Posts by Abby Dufour

February marks the start of Black History Month, a federally recognized celebration of the contributions African Americans have made to this country and a time to reflect on the continued struggle for racial justice. 

Because of the spread of Covid-19 in Bath County and our surrounding areas, Bath schools are going all virtual after Thanksgiving break on November 30th. I reached out to Superintendent Sue Hirsh for more information about how this will occur, and fall sports.

At the recent Bath County Board of Supervisors meeting, the board reinstated a Tourism Director position for the county. The vote to reinstate this position in the county was unanimous at 5-0.

In this USFS update, Elizabeth shares some news about the upcoming chapter in her life.

Congressman Ben Cline hosted an hour-long telephone town hall meeting focusing on small business owners where we talked about the CARES Act and the Payment Protection Program. Carl Knoblock, who has been Virginia’s director of the United States Small Business Administration also spoke.

At the last Bath County Board of Supervisors meeting, it passed unanimously for the County Administrator, Ashton Harrison, to write a letter of intent to apply for a Community Development Block Grant with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to establish a small business emergency grant program. You can hear an overview of that program in this story.

At the last board meeting, decisions were made about the Short-term Rental Ordinance and there were two seperate public hearings regarding the FY 2020-2021 school budget and also the tax levies.

April designated as National Safe Digging Month to promote safety near underground utilities. Safe digging practices are more important than ever as hospitals, healthcare providers and first responders focus on coronavirus response.

With the increased number of people tele-working and communicating with their medical providers remotely, as well as students continuing their education at home, the demand for internet connectivity has risen. MGW has partnered with several businesses/locations including WCHG Radio station in Hot Springs.

There was a public hearing held on a proposed ordinance to require short-term rental operators to register within 30 days with the commissioner of the revenue to allow for assessment and payment of transient occupancy taxes.

The Bath County’s Visitors Center bid was rejected at the last Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, March 10th. The bid was from Nielson Construction based out of Harrisonburg for 2.83 million dollars. Nielson submitted the bid in January of this year and had agreed to this price until March 15th. 

At the last Bath school board meeting, there was a public budget hearing, this year’s valedictorian and salutatorian were named, and the graduation date was set.