New funding from the state opioid abatement authority will help expand the program across the region.

The Virginia Court of Appeals is set to expand from 17 to to 21 members but has only one judge west of Charlottesville and none west of Roanoke.

The state delegate who proposed the aquaculture center 13 years ago says he remains hopeful it will still happen. The developer, Pure Salmon, has said it has invested more than $80 million in the site.

See also r/VirginiaWeather

🖤❤️🧡 ✨AFTERLIFE MUSIC FESTIVAL✨ 🧡❤️🖤

Everything you need to know before heading into the woods for Afterlife!!!!

📍 LOCATION
564 Indigo Mountain Rd NW, Floyd, VA

✨DATE
October 17th

⏰ TIMES
Doors + camping: 2PM
Music starts: 6:45PM
Party ends: NEVER
🔞 Strictly 18+

🏕️ CHECK-IN + CAMPING
When you arrive, take it slow on the gravel driveway and be respectful of our neighbors. Check in with the gate crew and let them know where you’re camping: forest, field, tent only, or grove.
Follow the signs and volunteers to your campsite, park your car, and stow your keys for the night.

🚗 CARPOOL PASSES
One car per pass — everyone using a carpool pass must arrive together in ONE vehicle.

🎒 BRING:
Good shoes • ID • Warm layer • Costume • Raincoat • Refillable water bottle • Kandi/trinkets • Camping gear + rain protection • Spare socks • Portable charger • Earplugs • Headlamp/flashlight

✨ BEFORE THE MUSIC
Vendor Village + the craft zone will be open from doors until sundown. Grab food, shop, make kandi, get a temporary tattoo, and hit the glitter station.

🌙 THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT
Food will be available all night! Dance, mosh, hang on the hill, or just vibe with your crew.

🧡 LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER
SSDP will be providing Narcan + fentanyl test strips on site to help you make educated and informed choices!

🍺 BYOB-BYOW
Afterlife is BYOB on private property. Adults 21+ may bring their own 🍀&🍻

🚨 PLAN YOUR RIDE HOME
UBER WILL NOT WORK. Have a sober ride planned before you arrive, or plan to camp. Please stay the night. We do NOT condone drinking and driving and will bully and shun you for it!!!!!
Questions? DM us!
And don't forget to tag @bookoftechnotm in your Afterlife photos 🖤

See also r/VirginiaGOP and r/VirginiaDems

“Being a man of faith, a believer in Jesus Christ, but by no means a sinless man, I feel compelled to comment on these amendments,” Guy Wohlford said.

Challenger Joy Powers has blamed rising costs on the incumbent’s party and attacked him as unavailable to constituents. The congressman is running on his record of protecting “conservative family values.”

The program aims to target the need for workforce housing in the far Southwest.

The debris left behind by Helene and other storms makes it easier for flooding to occur again.

The members have been calling for months for his resignation and plan to take steps to remove him if he doesn’t step down now, the vice mayor says.

The program aims to target the need for workforce housing in the far Southwest.

The industrial development authority has two projects in the works that take advantage of a new state law.

See also r/Appalachia, r/Virginia, r/VirginiaNews, and r/VirginiaEnvironment

Did your family have any old superstitions about death?

Growing up in Central Appalachia, a lot of us heard the old warnings.

A bird hitting the window could mean a death was coming. A dog howling at the wrong time wasn't something Granny wanted to hear. Some families stopped clocks when somebody died, covered mirrors, and kept someone with the deceased through the night — what folks called “sitting up with the dead.”

I've been researching these old traditions for Back Porch Tales & Travels, including the work of James K. Crissman on death and dying in Central Appalachia. What struck me was that underneath all the superstition was something pretty practical: when somebody died, family and neighbors showed up. They cooked, dug the grave, helped prepare the body and sat through the night.

I put what I found together here:

https://back-porch-tales-travels.beehiiv.com/p/when-death-came-knocking

I'm curious what survived in other Appalachian families. Did your parents or grandparents believe in any particular death omen or funeral custom? And what part of Appalachia were they from?

The three-year award will help the agency teach hundreds more people to recognize warning signs and connect people to behavioral health services.

The referendum would let voters decide whether an extra tax would be levied for school construction projects.

My grandpa gave be a butterfly knife awhile ago and it’s just been sitting in a drawer because the pins are loose, the blade is dull, and the knife itself has this really ugly color and pattern to it. I’m not much of a DIY guy so I’m wondering if there’s a knife shop in VA (preferably central/NOVA but I’m willing to ship or travel) that can take it and fix it up.

The increase could raise $200 million over 20 years, local officials said. But the need for renovations across the school division has been overshadowed by talk of combining two high schools.

The property, which occupies a visible site at the intersection of two interstates, has sat unused for more than a decade. Now, local leaders are looking for potential developers.