Good morning, Blacksburg.

Monday gives you a high near 70 under partly cloudy skies, and if you miss summer, good news: the 80s are back by Wednesday. Fun fact to start your week: the average person walks about 110,000 miles in a lifetime, roughly four or five trips around the Earth.

In today’s Blacksburg Connect:

Let’s get to it.

Virginia Tech is 4-0 for the first time since 2017, and Saturday's 21-14 comeback win at Boston College was the gritty kind. The Hokies trailed 14-6 early in the fourth quarter in a nor'easter, with winds gusting near 40 mph at Alumni Stadium, before mounting 15 unanswered points. Ethan Grunkemeyer found Marlion Jackson for a 14-yard touchdown, Jeffrey Overton Jr. punched in the two-point conversion to tie it, and then Overton broke loose for a 76-yard touchdown with about eight minutes left to win it. Overton finished with a career-high 209 rushing yards, the first 200-yard game by a Hokie since Bhayshul Tuten did it against Boston College in 2024. Tech did it shorthanded, too: starting linemen Justin Terry and Montavious Cunningham were out, Brody Meadows left mid-game, and Michael Troutman III made his first collegiate start at guard. Full recap

Now comes the showdown. Friday night, 4-0 Pitt comes to Lane Stadium for a 7pm ET kickoff on ESPN, and Tech opened as about a 6-point favorite. Pitt just steamrolled Bucknell 59-0, with quarterback Mason Heintschel throwing six touchdowns, his second six-TD game of the season and a mark matched in ACC history only by Deshaun Watson. A win makes the Hokies 5-0 for the first time since 2005. If you don't have tickets yet, now is the time.

Three New River Valley projects are among 19 initiatives awarded funding through the Appalachian Regional Commission grant program, announced by Governor Abigail Spanberger, bringing nearly $1.4 million to the region as part of $8.4 million distributed across Virginia. The lion's share, $1 million, goes to the NRV Passenger Rail Station in Christiansburg, helping offset the $3.7 million needed to fully renovate the former 1906 station in the Cambria section of town. The Federal Railroad Administration has also released a $2 million grant for the project. The City of Radford gets $255,568 for its New River Crossing Economic Development Project, and the NRV Regional Commission gets $100,000 for a Regional + Local Housing Study. Details

Virginia Tech will begin construction in spring 2027 on a $63 million expansion and renovation of its Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, targeting completion in spring 2029. The project adds about 35,000 square feet and renovates 17,000 more in a hospital that, in the university's words, "has changed little from when it opened in 1987." Expect new surgical suites and more room for internal medicine, cardiology, emergency services, and student learning rounds. The Board of Visitors authorized the project in late August, the hospital will stay open through phased construction, and the university is still raising the $13 million philanthropic piece. Details

Downtown Blacksburg's retail incubator at 414 N Main St, built into the old Cook's Cleaners building, opens Wednesday, October 14. The project has been in planning since 2025, went through public input on the Let's Talk Blacksburg platform, and was built with ARPA funds so Downtown Blacksburg, Inc. can lease the space from the town for a dollar and focus on tenant support instead of profit. Five storefronts and five wall spaces for new entrepreneurs, plus a cafe and event space, all aimed at giving early-stage businesses a lower-risk way to try retail downtown.

Here's the full shop lineup, per thelocalblacksburg.com:

The Local cuts its ribbon at 11am on opening day, with festivities running through October 17, per Downtown Blacksburg, Inc.'s September 18 reel

A Word from Our Sponsor…

Thanks for reading Blacksburg Connect today. Please share it with someone who would enjoy!