In about a week, the Virginia General Assembly will convene for the 2013 session. As your Delegate, I am committed to the issues you care about – good jobs, good schools and good government.

Virginia has weathered the national economic slowdown better than most states. We have a 5.6% unemployment rate. But there is more work to be done. By keeping taxes low and making sure we have a sound regulatory policy, we can continue to attract companies to Virginia. The growing regional connection between the Roanoke and New River Valleys make our area particularly attractive to businesses. I will continue to work with Governor McDonnell and my colleagues from our area to create new opportunities for our community.

Part of what makes our community so attractive is our solid school systems. I am blessed to have a family of educators. My wife, Christy, is a former school teacher, my mother is a teacher, and my brother is a high school administrator.  I also have three young children – Daniel, William and Anna – who all attend public schools.  This perspective has taught me that good schools aren’t created in Richmond, they’re built in classrooms and at kitchen tables. I believe that accountability, flexibility and local control make up the recipe for good schools. That’s why I introduced legislation to put local schools in charge of their calendars, create flexibility in SOL testing and to create a system where schools are judge based on the impact they have on their students.

Finally, I know that government has a place and role to play. There are good government programs and there are good regulations. But I believe we should always be looking at ways to make government more efficient and effective. I have introduced legislation to put extra checks on bureaucrats who write rules and regulations. Increased accountability will mean a better government for all of us.
You can make your voice heard on these and other issues by filling out my 2013 Pre-Session survey at www.greghabeeb.com/survey/.  To see my bills and those filed by my colleagues, go to http://lis.virginia.gov/.

As your delegate, I am dedicated to making myself open and accessible.  I want to hear from citizens about the issues that are important to them.  You can reach my office by email at DelGHabeeb@house.virginia.gov or by phone at (540) 915-2962.  You can also follow me on Twitter @GregHabeeb or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/greghabeeb.  I also encourage you to visit me while I am in Richmond for the General Assembly.

Submitted by Delegate Greg Habeeb

Green Ridge Recreation Center will be open on New Year’s Day from 10am to 5pm. See facility schedules for modified class times. All other recreation centers and administrative offices are closed Dec 31 & Jan 1.

Submitted by Roanoke County

The Western Virginia Regional Jail Authority will hold its annual organizational meeting on Thursday, January 3, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. at the Western Virginia Regional Jail, 5885 West River Road, Salem, VA 24153.  The organizational meeting will be immediately followed by the Authority’s regular business meeting.

Items on the agenda include the swearing in of Board members for their 2013 terms of office, the election of officers, an operational briefing, financial reports, and the adoption of a meeting schedule for 2013.

Questions concerning this meeting may be referred to Superintendent Bobby Russell at 378-3701 or Jodi Bishop, Clerk to the Authority, at 378-3703.

Submitted by Western Virginia Regional Jail Authority

Enjoy the newest Zumba fitness format that transforms a chair into a sizzling dance partner. Work your core, burn calories and sculpt muscles to the beat of high energy music with less dance than traditional Zumba classes. Zumba Sentao is offered at the Brambleton Center starting January 3.

Submitted by Roanoke County

Based on the success of our popular Lose Big program at Green Ridge Recreation CenterWeight loss program focused on New Year’s resolutions, we’ve added a special 6-week version of our weight loss program just for the new year. Participants will work in teams to take off the pounds, with help from a personal trainer. Be prepared to work hard and eat right, while getting your body in shape. For more information, call Chelsea Arner at (540) 777-6310. You don’t have to be a Green Ridge member to participate.

Submitted by Roanoke County

Inspired by the dances of the Pacific Islands, Hula and Tahitian fitness class breaks down the elements of the various movements and then combines them into a routine. Participants learn a complete dance over a period of weeks, then a new one is introduced. Appropriate dances are taught to strengthen basics and hand movements. It provides a total body workout in 60 minutes. This class isolates your larger muscle groups, increasing strength and definition to your core with specific emphasis on the abs, glutes, quads and arms. All ages and fitness levels will enjoy this workout. No hoops or exercise gear are required, not even shoes. Bare feet are preferred for the workout. Six/five week program. Fees are based on course length. Classes meet Thursday evenings at Brambleton Center beginning January 3rd.

