Here’s the latest from the Danville Police Department…

On 11-15-11 at approximately 7:15 PM, Danville Police responded to a [...]]]> I may not be on Star News anymore, but I’ll still try to bring you the best news coverage in Danville. The news doesn’t happen just between the hours of 1 & 9 PM, folks.

Here’s the latest from the Danville Police Department…

On 11-15-11 at approximately 7:15 PM, Danville Police responded to a report of a subject admitted to the Danville Regional Medical Center suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Police interviewed the 52 year-old Danville resident and he reported he was in the 1100 block of West Stokes Street when he got into an altercation with some individuals there. He said the altercation was over and the subjects left only to return a few moments later. One of the subjects produced a gun and started shooting resulting in the victim being struck. The victim is currently being treated for his injuries and is listed in stable condition at this time. The police investigation is ongoing.

If I’m wrong on something, I’ve got no problem admitting it. On the other hand, Don McEachin prefers to stick his fingers in his ears and say “LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

Gun crimes drop at Virginia bars and restaurants

HalifaxTalk: Traffic Checks

Let’s get to the news part of this first. Here’s the press release from the Halifax County’s Sheriff’s Office…

In a joint effort to curb drunk and/or drugged driving, and to [...]]]> It’s News. It’s a ThreadSpotting. It’s complete stupidity about the upcoming Halifax County Sheriff’s race. It’s all of those combined!

HalifaxTalk: Traffic Checks

Let’s get to the news part of this first. Here’s the press release from the Halifax County’s Sheriff’s Office…

In a joint effort to curb drunk and/or drugged driving, and to step up child safety-seat enforcement, four seperate traffic checkpoints were set up in locations throughout South Boston and Halifax Co. this past Saturday night ( 4/2/11 ). The Halifax Co. Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, and the South Boston Police Dept. conducted these checkpoints. As a result, citations or warrants were issued for the following violations: four charges of driving under the influence; one felony driving after having been declared an habitual offender; one possession of a controlled substance; one driving to elude police; ten driving on suspended licenses; one driving with no license; three child safety seat; four seatbelt; and twenty-nine other traffic charges were levied. Two broken down motorists were also assisted. Sheriff Noblin would like to remind citizens that with the oncoming warm weather, which increases highway traffic, deputies and police will be increasing the frequency of these checkpoints to ensure the safety of motorists and the public in Halifax County.

So that happened. Now to the ThreadSpotting…

• Jeff Oakes (PRCFPO) says there were only two arrests that he was aware of. Unsurprisingly, he’s not in the loop of sheriff’s office communications anymore and is quite wrong.
• Jeff Oakes (OMGSTFU) says there was ZERO publicity. Looks like he depends on the local newspapers and he’s quite wrong again. There are other sources for news.
• TomTen who only seems to comment on Sheriff’s office things, unsurprisingly comments on this Sheriff’s office thing.
• SidJay (Sheldon Jennings) continues to take shots at Jimmy Clay (but not in this thread…yet).
• AndyR makes perfect sense as usual.

Final Thoughts : This Halifax County Sheriff’s Race is going to as bizarre as the last one was. If Jeff Oakes files for this race, it will be even more bizarre. (Disclaimer: I have spoken with Oakes on this and have offered him a one hour talk show to make that announcement provided that he sits for an interview & takes viewers’ calls.) Personally, I don’t think he’ll run again. I’ve read that one person has said that they don’t read the local newspapers and depend on HalifaxTalk for news… and that deserves a facepalm. As of now, Stanley Noblin is the favorite to win the November election, but it’s going to depend how crowded the candidate field turns out to be. More to come on that…

As regular readers well know, I recommended Reidsville’s “Lucky City” as a good place to go. Well, not anymore because Lucky City has closed down.

I got an email from Debbie Moore on Friday saying that Lucky City was going to close [...]]]> Bad things usually happen when you piss off people in government.

As regular readers well know, I recommended Reidsville’s “Lucky City” as a good place to go. Well, not anymore because Lucky City has closed down.

