A Salem subsidiary of Denmark biotechnology giant Novozymes A/S pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to illegally dumping pollutants into a creek and causing the death of 6,670 fish. Three children who played in the polluted Masons Creek, a tributary of the Roanoke River, also suffered skin rashes and eye irritation. As punishment for the October 2004 incident, Novozymes Biologicals Inc. agreed to pay a $275,000 fine and spend $250,000 to build a walking trail along the Roanoke River in Salem. A federal judge also ordered the company to repay the $20 medical co-payment made by the family of one of the three children.

A Salem subsidiary of Denmark biotechnology giant Novozymes A/S pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to illegally dumping pollutants into a creek and causing the death of 6,670 fish. Three children who played in the polluted Masons Creek, a tributary of the Roanoke River, also suffered skin rashes and eye irritation. As punishment for the October 2004 incident, Novozymes Biologicals Inc. agreed to pay a $275,000 fine and spend $250,000 to build a walking trail along the Roanoke River in Salem.

A retired Roanoke firefighter died Saturday when his Vinton home caught fire. The body of Kenneth Watson, 60, was found in the living room of the burned house. He had been a firefighter in Roanoke for nearly 30 years before retiring in 1999. Authorities said the fire was started accidentally when a lighted cigarette came into contact with a chair. The medical examiner said Watson died of smoke inhalation.

Sitting in a back pew on a recent Sunday morning, Tim Shepherd smoothed out his weekly church offering envelope, pulled a felt-tip pen from his pocket and began drawing a skinny, happy mouse wearing sunglasses.

When Norfolk Southern Corp. Chairman Wick Moorman offered $1 million to the Virginia Museum of Transportation on Tuesday night, Bev Fitzpatrick was as surprised as anyone. Fitzpatrick, the museum’s executive director, was one of about 500 people listening to the speech by Moorman at the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce’s membership meeting at the Hotel Roanoke. Moorman, according to those present, offered $1 million and challenged the community to ante up an additional $2 million for the troubled museum.

Rummaging through the Roanoke Rescue Mission’s pantry full of donated day-old bread and big cans of beans and soup, David Faulds struck gastronomic gold. A collection of spices, including cilantro and herbes de Provence, is “everything you need for a rich Caribbean sauce,“ said Faulds, executive chef at Lexington’s House Mountain Inn. He set about concocting an Epicurean adventure to pour over mixed vegetables.

ROANOKE It was a fortuitous circumstance: An aging medium-sized city was the right place at the right time for a bequest of coveted art that led to its new avant-garde museum. American realist Thomas Eakins did most of his work in Philadelphia, but his last living heir lived in Roanoke and had some of his portraits and personal effects. Museums elsewhere had designs on the 19th-century collection, but Peggy Macdowell Thomas wanted her Eakins paintings to remain in Roanoke.

ROANOKE—A Virginia-based company is receiving a grant from the National Cancer Institute to study brain tumors. Roanoke-based Luna Innovations says it hopes to use nanotechnology to improve the chances that a brain tumor can be diagnosed. Luna plans to adapt exclusive technology to improve imaging, which will help advance diagnosis and treatment of brain cancer.

Hopewell Grant’s Headquarters at City Point in Petersburg National Battlefield will welcome visitors to observe an archaeological survey starting this weekend as part of Virginia Archaeology Month. Students from the College of William and Mary will conduct test excavations of the park grounds surrounding Appomattox Manor from Saturday through Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional excavation may take place Oct. 18. For details, call (804) 458-9504 or visit the City Point Archaeological Survey online