As senator or governor, Warner serves Virginia

Virginians weren’t going to lose, whatever Mark Warner announced this week. He chose to stay in the U.S. Senate rather than run for another term as governor.

Roanoke will invest in tourism

Visitors to Roanoke Valley hotels will pay a little more in the name of tourism promotion starting next year. Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem earlier had agreed to raise hotel room taxes slightly to better fund the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau. The county and Salem did their parts already. Roanoke city did its this week.

Doing justice to the Hill House

Accolades to Roanoke’s legal community for partnering with city schools, Gainsboro neighborhood activists and Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers to ensure the Oliver Hill House will reopen with a purpose worthy of a childhood home of one of the heroes of the nation’s Civil Rights Movement.

For lease: Lodge with a view

Sharp Top and Flat Top mountains — the Peaks of Otter — are Bedford County’s most notable natural landmarks. For 40 years, the Peaks of Otter Lodge has been a popular destination on the Blue Ridge Parkway for through-travelers and day-trippers alike. Come Monday, the lodge will close indefinitely. Not, one hopes, for good.

Continue reading these editorial short takes.