Good morning, Blacksburg.

Flags are still at half-staff today in respect to the passing of the great Dolly Parton. Join me, if you’d like, in rolling out of bed pouring a cup of ambition this morning in her honor.

In today's Blacksburg Connect:

Let’s get to it.

To honor Dolly Parton’s passing, flags at state and local buildings dropped to half-staff at 6 p.m. Tuesday and stay there until sunset on Tuesday, Sept. 1, by order of Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

The governor's order singles out one program by name: the Imagination Library, which mails a free book every month to children under five.

The Imagination Library of Montgomery County is sponsored by the Mt. Tabor Ruritan Club and sends books to any county child under five, regardless of what their family earns.

If you’d like to donate the link is here: https://imaginationlibrarymcva.org/donate/

James Moloney, a PhD student in Virginia Tech's Department of Biochemistry, is giving tonight's Science on Tap talk on where mosquitoes actually get their energy: nectar from garden flowers. Blood gets the attention, but it's the flowers in your yard fueling the insect that finds you.

The talk starts at 5:30 p.m. at Rising Silo Brewery, 2351 Glade Rd. It's free and open to anyone, with a trivia round afterward. Hosted by Virginia Tech's Center for Communicating Science and the campus Sigma Xi chapter, which have run the series since 2017 — more than 80 events and 150 presenters so far.

The Virginia Board of Wildlife Resources voted 6-4 last Thursday to raise hunting, fishing, trapping and boat registration fees for the first time in 14 years. The new prices start Oct. 1.

Most resident licenses go up $5, though the board raised prices by the maximum the law allows — which runs as high as $20 on some of the dozens of packages DWR sells, and up to $50 for nonresidents. Youth, apprentice, disabled veteran and disabled participant licenses don't change.

There's also a new one: camping on department-owned wildlife management areas will cost $10 starting the same day. It has always been free.

Cardinal News reported that Department of Wildlife Resources spokesperson Shelby Crouch noted the departments budget hasn't kept pace with inflation and rising costs. DWR ran about $55.2 million in 2012 — roughly $80 million in today's dollars — against about $65 million for fiscal 2027. Board vice chair Woody Woodall put it more plainly: the agency had to borrow $6.9 million from the treasury to pay its bills. The license increases will help put that money back.

If you buy an annual license, buying before Oct. 1 locks in the old rate.