Mayfest 2013

Monique Hough and her daughter Kenasyn, 7, of Strasburg, dance to the music of the band Souled Out during the Mayfest Street Dance held Friday evening. Mayfest activities resume Saturday starting at 9 a.m. The parade begins at 3 p.m. Rich Cooley/Daily

Hydrant flushing under way in Front Royal

Chris Riley, a line technician with the Front Royal Water and Sewer Department, flushes a fire hydrant at the corner of Cloud and Jackson streets on Wednesday. Riley was performing a flush and inspection of the town's hydrants. The inspections will take crews several weeks to do. Rich Cooley/Daily

Fallen law enforcement officers remembered at service

Tuesday was a day for bagpipers to play "Amazing Grace" and poetry readings from the podium as family and friends of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty gathered to honor their memory at Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy in Middletown.

Painting under gray skies

Shaun Calver of Front Royal primes his fence outside his home at the corner of Blue Ridge Avenue and Prospect Street recently. Calver has been dodging the weather in hopes of finishing the fence with paint this week. The weather forecast includes a freeze warning for early Tuesday, but temperatures will be warming up into the 80s by Wednesday. Rain is expected Wednesday through Friday. Rich Cooley/Daily

Students release brook trout raised in the classroom

FORT VALLEY -- About 50 brook trout were released back into their natural habitat Friday morning, thanks to the devoted care of seventh grade students from Peter Muhlenburg Middle School.

Temporary stalls to be used at harness racing event

A lack of trackside horse stables is no hindrance to this Saturday's first-ever Wine and Trotter Festival at the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds.

Soggy feast

A horse grazes in a wet field off Swan Drive east of Edinburg. Rich Cooley/Daily

Floodwaters rise

Glenn Hall of Fredericksburg looks at the flooding along Passage Creek in Fort Valley this morning. Hall was enroute to a house he owns in Fort Valley, but was stopped due to Fort Valley Road being covered by water. Rich Cooley/Daily

Local counselor receives 'Emerging Leader' award

WOODSTOCK - After his first year as a full-time school counselor, Timothy Luikart has already been recognized as an "Emerging Leader" by the region's counselor association.

The Grand Feature Parade

Shenandoah Apple Blossom President Lou Ann Thompson rides on the back of a car along Cork Street during the Grand Feature Parade on Saturday in Winchester. Brad Fauber/Daily

Fun at the Bloomers Luncheon

Kristy Rodriguez, left, 38, and her sister Cindy Davet, right, 39, both of Winchester, dance at the Bloomers Luncheon on Friday during the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. Rich Cooley/Daily

Type 2 diabetics keep learning about living with the disease

FRONT ROYAL - Barbara Faauaa was diagnosed as pre-diabetic before moving to Front Royal in 1990, but at the time she had no idea what that meant.

Alamo Drafthouse founder speaks to Apple Blossom crowd

Two failures early in his life led up to Tim League's founding of the successful Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain.

Historic Bible formally presented to Strasburg Museum

The Strasburg Museum's newly acquired bible has more than just divine tales to tell. The scorch marks that run through part of it bear the scars from a 250-year-old atrocity.

Easy listening

Billy Pearson, 20, of Front Royal listens to music while sitting outside the gazebo along East Main Street in Front Royal on a spring afternoon. Rich Cooley/Daily

A day for fishing

Evan Stevenson, 9, of Hedgesville, W. Va., checks his bait while fishing along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River off Luray Avenue in Front Royal on Friday. Rich Cooley/Daily

United Way's Day of Caring touches community

Volunteers with the United Way of Front Royal's annual Day of Caring event donated their time Friday in an effort to help out those who need it most.

A spectacular sight

A rainbow illuminates the sky behind Riverview Cemetery in Strasburg after an evening rain shower recently. Rich Cooley/Daily

Spring swinging

Eric Smith, 12, gives Olivia Sine, 6, a push on this tire swing near their home in Toms Brook recently. Rich Cooley/Daily

Authors share unique story of their 'family outing'

WINCHESTER - To say that Joe Cobb and Leigh Anne Taylor seemed to be a typical couple is right, but to say they are a typical divorced couple is far from the truth.

House project stalled by zoning rules worries neighbors

FRONT ROYAL - An unfinished house sits weathered and damaged years after Warren County officials deemed it too close to the road.

A lovely time at the cotillion

Massanutten Military Academy cadets Damoni Gunter, 16, left, and Ian Bauer, 18, right, escort Greenfield of Woodstock resident Beatrice Sherry, 89, during the assisted living facility's spring cotillion. Nine cadets from the academy served as escorts and community volunteers assisted with hair, makeup and flowers for the spring social event enjoyed by 35 Greenfield residents. Rich Cooley/Daily

Dispatchers' invisible work guides emergency responders

Some of the earliest reports that something had gone terribly wrong during the terror-marred Boston Marathon on Monday came from people like Kathie Scott.

Va's biggest, costliest election in voters' hands

RICHMOND -- Virginia's biggest, most expensive political season with unprecedented attention from presidential candidates is drawing long lines of voters to polling places across the state, but concerns about the state's new voter ID law appeared overblown.

Sandy leaves death, damp and darkness in wake

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline with 80 mph winds Monday night and hurled an unprecedented 13-foot surge of seawater at New York City, threatening its subways and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. At least 10 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm, which brought the presidential campaign to a halt a week before Election Day.

Mom for Congress: A day on the campaign trail with Kristin Cabral

It was around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday when a portion of the crowd at the Winchester Speedway turned ugly. The ugliness was directed toward Kristin Cabral, whose only apparent crime was running for Congress as a Democrat.

Kaine, Allen highlight political rally at LFCC

Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen both agree on the biggest problem facing the nation: a $16-trillion deficit. They do not agree on much else.

'Valor, virtue and honor'

At 2:05 p.m. Saturday, eight somber young men raised a casket outside Winchester Church of God and inserted it into the back of Engine 14 of the Gore Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company.

*Two hurt in three-vehicle crash on John Marshall Highway

STRASBURG -- Two people were taken to hospitals -- one by helicopter -- following a three-vehicle crash on Va. 55 (John Marshall Highway) just north of Va. 633 (Red Bud Road) Thursday afternoon.

Big crowd turns out to release balloons in honor of crash victims

About 200 people came out to Clearbrook Park on Saturday to honor the four members of the Roe family who were killed on June 26 in an automobile crash.

* Photo: Wreck temporarily closes eastbound I-66 near Front Royal

The victim of the single-vehicle accident on eastbound Interstate-66, east of Front Royal, is loaded into a medical helicopter after the interstate was shut down Wednesday morning. Rich Cooley/Daily

Crunch time for Christmas gifts

WINCHESTER -- That last-ditch effort to find the perfect gift at the perfect price is a holiday tradition with a few days left to celebrate.

Two sides to snow

FRONT ROYAL -- Snow blanketed the Northern Shenandoah Valley Thursday, canceling school and causing several traffic crashes, including a pileup on Interstate 81 near Edinburg.

The doctor is in: Devine brings diverse background to role with Lord Fairfax Health District

WINCHESTER -- A man of many interests has taken the helm of the Lord Fairfax Health District.