Good morning, Blacksburg.

Virginia Tech named four employees as the 2025 Administrative and Professional Faculty Award winners for exceptional contributions—Claudia Brodkin, Christine Cozette Comer, Andria Laib Jenkins, and Rachel Smucker.

The awards honor their consistent performance among more than 15,000 employees and recognize additional nominees for their service.

On Tuesday evening, over 50 protestors gathered on the Virginia Tech Graduate Life Center lawn to launch People’s University—a sanctuary campus honoring a Palestinian student and renewing calls for the university to review its ties with arms companies and address campus discrimination. The protest marks the one-year anniversary of a previous encampment that ended with 82 arrests and continues with officials coordinating with student organizers.

North Cross Middle School’s robotics team will compete at the World KidWind Challenge in Phoenix from May 18–21, where they will present their solar-powered chicken coop design that boosted egg production and won the KidWind Virginia State Championship.

This project marks the first time a North Cross team has been set to appear on the world stage.

On April 29, pro-Palestinian students, faculty and alumni gathered at Virginia Tech on the Graduate Life Center lawn one year after 82 individuals were arrested during a multi-day encampment.

They launched 'The People’s University' as a sanctuary campus safe zone and demanded the school divest from companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing—vowing to keep protesting if their demands are not met.

Students, faculty, and staff planted a pollinator garden outside the Virginia Tech Visitor and Undergraduate Admissions Center today as part of the Bee Campus USA program aimed at supporting native insect pollinators—forming a maintenance team to care for the new habitat for various bee species.

The spotted lanternfly is an invasive pest that arrived in Virginia in 2018 and harms local fruit plants by leaving waste that causes mold.

Local experts say residents should kill the bug on sight—researchers are training dogs to detect egg masses to help slow its spread.

The FDA intends to ban eight synthetic dyes from foods—Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Citrus Red 2, and Orange B—to replace them with naturally-derived alternatives following the earlier ban on Red No.3.

Virginia Tech’s Melissa Wright said manufacturers may lose sales if the natural dyes do not achieve the bright colors consumers now expect.

Montgomery County mailed first installment statements for the 2025-A Real Estate Tax; residents who have not received theirs should call 540-382-5723.

A 10% penalty will be charged if payment is not postmarked by Thursday, June 5, and 10% yearly interest will begin on July 1 — payments by credit or debit card and echeck are accepted with a service fee.

Virginia Tech Helmet Lab updated its equestrian helmet ratings to test for more impacts—following FEI recommendations to cover a wider range of equestrian events.

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.