The Augusta Free Press

Listen to “The Augusta Free Press Sports Show.”

Mike Barber of the Daily News-Record joins us to talk about a new NCAA rule that will prohibit college-football coaches from attending high-school football combines that have become increasingly popular in recent years.

Show Length: 7:05

Listen to “The Augusta Free Press Show.”

Waynesboro Heritage Museum curator Clover Archer joins us to talk about the new exhibit at the Downtown Waynesboro museum that focuses on the history of railroads in the River City. The exhibit opens today and will be on display through Aug. 23.

Show Length: 4:44

Story by Theresa Curry
AGratefulSeason.com

Alhough it’s often mentioned as a possible solution to our energy problems, rail travel is never quite taken seriously. There are too few trains and too many people needing to go places that trains don’t go. it’s possible, though, that an improved train system might solve individual struggles with travel costs, congestion and exhaustion. Read more »

Item by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

U.S. Senate candidate Jim Gilmore is joining President Bush and Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain in criticisms of Democratic Party presidential frontrunner Barack Obama on Iran.

Gilmore, the frontrunner in the race to challenge Democrat Mark Warner in Virginia in November, said today that “Sen. Obama’s plans for presidential meetings with the leaders of Iran are a clear display of his naiveté and lack of experience on foreign policy. Sen. McCain is right to demand that Obama answer to the American people as to why in the world he would be willing to meet with the head of a government that is taking the lives of U.S. military men and women every day.” Read more »

Listen to “The Augusta Free Press Show.”

Dyana Mason of Equality Virginia joins the show to talk about the California Supreme Court ruling overturning that state’s ban on gay marriages - and what Equality Virginia is doing to create a more friendly climate for gays and lesbians in Virginia.

Show Length: 5:47

Op-Ed by Shepherd Bliss

Opinions Wanted! Click here to learn more

Petroleum supplies slowly dwindle as demand rapidly soars. So the prices of gasoline and oil that supply modern societies with their industrial production of food will go up, up and away. A radically different future than the oil-energized 20th century is dawning.

Let’s face it: Our world has become increasingly maddening. Bad news mounts each day: unending wars, financial crises, earthquakes, hurricanes and cyclones killing thousands, chaotic climate change, vanishing pollinating bees and polar bears, rising oceans, thinning forests and a host of human-created or -worsened threats. We live in uncertain times with an even more uncertain future. We face unprecedented, unpredictable converging threats. What can one do to remain somewhat sane? The ostrich approach of denial by burying one’s head in the sand will not be effective or life-enhancing. Read more »

Column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

WINNER: Frank Lucente gets his majority
Give the old codger credit. A lot had to work just right for him to do it, but he did it.

Now comes the hard part. He proved himself adept at being in the minority. But how will he do running the show when he has to account for the provision of public services that meet the demands of a growing community while at the same time balancing an increasingly tight local budget?

It’s not going to be at all the same as sitting on the sidelines and sniping about how the majority isn’t getting the job done. He’ll find that out soon enough. Read more »

Item by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Jim Webb’s Post-9/11 G.I. Bill passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, moving the nation a giant step closer to doing the same thing for recent military veterans that we did for the heroes of World War II.

“(Thursday’s) House vote places veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars one step closer to realizing the first-class future that they are due,” said Webb, a Virginia Democratic senator and military veteran. “This bill lays down a definitive marker that those who have served us honorably since Sept. 11 deserve the same comprehensive educational opportunities as our veterans of World War II.” Read more »

Item by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

A free showing of “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” is being sponsored by Valley Market in Staunton next week.

The screening is set for Tuesday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Dixie Theater in Downtown Staunton.

“The Power of Community” tells the story of how Cuba made the transition form a highly mechanized industrial agriculture system to a system emphasizing organic farming and local urban gardens.

Donations offered at the event will benefit Valley Market, a developing grocery cooperative, and the Staunton Performing Arts Center.

Earth Talk
From the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Are sunscreens safe? Which ones do you recommend that will protect my skin from the sun and not cause other issues?
- Bettina E., New York, N.Y.

Getting a little sunshine is important for helping our bodies generate Vitamin D, an important supplement for strong bones, and f or regulating our levels of serotonin and tryptamine, neurotransmitters that keep our moods and sleep/wake cycles in order. Like anything, though, too much sun can cause health issues, from sunburns to skin cancer. For those of us spend more time in the sun than doctors recommend — they say to stay indoors between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on sunny days to be safe — sunscreens can be lifesavers. Read more »

Item by Jim Bishop

By popular demand, Eastern Mennonite University will repeat its online course on “Basics of Parish Nursing,” June 23-July 28, 2008. EMU’s Adult Degree Completion Program sponsors the course, which is open to any registered nurse or upper-level nursing student in an RN nursing education program.

Parish nursing in the United States is recognized as a specialty practice by the American Nurses Association. According to the International Parish Nurse Resource Center, “Parish nurses are licensed, registered nurses who practice under the guidelines set forth by their State or Provincial Boards of Nursing and the standards of care and professional performance identified in the Scope and Standards for Parish Nursing Practice developed in their country of employment. In the United States, this document is Faith Community Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (ANA/HMA, 2005).” Read more »

Local News
- Waynesboro City Council to consider budget cuts
- Harrisonburg reassigns school-bus driver involved in March accident
- 1988 cold case in Albemarle closed with arrest

State News
- Antiwar Dem running for Congress in 11th has ties with controversial contractor

National News
- McCain flip-flop on Hamas?

