I’ll pay my share

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham

Beep, beep …

The guy behind us in the white luxury car was obviously heading to a fire.

Had to be – he was driving 85, 90, easy.

My wife had been trying to pass a semi on the mountain on the way to Charlottesville – innocently as she could.

“OK, Buster, I’ll get over,” she said, looking back into the rear-view as she signaled. Read more

My Almanac, please

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham

I’ve had it with the weather people.

They’ve been promising us the big one all winter – but have they delivered on their promise?

No-o-o-o-o.

Which isn’t to say that they haven’t been deluging us with their ideas about how the big blizzard is on its way. Read more

Stopping by office on a snowy morning

Bishop’s Mantle column by Jim Bishop

It’s mid-morning at my workplace, and my office is quiet except for a Johnny Tillotson – anyone remember him? – “early hits” album playing softly in the background.

OK, his songs were schmaltzy, but on this Valentine’s Day, they work for me. Eastern Mennonite University is officially closed for the day – a rare occurrence – owing to the winter wonderland that greeted the Valley, a peculiar mix of snow, sleet and ice pellets that made travel interesting. All public and private schools and colleges in the mid-Valley area are closed, along with many businesses and cancelled meetings. Read more

‘Terabithia’ bridges generation gap

Carly at the Movies column by Carl Larsen

The name of novelist Katherine Paterson may draw a blank from many of us adults, but her novels are among the favorites of America’s tween-age girls. The film adaptation of her beautiful and moving Bridge to Terabithia bridges that generation gap. Read more

Chicken Hawk

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham

I gotta admit something here that’s going to be difficult for me.

See, I’m a Southern Gentleman, a real-life Virginia Cavalier, if you will.

Which is why I think it’s high time that we get rid of that CavMan mascot at my alma mater, the University of Virginia.

I find it demeaning as a Gentleman Cavalier to have my kind represented in that manner. Read more

The real terrorists

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham

Fox News is always out there talking about how “the Left” has “declared war” on everything.

You know the shtick – “the war on Christmas,” “the war on Christianity,” “the war on family values.”
Everything is military to them – which probably says as much about them as it does about the people that they are supposedly pointing fingers at.

But that’s another column for another day. Read more

Music by Hugh and lyrics by Drew means fun for you

Carly at the Movies column by Carl Larsen

Why is “Music and Lyrics,” currently screening at the Colonial Mall in Staunton, so gosh-darn enjoyable?

Reason One: My wife and I saw it on Valentine’s Day, a dark, snow-bound, gloomy old day here in Pittsburgh, and the movie added an unexpected dollop of Feel-Goodedness to our holiday. Reason Two: Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore delivered just the right amount of suave romance to this tuneful tale of a Has-Been 1980s pop star and a ditzy gal with a talent for writing lyrics. Read more

Sayre announces candidacy in 24th

Story by Chris Graham

Scott Sayre wants to take his conservative values to Richmond.

He also wants to take the high road from the Shenandoah Valley to the State Capitol.

“This is going to be a very, very positive campaign,” said Sayre, who announced today that he will be challenging the three-term incumbent in the 24th Senate District, Emmett Hanger, for the Republican Party nomination in a June 12 party primary.

“As you know, I’ve never been in politics before – so my vision is going to be taken from my experiences, of creating jobs and creating solutions and finding things. It’s going to be a positive vision for the 24th District that will hopefully spread all over Virginia,” Sayre said.
Sayre, 48, is a native of Waynesboro and the founder of Sayre Enterprises, which has offices in Lexington, Buena Vista and Fishersville. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and Liberty University and a nine-year United States Army veteran.

Sayre addressed a gathering of 40 people at Waynesboro High School this morning – on one of six stops on a mini-tour of the district that began earlier in the morning in Rockbridge County and will conclude at 6:30 p.m. in Highland County after stops in Augusta County, Greene County and Rockingham County.

Sayre sidestepped questions from reporters after the event on most of the issues of the day – though he did offer some thoughts on the issue of growth in state spending, which has seen the Virginia state budget more than double in size in the last decade.

“I’m here today to say, There’s got to be a stop to this never-stopping increases in our taxes. That’s one of the issues that I’m going to be focusing on. We’ve got to put a halt to that and restore some sanity,” Sayre said.

“As a businessman, I know how to balance a budget. I know how to meet a payroll. And I think back to some of the issues that I’m looking at right now, especially the rising taxes, and I wondered, our state in the last 10 years increased its population only by 10 to 12 percent, and yet in the last 10 years we have doubled our state spending. You couldn’t run a business like that. You couldn’t run a family like that. You can’t run community programs like that. We’ve got to return some sanity to this process,” Sayre said.

Sayre stopped short both during his remarks to supporters and his Q-and-A afterwards with the local media of criticizing Hanger – who has come under fire from conservative and antitax groups for his work on tax reform and his support of the 2004 budget of former Virginia governor Mark Warner that resulted in an effective tax increase of more than $1 billion annually.

“I’m not going to be talking about negative stuff during this campaign,” Sayre said. “The incumbent senator is a very, very fine man. I respect him very much. We have differences. Those differences will come out during the campaign. But today, I’m here just to announce that I am running and to tell you a little bit about who I am.”

Sayre later talked around a question from a reporter on the hot-button topic of state spending for transportation – which has the bulk of the attention of delegates and senators in Richmond again this year after the two sides in the debate failed to reach agreement in last year’s General Assembly during a regular session, an extended spring session and a special session in the fall.

“The way that I answer questions is not boom, boom, here’s an answer to this, and here’s an answer to that,” Sayre said. “These issues are very complex. You’ve got to have both funding, and you’ve got to have a plan. Now, we’ve had four governors, and where are we today?

“When I get involved in this, and I will tell you where I’m coming from, I will come from a thinking process that will bring solutions, not just answers. And I will develop those and get them for you. Four governors, and here we are today. Give me four months, and I’ll explain to you where we can go,” Sayre said.

Move over, Super Bowl – here comes Scrapplefest

Bishop’s Mantle column by Jim Bishop

There are causes celebres like Super Bowl XLI that help make the COLT winter BEARable (sorry, couldn’t resist!), but such events pale alongside a Scrapplefest.

If you don’t already know that, I commend such an activity to your mental and physical well-being. I just returned from one, so I know whereof I speak. Read more

Notes on ‘Notes on a Scandal’

Carly at the Movies column by Carl Larsen

Back in the olden days, they just didn’t make teachers that looked like Cate Blanchett.

For instance, my own third-grade teacher, Mrs. Odel, cruised up and down the aisles like a great grey battleship wrapped in a blue-and-white polka dot dress. Bad kids got whacked with a ruler. Good kids shut their mouths, closed their eyes, and fantasized about Maureen O’Hara. Read more

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