Smyth County

There’s no need to go around hungry this summer.

As Wythe County continues to grapple with its role in Mountain Empire Airport’s future, Marion’s appointee to the airport commission, Scott Freeman, came before the town council last week to update its members on the situation. Freeman expanded on one concern of Wythe supervisors, the airport’s fuel prices.

For more than five months, the town of Marion was without its daily global reach, but the connection was renewed this week when marionva.org came back online with a new easy-to-navigate look.

Eric J. Collins has been selected as professor emeritus of Wytheville Community College for 2013. This honor may be bestowed upon retired WCC faculty members who held faculty rank, had a minimum of ten years of service, and made meritorious and significant contributions to the college. Collins earned his bachelor’s degree from Roanoke College and his master’s degree from the University of Richmond. He joined the WCC faculty in 1969 and taught in the Biology department until his retirement as an Assistant Professor of Biology in 2002. The award was presented to Collins by WCC President Charlie

Voters will be going to the polls next Tuesday, June 11, for a primary election to choose candidates for the November general election including 6th District House of Delegates, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

“My name is John Pullinger and in 1965 or 1966 I was travelling in Europe and somewhere out of Lyons, I think, I met an American on a BMW motorcycle who was in the USAF based in Frankfurt on Main.”

Scott Schumaker, founder of Appalachian Mountain Spirits, is proud of his creation. A master electrician with over 20 years of experience in the trades, he’s a real jack of all trades. He’s a master electrician, an HVAC specialist, and a welder. So when he decided to build a distillery, he did it himself.

The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission has awarded $300,000 to Emory & Henry College to help in the hiring of a full-time dean of the E&H School of Health Sciences in Marion.

A dispute over burning wet wood dampened a camping trip for two Smyth County men, police said.

For the third consecutive year, the town of Saltville is maintaining its water/sewer rate but is going up on its personal property tax rate while the town of Chilhowie proposes a 5 percent increase (2 percent wholesale) in water/sewer rates but holds the line on personal property tax.

Mimi Leonard, associate professor of developmental studies, was the recipient of Wytheville Community College’s Improvement of Instruction Award at the college’s annual 2013 Honors Convocation held on April 25.

A couple of years ago, we got Dean Rhea in trouble. Sorry, Dean.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission will soon hold a hearing about Appalachian Power Company’s (APCo) application to acquire two coal-fired plants in West Virginia as opposed to buying electricity from a proposed natural gas plant in Atkins.

The MSHS Hurricane Players will perform "Dearly Departed" by David Bottrell and Jessie Jones on Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8, at 7 p.m. at The Lincoln Theatre in downtown Marion. Admission is $5 for high school students and $10 for all adults.

A Chilhowie High School graduate and a Marion Senior High School freshman (rising sophomore) will be among the members of the 37th Sound of America Honor Band & Chorus touring Europe this summer.

A possible collaborative partnership between Emory & Henry College and the King School of Medicine announced this week may benefit plans for a School of Health Sciences planned for Marion.

Thursday afternoon, members of Rolling Thunder prepare for the ceremony to unveil and dedicate the new POW/MIA memorial on the Smyth County Courthouse lawn. After the solemn ceremony, the riders continued their journey to the Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C.

Grayson Highlands Fall Festival Committee is seeking vendors for the 2013 festival. This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, Sept. 28 and Sunday, Sept. 29, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The festival is held in the picnic area at Grayson Highlands State Park in Mouth of Wilson.

The 50,000th trailer rolled off the assembly line at Utility Trailer's plant in Glade Spring Tuesday, and it will be used in this area to haul food and dry goods for locally owned grocery chain Food City.

The town of Marion and the Virginia Department of Transportation are replacing the bridge on Chatham Hill Road near the town swimming pool. Chatham Hill Road will be closed from Main Street to Chilhowie Street June 1 through Aug. 15. Traffic will be detoured. Motorists are reminded there is no left turn entering Main Street from Chilhowie Street beside Happy's.

For the eighth year, Marion is hosting a Memorial Day event for the whole county and beyond featuring music, a parade through downtown, and a service at the Francis Marion VFW Post 4667 Memorial.

Saying that government needs fewer lawyers and more business-savvy leaders, Rural Retreat businessman and farmer Jack Weaver recently announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 6th District House of Delegates seat currently held by the retiring Annie B. Crockett-Stark.

Sequestration in the federal budget has forced Mountain Community Action Program Head Start in Marion to close classrooms, cut hours and lose students. Mike Walker, executive director of Mountain CAP Head Start, headquartered in Marion, estimated his program is facing $200,000 in federal funding cuts.

Wytheville College College was established in 1963, which makes the 2013 fall semester the beginning of the college’s 50th anniversary year. The college is planning a year-long schedule of events, with particular emphasis placed on a Saturday, September 28, celebration kick-off.