I got an email from Debbie Moore on Friday saying that Lucky City was going to close that night. I was quite surprised and after some interviews, we found out that Richard Moore had gotten a “7 day intention to terminate” the lease and they had to get out. That’s quite bizarre because they had always paid their rent on time… so I’m trying to find out why the building owner (Dr. William Bradford) decided to get rid of a paying tenant.

Let’s get some things out of the way. Richard Moore pissed people off at times. He thumbed his nose quite regularly at “The Establishment”, and often came out on top because he was usually right. He started a “Reidsville Downtown Merchants” Facebook page after the previous one was deleted and proceeded to mock the downtown businesses in a fun way. He unofficially changed the name of Lucky City to “Reidsville Public Library” for no apparent reason, causing some confusion among people. He continued to have fun at the expense of local & county government officials. In short, it was “Richard being Richard”. You may not like the way he did things, but Lucky City was a quirky, successful business that added a lot to to Reidsville’s downtown. Unfortunately, it looks like Richard pissed off one too many people. I, along with many others, will miss their selection of beer and wine. I’ll also miss the group of friends I met that considered themselves Lucky City’s “regulars”.

We’ll probably never find out who orchestrated the downfall of Lucky City (unless you count Richard’s antics as the reason… which I don’t). That’s the biggest shame of all.

I’m in favor of an independent study to determine if uranium can be mined safely. I’m smart enough to know that I’m not smart enough to know if it can be mined [...]]]> Some of the anti-uranium folks seem to think that I’m in favor of uranium mining. As I’ve said before, they’re quite wrong.

I’m in favor of an independent study to determine if uranium can be mined safely. I’m smart enough to know that I’m not smart enough to know if it can be mined safely or not. I get completely frustrated by the anti-uranium nutballs who say that Southside VA will be glowing for 500 years or other assorted ridiculous claims like that. People like Jack Dunavant irritate me when they try to control the debate using intimidation (remember his beloved “Chemical Trespass” idea that got obliterated?) and other heavy-handed tactics.

Well, there are tactics by the pro-uranium mining side that piss me off just as much. Walter Coles, come on down!

Uranium VP: Mining bill likely in 2012

Walter, just like the gloom-and-massive-doom nutballs on the other side, you have no idea if uranium mining can be done safely. Patrick Wales can spin your remarks in any way he chooses but by making this speech, you have severely damage the respect that I have of you and your company. I always believed that you were in this business to make a profit, but now I’m wondering if that’s the only motivation that you have.

Back in 2010, 5-year-old Kolton Karnes drowned at the low-head dam at Danville’s Dan Daniel Park. The dam is a safety hazard and will be removed soon but until that happens, the city has put up lots of [...]]]> Signs that warn you of danger are always a good thing, right? Well… maybe not always.

Back in 2010, 5-year-old Kolton Karnes drowned at the low-head dam at Danville’s Dan Daniel Park. The dam is a safety hazard and will be removed soon but until that happens, the city has put up lots of warning signs to remind people about the dangers.

Although I’m sure that the city’s artistic design team didn’t mean to make a sign which was a highly realistic representation of a small child being caught in the potentially fatal hydraulics of a low-head dam, they did just that…

Mr. Picard will express my sentiments on this sign.

Since I work in North Carolina occasionally, I notice that North Carolina restaurants have to post a card with their latest health inspection rating and score. That rating card has to be [...]]]> If you think Virginia restaurants should post their latest health inspection reports where you can see them, I’m asking for your help.

Since I work in North Carolina occasionally, I notice that North Carolina restaurants have to post a card with their latest health inspection rating and score. That rating card has to be posted so that you can see it as you walk in. If a restaurant has anything less than a “A” rating, I’m not going to eat there. I looked up the laws in Virginia and found out that Virginia restaurants are only required to post a certificate that says that the Health Department has approved them (and nothing about the rating).

Armed with that information, I called Danny Marshall‘s office a few months ago and told Mary Franklin (his legislative aide) that I had an idea for a new state law that would require Virginia restaurants to post their latest inspection report. Danny and Mary started the process on checking out existing laws. After an opinion from the State Health Commissioner saying that she didn’t think such a law was necessary due to inspection reports being available on the internet and her opinion that public display of inspection reports would possibly subject the inspectors to undue pressure from restaurant owners. After reading her letter, I was outraged at her objections. If I decide to go into a new restaurant, I’m not going to stop and check the internet for the report. As for the “undue pressure” reason, I feel that is an internal policing matter for the VDH to deal with and not my problem.

