News
Travis Jackson
Town budget includes tax increases
The Hillsville Town Council approved a proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2013-2014 on April 22 that is $10,000 less than the previous budget without reducing services. The budget will also roll back tax rates on real estate to those of 2007-08, and increase the meal and transient taxes by three percent. The proposed budget for 2013-14 is $4,686,723, which is $734,767 less than the 2012-13 budget of $5,421,490. In his presentation ...
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Desiree Travers
Tip helps locate missing teen
Acting on a citizen’s tip that missing teenager Desiree Travers was staying at a house in Galax, local authorities found the 15-year-old early Wednesday morning, leading to the arrest of a Galax man. Travers reportedly left her home late April 19 or early April 20 and had been missing prior to Wednesday morning. The search for Travers was about to enter its fifth day until police received a tip from a citizen that said she was staying at a ...
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A Hillsville man has been airlifted from Carroll County High School Monday afternoon after he led local authorities on a high-speed chase that resulted in him crashing his motorcycle in a Carroll County Sheriff's Office vehicle, causing it to catch fire.
Workman now charged with two felonies
Update - A Hillsville man is now charged with two felonies and and six misdemeanors after leading authorities on a high-speed chase Monday afternoon that resulted in him crashing his motorcycle, causing it to burst into flames. Brian E. Workman, 38, is charged with two felonies - one for possession of a Schedule II Drug (methamphetamine) with intent to distribute and another for eluding a law enforcement officer, the Carroll County Commonweal...
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Desia Rae George, age 33 of Fries, has been reported missing by family members, according to the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. Ms. George has an infant who was at first reporting missing by family members but was located with the infant’s father. Investigators and Deputies from Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Grayson County Sheriff’s Office are actively working the case and attempting to locate Ms. George. Anyone with any information relating to this case should contact Carroll County Sheriff’s Office at 276-728-4146 or 276-236-5119.
Law enforcement searching for missing women
According to local law enforcement officers there has been no sign of the two women missing since Friday. Searches were mounted for Desia Rae George, age 33, of Fries on Friday and Saturday, according to Carroll County Sheriff J.B. Gardner. “The sheriff’s department, along with Carroll County Search and Rescue, searched around her house, along Iron Ridge and around Byllesby Dam on Friday,” said Gardner. “Saturday, the community of Fries g...
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Travis Jackson
Town hopes to have Beaver Dam Trail at least partially open by May
The opening of the Beaver Dam Walking Trail will be delayed because of storm damage until at least late spring, Hillsville Town Manager Travis Jackson told town council during its meeting on April 8. Jackson, Mayor Greg Crowder, Councilman David Young and others viewed the damage during a visit to the trail prior to the council meeting. They found that recent storms have downed trees and washed out the trail. “We’re moving forward on tryi...
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Higher Ed Center in Galax offering new programs for bachelors’, masters’ degrees
Thanks to partnerships with Wytheville Community College and a handful of four-year colleges in Virginia, local students can now earn associates’, bachelors’ and masters’ degrees without having to leave Galax. The Crossroads Institute’s Higher Education Center in Galax now offers students the chance to earn associates’ degrees through WCC, the possibility of bachelors’ degrees through UVa-Wise, Bluefield College and Averett University, and ...
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County adjusts tax rate for revenue-neutral budget
Some Carroll County citizens will pay less in real estate taxes than in year’s past, while others will pay less, but by code definition Carroll County’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014 includes no tax increase. Taxes will be adjusted to 68 cents per $100 of real estate valuation, up from 59.5 cents in recent years, after property values in the county declined for the first time in three decades after the county’s recent reassessment. T...
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Samantha Riggs, a 10-year-old patient at Duke Children's Hospital in Durham, received her heart transplant early yesterday morning.
Local child receives awaited heart transplant
DURHAM, N.C. — Good news arrived yesterday for the Riggs family and the entire community who have rallied in support and prayer since December: a heart was found for Samantha Riggs. Samantha, lovingly deemed a “warrior princess” by her family, is a 10-year-old girl from Cana, who was airlifted in December to Duke Children’s Hospital in Durham after she was diagnosed with the rare condition myocarditus, an inflammation and weakening of the h...
