News

Changing accreditation comes with changes to tests

Local News

FRONT ROYAL — Between the 2004-2005 school year and the 2012-2013 school year, schools in Frederick, Shenandoah and Warren counties failed to be fully accredited a total of four times. Since then, the numbers have risen sharply. Last year, 10 schools between the three counties were listed as ...

Roanoke man sentenced in sex solicitation with a minor case

Local News

WOODSTOCK -- A Roanoke man was sentenced to three years behind bars Wednesday after he pleaded guilty in April to six charges including using a computer to solicit a minor and child endangerment. In July 2016, Justin Alexander Barger, 19, took his grandmother’s car from Roanoke to meet up ...

Judge allows cellphone evidence in child porn case

Local News

WOODSTOCK -- Circuit Judge Dennis L. Hupp on Wednesday denied a defense motion to suppress evidence gained from a cellphone in the case against a former Marine accused of child sex crimes. Timothy Ducharme, 22, is accused of having consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl, using technology to ...

Property owner seeks protection for land

Local News

FRONT ROYAL – A local property owner wants to protect a mile-long stretch of land along the Shenandoah River in town. The Planning Commission on Wednesday endorsed a proposal by Ronald Llewellyn to put approximately 40.5 acres of land in a conservation easement. Conservation easements ...

Board tours Afton Inn, airs concerns

Local News

FRONT ROYAL – Members of the Architectural Review Board toured the crumbling husk of the Afton Inn this week before discussing the historic building’s fate. The board plans to consider a request by MODE Partners Inc. and the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority to ...

Woman pleads guilty to larceny, felony eluding

Local News

WOODSTOCK -- A Front Royal woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to several charges, as part of a plea agreement, including grand larceny and felony eluding police. In January, Keri Jo Baker, 19, broke into a locked room in a residential building with an accomplice and stole multiple items from the ...

Warren County supervisors OK kennel permit

Local News

FRONT ROYAL – A Great Dane breeder can run his Warren County kennel after reaching a deal with neighbors and winning approval by local leaders. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve Michael Gibson’s request for a conditional-use permit to run a commercial kennel at 387 ...

Former deputy indicted on attempted sodomy charge

Local News

WOODSTOCK -- A grand jury on Wednesday indicted a former deputy of the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office on charges including attempted sodomy and kidnapping. Walter Thomas Myrtle Jr., 42, of Woodstock, is accused of attacking a woman in May in her home when he had been having mental health ...

Police Blotter: Warren County

Valley 911

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office reported the following incidents: July 16: Austin Phillip Stewart Conahan, of Front Royal, was arrested on charges of public intoxication. July 16: Russell McKinley Racer Jr., of Front Royal, was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice. July 16: ...

Fire & Rescue Report

Valley 911

The following Shenandoah County fire and rescue departments have announced their weekly activity for Aug. 7-13: Shenandoah County Fire & Rescue Altered mental status: 2 Cardiac: 1 Chest pain: 2 Difficulty breathing: 1 Fall: 4 General illness: 3 Injured person: 1 Medic ...

SOL results suggest some schools will lose accreditation

Local News

Several schools in Shenandoah and Warren counties will miss out on full accreditation for the 2017-18 school year, based on Standards of Learning test results the Virginia Department of Education released Tuesday. According to Warren County Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Drescher, ...

Police Blotter: Front Royal

Valley 911

The Front Royal Police Department reported the following incidents: Aug. 7: Copthrone Fitzhugh, of Front Royal, was arrested on charges of assault and battery. Aug. 7: Michael Soyars, of Front Royal, was arrested on charges of domestic assault and battery. Aug. 7-8: Vincent Diggs, of Front ...

Warren County Middle School starts first day

Local News

Principal Amy Gubler called the first day  at Warren County Middle School Tuesday a success. “I think we couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Gubler said. “We’ve just had lots of people helping with all of the procedures for getting people on and off the buses and getting them ...

Judge allows body camera footage in malicious wounding case

Local News

FRONT ROYAL -- Circuit Judge Ronald L. Napier agreed Tuesday to allow the prosecution to show body camera footage during the scheduled trial of a local man accused of maliciously harming a woman in February. Paul Michael Sullivan, 36, has been charged with malicious wounding after he allegedly ...

Man charged with sexual battery

Local News

FRONT ROYAL -- The Front Royal Police Department arrested a Bentonville man and charged him with one count of sexual battery after he allegedly sexually assaulted his cab driver. Dean Haughey, 64, was arrested on Aug. 8 when a woman told police that her cab driver had grabbed and pulled her ...

Students try out hospital work through internship program

Local News

FRONT ROYAL — Brooke Athelli, 17, of Rappahannock County, was finishing up her shift at the cafeteria in Warren Memorial Hospital. “Right now, I’m working in the cafeteria, and I serve the customers the food that they would like,” Athelli said. Athelli had been working throughout the ...