Heat can no longer hide in eastern Wythe County.
The Barren Springs Volunteer Fire Department expects to have a new thermal imaging camera in hand by the end of the week after receiving a grant in early September to purchase the pricey tool.
“We have ordered the camera so it should be here in a few days,” said Barren Springs Volunteer Fire Department Chief Curtis Crawford. “It’s really a neat piece of equipment.”
The apparatus detects heat sources, allowing firefighters to find the origin of a fire or a person or animal that may be trapped in a smoky building.

Phase II of Bland County’s plan to bring faster Internet service across the locality is nearly ready for its full unveiling.
The county’s BCNet wireless Internet service provided by Trificient Broadband Technologies will start at a cost of $27.95 per month (minimum 12-month contract) for a 512k speed connection, said Trificient owner Jim Ingram.

On Sept. 15, Melvin Chadwick Compton sat in a Wythe County courtroom awaiting his fate on two criminal convictions stemming from a 2007 alcohol-related crash that killed his cousin.
The sentencing hearing was postponed, however, and six days later – one day past the fatal wreck anniversary – the 38-year-old Bland resident was arrested again in Bland County on suspicion of driving under the influence – the third or subsequent offense in 10 years.

A Pumpkin Cookin’ Competition, Checkers Challenge, child safety programs and Extension office demonstrations will debut at this year’s Bland County Festival of Leaves. These new events will be included in the two-day festival set for Saturday, Oct. 11, and Sunday, Oct. 12, at the Bland Fairgrounds.

Showtime
What: “Animal Farm,” a Summit Stage II production
Where: Bluefield (W. Va.) Area Arts Center
When: Saturday and Oct. 11, Dinner Theatre, 6 p.m., Sunday and Oct. 12, Matinee, 2 p.m.
Reservations/More Info: (304) 325-8000 or http://www.summitplayers.com

The water is gone from the upper reaches of the lake in Hungry Mother State Park, leaving a lonely, bleak and muddy landscape where reflections of Walker Mountain rippled earlier this summer.

With fall here and flu season on the way, area health departments are preparing by getting the word out about the availability of vaccinations and stocking up plenty of shots.

Pfc. R. Calvin Shook of Max Meadows got a firsthand look earlier this year at the progress being made in Iraq.
In fact, he was a part of it.

Sept. 27, 2008

If there’s no place for Jesus, it’s no place for Senior Trooper Rex Carter.
Carter, a Smyth County resident who works out of the Virginia State Police’s Division Four headquarters in Wytheville, resigned his role as a police chaplain when the department issued a new policy asking prayers offered at VSP-sponsored public events to be nondenominational.