Category: News

by Deanna Driver-

The coronavirus impacted almost every facet of life in 2020, including travel. Most modes of public transportation were affected, leaving employers and travelers alike in a state of disarray. According to the World Tourism Organization, international arrivals decreased by 74% in 2020. The past three years experienced a great deal of drastic change in terms of health/safety protocols, traveler numbers and price fluctuations in all spheres of transportation.

Air travel was greatly affected by the pandemic and quickly had to adapt to the changing environment. Heather Ream, Director of Marketing and Communications at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) said the airport immediately began implementing safety measures to keep passengers safe in 2020. 

“We had been working on an expansion of our sterile area with the addition of a glass partition wall that could be raised or lowered to accommodate larger passenger loads. This extra space came in handy during the pandemic because it allowed passengers to spread out more.”

Ream stated that due to its small size, the airport maintained its air service connectivity and continued servicing individuals, especially through corporate aircraft usage which reduced exposure. This was not true for all airports, however; according to an article on the Insider website, 2020 had the lowest passenger numbers in over a decade, and a lot of employees and passengers suffered as a result. 

Despite the severity of the pandemic, people still needed to travel, and Amtrak remained one of those resources. Amtrak’s Senior Public Relations Manager, Kimberly Woods, like Ream, said the organization worked quickly to make passengers feel safe. 

“It was important for customers to be aware of the enhanced safety and cleaning measures. We worked to simplify and safeguard the travel experience, and several cleaning, contact-free and convenience measures were implemented into every part of the customer journey.”

In July 2021, SHD saw an all-time high in number of passengers serviced as travel resurged. However, surprisingly, the most drastic shift for SHD’s air travel came in March 2022. A large number of older pilots retired after being furloughed, and additionally, finding staff for the mechanical portion of plane maintenance was difficult. 

“Unfortunately, the regional airlines were hit the hardest by these workforce issues and many had no choice but to decrease the number of markets served due to no crews to operate the flights,” Ream stated. 

In this same period, Amtrak didn’t note any issues with staffing. Some routes discontinued according to an AP article, but other than mask mandates, physical distancing guidelines, and an emphasis on reservation systems, Amtrak services operated relatively normally in 2021 and 2022.  

Now, in 2023, a sense of normalcy has returned to the travel sphere, but certain practices and policies from the peak pandemic era stuck around. For one, ticket prices increased as a result of higher demand and lower number of available pilots and employees. Additionally, certain safety measures still exist. 

“We are still using the glass partition wall to give passengers extra space post screening. Our hand sanitizer stations are still in place throughout the terminal and our building maintenance team maintains the additional cleaning procedures put in place during the pandemic,” Ream said.

Amtrak has seen a wave of new customers utilizing their services since travel has surged again.

“We are seeing customers who are traveling on Amtrak for the first time. New riders skew younger with less income and education and slightly more racial diversity. Our ridership has returned to 84% of pre-pandemic levels and continues to improve,” Woods said. 

COVID-19 dismantled the way the world operated for a significant time, but by adapting guidelines to make everyone as safe as possible, travel institutions navigated the ever-changing landscape. 

by Emaryi Williams-

The collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, March 10, and the closure of Signature Bank that following Sunday have raised new questions about banking in the United States.

People in the New River Valley (NRV) are sharing their thoughts as well.

“It’s kind of worrying, I hope they [banks] are keeping our money secure,” said Margaret Greene.

“Personally, I’m not worried about it,” said Will Coleman, “I’m insured to get paid back.”

According to the Federal Deposit of Insurance Corporation (FDIC), numerous bank failures have occurred throughout the Commonwealth, dating back to 1935. Some banks within the NRV have come close to failing and needed assistance, with the latest happening in Blacksburg at the First of Montgomery County Bank and in Wytheville at the Mountain Security SB in 1986. 

Assistant Branch Manager of the Atlantic Union Bank in Christiansburg, Tiffany Shepherd said while people are worried about their coverage, recognizing the difference between types of banks is key to soothing fears.

“They were rapid growth banks. They had a lot of dealings with start-up companies, cryptocurrency, and investing in those types of things”  Shepherd said.

Shepherd explained that problems with Silicon Valley and Signature Bank occurred when their investments went downhill and people began pulling money out. She said people who bank with more traditional banks will most likely not experience that problem.

“We’re [Atlantic Union] more of a traditional bank, like the bigger banks you see around – like Wells Fargo and Tuist,” Shepherd said. “The way we invest and do our assets is a little different than the way that they do.”

If a bank does fail, Shepherd said due to insurance provided by the FDIC, people are covered up to $250,000. 

“Assuming that these banks had something in place because they are required to by law, they had customers come and close out their accounts and move it to another bank,” she said.

