’24
Headlines
The year 2024 will be remembered by most Americans, including Rockbridge area residents, as a tumultuous presidential election year, one that would eventually see former President Trump returned to power.
His nomination by the Republican Party was predicted early in the year by the students with the Washington and Lee mock convention. Then in the fall, supporters for the opposing candidates grew boisterous at the annual Labor Day festivities in Buena Vista, and the pages of this newspaper were filled with predictions of the downfall of the country by letter writers on both sides.
Concerning local issues, 2024 saw the continuation of debates over proposed solar projects, with two being approved and a third denied by Rockbridge County leaders. The Natural Bridge Zoo saga also continued, with the zoo’s owners being unsuccessful in reclaiming most of the animals that had been confiscated by state authorities last December.
In Lexington, there was concern over “W&L Creep” and the proposed demolition of two historic homes by Virginia Military Institute, while the controversial housing proposal for Spotswood Drive would eventually be driven away by economics.
The timber framers came to Buena Vista to construct a Town Square pavilion and stage, while a few streets away the Wilson Workforce Development Center continued to take shape.
Weather extremes affected us all, from very little snow last winter to an early summer to a fall drought to numerous wind events. Luckily, the hurricane remnants missed us, but our residents did their part to provide relief to the flooding victims of North Carolina and southwest Virginia.
These were but a few stories that we covered during 2024. Join us now as we take this week-by-week look back on the year with this review compiled by N-G staffers Ed Smith, Joann Ware, Joseph Haney and Scotty Dransfield.
Jan. 3
The Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office shared video from a home security system showing two masked women, one of whom was wearing a mask, dognapping Brisco, a 4-year-old Great Pyrenees from his home on Reid Road west of Timber Ridge on Christmas Day. Brisco was found the following afternoon on South Lee Highway in the Natural Bridge area by two individuals traveling through the area from Roanoke.
--- Rockbridge County braced for an incoming winter weather system over the first weekend of the year, with rain and sleet on Saturday, Jan. 6, and turning into snow overnight on Saturday.
--- Members of the Natural Bridge Garden Club presented Natural Bridge State Park with a painting of the bridge by Anne Weede, a member of the club who had died in 2021.
Jan. 10
Four individuals were arrested in connected with the Christmas Day dognapping of Brisco. Emily Lorraine Hill and Alice Lorraine Palmer, both of Roanoke, were each charged with four felonies, while Dane Cooper Gabris of Vinton and James Peter Fierro of Roanoke were charged with one felony, as well as a misdemeanor count of making a false report to law enforcement.
--- Following a public hearing, Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to grant a special exception permit for a 3.0 megawatt solar array to go on 21 acres of a 141-acre farm near Natural Bridge Station owned by Douglas Bradford. Several residents who live near the farm spoke during the hearing to express the opposition to the solar array.
The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to support a resolution in favor of a feasibility study for a general aviation airport in Rockbridge County. The resolution had been endorsed unanimously by the county’s Economic Development Authority at its Dec. 20 meeting, where they also agreed to provide the funding for the county’s portion of the study.
Jan. 17
Three people were injured and a dog and a cat were lost in a house fire just off of U.S. 60 west of Lexington in the early morning of Jan. 10.
--- Two accidents in Fairfield on Jan. 9 kept fire and rescue crews busy. The first incident, on Interstate 81 involved an SUV and two tractor-trailers, with one of the trailers of one of the trucks flipping over the bridge over Sterrett Road. Three people were transported from the scene, all with non-life-threatening injuries. The second accident was a single-vehicle accident in which a trailer hauling 63 cattle overturned on U.S. 11. The cattle had to be unloaded before the trailer could be righted. Six cattle were killed in the accident and three more had to be euthanized due to their injuries.
Jan. 24
Rockbridge County District Court Judge Gregory Mooney ruled that 39 of the 100 animals seized from the Natural Bridge Zoo in December 2023 could be returned to the zoo because the state had not met the burden of proof in their cases. The other 61 animals, he ruled, would be forfeited on the grounds that they were subject to “cruel or inadequate treatment” at the zoo. Among the animals forfeited were four giraffes that had been left at the zoo due to not having transportation available.
A three-judge panel ruled that Goshen Town Attorney Jared Jenkins violated two of the Virginia State Bar’s rules of conduct and suspended his license to practice law in the commonwealth for nine months.
A Lexington man was hospitalized with a life-threatening stab wound following an altercation with Angelica Long-Stores, who was arrested and charged with one felony count of malicious wounding.
--- Former Buena Vista Mayor Todd Jones was appointed to fill an open seat on City Council that had been left vacant after Tyson Cooper was elected Mayor in November 2022.
Jan. 31
Lexington City Council held a work session on a proposed ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units within the city, discussing the rules around such dwellings being used as shortterm rentals and the maximum occupancy limit for the dwellings. --- The Buena Vista Police Department responded to reports of shots being fired on Pine Avenue on the night of Jan. 27. Evidence of a gun being fired in the street was found. No injuries or property damage was reported in connection with the incident.
Feb. 7
Discussion of the occupancy limit of the accessory dwelling unit ordinance continued following a public hearing at a Lexington City Council meeting. Council member Nicholas Betts requested language be added to allow families to occupy the dwelling units, and Mayor Frank Friedman asked him to work with the city attorney to draft language to present at a future meeting.
--- Lexington City Council considered a proposal to add wayfinding signage to the city lampposts and potentially expand the types of flags allowed to be hung from the posts to include flags for the city schools as well as Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute.
--- Buena Vista City Council unanimously voted to allocate $100,000 of America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for renovating the District Courtroom in the Buena Vista Courthouse, which also serves as the Council’s chambers.
Feb. 14
The Mock Convention at Washington and Lee University named Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for the 2024 election. Speakers at the convention included Donald Trump Jr., Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
--- Leland David Johnson, 44, of Lexington, was indicted by a Rockbridge County Grand Jury on a charge of first degree murder in connection with the death of Stormie Markland on March 20, 2023.
--- The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to deny a special exception permit for a proposed special events venue by Scott and Jessica Andrew of 66 Wind View Lane in Fairfield.
In their arguments before the United States Supreme Court in a case involving former President Donald Trump being removed from the ballot in Colorado, lawyers for the former president cited an 1869 case from the Virginia Court of Appeals which originated in Rockbridge County.
Feb. 21
SJ McDonald, a former Rockbridge Baths resident who wowed local audiences with her considerable musical talent from a young age, signed a songwriting contract with Major Bob Music, an established Nashville music publisher.
, page B2
