When wrecks block the northbound or southbound lanes on Interstate 81 in Southwest Virginia, officials often set up a detour at the closest exit back up the traffic stream, and traffic is diverted onto Highway 11. Even though that’s a much slower alternative, since the older route passes through towns and nowhere is the speed limit higher than 55, the problem is solved until the interstate reopens, right? Not quite, according to Virginia Department of Transportation officials, at least not in Smyth County.

The event raised over $63,000.

The event runs four days this week.

The concession stand, Ferris wheel, Strawberry Ride and the ticket booth are the things Kelly Chambers loves best about the Bland County Fair. Their colorful depictions won the 12-year-old top honor in the fair’s 2008 art contest.

Tara Holbrook has a good reason for pursuing baby-sitting as her first job.
She loves kids unconditionally.
Okay, maybe on just one condition.

Some come in search of a little extra cash.
Others have their eye on a shiny piece of jewelry or an offbeat trinket.

While the number of patients at the Brock Hughes Free Clinic is growing, many others are eligible but don’t know it. Residents of Wythe and Bland counties with no insurance and meeting income guidelines can be treated at the Wytheville office.

A high-tech, stereotype-smashing DVD has brought Fort Chiswell High School agriculture teacher and FFA adviser Anthony Watson statewide recognition for his innovativeness.
In short, it was a great idea.
At a Virginia Association of Agricultural Educators conference last week in Blacksburg, Watson received the state’s Ideas Unlimited award from the National Association of Agricultural Educators.
According to an NAAE press release, submissions are judged on their “originality, practicality, adaptability to instruction and instructional value.”

Whitetop resident Bryan Hayes may be one of the luckiest people on the planet.
On Monday, Hayes ran his Dodge Durango under the rear end of a tractor-trailer rig on Interstate 81. The rig then dragged him, in his car, about a hundred yards, according to witnesses. Next he spent an hour trapped in the wreck while lifesaving crews cut him out. Free, he was flown to Bristol Regional Medical Center for treatment.

The building has housed families, music shops and medical practices over the years. It’s time for a Scots-Irish pub.
The House on Main, a historic house located on Abingdon’s Main Street has been converted – once more – to accommodate the new owners’ desire to run a restaurant.
According to one owner Tim Nichols, everything in the house – the tables, chairs, fixtures, even the lights – is an antique. Some date back as far as 1885. The interior, Nichols said, has been painted exclusively in colors that would have been available when the house was built in 1909.