Appomattox County High School’s backyard sounds like a barnyard.

The Virginia University of Lynchburg is launching the biggest fundraising effort in its history Thursday in support of the ongoing restoration of its campus.

Liberty University’s School of Engineering and Computational Science, which is slated to expand to a new campus starting next fall, received a boost this week by way of a $300,000 grant from Simio, a Pittsburgh-based technology company.

Flu-like illnesses have declined slightly in Central Virginia but precautions have not, health officials said Wednesday.

Possibly as remarkable as the political pairing in support of a tax-code change to renovate old schools is the range of good it would do, former Gov. and U.S. Sen. George Allen told the Richmond Crusade for Voters last night.

Virginia is doing better at reducing premature births, but the state still gets a grade of D because too many babies are born before full term, according to the March of Dimes.

Before we take the turn into 2010, The News & Advance is compiling a list of the biggest stories of the decade for our area.

Space shuttle Atlantis is closing in on the International Space Station.

The Amherst County School Board is already preparing to figure out the district’s next budget, setting a series of workshops and also planning to meet with legislators and county supervisors next month.

The Virginia Retirement System has selected Genworth Financial Inc. as its choice to offer long-term-care insurance as a fringe benefit to its more than 600,000 members, retirees and beneficiaries.

The Lynchburg Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating a fire that happened at the R.S. Payne Elementary School playground.

A deer hunter faces manslaughter and other charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a Ferrum College student and the wounding of another.

The bad economy will result in another $250 million to $300 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year ending June 30, House of Delegates money committees were told Tuesday. 

Heritage Elementary School Assistant Principal Amy Huskin will replace April Bruce as the new principal of T.C. Miller Elementary School.

The enrollment drop in the Lynchburg City Schools may have slowed for now.

City and school administrators say their ongoing consolidation effort has already generated some minor savings and bigger-ticket ideas are under development.

JARRATT — A former Army counterintelligence worker was executed by electric chair Tuesday for killing a Virginia couple, becoming the first U.S. inmate to die by electrocution in over a year.

The continuing recession and approaching winter are causing concern for food banks across the country and at home.

The Amherst Board of Supervisors sought public opinion Tuesday night on whether to allow wind turbines in the county, but delayed making any decisions.

Several copies of a popular newly released video game were stolen last week from a store on Wards Road.

Centra ranks among the best hospitals in the nation for cardiovascular care in a recently released report.

Investigators with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office are looking for information on a vehicle that was seen near the site where two local Virginia Tech students were killed in August.

The authority of Virginia’s juvenile-court judges is being usurped by prosecutors and higher courts in a process that too often mixes juvenile offenders and adults and that helps transform juvenile lawbreakers onto career felons, according to a study released today.

A former Hardy Volunteer Fire Department firefighter pleaded guilty this morning to embezzling thousands of dollars from the department.

The state of Virginia, which already has had to cut $6 billion from the two-year budget ending June 30, 2010, may have to cut $250 million to $300 million, the House Appropriations Committee was told today.

A mother charged in the death of her baby faces a judge on an unrelated drug charge.

Larry “Bill” Elliott is scheduled to die in the electric chair tonight, a month after Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine delayed his execution.

We’d love to see your pictures! They might even be published in the newspaper.