www.newrivervalley.com

Mill Mountain Theatre has announced the complete cast of "Annie Jr.," a production of the beloved musical with the familiar roles filled by 35 students, ranging ages 6 to 18, from schools all over the Roanoke and New River valleys. The play will be performed Dec. 10-13 and Dec. 17-20 on the Trinkle Main Stage in Center in the Square. Tickets $10-$12.

Cast members from the New River Valley are: Taylor Dawson, Jessica Wollman and Meija Eller, all from Blacksburg Middle School.

Arts writer Mike Allen has more details, and the full cast list, on his Arts & Extras blog.

Kipps Elementary School is hosting a "bear drive" to send teddy bears of support to schools on the Fort Hood Military Base.

The goal is to collect more than 300 bears — one for every classroom in the seven Fort Hood elementary schools — by Monday.

"We want to send the students of Fort Hood a bear as a source of comfort and a reminder that they have friends who know what they’re going through and care about them," teacher Allison Dinkel said in a news release.

Dinkel and Stephanie Johnston, both fourth-grade teachers, and their students came up with the idea. The Blacksburg school was hit hard by the April 16, 2007, shootings at Virginia Tech.

Kipps’ Bear Drive builds on a project started by students from Oklahoma City who sent "care bears" to a school in Washington, D.C., after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Washington school then sent a large box of stuffed bears to Kipps students after the Tech shootings.

Anyone interested in helping out with the bear drive should contact the school at 951-5760.

If the goal of moving the Blacksburg municipal elections from May to November was to increase voter participation, it worked.

Voter turnout in the town soared to 36.3 percent in last week’s election — by far the highest amount in more than a decade — according to figures released Monday by Montgomery County Registrar Randy Wertz. Wertz said 7,556 of the town's 20,831 registered voters cast ballots.

In May voting since 1998, voter turnout has fluctuated between 3.3 percent and 22.2 percent. Turnout for the past three town elections have been 12.5 (2008), 20.6 (2006) and 22.2 (2004).

Making the turnout even more remarkable is the higher number of registered voters.

Following the push to register voters in advance of the historic 2008 presidential election, there were nearly 21,000 registered voters in the town. That’s up more than 30 percent from any of the previous six election cycles.

The Blue Demons head to Tunstall on Monday for a playoff match. Read more here.

The Punch Brothers will play the Lyric on Feb. 21. Music writer Tad Dickens has details on his cut'n'scratch music blog.

Music writer Tad Dickens has the list of who's playing at the Blacksburg nightspot in this post on his cut'n'scratch music blog.

John Bush celebrates his win.

Four available Blacksburg Town Council seats were won tonight by incumbent Susan Anderson and newcomers John Bush, Krisha Chachra and Cecile Newcomb, according to the Montgomery County registrar's office.

We have complete results here.

We have analysis of the statewide results here.

Novelist Melanie Rae Thon will be at Volume II bookstore in Blacksburg Wednesday for a reading.

For details, see our Back Cover book blog.

Both candidates for governor will be in Blacksburg Thursday, campaigning in and around the tailgating at the Virginia Tech - North Carolina game.

Here are the official schedules for both Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds. McDonnell's is a little sparse on details at the moment; if we get more specifics, we'll post them here.

MCDONNELL:
4:15pm Tailgate at Virginia Tech University

Blacksburg

DEEDS:

4:30 PM IN BLACKSBURG - TAILGATE WITH VIRGINIA TECH YOUNG DEMOCRATS. Sen. Deeds will join the Virginia Tech Young Democrats for a tailgate before the Virginia Tech Hokies take on the University of North Carolina Tarheels. Deeds will talk to students about the importance of getting out to vote on November 3rd.

When: 4:30 PM

Where: Lane Stadium Parking Lot
Corner of Spring Street and Stadium Road
Lot # 1, Space 327
Blacksburg, VA

7 PM IN BLACKSBURG - VIRGINIA TECH VS. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL GAME. Sen. Deeds will attend the Virginia Tech football game. Kick off time is 7:45 PM.

When: 7:00 PM

Where: Lane Stadium
Corner of Spring Street and Stadium Road
Blacksburg, VA

Also, Deeds will be back in the New River Valley on Friday and Saturday. On Friday night, he'll at the Floyd Country Store and on Saturday, he'll be in Christiansburg. Here are details on the Floyd visit; the Christiansburg info hasn't been finalized yet:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

9:30 PM IN FLOYD - FLOYD COUNTRY STORE FRIDAY NIGHT JAMBOREE. Sen. Deeds will attend the Floyd Country Store Friday Night Jamboree. The Floyd Country Store Friday Night Jamboree features live music and dancing.

When: 9:30 PM

Where: Floyd Country Store
206 South Locust Street
Floyd, VA

Music writer Tad Dickens has the November line-up of who's playing at Awful Arthur's in Blacksburg. It's here on his cut'n'scratch music blog.