Click here to register.

Submitted by Roanoke County

The garbage collection schedule for New Year’s week is as follows:
Monday routes will be collected on Wednesday, January 3, 2013.
Tuesday routes will be collected on Wednesday, January 2, 2013.
Wednesday routes will be collected on Thursday, January 3, 2013.
Thursday routes will be collected on Friday, January 4, 2013.

All offices will be closed on Monday, December 31, 2012, and Tuesday, January 1, 2013 for the New Year Day’s holiday. For more information, please call 387-6225.

Submitted by Roanoke County

Monday, December 31
Bulk and brush will be picked up for streets designated for A Week pick-up. Bulk and brush is collected every other week on your regular garbage collection day.

For more information, email mrector@roanokecountyva.gov.

Click here to find your collection day.

Submitted by Roanoke County

Roanoke County administrative offices will be closed on Monday, December 31 through Tuesday, January 1. Offices will re-open on Wednesday, January 2.

2013 New Year’s Day Garbage Collection Schedule is as follows: Monday routes will be collected on Wednesday, January 2, 2013. Tuesday routes will be collected on Wednesday, January 2, 2013. Wednesday routes will be collected on Thursday, January 3, 2013. Thursday routes will be collected on Friday, January 4, 2013.

All offices will be closed on Monday, December 31, 2012, and Tuesday, January 1, 2013, for the New Year Day’s holiday. Please contact the Solid Waste Division at 387-6225 for any questions regarding the collection schedule.

Submitted by Roanoke County

Sixth Grade

All A’s: Skyler Allen, Jacob Argabright, Katherine Atkins, Dana Bassford, Patrick Bateman, Madison Baxley, Ethan Beutell, Trenton Blais, Janae Blakeney, Jasmine Bowman, Sydney Brown, Sarah Brownmiller, Lianna Butt, Andrew Byron, Jack Cardin, Ethan Carroll, Kirbie Conner, Rory Croke, Hudson Crowe, James Davis, Sidney Domkoski, Rose Ellis, Matthew Elmore, Taylor Elmore, Corynne Emmerson, Sydney Eubank, Taylor Fischer, Elizabeth Fisher, Makaela Fore, Adam Galbreath, Trevor Gallagher, Carrington Gardner, Ashby Garst, Alesia Gaston, Jack Gladden, Luke Grinnell, Lily Gudeman, Caroline Hagy, Elijah Hairston, Telia Harris, Amber Helton, Matthew Hernandez, Kristen Honaker, Zachary Honaker, Triniti House, Gil Houston, Sandra James, Austin Jennings, Benjamin Kessel, Caleb Lingenfelter, Kaitlyn Martin, Selma Marunica, Peyton McBride, Alexis Meadows, Ryan Messick, Natalie Mitchell, Alec Mowry, Lauren Overfelt, Jash Patel, Haley Patterson, Alexander Perdue, Daniel Poff, Nicholas Poff, Jordan Pratt, Carson Pugh, Cole Race, Danielle Rich, Samantha Richardson, Taylor Riddle, MaKayla Rippee, Haley Ryan, Aiden Sable, Emma Smith, Jacob Sorenson, Riley Spitnale, Emma Stamper, Phoebe Stevens, Mury Sylvestre, Morgan Tennant, Hannah Terry, Noah Turner, Charles Wallace, Hannah Waltz, Alexa Warme, Brianna Warme, Molly Willingham, Sydney Willingham

