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We start off today with a reminder. This Saturday, Downtown Farmville will be the site of an Art Walk, featuring about 30 artists and artisans set up along the High Bridge Trail, starting at the Train Station and then stretching down Main Street. This marks the first art walk for the area, running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anyone who collects an Art Walk Passport and then completes it during the event will be eligible to win prizes. For more on the passport, go to www.centralvirginiaarts.org.

What caused all that smoke? 

It was a question multiple people in Buckingham County reached out and asked on Thursday, inquiring what was causing all that smoke. The answer is a controlled burn. The 61-acre burn, organized by Virginia State Parks, was taking place just southeast of Holiday Lake. As a result, some folks in the southern part of Buckingham encountered more smoky conditions than normal. 

VDOT issues a warning 

And we follow that up with a warning. The FBI is urging people to be cautious about which texts you respond to. The message in question here says you’ve got an outstanding balance on your record, due to unpaid toll fees. It’s nothing much, just $12 or $15 right now. But unless you want to get hit with an additional $50 fine, the message says, you need to click on the link provided and settle your debt. It’s a complete scam and one that’s targeted more than 2,000 people in at least three states, according to the FBI. 

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) issued a warning about the scam on Thursday, April 25, concerned that the scam might arrive here in the coming weeks. The link provided in the text message is set up to impersonate a toll facility’s or collection service’s name, and phone numbers appear to change between states. By clicking the link, people could risk giving away sensitive data, including credit card information.

Both FBI and VDOT officials ask residents not to click any links asking you to pay bills, when they show up like that in text messages.

Prince Edward scraps workshop 

On Thursday night, Prince Edward County Public Schools was originally scheduled to be hosting a workshop, one focused on Social Security and VA Medicaid waivers. However, that event was canceled. School officials sent out a statement, saying the workshop was scrapped due to low pre-registration numbers. 

Hampden-Sydney remains in Top 25

We finish with some sports news today, as another Hampden-Sydney team remains in the Top 25 in the nation in their sport. The golf team is currently No. 21 in the nation, according to the latest rankings, released on Thursday. 

The Tigers are also ranked 10th in Region IV, which includes 11 of the Top 25 teams in the country. 

H-SC, under the direction of seventh-year head coach and Director of Athletics Chad Eisele, has averaged 298.13 per round through nine tournaments and 23 rounds. The Tigers have one win and four Top 10 finishes among nine Top 15 efforts overall. H-SC is ranked No. 20 nationally in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek DIII Coaches Poll, as well.

The Garnet & Grey feature five golfers ranked highly among the SCOREBOARD national and/or regional individual rankings, including junior Nick Rubino, who is ranked 31st in Division III and 21st in Region IV with his 73.78 scoring average. Rubino is followed by freshman Jack Barnes (74.18), who is 90th in DIII and 46th in the region, junior John Hutcheson (75.78), who is 169th in DIII and 73rd in the region, junior Rece Lott (76.09), who is 210th in DIII and 88th in the region, along with senior Tommy Bishop (75.58), who is 229th in DIII and 92nd in the region.