FastForward to the chase. Danny Marshall agreed to introduce my idea as a new bill in the General Assembly… and here it is!

HB 1927

Display of restaurant inspection reports. Requires every restaurant licensed by the State Board of Health to display a copy of the most recent restaurant inspection report, which shall include evidence of the number of critical violations found during the inspection, in a place where it is readily observable by the public transacting business with the establishment.

If you agree with me and think this is a good idea, I am asking you to contact your legislators and ask them to support HB 1927. If there is a lot of support for this bill, there’s a chance that this idea could become a law. Whether the bill passes or fails, I’m learning a lot in my first attempt to get a bill through the General Assembly.

Union decries Swedwood conditions

Danville’s getting a good reputation as a place that’s business-friendly. The only big union employer in the area is Goodyear, and Goodyear pretty much told the union what concessions they would have to take to keep the plant open in the last [...]]]> The “Union at Swedwood” talk is starting again.

Union decries Swedwood conditions

Danville’s getting a good reputation as a place that’s business-friendly. The only big union employer in the area is Goodyear, and Goodyear pretty much told the union what concessions they would have to take to keep the plant open in the last round of contract talk. The local USW members stomped their feet a little bit, made a little noise, then did the only rational thing they could do and accepted the company’s terms. I gained a lot more respect for the local USW membership when they did the right thing. Goodyear played fair as well in that situation by telling exactly what was needed, then rewarded the local plant by expanding. That being said, the absolute last thing that Southside needs is a new unionization because that would pretty much destroy economic development efforts in the region.

Now you’ve got this union that is trying to insert itself between the Swedwood workers and the company. The violations noted in the article are quite minor, and the plant seems to be doing well. It seems that this union will do anything to get their name out there.

Building and Wood Workers’ International led a protest against Swedwood Danville conditions on Dec. 7 at the IKEA in Geneva.

Oh, I’m sure that accomplished a lot.

Swedwood maintains it hasn’t violated the agreement and that when Swedwood learned of the claim that workers wanted to join the union, it suggested a secret ballot process to determine the accurate position of workers, Steén said.

“And, we will respect the result of the election process,” Steén said. “This offer has, however, been declined by union representatives.”

Gee, I wonder why? Could it be because this union knows they wouldn’t have a chance in hell of winning? When the company encourages a union referendum, you have to believe that things are going well inside the walls. If you ever wanted a reason on why the “Employee Free Choice Act” (card check) is horrible legislation, all you have to do is point to this example. I’m not totally anti-union because in plants like Goodyear, the USW can actually help with safety issues. I am totally against union thuggery (looking at you on the picket line, USW!) and the way that lots of unions have became mouthpieces for politics.

There still is a small place for labor unions in this country, but Swedwood isn’t that place.

“Willow Lane Brawl” case comes to an end

Two “assault on police” charges just go away. Interesting…

Were the original charges overstated or is this a good lesson that money can [...]]]> How much jail time does a person get for “Felony Assault on a Police Officer” and “Felony Assault on a Police Dog”? Nothing!

“Willow Lane Brawl” case comes to an end

Two “assault on police” charges just go away. Interesting…

Were the original charges overstated or is this a good lesson that money can buy you out of most trouble?

Author Rebecca Skloot to speak at Prizery.

No, she’s not. She calling in sick.

Really? She looked to be in good health Wednesday night.

It’s a Miracle!

From our friends at the Rockingham County (NC) Sheriff’s Office…

A few minutes before 3 p.m. today, Rockingham County Middle School Resource Officer, Deputy Shane Bullins was notified of a situation in the parking lot of the school. He was told [...]]]> SouthsideCentral’s still alive, folks! Let’s get back on the board with a DotD…

From our friends at the Rockingham County (NC) Sheriff’s Office…

A few minutes before 3 p.m. today, Rockingham County Middle School Resource Officer, Deputy Shane Bullins was notified of a situation in the parking lot of the school. He was told a man was inside a truck, drinking beer, and throwing the bottles out on the school ground. Bullins went to the parking lot area and found Russell Lee Wiley, 39, of 2210 Valleydale Road in Kernersville waiting in line to pick up a student. He was in a 1991 GMC pickup truck and drinking beer. He had thrown three beer bottles out the window. He also had inside the cab of the truck, a .38 caliber revolver.