A’s and B’s: Myleah Akers, Jacob Alley, Joseph Belanger, Jabari Blake, Leah Bohannon, Kendra Bolen, Ethan Boush, Logan Bowles, Emma Bradley, Elijah Buchanan, Azyah Burnette, Quanesha Burris, Randall Burton, Rebecca Burton, Kristin Calamos, Da’Jon Cardwell, Lauren Carroll, Andrew Chambers, Jacob Chitwood, Avery Close, Anna Cochran, Abigail Coleman, Hayleigh Coleman, Kirbie Conner, John Danstrom, Courtney Davies, Breanna Davis, Sarah Dawkins, Kate DeBord, Leisa Dudley, Joshua Duhon, Shawn Ferris, Lindsey Frank, Marco Franke, Adam Gordon, Briana Gravely, Lily Gudeman, William Harless, Jasmine Harmon, Kayla Harmon, Taylor Harris, John Hash, Chloe Hawks, Adam Hicks, Magnus Hickson, Ronald Hogan, Bryce Holland, Gavin Huggett, Matthew Hunt, McKensey Janney, Micah Jeffries, Jonathan Jones, Dalton Kaiser, Ashley Lainez, Natali Lara, Cody Lawson, Layla Lindov, Philip Maina, Marqui Manns, Shelby Marlman, Destiny Mason, Dexter McCraw, Cody McGlothlin, Morgan McMillion, Dustin McNeil, Benjamin Mewald, Sameer Miglani, Matthew Miller, Vincente’ Moon, Kiley Morris, Jessenia Ortiz, Ashley Owens, Kate Palmer, Conner Payne, Grayson Payne, Joci Payne, Torren Pellant, Teagan Pendleton, Matthew Pietrzyk, Mary Polansky, Heather Pollard, Danijel Pranjic, Nathan Richards, Van Richardson, Indigo Ritter, Megan Roberson, Alexandria Roland, Lauren Schofield, Jonathan Scott, Kera Simmons, Kasey Sizemore, Chandler Smith, Ruby Smith, William Snyder, Ahlena Spangler, Holly Stevenson, Benjamin Stockton, Gabrielle Strickler, Daniel Sublett, Samuel Sumpter, Mury Sylvestre, Callie Terry, Nathan Trott, Precious Tyree, Christina Vazquez, Heather Wilkerson, Christopher Will, Felicity Will, Bastian Williams, Haleigh Williams, Makena Witt, Matthew Wright, Emmy Yopp, Jacob Young

Seventh Grade

All A’s: Alexandra Abbott, Rachel Ahlers, Nicholas Anthony, Brianna Bailey, Jordan Barker, Savannah Battaglia, Emily Bell, Lillian Blair, Sidney Booze, Madelynn Bowman, Zachary Brown, Taylor Cannon, Somi Cho, Christopher Clemens, Garrison Conner, Autumn Cox, Raven Craig, Abigail Crawford, Mia Cromer, Adrian Cruz-Lemus, Cristian Davis, Paige Duncan, Mallory Edwards, Haley Fedison, Arik Fick, John Frazier, Levi Garman, Allison Gartner, Allison Gray, Charity Hall, Will Hamilton, Grace Hedge, Garrett Hicks, Isabelle Hill, Ellery Huffman, Brian Hutton, Alayna Johnson, Jacob Johnson, Rylan Johnson, Claire LaPrad, Ellie Laub, Jacob Lawson, Audrey Lewis, Keely Loyd, Evyn Magenbauer, Raniyah Majied, Samuel Martin, Stephen Mason, Rachel Massey, Taylor McCaleb, Daniel McMillan, Samuel Mead, Brayden Meadows, Claire Mitchell, Lauren Moran, Olivia Newman, Angela Orange, Brayden Overstreet, Sydney Pettit, Joseph Quinn, Mark Raines, Chloe Simpson, Garren Snow, Malyna Spice, Bri’onnah Thomasson, Amber Tingler, Natalie Valentine, Elizabeth Warren, Alexis Whitfield, Megan Wood, Kara Yates

