Smyth County has a pair of estimates but no final word about how much the Commonwealth of Virginia wants it to send back in the wake of state budget cuts.

There are fewer trucks on Watermill Road these days bearing brush, et cetera, en route to the burn pile out by Marion’s water treatment plant. Blame the et cetera and those who hauled it in for the town’s recent formal closure of the dump to use by private citizens.

Smyth and Marion officials informally agreed Thursday to create a Community Development Authority after a public hearing that brought rare glimpses into plans for the $40 million, 400,000-square-foot Smyth Crossings south of the Interstate 81 Exit 47 interchange.

“Dem bones gonna rise again,” Boy Scouts sing about the Garden of Eden, and paleontologists could chant a similar refrain over the bluish clay in the Saltville Valley that yielded more Ice Age osteological fruits this week.

It may be a sound heard often in the courtroom when he’s working his other job as an attorney, but on Thursday, the normally pleasant and pastoral voice of the Rev. John Graham had a distinct edge.

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.

Their overall numbers remained about the same, but fewer visitors to the Hungry Mother Festival this weekend hailed from afar this year.

A single-vehicle motorcycle wreck Sunday left the rider injured and facing possible charges.

Smyth County pet owners are getting some extra help this summer with spaying and neutering services for their dogs and cats.

A Marion woman was arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with an incident that left a toddler and an adult with injuries caused by pepper spray.