By Tonia Moxley
The Roanoke (Va.) Times
Aug. 3, 2008
Summary: Amish families from across the country have settled in Giles County, opening more than a dozen businesses and contributing to the overall economy.
Note: View a .pdf version of this story, including a detailed map of profiled businesses.
WHITE GATE — Girls in bonnets and boys in hats and [...]

By Tonia Moxley
The Roanoke Times
March 17, 2005
Summary: Sheikh Mohamed Gebaly reached out to Muslim students at Virginia Tech and Christian ministers in Blacksburg.
BLACKSBURG — The New River Valley’s first Muslim cleric who served a Blacksburg mosque for the past three years will return to his native Egypt next month.
Sheikh Mohamed Gebaly arrived in 2002 [...]

By Tonia Moxley
The Roanoke Times
May 1, 2004
BLACKSBURG — The Unitarian Universalist Congregation recently voted to become the second church in the New River Valley to officially welcome homosexuals into the fold.
The congregation’s pastor, the Rev. Chris Brownlie, said two events galvanized the congregation’s resolve to pass the measure: the arrest of United Universalist clergy in [...]

By Tonia Moxley
The Roanoke Times
April 29, 2004
Summary: Kelly Sisson and artist Alex Wind resurrect the remains of shattered pottery to create a symbol of hope.
BLACKSBURG — Every time potter Kelly Sisson loads or unloads her kiln with new pots, she must pass near an old, broken pot. Stuck to the pot is a note that [...]

By Tonia Moxley
The Roanoke Times
January 30, 2004
Summary: More than $15,000 in donations have come in to the 10-member church, which must replace its aging floor.
RINER — For the past three weekends, saws have whined out a melody to the backbeat of a nail gun at Mount Airy United Methodist Church on Dry Valley Road, where [...]