Raised on a tobacco farm near Dungannon that had the first television set in the area, Tazewell County native Frederic David Fraley grew up fascinated by media. He played his guitar with a band on a daily radio show in the 1950s in Norton and was talking to fellow ham radio operators in Morse code by the time he was 15. After retiring from a career in social work in 2005, he started Fraley Family Videography and later produced and was host of a cable TV program called “People Helping People,“ which attracted national attention.

A Vernon Hill man was found guilty Monday of animal cruelty after he stomped an opossum to death while on a June 20 ride-along with a Danville police officer.

The man leading the archaeological survey at a proposed industrial mega-park site said he expects to find other cemeteries on the property. Lyle Browning, president of Midlothian-based Browning & Associates Ltd., which is performing the archaeological survey, said he has already discovered another small cemetery besides the one revealed last month where slaves are buried. The new, smaller cemetery contains the graves of two children who died in the 1850s, he said.

The state has ordered Danville to return more than $68,000 in Homeland Security Grant funds following an audit.

DANVILLE—Caitlyn Crews’ celebrated her ninth birthday Saturday, but there were no packages for the young girl to open because she asked her guests to make donations to the Danville Area Humane Society instead. Caitlyn’s birthday is a big party every year, her father, Cooper Crews, said. “Her mama and I separated when she was about 6 months old, and she’s my only child,“ Crews said. “I do this every year. She’s really a great kid.“

DANVILLE—A retired Danville police lieutenant’s gun accidentally fired Monday, injuring him and two others while they ate lunch. Police went to the restaurant at 2:37 p.m. after receiving a shots-fired 911 call. Lt. Mike Mondul, a police spokesman, said John William Martin Jr., 73, of Blairs had the gun in his waistband. When he stood up, it discharged, according to a news release from the Danville Police Department.

For the second time in less than three months, Danville police have killed a dog. Police issued a news release saying a pit bull attacking other dogs died after officers used a Taser on it Wednesday. The dog’s owner was charged with four counts of having an unlicensed dog and three counts of having an unvaccinated dog. On June 8, a Danville officer fired a single gunshot that killed an 11-year-old miniature dachshund that was growling at him. Police Chief Philip A. Broadfoot initially said the officer had acted in accordance with department policy, but the chief later fired the officer after saying an investigation did not support the officer’s version of events that preceded the shooting.

A Pittsylvania County family is searching for one of its members, a 1959 Chevrolet Impala that paternal grandfather Irvin McDaniel bought new and called’59 Rag. “This was like [Irvin’s] baby,“ said Jennifer McDaniel, Irvin’s daughter-in-law. “This was a part of the family.“ Thieves took the convertible Saturday out of Irvin’s driveway on Afton Road between 12:30 and 3 a.m., Jennifer said. Virginia State Police are investigating the crime, but the family has been doing investigating of its own.

A man who threw a small dog off a bridge on Henry Street last month has been sentenced to six months in jail for animal cruelty. Danville General District Court Judge M. Lee Stilwell sentenced Cecil McLaughlin of Danville on Thursday to 180 days for the crime. Paulette Dean, executive director of the Danville Area Humane Society, said Geraldine Turner testified that she asked McLaughlin to find a place for the dog “thinking he’d give it to his nephews.“

A Danville man will spend six months in jail for throwing a dog off a bridge.

The ear-arresting sound of metal crashing into metal filled Squire Recreation Center in Danville as men in Mad Max-style wheelchairs slammed into one another during quad rugby games over a July weekend. “It’s a mix of basketball, football and bumper cars, because we do run into each other quite a bit,“ said Greg Taylor, a quadriplegic rugby player.

A Danville woman has pleaded guilty to fraud after selling counterfeit Gucci handbags and using the U.S. Postal Service to send and deliver the handbags. Ashley Nicole Moss, 24, received a plea agreement after cooperating with federal investigators following a search of her home in February. Her first court appearance was Tuesday in Danville’s U.S. District Court.

A South Carolina developer has purchased the former Dan River Inc. No. 8 Mill with a pledge to bring 400 jobs to this recession-scarred part of Southside Virginia. Danville City Manager M. Lyle Lacy III said the landmark White Mill is now owned by White Mill Development LLC, which is headed by Gibbs International Inc. of Spartanburg, S.C.

Fired Danville police officer Murrill McLean, who shot and killed a miniature dachshund named Killer on June 8, has decided to appeal the department’s decision to terminate his employment, a police department source said Thursday. First, McLean’s appeal will work its way through the Danville Police Department. Police Chief Philip Broadfoot will issue the final ruling for the department, which also can be appealed.

The Danville police officer who fatally shot Killer, a miniature dachshund, has been fired, according to Danville Police Chief Philip Broadfoot. Officer Murrill McLean’s dismissal was announced yesterday by the chief, who said McLean’s account of the June 8 shooting incident was accepted without a full investigation. “This entire matter has been an embarrassment to the Danville Police Department, the City of Danville and to me personally,“ Broadfoot said.