More volunteerism, efficiency audits of city departments and even higher taxes were all among the suggestions offered Thursday during the third and final installment of an intensive community budget workshop organized this month by the city.

A former city employee accused of stealing about $18,000 over the course of three years pleaded guilty Wednesday to embezzlement of public funds.

A proposal to extend a one-time tax rebate to Lynchburg businesses failed Tuesday amid accusations of political showboating.

“Tough call,” interesting but “tricky,” and “no guarantees” are among the phrases used by local business leaders and economic development experts to describe an unusual tax cut proposal now being entertained by Lynchburg City Council.

City services were put under a microscope Thursday during a more than two-hour community workshop on the city’s budget.

The public awareness campaign is designed to shed light on the problems that violence, particularly domestic violence, creates in a community.

This week, hundreds of volunteers will fan out and dig in to help improve area waterways. Blackwater Creek is the target of this year’s Extreme Stream Makeover, a project sponsored by the James River Association.

School nurses dispense positive attention and track trends in health conditions in addition to their traditional duties.

A new and unusual series of community workshops on the city’s budget kicked off in Lynchburg on Thursday, drawing about 65 participants.

Lynchburg City Council voted to raise parking fines, effective Jan. 1.

A proposal to give Lynchburg businesses a one-time tax break in hopes of stimulating the local economy gave rise to a heated debate among City Council members on Tuesday.

This was perhaps the one public occasion when former Lynchburg Mayor Jimmie Bryan was guilty of not being optimistic enough. After he helped celebrate the groundbreaking of the city’s first Habitat house with a stab of his gold-plated ceremonial shovel on Dec. 1, 1988, Bryan (known for his cheery pronouncement, “It’s great to be alive and living in Lynchburg, Virginia”) told onlookers: “Let’s get behind this. Let’s build 20 houses.” Little did he know. Just over two decades later, the Greater Lynchburg Habitat chapter has surged far beyond Bryan’s expectations — 270 completed dwellings, including two Habitat subdivisions.

The smell of barbecue wafted through the early morning air as an onslaught of more than 100 vehicles — including tractor-trailers, hot-rods and a school bus — paraded through the streets of Appomattox. The Saturday morning parade was the official kickoff to the 37th Historic Appomattox Railroad Festival, a two-day event now considered a tradition in the town.

The skies cleared as the stands filled at Lynchburg’s 35th annual Lynchburg Classic marching band competition on Saturday. The event, held at Lynchburg City Stadium, was the largest in the event’s recent history, with 18 high school bands lining up to compete against their peers, some from as far away as Hot Springs and Staunton.

A piece of Lynchburg’s history is about to get some modern new digs.