A’s and B’s: Harlee Allen, Lindsey Amiot, Joshua Argabright, Lily Barnes, Alexis Bebout, Caroline Blackwell, Tylaja Blakeney, William Bolte, Lauren Boyd, Ashley Bulaski, Lily Butler, Michaela Carkin, Makailah Carroll, Trent Cheyney, Tori Clinevell, Abbygail Cook, Blake Davidson, Nathan Delby, Logan Dennis, Isabelle Donahue, Douglas Duffy, Eliza East, Kenneth Elmore, Isaac Fairchilds, AnnElese Galleo, Selene Geier, Richard Goodpasture, Jessica Graham, January Greene, Nina Hagy, Jon Hall, Gabrielle Hicks, Tatum Hicks, Sade Holland, Samantha Hoyer, Andrew Jenkins, Connar Johnson, Joseph Kelly, Samantha Kennedy, Ethan Lawrence, James Leeson, Andy Lin, Julian Mack, Abshire Markham, Yudel Martinez, Joshua McClure, Isaiah Melozzi, Sierra Messinger, Matthew Mitchell, Keon Motley, Abbigail Mowbray, Kelcie Mullins, Lawrence Mundy, Kyle Orth, John Overstreet, Erika Page, Karla Pelcastre Vargas, Colten Pellant, William Plympton, Joy Postmus, Christopher Pugh, Briaonna Ramsey, Makenzie Redding, Nathan Rigney, Jacob Roupe, Mariana Schreuders, Jacob Seale, Zachary Simmons, Corey Smith, Laura St.Clair, Jacob Stewart, Mikayla Stovall, Alley Stultz, Halie Thornhill, Rachel Torian, Edmundo Trujillo, Jillian Vanderpool, Nicholas Wade, Christian Walton, Isaiah Weeks, Ashley Wickham, Jaeda Wray, Tyler Wygal

Eighth Grade

All A’s: Alexander Anama, Ethan Austin, Jennie Battaglia, Abigail Bryant, Trevor Buzzard, Emma Cain, Jacob Conklin, Hannah Coulling, Kimberly Cox, Isabel Danstrom, Sam Farrokhpoor, Riley Fox, Ashley Gartner, Haellie Gordon, Abigail Hoback, Elizabeth Hodges, Barbara Irby, Madolyn Legg, Elissa Look, Anthony Migliarese, Hannah Moran, Caroline Peterson, Vincent Pinello, Sofia Porras Nielsen, Ashlyn Pugh, Isaac Robertson, Monet Smith, Elizabeth Spangler, Carson Sutphin, Ryan Walters

A’s and B’s: Tory Altis, Trevor Austin, Wisper Austin, Katelyn Bishop, Jensen Blevins, Dyamon Brown, Kionte’ Burnette, Kyler Burton, Casey Butt, Charles Chadd, Kevin Chen, Patrick Croke, James DeMaurice, Alesia Devlin, Emily Duhon, Landon Erickson, Ariana Falls, Jason Ferguson, Aline Flores, Kaylie Foutz, Olivia Frank, Benjamin Galbreath, Jane Grosskopf, Alexus Guilliams, Clara Hill, Jake Hitchcock, Hannah Howell, Morgan Hurley, Ethan Kemp, Maya Lamprinakos, Amber Llerenas, Jaylen Mack, Desimir Markovic, Ryan Marlman, Jaklyn McCauley, Brittney McDaniel, Brenna McIntosh, Heather Milberger, Jacob Muncy, Hannah Nimmo, Carter Noell, Laure’aja Ortiz, Madison Paine, Ricky Patel, Camden Pellant, Hadyn Perler, Noah Perrin, William Poldiak, Nikita Polk, Christian Reid, Skyler Reynolds, Kelly Richards, Madison Schelsky, Daniel Schwartz, Timothy Sherman, Alyssa Skoglund, Caroline Soerensen, Anissa Spradlin, Emma Studtmann, Katlin Thompson, Jackson Todd, Maelynn Valentine, Patrick Vaughan, Logan Wagher, Hannah Worrell

– Submitted by Melissa L. Loving, Andrew Lewis Middle School