Rescued puppy helps ease stress at Virginia 911 center

By The Associated Press
February 1, 2020 | 5:18 PM

TAZEWELL, Va. (AP) — A rescued puppy is helping lighten the stressful days of the dispatchers at a Virginia 911 call center.

WVNS-TV reports the puppy’s former owners surrendered the 8-week-old lab mix to the Tazewell County Sheriffs Office, and dispatchers in the office fell in love.

Edwinna Cecil says the puppy “helps calm everybody down.” As the center official dispatcher service dog the puppy will be a 911 ambassador. But he still needs a name.

People can vote on the sheriff’s office Facebook page for their favorite or four proposed names — Mischief, Rookie, Taser or Creed. Votes will be counted Monday afternoon.

Va. health dept. improves nursing home inspection backlog, reforms sanction criteria for facilities

By Virginia Mercury
August 22, 2026 | 8:37 PM

Stories of neglect in care or unsanitary living situations have plagued several of Virginia’s nursing home facilities in recent years and data backs up a lapse in oversight by state agencies. With reform efforts underway, the Virginia Department of Health officials said they aim to adopt sanction criteria by the end of the year to rein in bad actors and get troubled facilities back on track. As of July, 58% of Virginia’s nursing homes were overdue for inspections and 68 of Virginia’s 289 nursing homes were found to have serious deficiencies, according to ProPublica. Several of the state’s flagged facilities with numerous deficiencies also had high staffing turnover rates. The issue has been salient among various healthcare spaces, including VDH.

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