BUCHANAN—Seven men costumed as Confederate riflemen drill next to a row of white canvas tents, preparing for the curious onlookers who already are starting to wander past. A man in a 19th-century soldier’s tunic and decidedly more modern pajama pants steps out of a Porta John. And the Rev. Allen Farley, whose chaplaincy to Civil War re-enactors has lasted about five times as long as the actual conflict did, officially begins his Sunday by walking across the grass in a long black coat, ringing a bell and hollering, “Church call!“

NARUNA Adark figure roamed the halls of William Campbell High School, and ghosts could be seen traveling the corridors. Cloaked in a long, slinky black robe with a white mask and hood, the Grim Reaper moved classroom by classroom to claim his victims. Rather than meeting their doom, his victims learned an important lesson: the dangers of driving while distracted.

A nurse who worked at two assisted-living homes for seniors has been indicted on 32 charges related to identity theft of patients there. Karen Jones, 48, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury. The indictment charges that she used information stolen from nine people to take more than $9,000. The indictment accuses Jones of participating in the identity-theft scheme from April 2007 until November 2008 while she worked at The Oaks of Lynchburg and Avante at Lynchburg.

A Lynchburg woman has been charged with stealing the identities of residents at two assisted living facilities.

A partnership between Lynchburg police and area churches to reduce violence and take guns off the street formalized plans Thursday for a kickoff event on April 25. The program is Lynchburg’s first gun-surrender event since 1995. As part of the program, those turning in guns are entered to win a retired police cruiser. Members of the partnership announced that the event at the Lynchburg Parks and Recreation building will include an overview of the partnership and program followed by a cookout from 2 to 5 p.m. in Miller Park.

After nearly a month of dodging the law across the Southeast, the Pittsylvania County man who escaped from jail in Lynchburg is back behind bars. Larry Dodson Jr., 20, was arrested near Savannah, Ga., on Sunday night after crashing a stolen truck during a high-speed chase, according to the Georgia State Patrol and the U.S. Marshals Service.

LYNCHBURG—You’re never too old to hang out in a clubhouse, or to have your brother as your best friend. At their age, Robert and Phil Brooks don’t have to prove anything anymore, but they’ve proved that. The outbuilding they have adopted as their second home sits just a long home run from the Lynchburg Hillcats ballpark, on a hill the Brooks brothers say was once occupied by a dairy farm. Until recently, the shed—downgraded from previous garage status—was covered with signs.

The Greater Lynchburg Transit Company has refused an anti-religious advertisement, citing an internal policy that prohibits ads for political campaigns, special-interest groups and “personal causes.“ In the process, questions were raised about the validity of GLTC’s advertising policy by GLTC itself. Specifically, officials found they were unable to confirm that the regulations were ever formally enacted by the transit system’s board of directors.

Virginia has agreed to pay Amtrak for additional intercity passenger train service in the state. The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved a $25.2 million, three-year pilot project to run two new passenger trains daily to Washington: one round trip from Richmond and one round trip from Lynchburg.

Liberty University police officers remain the only people allowed to carry firearms on campus, but that could change in the future, the school’s board of trustees decided Tuesday. Board members, at Liberty for a regularly scheduled meeting, continued to forbid people with concealed-handgun permits from carrying weapons on campus. Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. brought the matter before the board after members of Liberty’s chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus requested a policy change.

An Ohio businessman faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in Lynchburg yesterday to conning customers, many of them elderly, into buying wheelchairs by making them think they were purchasing motorized scooters. Michael Cowen, head of Active Solutions of Worthington, Ohio, also agreed to forfeit $2.5 million, along with four vans, a truck and a 2003 BMW. The government has already seized $1.8 million from him. Cowen pleaded guilty to two charges, conspiracy and health-care fraud, in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg.

An Ohio businessman faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in Lynchburg yesterday to conning customers, many of them elderly, into buying wheelchairs by making them think they were purchasing motorized scooters. Michael Cowen, head of Active Solutions of Worthington, Ohio, also agreed to forfeit $2.5 million, along with four vans, a truck and a 2003 BMW. The government has already seized $1.8 million from him. Cowen pleaded guilty to two charges, conspiracy and health-care fraud, in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg.

After 10 months of court silence, Randolph College and opponents of the school’s decision to sell artwork took up the case again yesterday. Judge J. Leyburn Mosby Jr. of Lynchburg Circuit Court ruled that a trial will determine who should get the $500,000 bond that secured the barring of the sale of the art in late 2007. After Randolph announced in October 2007 that it would sell four paintings from the Maier Museum of Art, opponents filed a request for an injunction against the sale.

Peanut Corp. of America, the Lynchburg-based company at the center of a deadly nationwide salmonella outbreak, filed for bankruptcy yesterday. The Chapter 7 filing means the 33-year-old company is going out of business and is selling its assets to pay its debts.

LYNCHBURG It’s one of the most familiar Bible stories. Saddened by the wickedness of man, God directs the righteous Noah to build an ark for his family and two of each species of animal. Together, they ride the ark through 40 days and 40 nights of torrential rains that God unleashes upon the Earth. And when the waters subside, Noah and the animals return to land.