Bullins arrested Wiley, charging him with the following charges.
• Consuming Alcohol on Educational Property
• Driving While Intoxicated
• Carrying a Concealed Weapon
• Littering
• Possession of a Firearm on Educational Property

Here’s the photo of Mr. Wiley as he starts the check-in process at his hotel.

VIR sent out this press release on Saturday evening…

VIRginia International Raceway announced today that General Manager Josh Lief will leave full time employment as General Manager by the end of this season. Lief will remain with the company as a Senior Adviser [...]]]> The general manager of Virginia International Raceway is changing careers. (?)

VIR sent out this press release on Saturday evening…

VIRginia International Raceway announced today that General Manager Josh Lief will leave full time employment as General Manager by the end of this season. Lief will remain with the company as a Senior Adviser for the foreseeable future and will work with the VIR ownership to find a replacement at the appropriate time.

Josh said: “I have had an amazing five seasons at VIR and am very thankful to Connie and Harvey for the opportunity to fulfill a lifetime gearhead’s dream.” Josh continued, “I love VIR and always will, and am so proud of our staff and how far we’ve come, and am thankful for the support of so many people over the past years and the friends I’ve made but it would not be possible to name them all. I will still be regularly coming to VIR to race, work and enjoy what Paul Newman appropriately called ‘Heaven on Earth.’ I miss my family and legal practice and an unexpected opportunity to practice law in public service in Richmond came around that was just too good to pass up.” Connie Nyholm and Harvey Siegel, VIR’s Owners said: “Josh did an amazing job for us for five seasons and will always be part of VIR and our family. We are very grateful for his dedication and hard work and look forward to continuing to work with him and wish him the best of luck always.”

Saturday afternoon on a holiday weekend is a weird time to put this announcement out. General manager at VIR seemed to be Josh’s dream job and he’s going back to practicing law? Something doesn’t smell quite right. We’ll see what more we can find out about this.

Editor’s Note: The comments on this post went too far.

At 11:15 AM, William Decarlo Wade (54) was driving on Rock Hill Community Rd. (SR 843) near the intersection of John Henry Rd. (SR 780) when his vehicle ran off the right side of the road. Wade overcorrected his steering, causing his 1998 Oldsmobile [...]]]> Sunday morning turned deadly on the roads of Henry County.

At 11:15 AM, William Decarlo Wade (54) was driving on Rock Hill Community Rd. (SR 843) near the intersection of John Henry Rd. (SR 780) when his vehicle ran off the right side of the road. Wade overcorrected his steering, causing his 1998 Oldsmobile Achieva to go across and off the left side of the road. The vehicle then struck a tree and Wade was ejected from the vehicle. Wade was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Virginia State Police, Wade was not wearing a seatbelt. The accident is still under investigation at this time.

The Southside tour started with Chatham on Monday, Danville on Tuesday, Martinsville on Wednesday, and South Boston on Thursday. Let’s go to the “random thoughts” board…

First, thanks for the birthday wishes. It means a lot.

Next, let’s talk about what’s getting ready to happen for Halifax County. If you’re [...]]]> The HalifaxTalk people who don’t like me and the ones who obsessively stalk me can read this too. It’s also open to people who want to know about WMDV.

First, thanks for the birthday wishes. It means a lot.

Next, let’s talk about what’s getting ready to happen for Halifax County. If you’re a Comcast cable subscriber in the South Boston/Halifax system, you’re about to get a brand new TV station. WMDV-TV is currently broadcasting over-the-air on channel 47.2 to southern Pittsylvania County, all of Henry County, Danville, and Caswell & Rockingham Counties in North Carolina. Because the station’s transmitter is on White Oak Mountain, our broadcast signal doesn’t reach Halifax County at this time so WMDV has reached a retransmission agreement with Comcast. WMDV-TV will be seen in South Boston/Halifax, Danville, Martinsville, Chatham, Gretna & Altavista. We have made all of the arrangements necessary for Comcast to start delivering our station to the area and WMDV could be on the cable systems as soon as this week.