The assistant bank manager said that banks and even credit unions are insured by either the FDIC or the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The rule of coverage is one of the ways people can protect their monetary assets.

“Say you have an account that you’re on by yourself, you are covered up to $250,000. Say you add someone on the account as a joint, then they also are insured up to $250,000…so the more people you have on that account, the better it is,” Shepherd explained.

Shepherd said while traditional banks are solid and it has been 121 years since Atlantic Union has experienced even a quarterly loss, she understood that people might still want extra assurance. Shepherd advised worried individuals to use the FDIC’s EDIE calculator.

“You can go in and put in all of your accounts, how they’re set up – with you, or joint owners, or payable on death – and it’ll show you if you’re covered or not. That way, you’ll know if you need to do something to make sure you’re fully covered,” Shepherd said.

by Ben Walls-

Delaware business developer Joseph Boss continues to fight on his behalf for opening two restaurants at 202 South Main Street and 204 South Main Street in Blacksburg.

“I’m committed to bringing change,” Boss said. “I want to invest more into the community of Blacksburg, not less.

“I want to be involved in the culture down at Virginia Tech and to improve it and make it better.”

Boss wishes to open one bar named “The Sandman” and one pizza restaurant named “Weirdoughs.” Meanwhile, the Town of Blacksburg’s Planning and Building Department has denied his building permit application twice in 16 months.

Boss added he has “scratched his head” and does not know what criteria he is missing for Blacksburg to approve his applications. Boss admitted in the past year the town has made criticisms to the restaurants’ access to the bathrooms and the patios outside, however.

The two restaurant locations would occupy spaces that a Subway and a Starbucks location formerly leased in the Kent Square development. The development itself spreads across nearly 100,000 square feet in Blacksburg’s original 16 squares, and it includes a parking garage, an art gallery, a dental office, a jewelry store and condominiums currently.

According to Boss, acceptable liquor licenses have been approved, and restaurant employees who will have starting hourly rates at $15/hour have already been selected for work.

Frustrated with the town’s response to his proposals, Boss turned to creating a change.org petition to create grassroots support and inform the Blacksburg public about his cause. 

The petition titled “Save Weirdoughs and The Sandman from The Town of Blacksburg’s abuse of power” has dozens of supporters wishing for answers why a building permit has not been approved.

“Weirdoughs and The Sandman are two new businesses (restaurants) that invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into the community of Blacksburg,” Boss said as the petition’s writer. “These businesses are projected to hire over 100 employees in the community and pay 30% higher wages than the local average.

“They [were] both already approved as restaurants for Starbucks and a Subway. So we ask why is there an issue now?”

by Caden Dean-Sauter-

Montgomery County Public Schools have implemented their version of a Virginia Department of Education mandate forcing teachers to fill out a form regarding any explicit sexual content used in class.

The policy went into effect in January and requires all K-12 teachers to fill out a form documenting every usage of materials that include nudity, and then defend why the materials are necessary to the lesson. 

According to the Code of Virginia, § 18.2-390, “ “Nudity” means a state of undress so as to expose the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered or uncovered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.”

“Images of the natural human body (nudity) can be found on just about every page of our textbook and are referenced daily,” said Beth Patterson, an anatomy teacher at Auburn High School.

But while it may seem like just a life sciences issue, the policy affects all teachers. History teachers must document uses of classic art, such as the Statue of David, and English teachers must scour through books they teach looking for anything that fits into the description of nudity or sexual conduct.

“The problem is, the strength of literature is its context, its theme, its characterization, its art, not if the word breast or buttocks appears in a sentence,” said Ariel Hylton, a 12th-grade English teacher also at Auburn.

Both teachers also noted the irony of having to defend what they are teaching, as parents are often just focused on one instance of something that might fall under the VDOE’s umbrella of sexual content, not the lesson as a whole. 

“No English teacher is peddling pornography to their students,” said Hylton. “We traffic in literature that deals with the human condition- messy, ugly, beautiful, and complex. In doing so, we challenge our students, the readers, to look beyond their own experiences, to have empathy, to be tolerant, to be more than their own experiences might expect of them.”

Ms. Patterson also mentioned how a current list of instructional materials with sexually explicit content by grade and subject will be maintained on the school’s website for the public to access.  As materials are added to the list, teachers provide written notice to parents at least thirty days prior to their use in the classroom. If parents have issues with the material being taught, they can challenge the material, forcing teachers to assign alternate work. 

“The textbook as a whole is presented to parents who will have the right to determine whether or not they want their child exposed to the images it contains – I fear for a generation of medical students who have not seen the human body other than in the mirror,” said Patterson. 

So far, no teacher at Auburn has had material challenged.