Harrisonburg Blogs

     Blacksburg Middle School and High School students went back to their regular schedule a day after a 13-year-old took two handguns and ammunition to school.

     Blacksburg Police say the middle school student was taken into custody after school officials found the weapons shortly before 12:30 yesterday afternoon. High school classes, which are being held at the middle school, were cancelled while the building wassearched for additional weapons.

     Mrs. Rowe's Country Buffet, one of the Valley's dining traditions in
Mt. Crawford,  is closing to the public.

     Mary Lou DeGrasie tells WSVA News that the Mt. Crawford location will be used for private events, conferences and corporate functions only.

     If you plan on traveling this holiday weekend, expect to see more Virginia State Police on the roadways as part of the annual Operation C.A.R.E. traffic enforcement campaign.
 
     The Operation Combined Accident Reduction Effort is a state-sponsored, national program designed to reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries caused by speeding, impaired driving and failure to use occupant restraints.
 
     State Police will increase its visibility and traffic enforcement efforts throughout the Commonwealth beginning Friday morning, and continuing through midnight, Monday.

      Massanutten Technical Center held a ground-breaking ceremony for its new Veterinary Assistant Barn this afternoon .

     The new barn is a two-thousand square foot livestock learning lab, to be used by second-year Vet Assistant students. The heated barn contains four stalls for animals, a large teaching area with bleachers, a tack room and feed storage.

Scott McCaul was arrested and charged with being drunk in public, but that was just the beginning.

Elkton Police Chief Kevin Whitfield said he was handcuffed, but managed to steal the police cruiser he was in, which had a Police K-9 in the back seat. Police said that he drove away and wrecked the cruiser, then took another car which he also wrecked before he was captured.
 
WHSV-TV says that McCaul been charged with two counts of grand larceny, larceny of animals , preventing law enforcement to make a lawful arrest, falsely identifying himself to law enforcement, public swearing or intoxication, reckless driving, failure to observe marked lines, driving without an operators license, and no operators license.

     A Newport News sheriff's deputy has been arrested on charges of having sex with a female inmate.

     A criminal complaint filed in Newport News General District Court says the inmate was on her way home from work release when Deputy Vincent Townes picked her up and drove her to his apartment.

     The 41-year-old Townes was arrested Friday and charged with one count each of carnal knowledge of an inmate and aiding the escape of a prisoner.

A two-day traffic safety program by Virginia State Police resulted in thousands of speeders and reckless drivers receiving citations as part of the Department's Operation Air, Land and Speed initiative.
 
The enforcement effort began Sunday, May 23, and concluded Monday, May 24, as troopers patrolled the north-south corridors of I-81 and I-95.

Virginia State Police cited over 6,000 summonses and arrests during the  enforcement blitz.

Gov. Bob McDonnell has proclaimed this week as Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week.

The pest is devastating stands of Ash trees here in Virginia. The borer was accidentally introduced into the US, most likely in wood packing materials coming from Asia. It was first seen in Virginia in 2003 in Fairfax County.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture is placing about 4,000 traps statewide. Officials say the traps are easy to spot. They are purple in color, triangular in shape and are about 2 feet long.

Officials with the Shenandoah County Fair recently announced their principal entertainment for the 2010 fair.

Josh Turner will perform Wednesday, Sept. 1. Turner is well known for his deep singing voice. His songs include "Long Black Train" and "Why Don't We Just Dance."