Heritage High School’s first principal Jim Swisher had a near-impossible task — start a new school, and essentially a new part of the community.

An outside consultant hired by Lynchburg City Schools began reviewing the division’s finances this week.

The budget for what is expected to be a financially tight 2009-10 school year will be on the plate at two Bedford County School Board sessions today.

The federal budget deficit will hit an unparalleled $1.2 trillion for the 2009 budget year, according to grim new Congressional Budget Office figures.

Live coverage of Barack Obama’s press conference

A Chesapeake school has been closed after air quality tests found elevated levels of asbestos.

CHATHAM — About 500 people showed up Tuesday night to advise a state panel about how Virginia should study uranium mining, and several speakers accused the panel members of accepting campaign money from the company that wants to mine a nearby ore deposit.

AMHERST — Growth in Amherst County is leading to closer examination into no-shooting zones and whether they should be expanded.

No charges have been filed against an Appomattox teenager who accidentally shot a man in a hunting incident Saturday.

While it might be raining right now, 2008 ended in Lynchburg as the 15th-driest year since record keeping began in 1892. The 31.6 inches of precipitation that fell follows a 6.5-inch deficit in 2007.

WASHINGTON — Democrat Tom Perriello was no sooner sworn in as the new representative of Virginia’s 5th district Tuesday than he saw his name atop a list.

Lynchburg City School Board mulled possible cuts to programs and staff Tuesday as it confronted a possible $6 million budget shortfall.

Areva is building a $6.5 million laboratory on Mount Athos Road in Campbell County to improve its analysis of metals and chemistry for nuclear-power-plant customers, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

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A drink machine outside a Lynchburg grocery store was broken into and robbed.

Campbell County supervisors approved a hiring freeze on all positions not directly related to public safety and welfare during Monday’s meeting.

Check here for the latest closings and delays.

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Campbell County Schools face a $4.6 million cut in state aid under the governor’s proposed budget, and officials said Monday they are unsure how they will handle the deficit.

Lynchburg is gearing up for its last remaining chore of the holiday season: Christmas tree chucking.

Lynchburg City School Board will begin to tackle next year’s budget at a meeting today.

The Amherst County Board of Supervisors will elect a chairman at its meeting today.

Three juveniles were taken to Bedford Memorial Hospital on Monday after their vehicle overturned in Bedford County.

Two people were indicted Monday on malicious wounding charges related to two different incidents.

A Lynchburg man accused of using his work computer to superimpose sexual images of himself over otherwise innocent photos of an 11-year-old girl was indicted on 10 counts of producing child pornography Monday.

BEDFORD — With growing financial challenges and its status as a city under a microscope, Bedford City Council re-elected Skip Tharp on Monday as the city’s mayor.

A federal grant will make it much easier for emergency responders to get the training they need close to home.

Throughout the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle fundraising campaign last month, officials worried that the tight economy would make people hold tighter to their money.

A Lynchburg man accused of killing his brother on Charlotte Street in October was indicted on murder charges Monday.

WASHINGTON — In 1996, Charles Robb got them mixed up when one Warner challenged another for U.S. Senate. And Robb should have known better: At the time, he was Virginia’s junior senator.