WMDV-TV is part of the Star News Corporation and also has TV stations in Martinsville & Reidsville, NC. We specialize in local programming and feature news/talk call-in shows. We also feature guests from all walks of life including local government and elected officials. We invite our viewers to call in to our shows and talk to our hosts & guests about what’s really going on and we promise that you’ll have a voice with your elected officials on WMDV (as well as have a chance to express your own opinions). The network affiliate TV station cover our area as well, but they don’t have the time to devote themselves to in-depth coverage of things that happen here. At WMDV, we plan on producing a minimum of two to four hours of local programming each weeknight and will supplement that programming with coverage of local & regional events. In other words, it’s a type of TV station that the Halifax County area has never seen before. It’s worked well in the Martinsville & Reidsville areas and it’s going to work well in Halifax County.

You may notice that I used the word “we” up above and that’s because I am heading up the WMDV-TV efforts. I will be the host of the majority of our on-air programming. I have been working for Star News Corporation for the past four months and am currently hosting shows on our existing stations. I have a good knowledge of the region and have a good working relationship with the region’s government leaders and elected officials. I have already started the progress of booking guests from Halifax County (and the region) for our talk shows and look forward to filling our programming schedule with content that you will want to watch. As you know, I always maintain an open line of communication with my friends and I am keeping that philosophy open with the new viewers that watch our stations. I want to hear what’s on your mind, what’s going on, and what you want to see on the station. Star News Corporation is known for covering and televising local events and we look forward to continuing that in the WMDV coverage area. We’re community-based, and we’re going to give Halifax County a new way to talk & something to talk about.

We will also offer television advertising packages that will include commercials, short & long-form infomercials and TV show type programming at the lowest media rates ever seen in the area. If you’ve got a business or service that you want people to know about, you will be able to reach well over 35,000 households in the Southside Virginia area at prices that will be affordable for you, no matter what size your business is. WMDV does all of our advertising production in house and doesn’t charge production fees for advertising contracts that meet our minimum time-frames. We have plenty of references available that will be glad to tell you how much Star News advertising has done for their business.

As you can tell, I’m excited about this new career and also excited to bring this endeavor to Halifax County.

Now, let’s get to the HalifaxTalk part of this essay. As you know, Darrin Talbott banned me from the HT message boards after my comments in this thread. I made an attempt to talk to Darrin and documented it in this SouthsideCentral article. Darrin replied in a thread called “Free BruceH”, and I made my response here. After that, I’ve had no communication with Darrin and only passing conversation with Bunny. I thank all of my friends for the support. Through credible sources and friends, I’ve found out that it’s just not Darrin that recommended my banning and continue to not want me back. I have no need to be allowed back on HalifaxTalk but with the imminent arrival of WMDV, I feel that it’s time to move forward.

I feel that WMDV & HalifaxTalk could both benefit from working together. The majority of elected officials and government leaders have no desire to participate at HalifaxTalk due to the anonymous sniping and hostile attitudes that have been demonstrated quite often in the past. That hasn’t been the case at any of the other Star News stations and it will not be the case at WMDV. When you’ve got a potential audience of over 35,000 subscribers, leaders and people will participate. Let me make this perfectly clear… I will not (nor never) apologize for any of my statements on HalifaxTalk. I stand behind what I say and always will. I am opinionated at times and I have no problem offering up those opinions. If you don’t like me, I don’t care & I can sleep well with that knowledge. I’ll do just fine without your support. If you do like me, I’ll be there for you.

Here’s what I’m proposing… If Darrin & Bunny are willing to work with me & WMDV, I would be willing to set up a section on HalifaxTalk where I could tell people about what’s coming up on our programming. I would open threads up for people to submit questions for our guests and to suggest potential show topics. I would also respond to viewer’s comments just as I currently do via phone, email and our Star News Facebook page. I want to make sure that people know that Halifax County will not be the sole focus of our WMDV programming, but we feel it’s an underserved market area and needs a local TV station that covers this area.

