He and Kenneth Burdette, who has worked for Kirby for 10 years, had to go over the window sills three times to seal the 110 year old wood. Kirby said that he found 2-inch gaps in them.

In recent months, we have heard about speculators being one of the things that has driven up the price of oil on the world market, resulting in higher gasoline prices in the United States. To address unbridled speculation, the House of Representatives has passed a bill called the Energy Markets Emergency Act. This bill passed 402-to-19; I voted for it.

Recently I was privileged to once again be a part of a congressional delegation to Iraq and Afghanistan to see firsthand the effort being made in the war on terrorism, to meet with members of the U.S. Armed Services serving in that troubled part of the world, and to ask tough questions of our military and civilian leaders about the progress being made. I returned with an even greater appreciation for the job they are doing and with optimism about our prospects for success and our ability to bring more troops home soon.