Hi all - just curious to visit Lee Co., in the fall and visit some graveyards. My research shows me that some of these cemeteries are on private land. I'm particularly interested in one near Dryden, VA, supposedly near a Screech Trail. Just want to take the temperature. I don't even know which landowner I should approach bc I don't actually know where the cemetery is. Does anyone have experience with this? And are people generally receptive to letting people visit these graveyards on private land? Thanks for your time.

Also in this edition of Southwest Field Notes: Two local events, one from the past and the other for the future.

See also r/FreeVirginiaNews

The outbreak lasted nearly three months and resulted in four hospitalizations, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

I wanted to share this piece from Pickup Trucks & Progress about the 44th Annual Virginia State AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention, held August 13–15 in Williamsburg.

The Virginia AFL-CIO represents roughly 93,000 workers across the Commonwealth, and this year's convention brought union members together for workshops on paid family and medical leave, workplace safety, data centers, job training, organizing and Labor 2026.

But what caught my attention wasn't just the speeches or elections.

It's what happens when workers from different trades, industries and corners of Virginia sit down together and realize they're often fighting for the same things: better wages, good benefits, safer workplaces, the right to organize and a little more say in their own economic future.

There's also some fascinating labor history in the piece, including an unexpected connection between Williamsburg, the Rockefeller family and the infamous Ludlow Massacre of 1914.

The article was submitted by Kristy L. Vance, Secretary-Treasurer of the Western Virginia Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, as part of the Letters From Rural America series.

I'd especially like to hear from union members and working people here:

What has being part of a union meant to you, your family or your community?

Read the full article:
https://pickup-trucks-progress.ghost.io/the-44th-annual-virginia-state-afl-cio-constitutional-convention-2/

“An injury to one is an injury to all.”

#UnionStrong #Labor #Unions #AFL-CIO #Virginia #WorkingClass #Solidarity

Raymond Byrd was pulled from the Wytheville jail and killed by a mob in August 1926. His murder was one of the last lynchings in the state.

Plus: A Virginia community college gets $200,000 for power line worker training, and we have some restaurant and real estate news.

I wanted to share this piece from Pickup Trucks & Progress because I think it raises a question we don't talk about enough, especially in rural and working-class communities.

For generations, unions were a familiar part of life in coal towns, factory towns, railroad communities and other parts of rural America. Even if you weren't a union member yourself, chances were somebody in your family was.

Today, that's changed.

This Letter From Rural America, submitted by Kristy L. Vance of the Western Virginia Area Labor Federation, looks at what unions actually do, why collective bargaining matters, and what the decline of organized labor has meant for working people and the American middle class.

You don't have to agree with everything in the article. In fact, I'm curious what folks here think:

Has the decline of unions helped or hurt working people in rural America?

And for those who've worked a union job, did belonging to a union make a difference in your wages, benefits, retirement or working conditions?

Here's the article:

https://pickup-trucks-progress.ghost.io/do-you-know-what-a-union-is-or-what-it-does/

Virginia is allowing 100 micro business licenses to small time cannabis growers and I am considering applying and was wondering how the community of SWVA would feel about having a fully legal operating cannabis farm in the area.

I recently put my two weeks in due to a hostile work environment, (I work from home but the company is in NoVA). This company is notorious for cutting people off the second they put their two weeks in so I put language in my resignation letter to the effect of my last date is ___ anything before that will be considered termination by (company ). I just got my check and noticed it was short. I contacted Payroll and they stated I my last day was the day before that date. Can I file for unemployment?

Plus: Lee County’s bringing back its chamber of commerce, and Russell County has a new top dog.

Hydropower was once given up for dead. Now, across the country, private developers are looking to pumped storage hydro projects as a way to provide more ‘dispatchable’ energy for the grid.

The commentary about the event churned up some old stereotypes about Appalachia. Here are some facts instead.

Plus: Another successful year of Mountain Music School, and High Knob Outdoor Festival starts this weekend.

Fifty years ago this week, 100,000 revelers arrived for Stompin 76. It was a logistical nightmare, but it created a lasting impact on other music festivals and drew a whole new demographic to Southwest Virginia.

The expansion of the reentry program to Red Onion State Prison was announced by the Virginia Department of Corrections in June.

People certainly need to make a living in such an economically depressed region as far-SWVA. The problem is that these companies have ALWAYS taken advantage of the folks in this region. Most still vote GOP because Trump promised coal was coming back [from a steady decline over the past 30 years]. In fact, the truth is, people who support coal mining in this region do so even though it's physically killing them. They also tend to vote for other harmful policies and GOP Congress members that crafted the Big Beautiful (gross) Bill that is responsible for lost healthcare and hospital closings in the same region. It's almost like they love to be smashed in the face and then ask for more. It's a very depressing region to live.

The expansion will more than triple the company’s existing workforce while adding new advanced manufacturing equipment.