The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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| Man in custody after SML buzzed by small plane
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By K.A. WAGONER - Staff Writer
A Botetourt County man is now in custody after a small plane that reportedly took off without authorization "buzzed" Smith Mountain Lake and led to the voluntary evacuation of Bridgewater Plaza at Westlake.
Sam Shields, 50, was apprehended by the FBI at Roanoke Regional Airport after the plane landed just before 3 p.m., according to Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt.
No one was injured in the almost four-hour incident.
Hunt said the incident began when his department received a call from the Roanoke City Police dispatcher at 11:07 a.m.
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| Moneta man's body recovered from SML
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By MORRIS STEPHENSON - Staff Writer
The body of a Moneta man was found in Smith Mountain Lake early Monday morning after his boat sank.
Barry K. Phillipe, 37, fell into the lake at about 2 a.m. when a fishing boat sank about 150 feet off shore near Striper's Landing in the Gills Creek section of Smith Mountain Lake, according to Lt. Karl Martin with the Virginia Department of Game andᅠInland Fisheries.
Martin said Phillipe was fishing with two companions, Bobby Smith, 23, of Wirtz and a Danielle Bratton, 20, of Hardy, when the boat developed a leak and sank in about 25 feet of water.
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| Dirty waters
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| Pigg River added to list |
By MORRIS STEPHENSON - Staff Writer
The Pigg River and Old Woman's Creek watersheds have been added to the state's "dirty waters" list by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
Also included in the watersheds are Story Creek, Doe Run, Big Chestnut, Snow Creek, Tomahawk and Harpen Creek.
The announcement came Thursday night from Mary Dail, environmental scientist with the West Central regional DEQ office in Roanoke.
Dail was speaking at the first public meeting held by the DEQ for people living along the river and steams within the two watersheds.
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Man killed in Boones Mill car crash
By K.A. WAGONER - Staff Writer
Roanoke man was killed early Saturday morning in Boones Mill when his vehicle ran off the road and struck a tree.
Dante Vesario Wahls, 22, was driving along Route 613 (Naff's Road) in a 2004 Cadillac MPV when the vehicle ran off the left side of the road, struck an embankment, then struck a tree and overturned, according to Sgt. Bob Carpentieri with the Virginia State Police.
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APCo president: Rate hike needed to cover costs
By CHARLES BOOTHE - Staff Writer
The president and chief operating officer of Appalachian Power Co. (APCo) made the case for a proposed rate increase in a speech in Rocky Mount Friday.
Dana Waldo told a group of area business and community leaders that as demand for electricity grows, the cost of producing it rises as well.
"Energy is absolutely critical to our state and our nation," he said, adding that the country uses 21 percent more electricity now than it did 30 years ago and "that demand will continue to grow."
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| Southern Depot releases first CD |
By MORRIS STEPHENSON - Staff Writer
Roger Handy's name has been synonymous for more than 30 years with bluegrass music in Franklin County and throughout the country.
And he's back on the music scene, after a self-imposed hiatus, with a new band, Southern Depot.
Handy was the founding guitar player and vocalist when Alan Mills formed the Lost & Found band, composed of Handy, Gene Parker and the late Dempsey Young. As local bluegrass fans know, Lost & Found went from a humble beginning on an area cable TV station to gaining international acclaim.
The Rocky Mount resident held down a full-time job while touring the country with Lost &ᅠFound. The band made its first real road trip to the New England states in 1978.
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| Teachers gather for annual event |
By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer
As Franklin County teachers prepared for the new school year at their annual convocation Friday, David Campbell, a former student, paid tribute to them.
Campbell called more than a dozen teachers by name, as he recalled that they had inspired, motivated, guided and shaped him.
Campbell recalled that he came to Franklin County as an eighth-grader in the late 1970s. He said the teachers at Franklin County High School helped make him what he is today.
He addressed the teachers as a student, saying that rarely do students get to address their former teachers in his role as a motivational speaker for the new school year.
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| County Democrats greet Perriello |
By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer
TomᅠPerriello, the Democratic candidate for Congress in the Fifth District, said American voters have a historic opportunity this year to be part of a movement that puts an end to the politics of lobbyists, special interests and political corruption in Washington.
"This is about a new generation of politics, a new movement in American politics -- young and old, black and white, rich and poor, working together"ᅠfor long-term solutions to problems, Perriello said.
"It's time for people-power politics to stand up for reviving what is best in the United States,"ᅠPerriello told 250 people Thursday night at a Democratic Party picnic in Franklin County.
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