Schmucker says he’s done with the dog business

Candidate forum held in courthouse

The dogs are gone from Ivan Schmucker Jr.’s property, but the Amish farmer still has many difficult decisions ahead.
Schmucker gave his side of the “insider” transaction in a phone interview late Tuesday afternoon after his dogs were purchased by Best Friends Animal Society on Friday evening using two local residents who told Schmucker they planned to buy the dogs to open up a kennel of their own.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and an Oct. 23 ceremony will honor men who serve as role models of positive lifestyles

Mr. Bland County

Despite an emergency services dispatcher’s urgent “we have a plane crash,” a minor incident at Mountain Empire Airport Monday afternoon left no serious injuries and little damage as a gust of wind tipped over a gyroplane on the runway. Curtis Pennington, who runs an aircraft maintenance service at the airport, called it “a little bad luck” and said Groseclose pilot Fred Purdue has “a lot of years flying.” Airport staff member Charlie Hoofnagle said that during the afternoon, the windsock “would stand straight out,” filled with wind, and 15 seconds later, just hang there.” Several Virginia State Police troopers responded to the incident.

Company to locate in county’s industrial park

The discovery of blasting caps in a bin at the trash collection center on Fort Chiswell Road closed the center for three hours Saturday afternoon. An attendant noticed the possibly explosive devices and contacted the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office.

The discovery of blasting caps in a bin at the trash collection center on Fort Chiswell Road closed the center for three hours Saturday afternoon. An attendant noticed the possibly explosive devices and contacted the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office.

It took trickery and an “insider” operation, but the saga involving Ivan Schmucker Jr.’s dog kennel appears to have reached a conclusion after an animal welfare group from Utah purchased 167 dogs from the Amish farmer in Bland County this weekend.