A large fire engulfed a historic downtown Cottage Stillroom business in a Candle Factory on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021.
The fire was located on Cabell Street, near Rivermont, where the building that is host to a candle making business shot out grey plumes of smoke into the air.
One person suffered burns to their arm, but according to fire officials the burns are not life threatening.
Flames decimated the candle shop, however the fire department was able to extinguish most of the active flames quickly.
President Alison Morirson-Shetlar. Photo by John McCormick
By Critograph Editorial Board
The University of Lynchburg will officially inaugurate its first female president, Dr. Alison Morrison- Shetlar on Friday October 1, 2021 at 3 p.m. in the Dell.
Though race falls during the university’s fall break, the Ten Miler is on the list of volunteer opportunities for students and staff through the Center for Community Engagement. Cindy Ferguson who heads the center has indicated she is looking for additional volunteers.
By Hunter Epperson, William Deitz, William Masselli & Andrew Wheeler
Covid Infographic made by Hunter Epperson
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Central Virginia and Liberty University moves to online classes after an outbreak in their first week of school, students at the University of Lynchburg say they still feel safe on campus.
“An average of 32 cases per day were reported in Lynchburg, a 47 percent increase from the average two weeks ago. Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1 in 10 residents have been infected, a total of 8,326 reported cases. Right now, Lynchburg is at an extremely high risk for unvaccinated people,” according to the New York Times Lynchburg, Virginia COVID case tracker.
According to Liberty University’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which has not been updated since Aug. 25, there were a total of 159 active cases; 124 of those were active student cases, and the other 35 were active faculty/staff cases. There are also 274 on campus students in quarantine, as well as 111 commuters and 107 employees.
As of publication on Aug. 31, there were seven positive COVID-19 cases within the University of Lynchburg student population; all are quarantining off-campus and there is one student in quarantine on campus. There are currently three active cases among faculty and staff, according to the University of Lynchburg’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 page.
Hill City Pride 2019 . Image by Dr. Ghislaine Lewis
Hill City Pride will host PrideFest 2021 on Aug., 28. PrideFest will include Pride in the Park at Riverfront Park, and Pride After Dark at the Glasshouse in Downtown Lynchburg.
Pride in the Park will have food and craft vendors, community partners, sponsors, and LGBTQIA+ performers to celebrate the community. The event is set to open at 1p.m. and conclude at 5 p.m.
Lynchburg’s Farmer’s Market. Photo taken by Pete Deaver.
Pete Deaver ~ Guest Writer
One year after quarantine hit full force, vendors at the Lynchburg Community Market indicate that it was a very profitable year.
When the pandemic hit roughly one year ago, and efforts to stay home and stay safe increased, small businesses took a massive blow. According to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank, 30% of surveyed business owners indicated that their business would likely not survive the impact of the pandemic.
However, farmers in Lynchburg, Va., and surrounding areas, tell a different story.
Dell on campus promoting the Bedford Hike for Hope. Image from the Bedford VA Hike for Hope Facebook page.
Cassandra Matthews ~ Assistant Editor
The annual Hike for Hope is occurring at the Claytor Nature Center on May 8.
This event is being put on by the University of Lynchburg and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to bring awareness to suicide prevention efforts while raising money for the cause.
To raise money for AFSP, registrants for the hike will share their fundraising page, asking friends, family, and the community to help.
Judge gavel and scale in court. Library with lot of books in background
Pete Deaver ~ Guest Writer
Virginia has passed two new bills that are designed to protect victims from forced sex crimes if they are victims of human trafficking.
House Bill 2133 was voted on during the 2021 General Assembly and was unanimously approved. It seeks to allow victims of human trafficking who had been, “solicited, invited, recruited, encouraged, forced, intimidated, or deceived by another to engage in acts of prostitution or unlawful sexual intercourse for money or its equivalent” to apply to have convictions as a result of those terms to be vacated. This means that, although the record of that conviction will still be in place, it will be considered dismissed by a court of law.
Moon over the trees. Graphic by Cassandra Matthews.
Cassandra Matthews ~ Assistant Editor
The Claytor Nature Center is home to the Belk Astronomical Observatory, and work done there furthers the discoveries of the NASA Solar System Ambassador program.
The NASA Solar System Ambassadors (SSA) website page describes the program by saying, “The NASA Solar System Ambassadors program is a public engagement effort that works with motivated volunteers across the nation to communicate the science and excitement of NASA’s space exploration missions and discoveries with the people in their communities.”
Trish Cerulli is one of those motivated volunteers. She said, “I became an SSA in Jan. 2021, after hearing about it last year from one of our dedicated docents, Ray Bradley. As the Outreach Coordinator for the Belk Observatory, much of my work there is already aligned with the mission of the SSA program, so I was happy to be selected as a volunteer SSA for NASA! I am the only SSA serving in the Lynchburg, Va., area, and I hope to be able to visit local libraries, scout troops, campus events, and other Lynchburg community opportunities to spread the word about space science and Belk Observatory!”
Raku Pottery Display at the Academy Center of the Arts. Photo taken by Ted Batt.
Margaret Rolf ~ Guest Writer
The Academy Center of the Arts will be hosting Brett Thomas, a mobile Raku artist, for a pottery session in which attendees can create pieces in outdoor kilns. The class will take place in two sessions on April 23 and April 24.
Thomas has been coming to the Academy since Oct. of 2016 and this will be his ninth time teaching classes.
“I think people are really wowed by the process because of its immediate response,” said Ted Batt, the director of Visual arts who also oversees the Pottery Studio at the Academy. “You get these really cool metallic colors that you do not get from firing okay, and it’s got a long history it actually dates back to Japanese processes.”
Mission House Coffee Shop, Downtown Lynchburg. Photo by Maggie Rolf.
Maggie Rolf ~ Guest Writer
It has been one year since COVID-19 emerged, bringing challenges and even closure for many small businesses due to lack of customers. However, a few local Lynchburg businesses are standing strong.
CBS News stated, “nine million small firms are at risk of closing for good this year.” Outside the Cone and Mission House Coffee are local businesses in Lynchburg, Va., that have defeated the odds and remained strong during the pandemic.
Kyle Spangler, owner and manager of Outside the Cone an ice cream shop in Wyndhurst, said, “Definitely feel very blessed and lucky to be able to have a shop that is doing so well in a time like this.”
The coronavirus continues to linger in the Lynchburg community even though thousands have received vaccinations and is still impacting local nonprofits such as the University of Lynchburg.
Nationally, there has been a strict enforcement of social distancing policies and many nonprofits were forced to cancel fundraisers, which were their primary sources of income to keep their organization operating.
The pandemic has highlighted the financial plights of many nonprofits in the Central Virginia region as they struggled to stay open, this led to a rise in nonprofits applying for financial aid, said Dr. Jimmy Roux, president of Central Virginia Academy for Nonprofit Excellence (CVANE).
The University of Lynchburg community is mourning the loss of criminology instructor Keith Smith, and reflecting on the ways in which he influenced the university since joining the faculty in 2016.
The University of Lynchburg and city of Lynchburg have been working closely together to remove College Lake Dam, which is an ongoing project that is expected to be completed within the next three years.
In 2018, the dam was nearly destroyed after it overflowed, which is one of the reasons the school and city have decided to remove it entirely. The goal is to remove the lake and turn it into thriving wetlands.
The city of Lynchburg has released a specific plan to remove the dam, and this plan lists several reasons for why the dam is a hazard. Still, there are people who believe the dam removal is unnecessary.