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Carroll Sheriff’s Office issues scam alert
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office has issued an alert for a scam making its way throughout the county. Sheriff J.B. Gardner advises that a white male and two white females, driving a white pick-up and red dump truck have been approaching elderly citizens about paving driveways. “The two women quote a price for the work to be completed and stay in the residence talking to the individual while the man completes the work,” the Carroll Coun...
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School board trims budget by cutting teaching position, dropping insurance option
The Carroll County School Board adopted a budget during its April 9 meeting that will require eliminating one teaching position at Fancy Gap Elementary School and dropping one insurance plan option for employees. The cuts were made after the Carroll County Board of Supervisors told the school board to cut $158,295 from the budget first presented to the supervisors. “We looked at other possibilities, none of them good,” said Reginald Gardner...
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Jonathan McGrady and his family, from left, Jennifer, Jon, Molly and Sam pose for a photo at the registrar's office. Standing behind them is Registrar Kim Cloud.
McGrady to run for 6th District seat
It is no surprise that Jonathan McGrady’s announcement that he would run for the 6th District House of Delegates seat presently held by the retiring Annie B. Crockett-Stark took place at an empty plant in the Carroll County Industrial Park. “Since I decided to run for office just a few days ago, I have had many well intentioned people give me advice,” said McGrady. “The announcement location was at the top of list. They would say do it on y...
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Missing woman, kids located
UPDATE: April Paulette Stanley and her two boys have been found. Both kids and the mother were located in the town of Hillsville, Hillsville Police Chief Greg Bolen said. "Thank you all for your help and quick response. Thank you as well to Sheriff J.B. Gardner and his staff for the tip that helped locate her," Bolen said. From Earlier today, April 14: The Hillsville Police Department is searching for a missing woman and her two children. ...
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Michael Howlett/The Carroll News Laura Sinclair stands with one of the pieces of furniture she's restored for the Hale-Wilkinson-Carter Home Foundation.
A conversation with … Laura Sinclair
Name: Laura Sinclair Family: Husband, Kerry; four children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Occupation: Retired. Former Fieldcrest Mills Property Management, and auto business. Currently, doing upholstery work at the Hale-Wilkinson-Carter Home. Where are you originally from? I was born in Mount Airy, grew up in Rural Hall, NC, moved here from Beaufort, NC, located on the North Carolina coast. What clubs and c...
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Michael Howlett/The Carroll News Sarah Wright (right) pulls the ribbon tight as Carroll County Intermediate School Principal Marc Quesenberry and SCA President Jade Snow prepare to cut the ribbon to the school's new wing.
New wing of Carroll County Intermediate School dedicated
The new wing of the Carroll County Intermediate School was dedicated during ceremony at the school on April 2. The dedication opened with an assembly in the gymnasium and proceeded with a tour of the new wing. During his opening comments, Superintendent Dr. Strader Blankenship said, “The people of Carroll County have made a tremendous investment in the students” with the addition of the new wing. He added, “It’s up the the citizens to pay f...
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Michael Howlett/The Carroll News Straight line winds estimated between 80 and 85 miles per hour caused heavy damage on Coon Ridge Road early Friday morning in Carroll County.
Winds of up to 85 mph cause heavy damage in Coon Ridge
According to the National Weather Service, a tornado did not touch down in Carroll County early Friday morning, but straight line winds estimated between 80 and 85 miles per hour caused heavy damage on Coon Ridge Road. Phil Hysell, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with Blacksburg’s National Weather Service office, spent much of Friday morning working in coordination with Carroll County’s Emergency Management department, which conducted st...
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Carroll’s most wanted arrested in Mount Airy
Brian Keith Barr, who has been listed as one of Carroll County’s most wanted in recent weeks by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, has been arrested in Mount Airy, N.C. According to Sheriff J.B. Gardner, Barr, 38, was arrested Thursday night at approximately 8:45 p.m. by the U.S. Marshals Joint Fugitive Task Force (JFTF) along with Surry County Sheriff Graham Atkinson and the Surry County Swat Team. Barr was wanted by the Surry County She...
