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Today's News

  • Editorial - Taking time to remember the Virginia Tech tragedy... One year later

    "Take time to remember the legacies, remember the dreams and remember the talent that our community has lost. I hope you are inspired to work harder to honor the 32. Share your talents with the world for the 32. Achieve your dreams from the 32. Be more compassionate, friendly and thoughtful, for the 32. Be better, for the 32. To our brothers and sisters that we lost on April 16th 2007: We love you, we miss you and we would give anything for you to be here with us today.?

    Adeel Khan

    Virginia Tech Student Government Association president

    Click here to read more...
  • Bringing bagels to Bedford

    Their name is Pizza, but their business is bagels.

    Michael and Beverly Pizza opened Blue Ridge Bagels in the old Fisher's Restaurant building in Bedford, across 4th Street from Smyth, formerly Piedmont Label. The couple came here from a rural area in Central Florida where Michael had a construction company.

    "I worked construction all my life," said Michael, now 37, "so this is a new venture for me."

    Most of that construction experience involved running his own company, so business is not new to him.

    "When I was 19, I started my company," he said.

    Click here to read more...
  • Winter soldier hearings ignored

    A few weeks ago in Washington, D.C., Iraq Veterans Against the War sponsored the Winter Soldier Hearings, a public confessional by some of those who?d fought in Iraq and seen - and sometimes committed themselves - crimes against civilians.

    The word would be atrocities, such as what happened during the Vietnam War at the My Lai Massacre. But there are some people who can?t handle that word, and couldn?t handle it during Vietnam. So I looked it up.

    Click here to read more...
  • Hillary is right on Iran

    As I mentioned last week, it?s rare that I agree with a ?Democrat? and I start to worry about myself when I find myself agreeing with Hillary Clinton two weeks in a row. However, I must once again say that Clinton is absolutely correct about a foreign policy issue. At least, she is right concerning her differences with Barack Obama on Iran.

    Clinton has described Iran as a threat to American interests in the Persian Gulf region. She also voted in favor of declaring Iran?s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization in September, and called for new sanctions against it.

    Click here to read more...
  • Letters to the editor 4/16/08

    Letters to the editor

    Historic Big Otter Mill

    Ever wonder about that tall, beautiful red structure on Big Island Highway? It?s the historic Big Otter Mill (formerly Forbes Mill) and it is finally undergoing the restoration it deserves.

    Click here to read more...
  • A taxing time

    If you?re reading this and haven?t yet filed your tax return for 2007 you?ve either filed for an extension or...

    You?re late!

    I hate filing taxes. I hated going through the process even when I was going to get some of my money back. That reality, however, at least eased the pain.

    But I especially hated it this week.

    Because of some one-time issues that kicked in this year I apparently owe more money. That just rubs salt in the wound all the more.

    Click here to read more...
  • Saturday's event in Centertown will have everyone... Singing the blues

    Blues and barbecue.

    The two go together like salt and pepper and milk and cookies. Both add to the spice of life and while you can enjoy one alone, if you put them together it's even better.

    This Saturday, you can enjoy both.

    Centertown Bedford will come alive with the sounds of the Blues and the taste of the grill with Bedford Blues and BBQ.

    Click here to read more...
  • School board reduces raises

    Though it had hoped to give teachers a 5.8 percent raise next year, the Bedford County School Board will likely cut raises to 4 percent or less next week when it finalizes the school budget.

    In a work session last Thursday, the school board debated how to balance the budget numbers it received from the Bedford County Board of Supervisors which came in some $2.1 million less than requested. Much of that difference will likely be saved by cutting the proposed raises.

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  • County landfill expands

    Monday night, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors approved $97,000 for engineering services to prepare for a 10.1 acre expansion of the county?s landfill. This follows a lengthy process that the county had to go through to get a state Department of Environmental Quality permit to do this.

    In a phone interview prior to the meeting, Sheldon Cash, the county?s solid waste manager, said that this will be the first area added to the landfill since 1998 when a new 8-acre section was opened. The landfill currently covers 14 acres.

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  • Supervisors make cuts before adopting budget

    The Bedford County Board of Supervisors meeting to adopt the county?s budget began with a 5 p.m. work session and bad news.

    County Administrator Kathleen Guzi told the supervisors that the amount of money that the county will get from the Commonwealth has been reduced by $311,000. What?s worse is that this is an estimate that may be revised as late as Aug. 1.

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