2023 YEAR IN REVIEW: Southwest, Central Virginia’s top news stories

From the highs to the lows, 2023 was a busy year.

Let’s take a look back at some of the top stories from across our region, starting in Lynchburg.

In February, a 12-year-old girl was shot and killed followed by the shooting death of 6-year-old Kingston Campbell. Their murders sparked community outrage and calls for action.

The Hill City saw five officer-involved shootings, two involving the same woman, Ashley Biggs Neeley.

To curb crime, Lynchburg leaders passed a youth curfew in May.

Wintergreen Police Officer Chris Wagner was shot and killed in June while responding to a call and two people were charged after seven Amherst County elementary students were exposed to fentanyl after eating gummy bears.

The Matts Creek wildfire burned more than 11,000 acres in the George Washington Jefferson National Forest..

Farmville native singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony became an overnight sensation with his song “Rich Men North of Richmond.”

In the sports world, JMU made its first-ever bowl game and the Liberty University Flames went undefeated to head to the Fiesta Bowl.

In Southside, Danville’s temporary casino opened in May, raking in more than 52 million dollars in its first three months.

The Blue Ridge Rock Fest returned in September, bringing yet another year of controversy.

The legendary Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 steam locomotive hit the rails in the Highlands for peak fall foliage excursions.

State police seized 95 animals – both alive and dead – from the Natural Bridge Zoo over what investigators are calling unsanitary and overcrowded conditions. A white Bengal tiger named Zeus was euthanized.

In the Roanoke Valley, the Railyard Dawgs took home the President’s Cup and Cave Spring High and UVA alum Ronde Barber was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Franklin County father Michael Morris was charged with felony eluding police while rushing his daughter to the ER with pneumonia. That charge has since been dropped to a misdemeanor.

A 17-year-old boy is being remembered by loved ones after they say he was shot and killed by his father in an apparent murder-suicide at the McAfee Knob trailhead parking lot.

Star City leaders expanded a youth curfew and hired a new police chief, Scott Booth, formerly Danville’s chief.

Roanoke City saw 63 shootings, killing 26 people including an officer-involved shooting that left a murder suspect dead and an officer fighting for her life.

Now to the NRV where the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team made a historic run to the Final Four.

The Blacksburg community mourned 17-year-old Serenity Hawley after she was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend in an apparent murder-suicide.

17-year-old Lauren Worley is fighting for her life after she and her boyfriend were hit head-on by a suspected drunk driver in Patrick County.

Closure in a 20-year cold case. Human remains found in Galax in December were identified as 5-year-old Logan Bowman’s. He disappeared in 2003.

And it was a Christmas miracle for 7-year-old Aubrey Scaletta who lost both her feet in a freak accident while riding in her dad’s pickup truck. After six surgeries, 35 days in the hospital, and months of physical therapy, Aubrey defied the odds to perform in the Nutcracker ballet this holiday season.