The 2022 session of the Virginia General Assembly convenes today with lawmakers intent on passing a biennial budget and examining such issues as  parental involvement in education, mental health and Interstate 81 traffic.

WINCHESTER — Being able to come to First Night Winchester on Friday meant a semblance of normalcy for Colleen Demetro following a tough year.

Northern Shenandoah Valley residents will now have one voice speaking for them in Congress as the result of new redistricting maps approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia on Tuesday that redraw the boundary lines for the U.S. Congress and both house of the General Assembly.

WINCHESTER — H. Russell “Russ” Potts Jr., who served 20 years in the Virginia Senate representing the Northern Shenandoah Valley, died on Sunday at age 82 following a brief series of health setbacks. He is survived by his wife Emily, daughters Kristi, Katie and Kelly, and four grandchildren.

The successful Apple Blossom Mall location of Valley Health’s COVID-19 vaccination effort has contributed to a 63% vaccination rate among the health district’s Spanish-speaking community.

Between a quarter to a half of Northern Shenandoah Valley residents age 5 and older has not received even one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Nurses who work outside the hospital walls around Valley Health’s six-hospital region are looking to feel more connected and a part of a system of other nurses.

Valley Health’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Apple Blossom Mall will be closing after Dec. 11, the health-care system announced this week.

WINCHESTER — From the "You Don't Hear That Every Day" file, city officials this week rescued a wild porcupine from the Loudoun Street Autopark in Old Town Winchester.

WINCHESTER — Valley Health is offering low-cost lung cancer screenings all month for uninsured individuals as part of November’s Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

WOODSTOCK — A string of crashes — one involving multiple tractor-trailers — shut down Interstate 81 on Friday for hours after over an inch of rain fell in the northern Shenandoah Valley.

Two men were arrested Monday night after being found in West Virginia with half a pound of methamphetamine in their car.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region, retired nurse Diane Stadmeyer said she felt called to help.

Local health professionals are pleading with the community to do whatever they can to stay healthy this fall and winter as COVID-19 cases continue to overwhelm local hospitals and other medical facilities.

About 97% of all Valley Health employees have either received the COVID-19 vaccine by the health system’s Sept. 7 deadline or have received an approved exemption, Valley Health said Monday.

Four Shenandoah County residents have filed notice that they intend to appeal a decision to rename Lord Fairfax Community College.

Warren and Shenandoah counties received a few inches of much-needed rain Wednesday as Hurricane Ida moved up the East Coast from the Gulf Coast to New England.

A cut-your-own sunflower event will take place this weekend in a field of flowers on the Winchester Medical Center campus.

MIDDLETOWN – Being a Frederick County resident and having represented the Norfolk area in the House of Delegates, Winsome Sears says she understands rural and urban life.

WINCHESTER — Roughly 1,000 people gathered in Old Town Winchester Saturday for a parade and barbecue commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Opequon Presbyterian Church Roots & Shoots community garden in Kernstown has everything you might expect from a vegetable garden and more.

STRASBURG — A boiler explosion early Friday morning blew out a wall at the Valley Milk Products plant in downtown Strasburg creating a hazardous ammonia leak. 

NEW MARKET — Fifty years later, Vietnam War veteran Kevin Whited still remembers how he and his Army buddies sometimes felt uncomfortable wearing their uniforms after they returned home.

WINCHESTER — End-of-life hospice care originated in Europe, but it was the spirit of South Dakota’s Native American Lakota tribe that breathed life into Blue Ridge Hospice of Winchester.

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is marking its 40th year of serving communities around the northern part of Virginia.

Years after Bertha Von Hillern had ended her career as a world-class endurance walker and hotel muralist, becoming instead a successful baker, a reporter from The Winchester Star recognized her on the street.

John Carl "Johnny" Foreman Sr. died on Jan. 23 but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he couldn't be properly memorialized for four months.

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, and area communities are ready to go swimming.

FRONT ROYAL — A man who attempted to light a woman on fire with alcohol while she was lying in bed was indicted by a Warren County Circuit Court grand jury last week.

Lord Fairfax Community College held its final COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Wednesday, fully vaccinating another 700 patients.

This story has been changed to correct the spelling of Bill Holtzman's last name.