The nation’s oldest Farmer’s Almanac’s winter forecast indicates it may soon be time to install a wood stove or drag the skis out of the garage. Janice Stillman, editor of the Old Farmer’s Almanac, circa 1793, said the forecast for the area that includes Danville is colder with more precipitation than past winters.

Danville police are looking for a suspect in a Friday night robbery on Lowes Drive. After producing a gun, the suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash and several personal items from the victim and fled the area.

When crews arrived, they found heavy smoke on the first and second floors of the four-unit apartment building, according to a news release from the Danville Fire Department. Fire was extending from one of the lower units, where the kitchen was located, into one of the upper units.

Although the annual Mutt Strut may bring an adorable parade of local dogs and their owners to Ballou Park, it also raises greatly needed funds for the Danville Area Humane Society.
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People started showing up at Ross Dress for Less at about 9 a.m. Saturday, eagerly awaiting the ribbon-cutting at the latest store to open in Coleman MarketPlace.

The Virginia Court of Appeals has upheld what Danville Commonwealth’s Attorney William Fuller calls one of the most difficult murder convictions he’s prosecuted. The case involved the murder of Latrella Bates, whose remains were found July 22, 2005, in a wooded area near Unity Presbyterian Church on Franklin Turnpike.

The football game may not have turned out the way Rockingham County High School would have liked, but that did not dampen the spirits of Amelia Hopkins, who was named 2008 Rockingham County High School homecoming queen on Friday night.

Regarding the economic downturn, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said, “We’ve got to have local regulation.” Marshall lamented the lack of effective federal oversight.

Martinsville Police identified the victim as Carl Wayne Turner, 54, of Sugartree Church Road in Danville.

Officials are investigating a Friday night fire at a singlewide mobile home on Old Halifax Road in Danville.

Just a half-dozen Brosville area residents showed up for a uranium mining education seminar Friday night at Brosville Elementary School. Gregg Vickrey, the seminar’s presenter and chairman of the Chatham/Pittsylvania County chapter of Southside Concerned Citizens, is still undaunted. 

Danville police are looking for a pregnant woman suspected in a Thursday afternoon armed robbery on South Main Street.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign has ousted a prominent figure in Virginia GOP circles and a longtime contractor of Congressman Virgil Goode after it discovered a racially charged editorial in a newspaper mocking a potential Barack Obama administration in the White House.

The latest report card highlighting graduation rates of Virginia high school students shows Danville students in the class of 2008 performed below the state average. The graduation rate for students in Pittsylvania County, however, was slightly better than the state average.

The winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is known internationally as a champion of peace and locally as an ambassador to Averett University. Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland and a member of Averett’s board of trustees, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

The tenants and apartment owners at Cabin Lake have had their water service restored at least temporarily, according to Danville officials. The water was turned off at all 100 units for non-payment on Wednesday, but the residents were not at fault because the water in all units and electricity in many units is included in their rent, officials said.

Reidsville police want to talk to four people regarding the Sept. 25 shooting death of Lawrence “Lee Lee” Hayes. Photos with story

According to a city spokesman it happened around 10:35 a.m. at a warehouse on East Commonwealth Boulevard

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Martti Ahtisaari, former president of Finland, has been named the winner of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize

By SARA LEPRO
AP Business Writer

A proposal to give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products appears dead for the year, but anti-smoking advocates say they expect it to pass in 2009

Danville police are looking into a Thursday night robbery at Pizza Hut on Piney Forest Road. 

Danville police are investigating a Thursday night home invasion on Kemper Road. 

Local legislators support Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s plan to make up a $2.5 billion budget deficit, even if it impacts programs locally. Delegate Donald Merricks, R-Pittsylvania County, said though times are ahead for Virginia fi-nancially. He said now is not the time to consider raising taxes, and he agrees with cuts Kaine has made.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s call for drastic cuts in the state budget were felt Thursday in the Dan River Region. Kaine’s decision required the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research to cut its budget by 10 percent or close to $700,000.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is shutting down Chatham Diversion Center, one of several corrections facilities the governor is closing across the state to alleviate a $2.5 billion shortfall over the next two years.

N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall was in Rockingham County on Thursday for the launch of e-Vault, an electronic database for records dating to the county’s formation in 1787. She called e-Vault “a kind of digital triumph for Rockingham County government.”

Veterans who are enrolled in the Salem Veterans Administration Medical Center or the Danville Community Based Outpatient Clinic can receive a free flu shot.

A house on West Broad Street suffered heavy damage after a suspicious fire Thursday afternoon.