Good morning, Blacksburg.

A fun-loving pit bull terrier named Huckleberry has waited 400+ days at Montgomery County Animal Care and Adoption Center for a family to adopt her.

She is vaccinated, spayed, and good with both children and adults, and adoption is free through Montgomery County Friends of Animal Care and Control.

Sam Linkous released his fifth book, The Colton Stories, which captures everyday life in a rural community.

The locally inspired work (blending whimsical and heartfelt tales) is available on Amazon Books.

Gov. Spanberger reported Virginia tourism spending hit a record $36.2 billion in 2025, with leisure travel making up 90% of 46.6 million overnight visitors.

The surge boosts tax revenue that supports essential services (education, public safety) for local communities across the state, including in Blacksburg.

Thrive.exe founder JP Azevedo will discuss Anthropic’s Claude Code at tomorrow’s AI Decoded seminar at QCowork Coworking Space, 105 Roanoke Street East in Blacksburg, starting at 6 p.m. The event is open to RBTC members & non-members.

Professor Lindsay Semprevivo from Radford University runs a six-week gardening program at the New River Valley Juvenile Detention Home in Christiansburg to help teens learn about growth and healing through planting and care.

Radford students support research aimed at making detention a place for new starts + hope.

Montgomery County Public Schools held its first transition day on Monday for kindergartners, sixth and ninth graders at Falling Branch Elementary in Christiansburg — giving students a chance to explore their new school before classes resumed.

Administrators plan to survey feedback and continue the program next year.

Virginia Tech named PJ Mullen as its new deputy athletics director and chief marketing officer after his work at Rutgers, and he will lead marketing, fan experience and creative services to strengthen the Hokie brand in Blacksburg.

On Friday, Aug. 7, the Draper Mile run at the Steppin’ Out Festival drew 404 adult finishers plus 35 kids — the largest field in its 44-year history.

Chris Nunn won in 4:05 while Hannah Long finished in 4:35 on the downhill course.

The Virginia High School League is realigning regional classifications by adding two new schools to Region D in Class 4 and adjusting memberships in Class 3 and Region C.

The changes will go into effect next year — running through the 2030–2031 school year.