Sports News
- UVa. lax ready for Maryland rematch
- UVa. baseball holds on for important win over Georgia Tech
- College-football coaches banned from high-school combines
- Minor League Baseball officials expect more meetings with Richmond

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

You think George Bush using a speech to the Knesset to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Israeli state to compare Barack Obama to Neville Chamberlain is bad, well …

Does anybody out there not expect the President from Hell and his Minion McCain to try to bog us down in yet another war before the 2008 election is all said and done? Read more »

Listen to “The Augusta Free Press Politics Show.”

Michael Cassidy of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis joins AFP editor Chris Graham today to break down the transportation-funding strategy of Gov. Tim Kaine. The analysis in the interview includes a pointed look at the impact of regional sales-tax increases on low- and middle-income families.

Show Length: 10:42

Item by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

The California Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on gay marriage.

And this impacts Virginia … how, exactly? Read more »

Item by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

A bipartisan group of United States senators including Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb is calling on the United States Postal Service to issue the Purple Heart stamp on a permanent basis.

“This is a most appropriate way to honor past and future recipients of our nation’s oldest military decoration,” said Webb, a Marine combat veteran, who received two Purple Hearts during the Vietnam War.

The Postal Service recently reissued the Purple Heart stamp at the new 42-cent first-class rate. It is the fourth issue of the stamp, which was first issued in 2003.

Item by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Rockbridge Republican Del. Ben Cline is “disappointed but not surprised” that Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine has proposed a series of small tax and fee increases to provide funding for transportation maintenance and funding.

“As a member of the House Finance Committee, I have listened to Gov. Kaine ask time and time again for us to raise taxes on Virginia families. But when our economy is slowing and rising food and fuel costs are forcing families to tighten their belts, it is the wrong time to ask working Virginians to hand over even more of their hard-earned dollars to the government,” Cline said. Read more »

Item by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

New Market assistant coach Mo Weber will have his name on the Valley League Coach of the Year Award, it was announced this week.

Weber, 84, has been a baseball coach since the 1940s, working at all levels of college baseball, including serving a stint as the head coach at William and Mary from 1978 to 1981.

Weber was first affiliated with the New Market team in the Valley League in 1979. He has been back with the Rebels every summer since 1996.

Column by Jim Bishop

“To be loved, to be loved,

Oh, what a feeling,

To be loved …”

- The late Jackie Wilson

If things improve with age, then you’ve just about reached perfection.

This was one of the more encouraging messages received a year ago amid a larger number of birthday greeting reminders of my having taken up permanent residency in the Paleolithic Era.

And, as this disorientated dinosaur sinks deeper into the tar pit of torpor, another warning sounds - birth dates on calendar are closer than they appear. Read more »

Local News
- Staunton plant closing to cost 145 local jobs
- Wildlife Center of Virginia hits milestone
- Augusta BOS approves Middlebrook Library Station
- Theft of laptop imperils Harrisonburg school employees’ data
- UVa. gears up for graduation weekend

State News
- Virginia Beach woman charged with soliciting sex from teen boy on MySpace
- Wal-Mart cites cost as reason for withdrawing plans for Roanoke-area superstore
- House, Senate Dems disagree over details of Gov. Kaine’s transportation plan

National News
- John Edwards endorses Barack Obama
- John McCain to outline Iraq troop-withdrawal timeline

Sports News
- ACC football, basketball coaches take stand on proposals to add conference games
- Upset of top-ranked Miami has Virginia Tech baseball feeling good
- Local group seeks to own new Richmond minor-league baseball team

Best Seat in the House column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

The economy is in a tatters. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are marching on toward the 100-year mark. Millions lack access to basic health care. But no worries - Arlen Specter has his eyes on the prize.

“What is necessary is an objective investigation. And this one has not been objective,” said the Pennsylvania Republican senator, who is not satisfied that the Spygate issue involving the New England Patriots is over and done with, and is insisting that the NFL conduct a Mitchell Report-style investigation of the Pats’ illicit taping of opposing coaches’ signals, under the threat of a similar investigation to be funded by the U.S. taxpayers. Read more »

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net

Waynesboro leaders are discussing what to do about the real-estate tax rate.

One option is to raise it four cents, as the city manager has proposed. The second option is to keep it where it is, and make some drastic cuts to services.

We wouldn’t be here if city council had the guts to do the right thing with stormwater.

A utility-fee system splitting the costs of the multimillion-dollar, multiyear improvements down the middle between residential taxpayers and business and industry, with credits and incentives for business and industry for efforts to mitigate the problems caused by their impervious surfaces, is the way to go, clearly. Read more »

Listen to “The Augusta Free Press Show.”

It’s going to be a Wild Weekend in Waynesboro. Saturday’s schedule is packed with Public Works Day ‘08, XtremeFest ‘08 and Main Street Muscle. AFP editor Chris Graham caught up with Waynesboro tourism director Lianne Crookshanks, XtremeFest organizer Dwayne Jones and Main Street Muscle man Rick Moyer to talk about the events.

Show Length: 12:47

Listen to “The Augusta Free Press Politics Show.”

Ed Long of the Augusta County-based Longhill Technologies joins AFP editor Chris Graham to talk about short-term and long-term solutions to the gas-price crisis.

Show Length: 8:48

Op-Ed by Edward R. Long

On May 6, Democrat Sen. Harry Reid accused big oil companies of shutting down refineries temporarily to raise gasoline prices and rake in”obscene profits.” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., stated that it would take too long to bring new sources online and that there would never be drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR, pronounced ‘anwar’). Democrat Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi stated, “Years of Bush administration policies that have favored Big Oil over the consumers have resulted in record dependence on foreign oil.”

Two years ago Reid and Pelosi announced they had a “commonsense plan to lower gas prices” and now apparently their plan amounts to a 25 percent profits tax. Somehow that tax is going to make g