As volunteer fire departments across the country grapple with staffing shortages, Botetourt County is rolling out a new incentive program aimed at attracting and retaining more volunteer firefighters.

The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors is set to approve the county’s budget and the budget for Roanoke County Public Schools during its meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Henry County officials and community leaders gathered this morning to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new housing initiative in the Villa Heights neighborhood, aimed at providing affordable housing and revitalizing the area.

At the April 22, 2025, meeting, the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors approved the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget, maintaining a commitment to fiscal responsibility by not increasing tax rates.

The building itself has been open since 1964 and is getting upgrades to its security systems. These includes new cameras, new doors and new badge readers. Classrooms will be getting a facelift while the old gymnasium is being renovated into a cafeteria.

Pulaski County has announced their 2025 “One Bag Challenge” initiative, which encourages locals to pick up at least one bag of trash in the area.

The 2024 General Election will be held on Nov. 5. You can find results for Patrick County here.

The new data center is expected to create hundreds of jobs and produce millions of dollars in tax revenue.

Botetourt County faced multiple acts of vandalism and threats targeting the Board of Supervisors, leading to the arrest of a suspect and a reaffirmation of the community's intolerance for such behavior.

The new real estate tax rate will sit at 70 cents per $100 of assessed value

The county is proposing a five-cent increase from 70 cents per $100 of assessed value to 75 cents.

The fate of a popular convenience store expanding to the Daleville Town Center remains unknown following a Botetourt County Board of Supervisors meeting.

The 2023 General Election will be held on Nov. 7. You can find results for Giles County here.

The 2023 General Election will be held on Nov. 7. You can find results for Giles County here.

The 2023 General Election will be held on Nov. 7. You can find results for Grayson County here.

The 2023 General Election will be held on Nov. 7. You can find results for Grayson County here.

The 2023 General Election will be held on Nov. 7. You can find results for Patrick County here.

The 2023 General Election will be held on Nov. 7. You can find results for Patrick County here.

The board is not removing any books from library shelves but want anyone under 18 to be accompanied by an adult.

The 2023 Primary Election will be held on June 20. You can find results for Roanoke County here.

The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors is proposing a record breaking $130 million to fund a Career and Technical Education Center and renovate two elementary schools.

Pulaski County Schools are looking to give teachers a raise but, before that happens they need to get money from the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors.

The developer of a planned 300-unit apartment complex in Daleville is officially withdrawing its application.

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors has announced who will be taking the spot of the new County Administrator.

The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors were set to vote this week on a 300-unit apartment project that could be coming to Daleville.

A Bedford County man is hoping for a new ordinance after he says a bullet nearly hit his home from a backyard gun range.

The 2022 General Election will be held on November 8. You can find results for Pulaski County here.

The 2022 General Election will be held on Nov. 8. You can find results for Franklin County here.

Each year the board of supervisors has four or five priorities ahead of the Virginia General Assembly going back in session

Roanoke County held a ribbon cutting ceremony to announce the new McAfee Knob Trailhead shuttle service.

Tensions were high during a school board meeting in Montgomery County Monday night.

Around 97 deputies will be eligible for the increases, costing, in total, $121,270, and an additional $50,044 in local funds were needed from the Reserve to fund those increases.

A local public library is setting the record straight following continuing controversy over a display.

Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following today as they make headlines in Southwest Virginia.

Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following today as they make headlines in Southwest Virginia.

The reaction at the public hearing came as Bedford’s Board of Supervisors consider selling the facility to a private company.

People in Pulaski County also decided to help make the area green as well.

A dispute over building an oil pipeline across California has intensified with the defeat of ExxonMobil's proposal to truck oil from now-idled offshore platforms.

Two pieces of legislation being introduced to the General Assembly would allow voters in the City of Martinsville to decide on reversion.

The 2021 General Election will be held on November 2. You can find results for Charlotte County here.

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors censured one of its members Tuesday night following texts he sent about another board member.

Halloween is coming a day sooner than scheduled in Pulaski County.

Board members overseeing Arizona’s most populous county have reached a deal with the Republican-controlled state Senate that will end a standoff over its demand that they hand over computer routers for use in an unprecedented partisan election review.

The City of Martinsville is one step closer to becoming a town.

The Henry County Board of Supervisors made another step in the process of reverting the City of Martinsville into a town within Henry County.

News and events happening today

The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday afternoon.

Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following today as they make headlines across the country and Southwest Virginia.

The Board of Supervisors met Tuesday and discussed the possibility of banning dispensaries, wholesalers, manufacturers and farms in the region.

ROANOKE, Va. – After the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors won favor of the court in a second lawsuit brought by neighboring property owners, a motion to reconsider has been filed. Neighbors Blain Creasy, Adrian Maver and Stan and Jane Seymour made the appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia. Without it, the birds are taken two hours away to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro. AdAttorneys for the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center said an appeal was expected. AdIn response, the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center has filed a countersuit against Creasy, Maver and the Seymours alleging conspiracy to injure the nonprofit in reputation, trade, business, and profession.

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors holds a public hearing tonight about changes to voting precincts. The Franklin County Board of Supervisors could authorize the purchase of new electronic poll books. AdThe Superintendent of Montgomery County School will recommend that students return to the classroom next month. If you need assistance with pet food, you can visit the Roanoke Valley SPCA starting today. The Amherst County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing about moving a polling location.

