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More than 20 Christiansburg High School students are out of class Thursday morning after wearing Confederate flags on their clothing. According to Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Brenda Drake, the students were originally put in in-school suspension. However, the students didn’t comply and were told to leave school for the day. This involves 22 or 23 students, according to Drake. Several students were given in-school-suspension and 17 were given out of school suspension for disrupting the school day. The students protested the school's decision across the street Thursday morning. Some students received three days of out-of-school suspension; others received one...

Change is coming for a local health care company. Wellmont Health System announced Thursday morning the company will spend the next year evaluating options to meet the long-term needs of the organization. We've learned Wellmont officials started a process to look at future options, including aligning with another health system. Wellmont Health System President and CEO Denny DeNarvaez told News 5 the company has no specific timetable for any changes, but said something happening in 2014 was a real possibility. "It's more important that the process be complete, do our due diligence and make sure we make the right decision,...

Caterpillar Inc said on Friday that it will close another plant and lay off 240 additional workers as it continues to respond to a sharp drop in demand for its earth-moving products from customers in the mining industry.

WISE, Va. — Amid the struggling businesses and flattened mountaintops strip-mined decades ago, antipathy toward Democrats and what’s known in this region as their “war on coal” is stronger than just about anywhere else in the country. That has translated naturally into broad opposition to Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor this year. But across the coal fields of far-southwest Virginia, something unusual is also happening: Voters don’t like the Republican candidate, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II, much better. Cuccinelli’s struggles seem to stem largely from a complex legal case that pits big coal companies against local property owners...

A local hospital is closing its doors. Wellmont Health System is citing unprecedented changes in health care as the reason for closing Lee Regional Medical Center. Company officials say three reasons led to the decision reimbursement cuts associated with the Affordable Care Act, extremely low community use of the hospital and a lack of consistent physician coverage.(snip) Wellmont says the closure is to major cuts in Medicare reimbursements by the federal government associated with the Affordable Care Act and a lack of Medicaid expansion by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Officials from two Southwestern Virginia counties say a project vital to the area’s economic development has been held up for years because of a dispute with federal regulators over what is an airport and what is a coal mine. Local leaders say the three-year battle with the U.S. Office of Surface Mining over plans to extend the runway at Grundy Municipal Airport has cost taxpayers in this poverty-stricken corner of Appalachia millions of dollars in lost opportunities, and a list of regulatory hurdles remains before construction can even begin. “We were attempting to permit this project as an airport project,...

Its a tough time for hundreds of coal miners across southwest Virginia. That's because they're getting pink slips from A & G Coal, which is owned by Southern Coal Company. Mark Whooten is a spokesman for Southern Coal. He told News 5 who made the decision. "These layoffs are a decision by our corporate headquarters. They are market driven due to metallurgical coal market fluctuating violently at the present time." The company wouldn't tell us how many jobs they have cut, but we do know its sizeable according to the manager of the local employment office, Gary Hale. "On Monday...

FEMA says no to Virginia. The Federal Emergency Management Agency denies Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's request for federal assistance with the tornado destruction.(snip) The storm facts for April show the state was slammed by more than two dozen tornadoes. Killing 10 people, four of those were in Glade Spring. 212 homes were destroyed statewide and more than 1,000 were damaged.

BUCHANAN COUNTY, Va. -- UPDATE: We are currently following a developing situation in Buchanan County, Virginia. Dickenson County authorities now confirm four deputies have been shot near Grundy. Law enforcement officers from several different departments are on the scene. They are currently searching for the suspect. The wounded offcers are being flown to a nearby hospital. It happened just after 3:00 P.M. this afternoon. We have a crew enroute to the scene. Stay with us on the web and on Fox Tri-Cities News at Ten and News Five Tonight at 11 for the latest details. We will be updating this...