Today's News

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.

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.

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.

Tim Deaton and his friend, Matt Shaw, both bicycle enthusiasts, got tired of having to go to Lynchburg to buy bicycle parts. Deaton talked to other bike enthusiasts in the area that had the same problem.

This looked like a business opportunity to Deaton and he decided to open a bicycle shop here. As a result, Liberty Bikes and Boards will open for business on May 29.