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Allen Worrell/The Carroll News Carroll County High School Principal Chuck Thompson and student Ashton Huff cut the ribbon on the renovations to CCHS during a ceremony at the school April 2.
Renovations of CCHS officially dedicated
Stressing the importance of education for the future of the county, Carroll County administrators and officials thanked students and teachers April 2 as they officially dedicated the renovated Carroll County High School. With renovations to the school finished after approximately 18 months, CCHS will host the county’s ninth-grade students for the first time this coming fall. Renovations include a new media center, glass entrance and adminis...
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A water tank exploded around 11 a.m. today at Vaughan-Bassett in Galax, sending one to the hospital after the tank collapsed on him. Galax Police Chief Rick Clark said the man was alert and talking at the scene before being transported.
Water tank explodes in Galax
From media partner WXII Channel 12 A plant employee was taken to the hospital after a water tower burst and collapsed at Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Wednesday morning in Galax. The collapse happened around 11:30 a.m. near the boilers at Plant 1 in Galax. Wyatt Bassett, CEO of Vaughan-Bassett, confirmed the tower had burst. A man outside the tower suffered bruises when it collapsed, said Doug Bassett, a top executive at Vaughan-Bassett. ...
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Austinville man arrested on moonshine charges
An Austinville man has been arrested for the illegal manufacture of untaxed whiskey. According to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, felony warrants were issued April 4 for the illegal manufacture of untaxed whiskey against David Wayne Alley, of 6732 Poplar Camp Road. Alley was arrested by deputies from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Agents from Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control after a search of his residence and an operational ...
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County, town request VDOT to take safety measures on I-77
In light of the tragic 95-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 77 in Fancy Gap on Easter Sunday, the Carroll County Board of Supervisors and Hillsville Town Council have passed identical resolutions to improve safety on the highway. The resolution, passed Monday night by both groups, asks the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation to limit all Southbound tractor-trailer traffic from Exit 8 in Fancy Gap to Exit 1 in Lambsburg to ...
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Hillsville Police Department Officer James Dalton looks over the shoulder of Sgt. Alan Gravley as he updates the police department's Facebook page. Facebook is becoming an increasingly helpful tool for HPD and the Carroll County Sheriff's Office.
Facebook an essential crime-fighting tool for local agencies
In many cases, time is of the essence for law enforcement agencies. Thanks to the ever-growing popularity of Facebook, the world of fighting crime has gotten a lot easier. Both the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Hillsville Police Department now have their own Facebook pages, and both have used them to get time-sensitive material to the public instantaneously. In particular, the Hillsville Police Department has found the social media we...
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Junior Horton
Horton ordered to pay more than $14,000 in civil penalties
The former Hillsville man who was the subject of the largest puppy mill rescue in the nation now must pay more than $14,000 in civil penalties after a complaint by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Lanzie Carroll “Junior” Horton, Jr. has been assessed civil penalties totaling $14,430 after a November 7, 2011 complaint by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) alleged Horton willfully violated the Animal Welfare Act while d...
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Travis Jackson
Council revises town codes
The Hillsville Town Council made changes to seven town codes, most of which deal with appearance issues, and repealed two others during its March 25 meeting. The changes in the codes clarify property owners’ responsibilities, and town employees of how to handle cases of unresponsive owners. Town Manager Travis Jackson told council a “major cleanup” is being undertaken throughout the town. Owners of unkempt property and unlicensed vehicles w...
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Allen Worrell/The Carroll News Laurel Elementary School students were evacuated to neighboring Laurel Rescue Squad on Friday afternoon after heavy smoke broke out into the school’s main office at about 12:45 p.m. The Hillsville Fire Department, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and other emergency agencies worked the scene.
Laurel students evacuated after fried motor fills office with smoke
Laurel Elementary School students were evacuated to neighboring Laurel Rescue Squad on Friday afternoon after heavy smoke broke out into the school’s main office at about 12:45 p.m.. The Hillsville Fire Department, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and other emergency agencies worked the scene, which Fire Chief Donnie Spangler said was caused by a fried motor in the school’s HVAC system. He said the breaker automatically shut the motor down, ...
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