Food writer Lindsey Nair is looking for the best diners, drive-ins and dives in Southwest Virginia. What do readers in the New River Valley think? Are there some here that should be added to her list? Let her know at this post on her Fridge Magnet food blog.
Margot Singer is the author of The Pale of Settlement (University of Georgia Press, 2007), winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and other awards. She'll be doing a reading Thursday at the Volume II bookstore in Blacksburg. We have details on our Back Cover book blog.
Food writer Lindsey Nair has info on "Brewmaster dinners" at Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill in Blacksburg. The event features a seven-course dinner, each course paired with one of the Bull & Bones craft beers.
Lindsey has details on her Fridge Magnet food blog.
Jeff Sturgeon has posted this story about Sam's Club making plans to locate in Christiansburg.
A defense technology firm will relocate from Roanoke to Blacksburg, Montgomery County has announced in a press release:
Cobham Sensor Systems will relocate its manufacturing, research and development operations from Roanoke to the Technology Manufacturing Building in the Blacksburg Industrial Park.
Cobham acquired M/A-COM’s defense business in 2008, including the Roanoke facility, and will lease 50,000-square-feet of office, laboratory and manufacturing space. The move is expected to bring 90 jobs to the facility with a total $7 million invested in its relocation and expansion over the coming 12 months.
“The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors is extremely pleased to see Cobham leasing space in this high-tech building,” said Board Chair Annette Perkins. “This is a first-class company with global operations. It is a great example of the high paying, targeted industries the County strives to attract.”
Cobham Defense Systems is a division of the British defense contractor Cobham plc, which generates more than $2.1 billion in annual sales and employs 12,000 people worldwide. This division develops and manufactures critical technology for the aerospace and defense industries.
It is also the world leader in advanced digital military vehicle tactical communications systems, soldier situation awareness and integrated navigation management tools.
“With the leasing of this fantastic facility, Cobham is relocating its operations from the ITT Building in Roanoke,” said Greg Caires, Vice President Media Relations. “This expansion in the Greater Roanoke and New River Valley Regions will enable Cobham to retain all of our operations in the region and allow opportunities for future growth.”
Imagine my surprise, and delight, when I received this email at 9:36 this morning from Henry Bass, a local Army reservist and business owner who we featured in a four-page spread in today's NRV Current:
Chris,
The blog articles and photos came out GREAT in today's paper- and guess what? Your timing was unbelieveable-- I have just arrived HOME!
My orders took me out to November 9th, but our unit transfered authority to the 36th Sustainment Brigade last week. They had an earlier flight come open, and moved over a dozen of us up in the redeployment schedule! It was like a giant rollercoaster: we were waiting in Tallil for the next event, and suddenly we're in the redeployment ride, going from Tallil to Camp Virginia (Kuwait); then Fort McCoy, WI and home to Roanoke; and it's over! Or at least it's just beginning: reuniting with my family, and later on this week, with my work.
I have a couple of blog articles to post since this has happened so quickly, but I wanted to let you know immediately that this kind of changes your article! I have photos of me leaving Tallil, in Camp Virginia (under "Richmond Road" sign!), and receiving a Bronze Star from our commander.
Henry
Just goes to show you that nothing ever works out the way you had it planned -- and sometimes, it's for the better. We have another four-page spread on Bass and his time in the Middle East planned for Wednesday's Current. Hopefully he'll like it just as much.
Welcome home, Henry.
Who has the most smoke-free restaurants? The fewest? Data editor Matt Chittum took the health inspection reports from restaurants around the state -- which note the smoking status -- and plotted them on a map.
You can find the results here.
Cold Stone Creamery in Christiansburg will give away free ice cream today from 5 to 8 p.m. for its annual Make a Wish Foundation event.
Business writer Jenny Boone has details on her retail blog, The Storefront.
Fiction author Josh Weil will read from his collection of novellas at the Volume II bookstore in Blacksburg on Friday.
We have details on our Back Cover book blog.
