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Today's News

  • Local surgeon shares his skills in Ghana

    Dr. John Kerr, a general surgeon at Bedford Memorial Hospital, frequently puts his medical specialty to work on short-term mission trips.

    Kerr, a member of Thaxton Baptist Church, has made 10 trips to Ghana in the last 15 years to do surgery at a hospital in a rural area. The hospital is run under the auspices of the Southern Baptist Convention and Dr. Kerr fills in to give the regular surgeon a break.

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  • Speakers focus on school funding

    School spending was on the public's mind as Bedford County's supervisors held a public hearing on the county's budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

    The hearing took place at Bedford Science and Technology Center's Susie Gibson Auditorium with several dozen people in attendance. The applause that followed speakers calling for more school spending indicated that this issue brought many to the hearing.

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  • Newman will continue to seek end to annexation

    Funding for Bedford's city reservoir improvements as well as an end to annexation were among the topics discussed when the Bedford area's General Assembly delegation briefed Chamber of Commerce members on the past legislative session at a breakfast last week.

    State Senator Steve Newman led the presentation. Newman was elected as chairman of the Senate's Republican caucus.

    "There were a lot of cats to be herded," Newman commented, describing his job.

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  • Saving the red barn

    There is a consensus in the county to save the red barn near the county nursing home. Exactly what to do, and how to use it, remains a question.

    Long before Bedford County had a nursing home, it had a poor house. In fact, Falling Creek Road's original name was Poor House Road, a name which many long-time county residents still use to refer to it. The poor house dates back to the mid-19th century.

    "Bedford County was on the cutting edge of taking care of indigent people in the 1850s," commented Betty Gereau, of the Bedford Historical Society.

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  • Democratic congressional hopeful visits Bedford

    Tom Perriello, the Democrat seeking the 5th Congressional District seat held by Republican Virgil Goode, stopped by the Gingerbread Caf?onday on a tour though the district.

    Perriello said that two areas at the top of his priority list are jobs and national security.

    In order for people to have jobs, the workforce in the 5th District must become more competitive. He believes that outcompeting others is the only long-term economic solution for the area.

    "That means more training and better education," he said.

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  • Bedford to look at reverting to town status

    Forty years after voting to establish itself as a city of the second class, City of Bedford officials are now in talks with Bedford County officials aimed at returning Bedford to town status.

    Following a closed door meeting of the City/County Relations Committee Monday, Bedford Mayor Skip Tharp and Supervisor's Chairman Steve Arrington, announced that both jurisdictions were studying the proposal, at the request of the city.

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  • Letters

    Supervisors made bad decision

    Speaking for myself, as a minister who has served this community for 13 years I am shocked by the story ("Supervisors Deny Townhouse Request", March 12) of a company being denied a permit to build townhouses for its seasonal workers, apparently because the seasonal workers were Hispanic.

    Although I have not spoken directly to anyone involved with anyone involved the story as written is shocking on several levels.

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  • Protecting our children

    It has become almost commonplace to turn on the evening news or visit an online news source and see the headlines detailing a terrible crime involving a child. While most of us shudder at the thought of a child being harmed, each year hundreds of thousands of children are victims of abuse, neglect, or violence.

    It is time that we take back our communities and strengthen protections for our children.

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  • Drilling in ANWR should be permitted

    On the way to a meeting last week, I stopped to talk with some farmers. One of them was quick to point out how to improve our economy. “We don’t need a check in the mail,” he said, adding, “We need to bring down the cost of gasoline.” I agree.

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  • Youth can make the difference

    When it comes to drug use in Bedford, youth can make the difference.

    This is the conclusion from a report about drug abuse student councils in colleges. This could also be applied to junior high schools and high schools.

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