David Cox | Unscrewing up

+ I screwed up.” -Barack Obama, 2/3/09 after Tom Daschle withdrew as a cabinet appointee over unpaid taxes. + “I screwed up.” -John McCain, 10/16/08 to David Letterman after finking out on him to be interviewed instead by Katie Couric. + “To err is human.” -Alexander Pope, An...

Sanford D. Horn | Obama announces surrender date

Moments ago, while speaking at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Barack Obama announced that on “Aug. 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.” He further said that by that date in 2011 all troops will be gone from this troubled nation. Such a pronouncement only gives encouragement to those who seek to...

Moving forward toward a solution to the Downtown Wall issue

The city appears to be closing in on an amicable resolution to the lingering dispute over the removal of a freestanding brick wall in a pedestrian mall in the heart of Doiwntown Waynesboro. “We have a tentative plan in place, and the city is moving forward,” said Constance Paradiso, the owner of...

Feb. 27-March 1

- Local Events: AFP has free tickets to Taste of the Town, Sunday, noon - Local Events: Progress Augusta event set for Tuesday night, Sunday, noon - Local Sports: EMU AD to speak to Shenandoah Valley Athletic Club, Sunday, noon - Local News: EMU announces new provost, Friday, 3 p.m. - Local News: VDOT to...

Shane Lam | A revolution of thought

“All great moves of God start with a man/woman being willing to be reshaped by God for a higher purpose.” - Bishop Tony Miller Many of us are willingly seeking answers about how we got to this place. Some are asking the age-old question – “Is church real and meaningful in times like...

Jim Bishop | Life throws you curves and then grades you on it

What an unexpected but most gladsome sound! About to enter my vehicle to leave for work, I heard and then spotted half a dozen fat robins in our front yard, serenading our Belmont neighborhood. Wasn’t this just mid-February? The temperature that morning was unseasonably mild, causing me to wonder at...

Nan Russell | They count

In second-day clothes after a canceled flight, we used the provided kits to brush our teeth and create some semblance of presentability for this unexpected stay. Working from a darkened hallway after room checkout, we waited for the evening shuttle to take us back to the airport, hoping for a positive...

Dinner Diva | Tuna casserole

In the scheme of things, there is nothing more important than knowing what’s for dinner. Well, maybe that’s a little hyperbolous (is there such a word?) but you get my drift, especially if those four little words send chills up your spine, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” About 12 years ago, I...

A chance for us Dems to gain traction

The fight over the reassessments in Augusta County that I and many others here locally think are out of whack with economic reality isn’t about partisan politics. That’s what we keep hearing, anyway. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you ask me. Because the reason this isn’t about...

Saving Gabe, Part II

Julie Irvine has been fighting for the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents for the past several weeks. Now she’s facing another fight. “I have no insurance at the end of the month,” said Irvine, whose 9-year-old son, Gabe, has been in and out of hospitals dating back to last...

Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009

- Sports: Groh completes staff for 2009, Thursday, 3 p.m. - Virginia Politics: Mims elected AG, Thursday, 3 p.m. - Virginia Politics: Webb introduces health-care legislation for military retirees, Thursday, 3 p.m. - Local News: Salvation Army in Staunton announces food drive, Thursday, 10:15 a.m. - Economy:...

AFP, ND editor named GM of Waynesboro Generals

The Waynesboro Generals are announcing today that Chris Graham of Waynesboro has been named the team’s new general manager. Graham, 36, is the co-owner of Augusta Free Press Publishing in Downtown Waynesboro and the editor of The New Dominion monthly print magazine and Augusta Free Press Online based...

Big Read to kick off tomorrow

A murder mystery starring Waynesboro City Councilwoman Lorie Smith, News Leader community conversations editor Cindy Corell and Staunton school superintendent Steve Nichols will help kick off the 2009 Big Read Thursday. The mystery, The Revenge of the Maltese Falcon, also starring Augusta County Board of...

Supes duped by legal jargon

The newspaper headlines suggesting that the Augusta County Board of Supervisors’ hands are tied with respect to legal remedies regarding the widely disputed general property reassessment come across to me as misleading. It’s not exactly breaking news to me that the county attorney, Pat Morgan,...

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009

- Economy: Treasury Department touts tax break for first-time homebuyers, Wednesday, 5:15 p.m. - Local News: Habitat hosting Radiothon to raise money for local projects, Wednesday, 5:15 p.m. - Economy: Report shows increase in union participation would help push up wages, Wednesday, 5:15 p.m. - Virginia...

Podcast | The AFP on WREL

AFP editor Chris Graham joins “Online with Jim Bresnahan” on WREL-1450AM in Lexington for his Tuesday segment. Chris and Jim talk about the local high-school basketball playoffs and analyze Virginia Tech’s dwindling NCAA Tournament hopes. Length: 17:20. Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player...

Anatomy of a stimulus project

Nancy Dowdy was surprised, to say the least, to hear that the not-anywhere-close-to-being-shovel-ready Shenandoah Village Drive extension had made its way into the package of proposals for federal stimulus money up approved by Waynesboro City Council last week. She has an idea as to why it ended up in the...

Sanford D. Horn | D.C. – First in War, First in Peace, Never in Congress

“If the District of Columbia deserves a member of the House of Representatives, they deserve two senators as well,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) earlier in February. I wholeheartedly agree with the former GOP presidential nominee. Now before those of you who know my staunch opposition to D.C....