It was a time to remember and reflect, but Tuesday’s annual town of Wytheville Veterans Day ceremony was about more than just the past.
Retired U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Wilson Patrick Spradlin, the event’s featured speaker, used his remarks to encourage the many veterans in the audience to serve once again – this time in support of the community’s youth.

The character: a cranky, old, very masculine British puppet.
The emergency performer: a chipper – female – high school senior.

The badly decomposed body of a woman found earlier this week in Salem was that of a former Wythe County resident.

Some went Republican, others went Democrat.
But there was one common thought going through the minds of 18-year-olds in Bland and Wythe counties as they cast their first votes Tuesday.

Despite the unstable condition of today’s economy, Wytheville’s Main Street is seeing resurgence in downtown business. Renovations and relocations seem to indicate a return to a once-thriving area.
One of Wytheville’s oldest downtown businesses, Counts Drug Co., is in the middle of an expansion project. A staple at 289 West Main St. since 1953, the locally owned pharmacy is doubling its size after acquiring the former Nautilus building next door.

Wythe County voters provided a refuge for Republican presidential contender John McCain, giving the Arizona senator a majority of its 12,466 votes.
The ticket of McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin recorded 8,197 votes, or 65.7 percent, to the Democratic challenger’s 4,099. Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden received 38 percent of the vote.
In the race for the Senate seat vacated by longtime Republican John Warner, Wythe County voters gave former Gov. Mark Warner, no relation, a 2,400-vote edge. The Democrat received 59.26 percent of the vote, 7,315, to Republican former Gov. Jim Gilmore’s 4,890, or 38.61 percent.
In the 9th District race, uncontested incumbent Rick Boucher, a Democrat, received 95.99 percent of the vote with 9,823. There were 410 write-ins in that race.
Like much of the rest of the state, turnout was high in Wythe County, with nearly 70 percent of the 18,273 registered voters casting a ballot, according to the state Board of Election Web site.
Results were obtained from the State Board of Elections Web site and are preliminary and must be certified.
- Staff report

A license plate found at the scene of a crime has led to the arrest of a suspect in the case. Duston Thomas Jackson, 27, of Wytheville was arrested by the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office on charges of reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

Having worked flea markets for a long time, Diane Porter knows shoppers like nice items at bargain prices. She kept that in mind when deciding to open Our Family Thrift Store recently at 4127 Chapman Road near Fort Chiswell.
“With the economy the way it is and so many people out of work, I wanted to have a store people could afford,” remarked Porter, who has a background in waitressing. “I used to do a lot of yard sales and I know people like this.”

Sarah Beamer has long been helping American colleges manage their dollars and cents.
This year, she’s taken on a new challenge: pula and thebe – the currencies of Botswana.

It’s the edge of sundown at Virginia City.