The Martinsville School Board on Monday voted unanimously to pursue talks with Henry County school officials about the possibility of merging the city and county school systems due to projected revenue losses.

City school officials have said they anticipate losing about $1.9 million in state funds in the fiscal year that starts July 1. County school officials have said they expect to lose about $5.4 million in the upcoming fiscal year plus $2.6 million in the following year.

The Clearview Early Childhood Center will close at the end of the current school year, and its programs will be moved to other locations, as part of the Martinsville schools’ efforts to make up for a projected budget shortfall of $2.2 million in the coming fiscal year.

Several incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning have been reported in the area recently, and officials are warning residents about the potentially fatal condition.

Two county residents who live on Sedgefield Drive in the Grassy Creek area were taken to the hospital Saturday after breathing the odorless, colorless and toxic gas, Henry County Public Safety Director Dale Wagoner has said. They apparently were using a generator inside a basement garage when the exhaust seeped into the main part of the home, sickening them.

A total of $21.5 million in stimulus funds will be used to expand broadband Internet infrastructure in Southside and Southwest Virginia, the area’s lawmakers announced Monday.

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb joined U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello and White House Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra on a conference call Monday to announce the two grants.