Motorcycle crash claims county woman

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

A 53-year-old Bland County woman died Sunday night as the result of a motorcycle wreck on North Scenic Highway, according to the Virginia State Police.
Kathy Pennington Looney of Bastian was airlifted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital following the 5:10 p.m. single-vehicle crash just north of Kimberling Road on Brushy Mountain.
Looney underwent surgery but did not survive, police said.
Operating a 2006 Suzuki, Looney lost control in a curve, ran off the right side of the road and hit a guardrail. Police said that she wasn’t speeding but didn’t have the proper license endorsement to operate a motorcycle in Virginia.
In an unrelated incident, a Rural Retreat woman was killed last Wednesday morning in a single-vehicle wreck on Interstate 81 in Wythe County.
Police said that weather may have played a part in the 7:30 a.m. crash at the 68.2 mile marker in between the Rural Retreat and Wytheville exits.
According to Virginia State Police Sgt. M.T. Conroy, Carolyn Rose, 64, was traveling alone northbound in a 1998 Isuzu Rodeo when her SUV ran off the right side of the roadway, hit a guardrail, overturned and went down an embankment.
“Weather may have been a contributing factor,” he said, alluding to heavy rain showers on Wednesday morning.
Rose was wearing a seatbelt, he said.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .