Volunteers are the lifeblood of our community — working selflessly in our schools, hospitals, civic organizations, churches and other community groups to make things better.

If you think vaping is bad for your heart and your lungs, a new study shows it can also up your chances of getting the flu, especially if you are a woman.

Today is Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance. On this day Americans across the country are called to volunteer in their local communities in tribute to the individuals lost and injured in the attacks, first responders and the many who have risen in service to defend freedom.

After wreaking historic havoc in the Bahamas, Hurricane Dorian was slowly creeping its way toward the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia with all its fury as of the writing of this column.

The year was 1982, and this young Averett College graduate who had just walked across the stage to secure her bachelor’s degree in English/journalism was ready to set sail in her first full-time newspaper job at The Star-Tribune in Chatham.

Check out The Gazette-Virginian’s annual tourism special section in today’s newspaper, and you will find many things to discover in Halifax County.

On Thursday, June 6, the World War I and World War II Commemoration Commission will join the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford in marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Come on community…it’s time to ‘Make Mary Poppins Fly’…again.

Members of the Hyco Road Ruritan Club once again are selling Vidalia onions to promote higher education through their Frazier Pool Memorial Scholarship Fund.

This week — March 17-23 — is being observed as National Poison Prevention Week, a week designated to highlight the dangers of poisonings and how to prevent them.

And just when we thought we could see the light at the end of the flu tunnel, a new study of elderly patients suggests a second, fast spreading flu strain identified by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) could make many local seniors sick in the coming weeks.

“Finding Josephine,” a stirring Civil War drama co-written and directed by Grammy Award-winning country music singer/songwriter Rory Feek is set for release at Walmart and stores across the nation on Feb. 5.

Last week, the CDC reported widespread flu in our state and more than half the country. 

A brisk winter breeze punctuated the Halifax air as mourners moved from Beth Car Baptist Church to graveside at St. John’s Episcopal Church cemetery Saturday to honor the memory of Sylvia Lovelace Overton McLaughlin, a woman of intelligence, calm demeanor and even manner that made her a Hali…

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, this is my favorite time of year.

After months of hoopla, mudslinging, backstabbing and fingerpointing, the mid-term elections of 2018 are finally history.

I had a choice this week — do I write this column about newly comfirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the lengths some Democrats in this country will go to to have their way including destroying an innocent man’s reputation and humiliating his wife and children, or do I write abo…

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard of the cowardly, dastardly attacks on our country 17 years ago on Sept. 11, 2001?

Tuesday, Aug. 14, marked the 83rd anniversary of the enactment of Social Security, and we’ve got our fingers crossed it’s going to last another 83 years.

Catching the wave, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) Conservation Police Officers this week has joined in the Facebook Lip Sync Challenge that is taking social media by storm.

The Gazette-Virginian subscription drive is kicking off today with Halifax County subscribers paying only $25 for a year’s subscription to the county’s only tri-weekly newspaper.

An eye-opening new documentary about the life and mind of the great comedian and actor Robin Williams aired Monday night revealing Williams suffered from Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) – a progressive brain disease affecting more than a million Americans.  

It’s summer, and with the hot weather comes the ever present emergency blood shortage that is prompting the American Red Cross to issue an urgent call for eligible donors of all blood types — especially type O — to give now and help save lives. 

Halifax County native Jerri (Simmons) Morton will be back at it again this Saturday when she puts on her 100-mile yard sale.

A lot of information‚ some peculiar, some outlandish and some downright unbelievable — comes into the newspaper office via email, postal mail and some personally delivered each day.

Barbara Stevens of South Boston sent us her version of a somewhat familiar email forward this week with a request to print it. Here lately, it seems it’s always an appropriate time to run this obituary of a beloved friend — Common Sense.

After getting back from the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, I was all set to write a column Tuesday morning about how respect and civility has been lost on the commencement exercises at Halifax County High School.

When people dial 911 for help, they don’t have time to think about what it takes to save a life, but they are comforted in knowing that medical providers will quickly respond to their emergency.

It’s that time of year again when students of all ages are beginning to stress because it’s test taking time.

April is National Volunteer Month, and the third week of April is celebrated as National Volunteer Week.

You don’t have to look far to notice grass is greener, flowers are taller and leaves are sprouting despite Old Man’s Winter tight grip that just doesn’t seem to want to let go this spring.  

Members of the Hyco Road Ruritan Club are selling Vidalia onions to promote higher education through their Frazier Pool Memorial Scholarship Fund.

There’s an app for everything these days.

A New York Times March 10 special print section entitled “Overlooked” pays tribute to 15 remarkable women whose obituaries were never published. Among these 15 women is Henrietta Lacks, a native of Clover who died at the young age of 31 and unbeknownst to her, some of her cells were removed …

Much has been written about this season’s flu epidemic that has torn through the U.S. in a way that has appeared to leave the nation almost defenseless.

From flu shots to healthy habits such as hand washing and covering the mouth when coughing, no remedy is infallible, that we know.

It’s the season of love, chocolates and roses. Walk in any store this time of year, and you are bombarded by lots of reds and pinks – delicious chocolate candies, bouquets of beautiful flowers and all sorts of stuffed animals imaginable.

Just like clockwork, at the start of every new year people start composing their lists of New Year’s resolutions, and at the same time they’re usually ending a year filled with some of the same problems, frustrations or worries of prior years. 

Anyone who has been around young children knows how much they love to hear stories, especially those about when mom and dad were growing up.

Each year about this time Americans make promises they know they will not keep.  It’s called making a resolution for the New Year, and the Association of Mature American Citizens has collected a few such commitments that people have made for 2018. 

Often we take for granted how precious life really is and how quickly things may change.

This time of the year, we are reminded of how much our former colleague and fellow columnist, the late Sonny Riddle, loved the Christmas season. It was always his favorite time of the year.