LEXINGTON, Va. – John Higgins, the former superintendent of the Rockbridge County Regional Jail, and a former member of the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors, was convicted on Sunday of multiple charges related to federal civil rights violations and corruption. He was found guilty of failing to protect inmates from physical abuse and preventing an inmate from getting medical care. AdThen in February 2017, investigators listened to a prison phone call that claimed that abusers knocked out some, or all, of that inmate’s teeth. He and another inmate were hit with hard objects and forced by other inmates to drink bleach. “I am proud of the hard work put in by our partners at the FBI and VSP and our prosecution team that brought about this just result.”

Lynchburg City Council will hold a budget retreat today. The 7:30 p.m. City Council meeting is canceled due to a lack of agenda items. It will also recognize the school board for the completion of the new Colonial Elementary School. The Henry County Board of Supervisors will award the 2020 Jack Dalton Community Service Award today. The Roanoke City School Board will hold a budget workshop today.

AMHERST COUNTY, Va. – A local NAACP chapter is urging the Amherst County Board of Supervisors not to adopt any First Amendment Sanctuary resolution against Governor Ralph Northam’s COVID-19 restrictions. “[A resolution] is not a great thing because health matters,” said Gloria Witt, a member of the Amherst County NAACP chapter. The chapter started an online petition to support restrictions and oppose Amherst County from accepting a resolution of their own. Witt points out that while they’ve collected 400 signatures so far, only a fraction are from Amherst County residents. Dean Rodgers, Amherst County administrator, says the Board is still in the drafting stage.

FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2020, file photo, a person walks past Pacers Showgirls International in San Diego. Gavin Newsom's office of the ruling that exempted two strip clubs and all restaurants from his stay-at-home order. The case brought by two San Diego strip clubs handed the biggest victory yet to California businesses fighting public health orders that they say have crippled them economically. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil said his ruling Wednesday was “straightforward” in going beyond the strip clubs that sued the county and state — Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club and Pacers Showgirls International. The board voted 3-2 last week to appeal any adverse ruling on the strip clubs but that decision didn't cover restaurants, rending it moot.

BEDFORD, Va. – Another large crowd of people packed into the Bedford County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday night as they continued to ask county leaders to push back against Governor Northam’s latest COVID-19 restrictions. And, going one step farther than a resolution recently passed in Campbell County, they want cops and other state agents detained for enforcing the rules. About a half dozen people spoke at the podium and about 50 people in total filled the room at Monday’s meeting. Isiah Knight is a standout in the group and said he doesn’t support pandemic restrictions, nor those enforcing them. Knight wants the county to pass their version of the resolution, following Campbell County’s lead, but with the ability to detain.

CAMPBELL COUNTY, Va. – The Campbell County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to pass a resolution and call themselves a “First Amendment sanctuary.”The resolution calls Governor Ralph Northam’s executive order unconstitutional. At the same time, Cline clarified what’s not in the resolution. However, the resolution doesn’t state that people should wear masks or social distancing. The board also encouraged the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office not to participate with state agents in enforcing the governor’s regulations. Northam called Campbell County out during Wednesday’s press conference.

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors will meet tonight to discuss its legislative priorities for next year. It will also ask for full funding for public education, Interstate 81 improvements and expanding passenger rail to the New River Valley. Salem City Council will discuss road improvements and is expected to pass a resolution supporting four transportation projects submitted to the state’s Smart Scale Program. Applications for funding include improvements to College Avenue, Apperson Drive, Downtown and the Roanoke River Greenway. The Bedford County Board of Supervisors could vote to dissolve the broadband advisory committee.

A Virginia county has voted to change the name of a 12-mile section of highway that currently honors former Confederate President Jefferson Davis. WJLA-TV reports that the Prince William County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the change to the stretch of U.S. Route 1 on Wednesday. The highway runs the entire eastern length of the county outside of Washington and through other portions of the state. The vote allows the board to petition the Commonwealth Transportation Board in Richmond for a formal change. The county plans to rename it Richmond Highway, following moves by neighboring Arlington County and Alexandria.

BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. – Leaders in Botetourt County adopted the budget for FY21 on Tuesday, and it includes something leaders said is unique in Virginia. The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the new budget, which includes a real estate tax relief program and grants for local small businesses. Leaders said the real estate tax relief to taxpayers is an “innovative approach” that is “seemingly unique” statewide. County leaders said this is an “unprecedented” maneuver, so they’re involving a third party, Virginia Community Capital (VCC). The budget includes a $2.7 million overall reduction in spending.

A large group of people packed the Franklin County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday night to share their opinion, the majority of them saying the statue has to go. Theres a growing call for county leaders to remove the statue from in front of the courthouse. It reads "to the memory of the Confederate dead of Franklin County. Connor and others said theyd like to see a monument to Booker T. Washington, the famous African-American thought leader born in Franklin County, erected in front of the courthouse alongside the Confederate monument. The Confederate monument is a replacement of the original after a driver crashed into and destroyed it about a decade ago.

Here's a look at some of the stories we'll be following today as they make headlines across the country and Southwest Virginia. Local elected officials from the Roanoke and New River Valleys will take part in a joint meeting today. Roanoke's Architectural Review Board will review plans for Angels of Assisi's new animal clinic. Letters, documents, certificates and photos will be scanned and saved by the World War I and II Commemoration Commission. It was created by the General Assembly to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I and 75th anniversary of World War II.