The Valley Today

It's Public Safety Thursday, and Captain Warren Gosnell of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office is back in the studio to untangle one of the most misunderstood pieces of back-to-school season: school zone speed cameras. With students returning to class next week, Gosnell walks Janet through exactly how the lidar-based camera systems work, why they're not the same as license plate reader (LPR) tec...

A five-year-old antique shop in Front Royal turned into something much bigger — a nonprofit built entirely around making sure no one in the community goes hungry. Janet sits down at the Front Royal-Warren County Chamber of Commerce with Chamber President Niki Foster and Julie Vaught, owner of Happy Creek Antiques and founder of the nonprofit Debbie's Lighthouse, to talk about how a mother's love o...

It's almost time for one of the Valley's tastiest traditions — Hungry for History is back for its fourth year, and Janet sits down with the three people who make it happen to talk taverns, colonial "shrubs," and a walnut cake with a very local backstory. Renee Bayliss (Winchester-Frederick County Convention & Visitors Bureau), Rick Kriebel (Newtown History Center), and Christa Nahhas (La Grange Fa...

Handley Regional Library just had its biggest year ever — and executive director John Huddy joins Janet to break down exactly why. From nearly 850,000 items checked out to a 100,000-visit jump since before the pandemic, the numbers tell the story of a library system that's become an essential gathering place for Winchester, Frederick, and Clarke. John and Janet dig into what's driving the surge —...

Brady Cloven, executive director for Friends of Old Town, joins Janet Michael to unveil the details of Dawg Days of Summer — the Old Town Hot Dog Crawl — and yes, he's every bit as excited about hot dogs as you'd expect. Ten restaurants (and one food truck!), one-of-a-kind hot dogs, one very committed hot dog costume, and a golden trophy on the line: this episode has all the details on tickets, th...

Blandy Experimental Farm is turning 100 — and Janet Michael sits down with Anne Marie Chirieleison, director of the Foundation of the State Arboretum, to unpack a century of research, discovery, and community stewardship at the Virginia State Arboretum. From an 1835 enslaved-quarters building that once housed the first researchers to a mysterious pawpaw patch rediscovered decades later, Blandy's h...

A woodworker six and a half years sober and a real estate broker whose "hobby got out of hand" — these are the makers filling the shelves at The Nest in Mount Jackson. On this Valley Business Today segment, Janet Michael hands the mic to two of The Nest's founding Nesters: Ryan Peters of Home Revival and Decor, and Mike Cain of Poppy's Dust. They talk candidly about how they landed in retail, what...

What does it take to turn a vacant, decades-old hardware store into the heart of a small town's downtown? On this Tourism Tuesday edition of The Valley Today, Janet Michael heads to The Nest in Mount Jackson with Shenandoah County Tourism's Kary Haun, joined by Mount Jackson Town Manager Olivia Hilton and Assistant Town Manager Greg Beam, to find out. They dig into the town's Mount Jackson Five pr...

Victoria Kidd Armstrong makes espresso martinis and community change with equal skill — and on this episode of The Valley Today, she tells Janet Michael how Hideaway Cafe, her "coffee to cocktails" spot on Winchester's Old Town Walking Mall, has quietly funneled nearly $75,000 in cash and in-kind donations back into the community over its 11 years in business. Janet and Victoria dig into how Hidea...

Back-to-school season means one thing on The Valley Today: it's time to Stuff the Bus. Janet Michael welcomes back Elise Stine Dolinar, executive director of Bright Futures Frederick/Winchester, for a catch-up on the joint Frederick County/Winchester City Schools program that makes sure kids have what they need to learn — and a look ahead at this year's Stuff the Bus school supply drive. Elise sha...

It's VDOT Day on The Valley Today, and Ken Slack, communications specialist for VDOT's Staunton District , is back with a full slate of road project updates for the Northern Shenandoah Valley. From the widening of I-81 at Strasburg to a soon-to-triple-in-size park and ride, this episode covers a lot of ground — literally. Janet and Ken dig into the I-81/Strasburg bridge work , the Oranda Park & Ri...

Curious how AI could actually help your small business — but not sure where to start? The Top of Virginia Regional Chamber has a free, hands-on answer, and it's launching this month. Janet Michael sits down with Missy Spielman, the Chamber's Director of Programs, and Taylor Coumes, the Chamber's brand-new Director of Events, for the Chamber's monthly segment. Missy previews Small Business B(AI)sic...