So there you have it, folks. I’ve told you about WMDV and our plans. It’s going to happen and I want you to be a part of it. I cordially invite everybody who reads this letter to come visit the new WMDV studios in Danville. We’re located at 3334 US 29 N, and that’s 2/10′s of a mile past the Market Square shopping center and the Danville city limits. Make contact with me, and I’ll let you know when I’ll be in the studio and we’ll work out a good time for you to come visit. If you’re on Facebook,I invite you to add me on as a friend if you haven’t already & I also invite you to find our Star News fan page and join it. You can email me at any time at bhedrick@southsidecentral.com or bruce.hedrick@wgsr47.com. You can also call me as well. I’ll be glad to give you my direct phone number on request or you can call 336-446-WMDV (9638) at any time. I will continue to operate SouthsideCentral, and here’s a SC article that tells you all of the ways to contact SC & see additional SC content. I’m also actively looking for guests that have a story to tell, so feel free to let me know any ideas that you have on that. As for the HalifaxTalk issues, the ball is now in Darrin Talbott & Bunny Propst’s court. I would like to work together with HalifaxTalk… but if that doesn’t happen, WMDV is coming to the area anyway.

I thank you for taking the time to read this open letter. If you have any questions or comments, I’m always available to talk.

Sincerely,
Bruce Hedrick

Bad news: You’re not going to hear what they have to say unless you’re a Lynchburg Tea Party member because they’ve banned the media from attending.

Media not invited to Tea Party meeting with Hurt, Goodlatte

I purposely stayed [...]]]> Good news: Robert Hurt & Bob Goodlatte are speaking at Thursday’s Lynchburg Tea Party meeting

Bad news: You’re not going to hear what they have to say unless you’re a Lynchburg Tea Party member because they’ve banned the media from attending.

Media not invited to Tea Party meeting with Hurt, Goodlatte

I purposely stayed away from all news this weekend but found out about this today. Needless to say, I was outraged. I sent a message to Mark Lloyd who immediately called me back and was very nice about explaining the Tea Party’s rationale. I understood his viewpoint but I told him that I strongly disagreed with it because anytime a politician makes a speech, the media should be allowed to cover it. Now that we’re in the election season, it’s even more important for people to hear from the candidates as much as they can.

I called Robert Hurt’s campaign manager tonight and left a message telling him that in my opinion, it looks poorly upon his candidate when he chooses to speak at an event where the media has been banned by the organizers. I plan on doing the same thing in a phone call to Bob Goodlatte’s campaign tomorrow.

(Disclaimer: I am the owner/operator of SouthsideCentral.com and work for Star News Corporation. I make my paycheck covering news like this.)

Now let’s go to the “fun yet disturbing” part of this…

Lynchburg Tea Party site: August 5th Meeting – Speakers: Hurt & Goodlatte

Let’s look at the comments left by “Lynchburg Tea Party”.

In what way has the media been a friend to the tea party? In NO WAY is the answer to that. We are called Racists. Terrorists. Etc. There will be cameras there. OURS!

Dear “Lynchburg Tea Party”: I don’t care one bit about your views. As a member of the media, I would be there to cover what the candidates had to say. The media is there to cover the story.

The announcment does not say “Lynchburg Tea Party ‘members’ ” so if you consider yourself a participant in the TP then come and bring a friend.

Dear “Lynchburg Tea Party”: Now it appears that anybody can come as long as they “consider themselves a participant in the TP”? I’m getting confused here. Now there’s a membership requirement?

I’ve asked mark to craft a clarification for you and others. Bring your spouse by all means.

Dear “Lynchburg Tea Party”: I get it now. You’re making this up as you go.

I strongly suspect that “Lynchburg Tea Party” is Kurt Feigel, who has a frequent habit of dogma-driven outbursts. Anyway, I hope that both Robert Hurt & Bob Goodlatte rethink their commitments to speak in front of this group and any other group that would ban the media. Mark Lloyd is better than this decision and I hope he changes his mind.

Eight-foot boa slithers into Bedford County yard

This is why Mouthy stays inside.

