Martinsville News

Martinsville's jobless rate declined in June and dropped to the second-highest rate in Virginia, while Henry County's rate increased slightly, according to data released Wednesday by the Virginia Employment Commission.

Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran watches as city firefighters use a method known as Air Track Management to combat a controlled fire in a former railroad box car configured to simulate a residence.

About 75 or 80 people gathered Monday in uptown Martinsville for a screening of "Thurgood," a film about the late Thurgood Marshall, who was a lawyer for the NAACP before he became the first black member of the Supreme Court.

Chris Parker , with Patrick Henry Community College, shows mechatronics equipment in the college's motorsports facility to Mary Rae Carter , special adviser to Gov. Terry McAuliffe for rural partnerships, and Elizabeth Creamer , McAuliffe's adviser on workforce development, during a tour of the facility Tuesday.

Eight additional indictments were sealed by a judge's order and will remain sealed until served or five days from the order.

Two Henry County sewer lagoons soon will be decommissioned, saving the county money in the long term and also providing environmental benefits.

Virginia Museum of Natural History Curator of Paleontology Alton "Butch" Dooley holds a fossilized rock specimen of Tanytrachelos, a small aquatic reptile species from the Triassic period, about 225 million years ago.

A Martinsville woman has been indicted on felony murder and two other charges, according to indictments released Monday by a Martinsville grand jury.

Schools in Henry County and Martinsville will start the new school year Aug. 11, and the Virginia Department of Taxation is helping consumers get ready.

A new voter identification law that took effect July 1 means now is the time for any Virginia voter who does not have an acceptable form of photo ID to get one - and local registrars can help.

Martinsville is planning to begin enforcing a two-hour limit for on-street parking in the uptown business district this fall.

Tens of thousands of federal inmates serving time for drug crimes may be eligible for early release under a cost-cutting proposal adopted recently that would dramatically reduce the nation's prison population over time.

Two measures that Martinsville City Council plans to implement are aimed at saving small businesses money as well as attracting more such businesses to the city.

The city of Martinsville has removed from its employment application a question on whether an applicant has been convicted of a crime out of concern that applicants who answer yes might face discrimination.

An estimated 500 jobs will be available at the community job fair today before the Martinsville Mustangs game, according to officials with the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce.

Lisa Perez, along with her sons Dillon and Aidan Hall, cleans up along the Smith River recently as part of a Dan River Basin Association event to keep the riverbanks free of trash.

A proposed ordinance that would have let Martinsville residents raise chickens in their backyards has flown the coop, so to speak.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt. It is a grand jury's determination that enough evidence exists to hold a trial.

Henry County and Martinsville are abnormally dry, but rainfall is expected throughout this week, according to the National Weather Service.

Waukeshaw Development Inc., of Petersburg, is expected to take over ownership of the former Henry Hotel sometime during the next two weeks.