Downtown Learning Center, a day-care center inside the Jefferson Center in downtown Roanoke, abruptly told parents and staff members today it is shutting down, effective immediately, “due to the inability of the center to meet its financial obligations.”

The Roanoke Times has more on this story.

Senator Webb is calling for regulations to curb proprietary trading and conflicts of interest on Wall Street. Here is a press release from the Senator’s Office:

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), a member of the Joint Economic Committee, called on federal regulators to implement strong reforms to prevent high-risk investing from again endangering the national economy. Sen. Webb joined 17 other senators in submitting comments to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) yesterday to ensure that proprietary trading restrictions of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act are implemented as intended by Congress. Read more »

The University of Virginia is represented among the teams that  will compete in the final of Goodman & Company’s accounting challenge. Here is a press release from the firm:

Goodman & Company, LLP, has announced the five college teams that have made it to the finals of the firm’s ninth annual Goodman Accounting Challenge.  Student teams from the College of William & Mary, James Madison University, Eastern Mennonite University and the University of Virginia (two teams) have qualified to participate in the final competition which takes place November 5-7 in Richmond at the Hilton Richmond Short Pump. Read more »

Crowd gathered at West Wind Farm Winery & Vineyard to celebrate the unveiling of the Southwest Virginia Artisan Trail Brochures

The Artisan Trails of Southwest Virginia brochure project has been completed. Here is a press release from ‘Round the Mountain: Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Network:

A cheerful crowd gathered on the sunny terrace outside West Wind Farm Vineyard & Winery in Max Meadows on Friday, Oct. 22, 2010, to celebrate the completion of the Artisan Trails of Southwest Virginia project. Merlot and lively conversation hung in the air, as many expressed the joy and relief of completing the massive undertaking. Read more »

Research vineyard at the Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Winchester, Va.

Virginia Tech is leading a research team that will determine how to improve grape and wine quality on the east coast. Here is a press release from the univeristy:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded $3.8 million to researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (http://www.cals.vt.edu) at Virginia Tech to lead a multi-state effort to further improve grape and wine quality in the eastern United States. Read more »

Tom and Beth Wilson of Roanoke have taken over as the new majority owners of Prudential Radford & Associates REALTORS, now Prudential Premier REALTORS.  Here is a press release from Prudential:

Local residents Tom and Beth Wilson, the only couple to win REALTOR® of the Year awards in their local association, today announced they are the new majority owners of Prudential Radford & Associates, REALTORS®. The new agency, Prudential Premier, REALTORS®, a Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services affiliate, will remain located in the McVitty Office Park at 2772 Electric Road, Suite 1, Roanoke, VA. Rounding out their executive leadership team are Fred Hall and Becky Fields who bring over a decade of real estate experience. Read more »

George Dawson

Centra CEO George Dawson has been recognized for his service by the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. Here is a press release from Centra:

Centra President and CEO George Dawson received the 2010 Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) at its annual meeting in Hot Springs.  VHHA’s membership represents 114 different hospitals throughout Virginia.  Each year, only one CEO from these hospitals is chosen to receive this honor. Read more »

Kids participating in the Magic Place program at Crystal Springs Elementary competed in a fitness challenge with a YMCA fitness instructor and the Power Panther (the USDA’s mascot).

JCPenney has donated $5,000 to the YMCA of Roanoke Valley for the organization’s afterschool programs. Here is a press release from the YMCA:

The YMCA of Roanoke Valley announced that its Magic Place program received a $5,000 grant from JCPenney Afterschool that will help more children and teens in the Roanoke Valley participate in safe, life-enriching afterschool programs this school year.

This gift is one of 287 grants being awarded by JCPenney Afterschool to YMCAs around the country. It is designed to help Ys provide financial assistance to students (grades K-12) who otherwise could not afford to participate in afterschool programs. Read more »

the becher agency has been recognized for advertising projects it created for the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance. Here is a press release from tba:

tba (the becher agency) today announced that four projects produced for the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance were honored with 2010 Communications Awards presented by the Southern Economic Development Council.

Merit awards were given for an investor postcard, brochure for the Virginia TradePort and two websites — www.vatradeport.com and www.nrvfuture.org. Read more »

Virginia Commonwealth University has been granted nearly $2.4 million to expand its community outreach program for cancer research to Southside and Southwest Virginia. Here is a press release from VCU:

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center was recently awarded a two-year, $2.391 million grant from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (Tobacco Commission) to expand the breadth of the Center’s community involvement and grow its state-of-the-art clinical research and cancer specialist delivery system. That delivery system is already in place in communities across Virginia, such as in the Lynchburg, Fredericksburg, and Newport News areas. Read more »