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.

Travis Ray Hester waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday in his first court appearance since he was charged in the July 27 death of his daughter, 11-month-old Belle LeAnn Hester.

In the Saltville Town Council chamber Monday as the council members and audience gathered for the 7 p.m. called meeting, a whiteboard stood like a billboard advertising the divisiveness that has beset the town and come to a head this month. 

The veterans and others who gathered in front of Marion’s town hall Monday morning thought they were waiting for the 9:30 a.m. arrival of three Army soldiers on motorcycles.

Two Smyth County financial advisors, one affiliated with an international investments firm, the other independent, say local investors are in no rush to sell amid both valid and media-hyped concerns about instability in the domestic and international markets and economies.

“The Shooting at the Sugar Grove Diner” would be a great ballad title, but the song would be a work of fiction, despite reports on the street Monday.

Fewer than one percent of the applicants to the FBI National Academy on the Quantico Marine Corps base are admitted to the program, and not all get in on their first try. Entrance is difficult in the by-invitation-only nomination process that sets a high bar for applicants.

Marion Intermediate School teacher Teresa Hash got good news Wednesday in the middle of a math lesson she was teaching. State and local education officials and the mayor of Marion went to her room to announce she was one of eight teachers in the running for Virginia’s top teacher honor.

In a Saturday Night Live monologue years ago, comic great Steve Martin demonstrated the futility of trying to sing depressing songs while playing the indefatigably happy-sounding five-string banjo. The banjo easily trumped his made-up lyrics, joyfully plinking behind his “oh, murder and death and grief and sorrow!” If Donna Combs were not a community health nurse, she admits, she would be a stand-up comedian. She combines both talents, and like Martin and his banjo, her happiness and sense of humor lighten her discussions of disease prevention through positive lifestyle choices.

John Bruton, former prime minister of Ireland and current European Union Ambassador to the United States, was in Marion Tuesday to help local officials dedicate the town’s section of The Wilderness Road, Virginia’s Migration Heritage Route.