There's a new thrift shop in Winchester, but it's not selling clothes — it's stocked with fabric, yarn, wine corks, carpet samples, and just about anything else you could turn into art. Janet Michael sits down with Misty Weaver, owner of the brand-new Art Again Thrift Shop, just 24 hours after opening its doors on Valley Avenue. Misty walks through how the creative-reuse shop works, from the "Fill...

Ever wished someone else would just plan your whole wine country day for you? On this episode, Janet sits down with Gina Hilliard, president of the Luray-Page Chamber of Commerce, and Chris Snow, owner of the brand-new Valley & Vine Transport, a private curated tour and transport service built around the Shenandoah Valley's craft beverage scene. Chris walks through how it works — guests fill out a...

There's a brand-new trail at Seven Bends State Park — and it took a decade, a federal grant, and a whole lot of volunteer sweat to build it. Janet Michael is joined by Kary Haun (Shenandoah County Tourism) for a bonus conversation with Kyle Lawrence of the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition about the new shared-use trail connecting the park to the George Washington National Forest. Kyle breaks do...

"Spider veins" was a scary name for a little girl who was afraid of spiders. As it turns out, it's a scary name for a lot of grown-ups too — and one of the biggest reasons people put off getting evaluated. On this Community Health edition of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael welcomes Dr. Emily Reardon , board-certified vascular surgeon with Valley Health Vascular Surgeons , for a genuinely reas...

Your potato salad has been out for how long? On this episode of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael welcomes back Amanda Johnson , the Food, Nutrition, and Health Extension Agent based in Frederick County (serving all five surrounding counties), for a genuinely useful summer companion to their November food safety conversation. This time the focus is picnics, cookouts, and family reunions — with...

Ten years ago, a Shenandoah University undergraduate history major had an internship project: create a summer kid-friendly program at Burwell-Morgan Mill. This Saturday, that program will draw hundreds of families and host history organizations from across the state. On this Tourism Tuesday Berryville/Clarke County edition of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael catches up on the Zooms with Nathan...

A giant peach, a British farce, a Christmas at Pemberley, a Berkeley PTA vaccine debate, a war photographer's homecoming, and a nun-choir tribute to Whoopi Goldberg. On this episode of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael catches up with Tim Bambara from Winchester Little Theatre to preview the second WLT for Kids show of the summer AND the full 2026-2027 main-stage season — five main-stage produc...

"Did you know that being homeless is really expensive?" That's the sentence one Family Promise Winchester client said to Chris Brigante recently — and it's the question that anchors this follow-up episode of The Valley Today. Host Janet Michael welcomes Chris Brigante, Executive Director of Family Promise Winchester, back to the show for the deep-dive conversation she promised at the end of their...

"I'm the person that calls that number and just pushes zero until a human picks up. I need a Thomas." Brandy Hawkins Boies said it, and it's the truest thing about community college enrollment in 2026. On this Laurel Ridge Community College edition of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael welcomes back Director of Communications and Outreach Brandy Hawkins Boies, joined by Thomas Monk — Outreach Sp...

Twenty-plus deployments across the country. Coast to coast. And this month, Elizabeth Quinn was on standby to fly to Guam via Hawaii for a Category 5 typhoon response. On this episode of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael continues her year-long Red Cross series with Deb Fleming, Executive Director of the Greater Shenandoah Valley Chapter, joined by Elizabeth Quinn — the Disaster Health Services...

Some restaurants are worth coming back for. And some people are worth partnering with to make that happen. On this Tourism Tuesday Winchester/Frederick County edition of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael and Justin Kerns catch up on the Zooms with Cheryl Ash and Drew Braithwaite — the team behind Gypsy Jane's Southern Food Lounge, a brand-new Creole-leaning New Orleans-inspired destination rest...

Every year, a jigsaw puzzle. But this year, the pieces gelled. On this episode of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael returns to the corporate headquarters of the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival in Woodstock (as always, delighting Dennis Lynch by calling it that) for her annual walk through the summer concert series at Orkney Springs. And Dennis has assembled a genuinely wide-ranging 2026 lineup...

Some things bear repeating. And on this Public Safety Thursday edition of The Valley Today — the day before the 250th Independence Day weekend — Captain Warren Gosnell of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office does exactly that. Host Janet Michael welcomes him back to the studio with a folder of new laws, a warning about the heat, and a story about one of his deputies whose truck was totaled earlie...