Saturday 10pm Spring 2025 Honor Flight Report : Central and Southwest Virginia Honor Flight
ARLINGTON, Va. (WFXR) — Central and Southwest Virginia Honor Flight will execute Mission 10 April 4-6, 2025, taking two area veterans from World War II and seventeen from the Vietnam service era to Washington, D.C. at no cost to them. The trip will depart from the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia on Friday, April 4, 2025 at 10am and return to the D-Day Memorial on Sunday, April 6 at approximately noon. The hub will be bringing area veterans to the war memorials created in their honor and will be the journey of a lifetime for many who were never properly thanked for their service. The World War II Veterans traveling with us are both 100 years young. The Honor Flight Network began in 2005 to take World War II veterans to the National World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. at no cost to them. Since 2005, the network has escorted 317,128 Veterans to their memorials. Time is of the essence for our area WWII veterans. According to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 2024 statistics, just 66,143 of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II (.4%) are alive today. 2,121 of these are in Virginia.Each veteran is accompanied by a trained volunteer guardian whose mission is to assist the veteran in any way they can—by pushing wheelchairs, carrying belongings, or simply joining in a day full of celebration and reflection. While veterans' trip costs are paid for in full, guardians are asked to donate $400 to cover their trip costs. Guardian applications are screened and accepted on a first come first served basis. Honor Flight trips prioritize World War II and terminally ill veterans, with Korean and Vietnam service eras considered on a space available basis. Honor Flight trips are free of charge to the Veterans. To apply as a veteran or a guardian on future trips or for more information, visit www.cswvirginiahonorflight.org.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Nearly half of Utah's foreign tourism comes from this country, and they're not coming this year
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Infuriated by President Donald Trump's threats to make the U.S.' northern neighbor its 51st state, concerned about the effects of tariffs on their economy and shaken by border detainments and airplane crashes, they have been changing or canceling trips in droves. And perhaps nowhere is their absence felt more keenly than in Utah, where Canadians account for nearly half of the state's foreign tourists. The Salt Lake Tribune explored data and spoke with tourism officials and small business owners to find out how declining numbers of tourists from Canada are impacting Utah. 'The trend seems to be that they're going away, right?' said McKay Edwards, working partner at Moab Springs Ranch, a collection of bungalows near Arches National Park. 'They're canceling instead of coming.' Perhaps unsurprisingly given their proximity, similar mountain terrain and propensity for adventure travel, Canadians generally like visiting Utah. In 2023, 40% of Utah's foreign tourists — more than 270,000 people — hailed from Canada, according to the Utah Office of Tourism. The French are the next most likely to visit the state, accounting for 7.3% of its foreign travelers, followed by Germans at 6%. Relative to the nearly 10 million Americans who visit the state annually, the number of Canadians coming in is small. But their spending power is mighty. Edwards said they tend to stay longer and spend more per visit than Americans. They are also conscientious visitors, he said, who tend to respect the surrounding environment and his ranch's rules. The Canadian market is of such importance that the Utah Office of Tourism has market representatives in the country to help promote the state. Last year, the tourism agency extended its contract with a consulting firm to spearhead strategies to draw even more visitors from the north. 'Clearly,' said Natalie Randall, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, 'Canada is a critical market to us in Utah.' From the day Trump reentered the White House, however, luring in Canadian visitors became exponentially more difficult. On his first day in office, Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. In February, he made the first of numerous suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state, prompting calls for boycotts within the northern country. By early March, according to a study released by the not-for-profit research institute Angus Reid, 58% of Canadians planned to cancel or delay travel to the U.S. That movement only gained momentum earlier this month when Trump told newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, 'Never say never' after Carney remarked that Canada is not for sale. Amidst those already roiled waters, stories about Canadians being detained by U.S. immigration officials — including actor Jasmine Mooney — make people like Hunt, who lives just 20 minutes from the border, think twice about crossing over. 'Just the disrespect, you know?' Hunt said. 'We're a sovereign country. We have our ways of being and doing, and just the repeated threats of annexing us? Honestly, most are saying 'No effing way.'' Randall said her office is aware of the downturn in Canadian tourism nationwide. Ticket sales for summer flights from Canada to the U.S. are down 21% when compared with the same time in 2024, the biggest drop from any country, according to an analysis of Airlines Reporting Corporation data by The New York Times. Statistics Canada reported car travel from Canada dropped 35% in April compared to April 2024, marking the fourth straight month of year-over-year decreases. That visitation void is seeping down into the Rocky Mountain states, including Utah. 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Randall, the Utah tourism director, said her office has only seen hints of that downturn. At Salt Lake City International Airport, for example, industry sources show bookings from Canada to the U.S. have begun to slow, according to an airport spokesperson. Still, last week the airport added service by WestJet, a Canadian carrier, offering direct flights to and from Edmonton, Alberta, in the summer. 'We've been able to hear a handful of sentiments from Canadians, and that handful isn't positive. They're either delaying or not coming,' Randall said. 'But again, it's a handful.' Still, Randall acknowledged that even a handful of cancellations can add up, especially for Utah's small-business owners. 'Those small mom-and-pop guides and outfitters or bed and breakfasts,' Randall said. 'Any type of economic impact that happens always hits them first.' It's already bludgeoning Moab Springs Ranch, Edwards said. A big, red, maple-leaf flag flies outside the historic ranch house-turned-front desk. Pretty soon, he said, it will be the only sign of Canada on his property. An oasis among the red rocks, Moab Springs Ranch sits where Moab's first non-Native settler, Black frontiersman William Grandstaff, homesteaded in the late 1880s. Located just south of Arches National Park, it's now a collection of 20 well-appointed bungalows and townhouses nestled among two springs. Edwards humblebrags that the ranch has been TripAdvisor's No. 1 Traveler's Choice hotel for Moab for the past five years. 'We're independent. We're not part of a national chain, or anything like that,' Edwards said. 'So, I think we drive the big boys crazy because we're sitting in that number one position all the time.' Due to the ranch's small size and the outsized number of American tourists who visit Utah, Edwards said foreign tourists make up a small fraction of his guests. 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Rates start around $300 per night with the discount. To find the best places in the U.S. for a staycation, WalletHub looked at 182 cities, including the 150 biggest cities plus at least two major cities from each state. They scored each city based on three main areas: Recreation, like parks, pools, hiking trails and bike lanes. Food and entertainment, including restaurants, coffee shops, theaters and nightlife. Rest and relaxation, such as spas, beaches, and the cost of relaxing services like massages. They used 41 different factors in total, such as how many parks or restaurants a city has per person and how much it costs to see a movie or get a massage. Each factor was scored on a 100-point scale, with higher scores meaning better conditions for a staycation. For population-based metrics, WalletHub adjusted the numbers to compare smaller and larger cities fairly. 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