Jason Daniel

Four members of the Altavista varsity baseball team were honored recently for their stellar play on the diamond this past season with All-Dogwood District recognition. Colonels catcher Hayden Underwood was chosen as a 2nd team All-District selection. In his first season as a starter behind plate for Altavista, Underwood batted.246 with six RBI’s to go with a.961 fielding percentage as he established himself as one of the best defensive catchers in the area.

William Campbell had six members of their varsity baseball team receive All-Dogwood District honors for their stellar play on the diamond this past season. Leading the way for the Generals is their senior ace starting pitcher Landon Elder as the left-hander was named as the Dogwood Pitcher of the Year while also being honored as a 1st team selection for both pitcher and outfield.

Following another successful season on the diamond which included a repeat trip to the regionals, six standout players from the Altavista baseball team were honored as All-Region selections. Leading the pack was Izaac Morales, the shortstop capped off his stellar Colonels career with his second straight 1st Team All-Region selection after leading Altavista with a.406 batting average, 26 hits, 24 RBI’s and 22 stolen bases this past season.

VHSL Class 1 All-State honors were announced last week for local softball and baseball standouts as Breanna Crozier represented Altavista. Crozier was recently named Region 1B Player of the Year and followed that up by being selected as 1st Team at catcher following a remarkable senior campaign. Crozier, who is headed to Ferrum College next to play softball for the Lady Panthers, led the Altavista in both home runs (13) and RBI’s (36) to go with a.422 batting average this past season.

Brookville High School announced last week that Dustin Russell is officially the new head football coach for Bees for the upcoming 2026 season. Russell is an Alleghany native who played and coached at his almer mater before spending more than a decade in a variety of coaching roles including the head job at Rustburg back in 2024. Coach Russell replaces Mark Lineburg, who stepped down after returning to coach and teach the past two seasons at Brookville as he recently took on a new role as the next Superintendent of Schools for Mecklenburg County.

Catching up with Altavista Mayor Reggie Bennett this past week as we went on the first in our series of future ride-alongs through the Town of Altavista discussing a wide range of topics. Mayor Bennett shared details about the current improvements to both Riverfront and Shreve Parks to future housing developments to new businesses opening as tons of economic growth and opportunities abound in our area now and in the upcoming years. He explains, “We’re going through growing pains or change; this means that although we may be inconvenienced at times due to construction or upgrades taking place, in the end our town will become a better place for all.”

The State of Virginia is among the multiple states that are currently being affected by the recent outbreak of Cyclospora that has been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce. In late-July, the Virginia Department of Health announced there were now over 100 cases linked to the illness. Taylor Farms announced the voluntary recall of all iceberg lettuce traced to central Mexico and later distributed here in the United States.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed the first registration-exempt offering pathway designed specifically for crypto assets. O...

The Altavista varsity volleyball team got their 2026 fall schedule underway with a pair of non-district road matchups last week. The Lady Colonels travelled to take on county foe Brookville last Tuesday (Aug. 25) and dropped their season opener as they fell in three straight matches.

With last week’s season opening loss in their rearview mirror, the Altavista football team regrouped for their first road trip as they headed up to Staunton last Friday night (Sept. 4) to take on Riverheads in another high quality non-district showdown. The Gladiators had revenge on their minds after blowing a 19-point halftime lead in last year’s loss to Altavista at English Stadium. This time around in the rematch things couldn’t be settled in regulation as Riverheads outlasted Altavista 43-36 in overtime following a massive 22-point fourth quarter comeback for the Colonels.