IN THE NEWS
Orange Co. man arrestedafter 6-year-old foundwith loaded gun at school
Drakar Lee Rawlings, a 31-year-old resident of the town of Orange, has been arrested after a loaded firearm was found in the possession of a 6-year-old at Orange Elementary School last week.
Orange County man arrested after 6-year-old found with loaded gun at school
Rawlings has been taken into custody and charged with multiple gun crimes after what the Orange County Sheriff’s Office described as a “very convoluted and complicated” investigation.
Orange Elementary School staff contacted the sheriff’s office on Sept. 16 after an instructional assistant reported finding a loaded gun in a 6-year-old’s backpack.
People are also reading…
The sheriff’s office said Tuesday that investigators do not believe that the child knowingly carried the loaded gun to school, nor do they believe the child had any intention of using it.
RETURNED:The remains of World War II U.S. Marine Pfc. Morris Everett Canady, who grew up in the Goode area of Bedford County, will be returned to family members for burial in the county 82 years after his death on the island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific.
The burial was scheduled for Saturday, according to an announcement from Bedford’s Board Canady American Legion Post 54. Canady volunteered for the Marines shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Bedford County Board of Supervisors and Bedford Town Council issued a joint proclamation that recognizes Canady’s “supreme sacrifice.”
On Sept. 24, 1942, at age 21, Canady was killed by gunfire in action against the Japanese. He had joined the Marines only eight months before and landed on Guadalcanal only six days earlier.
THEY SAID IT
"To me it’s just outrageous that (it costs) $3 million for an 1,800-foot sidewalk, no matter where the money’s coming from. It’s a hard pill for me to swallow.”
— Jacob Lane, chairman of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors,after the board approved funding for a 10-foot-wide shared-use paththat would fill a gap alongSmith Station Road. The project estimate is $2.8 million, with the state and county splitting the bill.
“I had never heard the term second gentleman until about last week. I never met the first one.”
— Best-selling author John Grisham, joking as he introduced Doug Emhoff - the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris - during a campaign stop at a Charlottesville winery on Wednesday.
Emhoff rallies for Harris in Charlottesville with John Grisham, UVa students
BY THE NUMBERS
$33.3B
Visitor spending in Virginia in 2023, an increase of nearly 10% from 2022, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 14.7%. All five categories of visitor spending in the commonwealth - recreation, transportation, lodging, food & beverage, and retail - have fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels and beyond.
ODDS AND ENDS
SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE:A study from lake management firm Princeton Hydro provides a detailed analysis of contributing factors to Smith Mountain Lake's explosion of harmful algal blooms in June 2023. The report, released last week, focused on the watershed of the Blackwater River, one of the two main tributaries of the lake.A watershed is land that drains into a body of water or its tributaries. Officials said algae are present in all lakes, but the introduction of large amounts of watershed nutrients can lead to the growth of harmful algal blooms. By knowing more about the watershed, the Smith Mountain Lake Association can better understand where they need to focus their attention for remediation efforts.
IN THE NEWS
Virginia ABC lays off 4 directors
The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority has laid off four directors to cut costs in the face of sales revenues that continue to decline and threaten profits that the state expects to receive from its liquor monopoly.
Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority lays off 4 directors as sales slip more
Layoffs on Sept. 10 hit the directors of real estate, procurement, program management and digital services, as ABC reduced the number of directors from 16 to 12. The authority made the reductions two months after laying off 25 employees, primarily in management jobs at its headquarters in Hanover County. The affected employees will receive severance benefits.
The layoffs reflect a continuing decline in sales revenue at ABC’s 403 stores across Virginia in July and August, the first two months of the fiscal year.
MEAT PLANT:A 10th person has died in the listeria outbreak that shuttered a Boar’s Head deli meat plant, federal health officials said Wednesday.
At least 59 people in 19 states have been sickened by the bacteria first detected in liverwurst made at the Jarratt plant. Illnesses were reported between late May and late August, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The latest fatality was reported in New York.
The Sarasota, Florida-based company announced on Sept. 13 that it was closing the Jarratt plant and discontinuing production of liverwurst. The moves came after inspection reports revealed problems including mold, insects, dripping water and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment dating back at least two years.
From the Archives: The Virginia state Capitol building
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
0 Comments
'); var s = document.createElement('script'); s.setAttribute('src', 'https://assets.revcontent.com/master/delivery.js'); document.body.appendChild(s); window.removeEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); __tnt.log('Load Rev Content'); } } }, 100); window.addEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); }