A 42-year old Eden man drowned while helping to save his sons from an undercurrent in the Mayo River on Saturday evening.

Glenn Elmer Hampton (42) drowned in the Anglin Mill Loop area of the Mayo River at 6:45 PM on Saturday night. According to [...]]]> We’ve got a tragic story from Rockingham County (NC).

A 42-year old Eden man drowned while helping to save his sons from an undercurrent in the Mayo River on Saturday evening.

Glenn Elmer Hampton (42) drowned in the Anglin Mill Loop area of the Mayo River at 6:45 PM on Saturday night. According to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, Hampton was at the river with his wife, his 3 sons and a family friend. Hampton’s 9 and 10 year old sons were threatened by an undercurrent. Hampton and the family friend went into the river to rescue the children. The family friend was able to remove the children from the dangerous situation, but Hampton went under the surface of the water due to the current.

Hampton’s wife called for assistance while the family friend searched the river. Another man at the river was able to assist and together. they were able to retrieve Hampton’s body. The two men attempted CPR until emergency personnel arrived on the scene.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page was asked about the drowning and said “Rockingham County is blessed with rivers suitable for recreation, but on occasion, tragedy becomes reality. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Mr. Hampton”.

Humane Society offers reward after pit bull found dead

Words fail me at this atrocity. No animal ever deserves this kind of treatment and I strongly hope that the [...]]]> …is someone who abuses an animal. I was so mad about this news story that I did an entire hour of TV on it tonight.

Humane Society offers reward after pit bull found dead

Words fail me at this atrocity. No animal ever deserves this kind of treatment and I strongly hope that the person(s) responsible for this is cnvicted and sentenced to the maximum penalty that the law allows. Somebody knows something, and I hope they call the Danville Area Humane Society and supply the information to get an arrest.

Based on the injuries that this dog suffered, it’s logical to assume that there is dogfighting going on in the region. It’s time for all of the law enforcement agencies in the area to work together to find and stop it now.

From our friends at the Rockingham County (NC) Sheriff’s Office…

Christopher Smith was travelling on Highway 29 near Reidsville. He observed a truck parked by the highway and pulled his car over and in front of the truck. He asked to borrow the truck driver’s cell phone. [...]]]> Bizzaro World comes to Rockingham County, NC.

From our friends at the Rockingham County (NC) Sheriff’s Office…

Christopher Smith was travelling on Highway 29 near Reidsville. He observed a truck parked by the highway and pulled his car over and in front of the truck. He asked to borrow the truck driver’s cell phone. At that time, Smith called 911 communications to say he had killed his family.
When the deputy arrived at the location, he asked for identification and inquired if Smith had any weapons with him. Smith said he had a shotgun and a sword in the trunk of his car and had killed his family.
After other members of the Sheriff’s Office arrived, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office was contacted. An execution of a search warrant for the Kernersville address revealed there were no such deaths at the location as Smith claimed.
Smith was taken to the hospital for evaluation, and later charged with FILING A FALSE POLICE REPORT. His bond is $1500 secured and a court date of August 17th was given.

I can’t add anything to this story, folks.

Mountain Road Resident Requests Lower Speed Limit

Lovely. If this passes, Halifax will now have even more areas for revenue enhancement operations and it won’t change one thing about the safety level.

City’s Bluffwalk tab nears $1 million mark

My mind truly boggles. Guaranteeing a $3.2 million dollar loan to a private investor wanks right up there with Buena Vista building their own golf course. I just [...]]]> Have you ever wanted to build your own hotel and not have to pay for it? Move to Lynchburg!

City’s Bluffwalk tab nears $1 million mark

My mind truly boggles. Guaranteeing a $3.2 million dollar loan to a private investor wanks right up there with Buena Vista building their own golf course. I just checked the Craddock-Terry Hotel’s prices out and I just don’t understand why they aren’t at full capacity. Gee, you would think they’d be turning people away because their “Best Available” rate is only $159.

OddsMakers on this business venture going bankrupt and sticking the Lynchburg taxpayers with the entire bill: 97%

The Register & Bee’s John Crane wrote an excellent article about the meeting, so I’ll refer you to that for the play-by-play. I just want to touch on two experiences I had during the meeting.