Here’s a roundup of news briefs from around Southwest and Southside. Send yours for possible inclusion to news@cardinalnews.org.* * *Community forum will explore ranked-choice votingIs ranked-choice voting a good idea for Virginia? A community forum next month in Blacksburg will tackle the topic.The forum, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 in Blacksburg Town Council chambers. It’s sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, Virginia Tech’s Lifelong Learning Institute and the Montgomery County-Radford-Floyd County NAACP.Liz White, executive director of UpVote Virginia, will explain ranked-choice voting and discuss how it’s been used in Virginia and other places. Caitlin Jewitt, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who studies elections, will talk about how ranked-choice voting affects voting outcomes, the character of campaigns and the democratic system of governance. In ranked-choice voting, voters rank their preferences among the candidates rather than voting for just one candidate. If no one receives a majority in the first round, votes for candidates who got the fewest votes are redistributed to the top-ranking candidates until someone receives a majority. * * *University of Mary Washington names VP, CFOJacob Long has been named vice president for administration and finance and chief financial officer at the University of Mary Washington. He will start Oct. 25.Long most recently was associate vice president for budget and financial planning at the College of William & Mary. He also has served as director of finance and administration for the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, worked in the central budget office and ran finance and administration for an entrepreneurial department while at VCU.Long earned a Master of Public Administration from VCU and a bachelor’s degree in political science and public administration from James Madison University.* * *Youngkin announces board appointmentsGov. Glenn Youngkin has made additional appointments to state boards and commissions, including the following residents of Southwest and Southside:Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Commission: Stephanie LaPrade of Martinsville, community resources coordinator/Alzheimer’s support group facilitator, Southern Area Agency on Aging.Board of Medicine: Dr. Mark Simcox, of Abingdon, physician, Virginia Highlands Anesthesia.Board of directors, New College Institute: Valerie Crummie Johnson of Martinsville, senior health care marketing manager, Kimberly-Clark Corp.; Leeland Prillaman of Henry County, retired, Ernst & Young LLP; Marcus Stone of Bassett, CEO, Connect Health and Wellness.Safety and Health Codes Board: Michael Everett of Christiansburg, scale and instrumentation technician, BAE Systems, USW Local 8-495.The post Community forum will explore ranked-choice voting; more … appeared first on Cardinal News.First published by Cardinal News.