Good morning, Blacksburg.

Five World War II veterans, aged 96 to 101, flew out of Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport on Tuesday as part of a three-day trip by the Gary Sinise Foundation—stopping in Charlotte, Nashville and New Orleans to honor their service and returning on Friday evening.

Glencoe Mansion in Blacksburg will host local artist Sam Linkous’ unique watercolor and ink paintings from May 3rd through June 29th.

An opening reception is set for May 8th from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. — the free event is open to all ages.

Commonwealth Cyber Initiative has awarded 18 seed grants totaling $1.61 million to nine Virginia public universities—supporting projects that use AI to improve security and address vulnerabilities in systems.

Pamplin alumnus Ted Hanson ’91 helped grow Apex Systems from a small IT startup into a national tech leader and co-founded the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs to support Virginia Tech students—his leadership and philanthropy continue to drive local business and educational innovation. His commitment to financial discipline and future technologies, including AI, supports ongoing projects like the 2025 Pamplin Giving Day Challenge.

Virginia Tech earned the No. 73 spot worldwide and No. 45 in the U.S. on the National Academy of Inventors’ 2024 Top 100 lists that rank universities by U.S. utility patents—its issued patents increased from 32 in 2023 to 50 in 2024.

The university will be honored at the annual conference in June as it continues its strong momentum in innovation.

Samantha Boyer, a student earning bachelor’s degrees in Russian, international relations, and national security and foreign affairs, is delaying her diploma to study Persian for nine weeks in Tajikistan via the Critical Language Scholarship program—she hopes to become an expert on Central Asia and improve her public service skills.

Local, state and national leaders broke ground for the New River Valley Passenger Rail Station in Christiansburg (part of the VPRA Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative) to extend Amtrak Virginia service from Roanoke to Christiansburg.

The project (costing about $264.5 million) will begin construction this spring and service will start in 2027.

Montgomery County supervisors approved a one cent increase per $100 of assessed value on real estate taxes for fiscal year FY2025-26 to raise an extra $1.24 million for county schools — the measure passed 5-2 after public input at an April 21 board meeting.

Paint Nite: Perfect Spring Lookout

6-8 p.m. — Rising Silo Brewery — $45 per person, supplies included — Unleash your creativity in a fun painting party hosted by The Heartworks Co.