Local news from the New River Valley

Three people have been charged in connection with armed robberies at two Fairlawn restaurants last week.

Ernest Logan Draper, 18, Anthony Curtis Mannon, 48, and Angela Marie Smith, 26, all of Pulaski, face charges in connection with robberies the night of Oct. 30 at Troy's Restaurant and King Buffet, which are in adjacent shopping centers on Peppers Ferry Road.

A charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor was dropped against a Radford teacher Wednesday, but charges of possessing marijuana as a second offense and possessing cocaine are moving forward.

Lori Anne Jarvis, 43, was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possessing marijuana after a September incident in which a teenage girl suffered an apparent overdose at Jarvis' Radford home. She was later charged with possessing cocaine after materials found in her home were analyzed by a state laboratory.

Christiansburg officials are asking residents to contact the town offices if they notice errors on their personal property tax and real estate bills, which were mailed out Wednesday.

An error caused by the software that compiles the information on the tax bills resulted in some bills indicating that residents own more vehicles than they actually do or that they don't own a vehicle at all, Town Manager Lance Terpenny said Thursday.

The Montgomery County nonprofit will be open to shoppers Dec. 8 to 12 and is expected to serve more than 1,500 needy families this year.
CHRISTIANSBURG -- If you shopped at Walmart or Sears or Kroger or Target in the past year, you might have seen Cookie and Jim Davis searching the aisles.

As volunteer "buyers" for the Montgomery County Christmas Store, they were looking for bargains on electric frying pans, George Foreman grills, bed linens and other home furnishings that will help needy families have a better Christmas.

Ten artists will showcase their work from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday during this year's "Art Tour Ten."

The artists are Kate Anderson, Charlie Brouwer, Sue Brozovsky, Jennifer Collins, Aileen Fletcher, Lora Leigh Giessler, Chris Lively, Susan Lockwood, Darcy Meeker and Linda Osborne.

The Virginia Department of Transportation will have a public meeting today on a plan to replace the Narrows bridge.

Residents may review plans for the Virginia 61 project and ask questions of VDOT staff during the meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Narrows Community Center at 110 Mary St. No formal presentation will be given, according to a news release from VDOT.

| Anna L. Mallory

anna.mallory@roanoke.com, 381-8627

The Montgomery County registrar's office didn't get local election results into the State Board of Elections' system until almost midnight Tuesday, leaving some residents questioning who won races.

| Sharla Bardin

sharla.bardin@roanoke.com, 381-1669

The winners in Tuesday's Blacksburg Town Council election credit their victories to straightforward messages, the support of family and friends and their roots in the community.

Musica Viva wanted to showcase the composer's lesser-known works.

| Amy Matzke-Fawcett

amy.matzke-fawcett@roanoke.com, 381-1674

BLACKSBURG -- One of the most well-known compositions in classical music is Antonio Vivaldi's "Four Seasons."

A January opening still planned for the new Christiansburg pools.
CHRISTIANSBURG -- The town council approved setting the hours and fees for the new aquatics center, which is expected to be finished by late January.

The center will house three pools and space for such uses as recreational swimming and Atlantic Coast Conference and other swimming meets.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- The town council offered its support Monday to the routes and fares planned for Blacksburg Transit's expanded service in town.

The new Christiansburg routes begin Nov. 23, and riders can use them for free through Dec. 31.

Blacksburg High School's DECA club is providing bags of food for selected students.
Members of a marketing club at Blacksburg High School are hoping to keep some children from being hungry during the winter holiday season.

For the third year, members of the DECA club, a business group, are asking the community to donate food or money to their "Home for the Holidays" program, which provides bags of breakfast and lunch foods to go home with selected students during their two-week winter break.

Halloween

n At right: Hailey Johnson of Christiansburg submitted this photo of Laddie with a pumpkin.

n Below: Joyce Sims of Radford snapped this photo of Trigger ready to go trick-or-treating. Joyce said, "He collected quite a few doggie treats."

RICH CREEK -- Wanda Sperling, 80, of Rich Creek is a plein air painter who loves being outdoors.

"I like to paint outdoors; you're close to nature and I appreciate it. I just get a good feeling when I'm outdoors," she said while out on a recent weekday morning.

Blacksburg council hopeful Frank Lau says he 'inadvertently' used the names of two people without permission.
Blacksburg Town Council candidate Frank Lau said Monday he is responsible for including the names of two residents on a campaign flier without their permission.

Lau said he "inadvertently" left the names of Phyllis Olinger and Rhoda Myers on his list of supporters for the campaign letter distributed around town. The letter listed the names of 143 people and endorsed him and candidates Krisha Chachra, Greg Fansler and Robert "Tom" Rogers.

Vaccines against the H1N1 flu will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Jessie Peterman library in Floyd.

The vaccines are free, but a donation to the library is suggested.

After nearly 18 years, the fate of a national scenic designation for 20 miles of the river will be known next year.

| Chris Winston

chris.winston@roanoke.com, 381-1678

Time is running out on a Giles County outfitter's attempt to gain support to federally protect a section of the New River.

NRV government news

Montgomery County

What: School board

When: 7:30 p.m. today

Where: 200 Junkin St., Christiansburg

On the agenda: Grant proposal to participate in math teachers' academy, project graduation and Blue Ridge to Bay watershed project, plus discussion of 2010 Legislative priorities and meetings and superintendent search update.

Taylor Hollow Construction is planning to buy and renovate a downtown building and the former Goodyear plant.

| Amy Matzke-Fawcett

amy.matzke-fawcett@roanoke.com, 381-1674

RADFORD -- New life is planned for two empty buildings on opposite ends of the city.

Rowdy Dawg

Sponsored by Montgomery County Parks and Recreation and the EastCoasters Bike Shops, the Rowdy Dawg bicycling event has been taking place since 1988.

This year, the event was held Oct. 25 on Brush Mountain. The start-finish line was at Broce's Fields.