Radford University plans to break ground Tuesday on a $22.5 million building for its College of Visual and Performing Arts.

That college is "really tight on space ... and this will help alleviate that," university spokesman Rob Tucker said.

The state is paying for the project, which is expected to be done by fall 2008. Branch and Associates of Roanoke is the general contractor.

The arts college will maintain its current space in Porterfield and Powell halls but will get an additional 50,000 square feet with the new building planned for the corner of Adams and East Main streets. The college has 773 undergraduate students and 47 graduate students.

Named for RU's former president and his late wife, the Douglas and Beatrice Covington Fine and Performing Arts Center will feature a 350-seat recital hall, rehearsal space, work areas and an office for the department chair. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m.

DUBLIN -- Beulah House, the New River Valley's first private-care home for terminally ill patients, celebrated its opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday.

Founded by Judy Epperly, a licensed practical nurse whose specialty is hospice care, the house was named in honor of Epperly's grandmother who died of cancer in 1979.

The house at 4704 Caddell Drive has 3,000 square feet of space and is equipped to handle the needs of patients and family members. Epperly said she expects to have the home operational later this month. The facility will provide intensive assisted living for patients who do not have a willing or able caregiver.

Businesses, churches and individuals donated money, materials and time to purchase and remodel the home.

The open house continues today, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and includes a silent auction of donated items. Proceeds will benefit Beulah House.

Blacksburg's annual holiday parade is at 1 p.m. today, a rescheduling from Friday caused by a forecast of continuing high winds.

The winds that swept in from West Virginia also caused power outages for some Montgomery County and Radford residents Friday, American Electric Power spokesman John Shepelwich said.

A fallen tree interrupted electricity to about 750 AEP customers in the Prices Fork area Friday morning and an undiagnosed problem cut power to about 13 customers in the north end of Blacksburg, Shepelwich said.

In Radford, 170 AEP customers experienced outages because of wind, as did a few in Christiansburg.

AEP expected high winds Friday evening to cause more problems.

Across Virginia about 9,000 AEP customers had lost power by Friday afternoon, compared to 40,000 in West Virginia, Shepelwich said.

Virginia Tech Electric Service, which provides power to much of Blacksburg, reported no outages Friday.