The faces in the logo
The logo for the SAW2010 gang-prevention effort has a teen who is facing pressures that might have him thinking about joining a gang surrounded by adults who can talk him into making the right choices for himself and his life. A picture can indeed be worth a thousand words.
“The idea is to try to catch these young people before they get older, try to instill moral values in them, try to teach them to make right decisions, so that we can give them something to build on, so when they’re confronted with something when they’re older, they can make the right decisions,” said Joyce Bates, the founder of the Staunton Living Room program that gives children and teens in Farrier Court and two nearby apartment complexes an outlet for positive living that includes a Girl Scout troop, a dance team and lessons on life skills. Read more
The state of the Valley
Per-capita incomes are a little less than 80 percent of the state average. We’re older, more of us lack health insurance, most of us are overweight or obese, and a higher-than-acceptable proportion of us lack a high-school education. And yet for the most part, we’re doing OK. Read more
Debatable whether we should care or not
Good news for Democrats in the Valley who like to drive – you’ll have eight chances to get in the car for a couple of hours there and a couple of hours back to see Creigh Deeds, Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran together in person.
“We are pleased to announce this debate and joint appearance schedule in the run-up to the June 9th primary to pick our next Democratic Governor of Virginia. Our campaigns worked together to schedule as many joint appearances and debates as possible all across the Commonwealth. Our candidates – Creigh Deeds, Terry McAuliffe, and Brian Moran – look forward to having several spirited debates on the important issues facing Virginians,” read a joint statement issued by Deeds campaign manager Joe Abbey, McAuliffe campaign manager Mike Henry, and Moran general consultant Steve Jarding on the announcement of five debates and three joint appearances. Read more
Ballot petitions and GOP moneymen
The news on the 2009 elections this week was supposed to be related to the first ballot-access petitions to be filed, and there is news there, with three candidates on the Democratic side filing their petitions with the State Board of Elections on Tuesday, the first day they could be filed. But it was something else that went down on Tuesday that is the source of the latest bit of friction between Democratic Party gubernatorial-nomination candidates Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe. Read more
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
- Business: Port Crossing in Harrisonburg has buyer, Wednesday, 11 a.m.
- Health: Not on Tobacco program raises awareness of teen smoking, Wednesday, 11 a.m.
- Local News: Augusta County Board of Supervisors meeting agenda, Wednesday, 11 a.m.
- Event: Perdue CEO to speak, Wednesday, 11 a.m.
- Local News: SVCC sings at national conference, Wednesday, 11 a.m.
- Event: Peacebuilding seminar, Wednesday, 11 a.m.
- Event: Gang prevention rally, Wednesday, 11 a.m. Read more
Local Rotarians describe scene at Homestead
Len Poulin didn’t know anything was going on until a fellow Rotarian at The Homestead this past weekend for a district Rotary conference asked for a dessert left over at his table. “He wanted to know if he could have it to give to his daughter because there had just been a shooting in the dining room, and they had evacuated everybody there before they served dinner,” remembered Poulin, the owner of LBP Enterprises in Downtown Waynesboro, who was among an estimated 120 Rotary Club members from the Greater Augusta area on grounds at The Homestead Saturday night when an employee shot two coworkers and fled the scene on foot. Read more
WDDI cutbacks aimed at long-term survivability
Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc. is cutting back hours for its paid staff to try to account for a cash-flow shortfall brought on by the continuing economic downturn. “This wasn’t an easy decision. But the reality is that the economy has negatively affected our events revenues and budget projections,” said Eileen O’Rourke, chair of the WDDI Promotions Committee and a member of the organization’s board of directors. Read more
Above the law
South River Supervisor David Beyeler wagged his finger at the angry mob facing him. “I have taken an oath of office to uphold the laws of this state of Virginia, and I will look every one of you as close as I can in the eye, and I’m going to ask you, Do you believe in obeying the laws of this state, whether you agree with them or not?” Beyeler said moments before the March 11 vote of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors to kill a motion from Pastures Supervisor Tracy Pyles to roll back the controversial 2009 county property reassessment due to what appear to have been serious flaws in the assessment. Read more
McAuliffe fleshing out Business Plan
Democratic Party gubernatorial-nomination candidate Terry McAuliffe rolled out the second chapter of his Business Plan for Virginia Monday in Danville – and this one is pretty easy to get a handle on.
“As I’ve been saying wherever I go across Virginia, there’s no such thing as a Republican job or a Democratic job – we simply need to bring people together to create good jobs, and that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life,” McAuliffe said. “My Business Plan for Virginia is really a jobs plan – my number one priority as governor will be to create, attract, and keep good jobs with good wages and benefits for every Virginia family.” Read more
Community partners
Rebecca Carter of the Waynesboro Generals management team presents a check for $500 to Riverheads High School baseball coach Rodney Painter and RHS athletics director Matt Stevens. The Valley League team is giving back to the Greater Augusta community by partnering with high-school baseball programs across the region. Read more
Gannett: More furloughs
Gannett is implementing another round of unpaid furloughs for its employees, the company announced on Monday. It is unclear whether the News Leader in Staunton, a Gannett-owned newspaper, will be affected by the new round of furloughs. Leader employees had to take a weeklong unpaid furlough in the first quarter as part of a companywide cost-cutting measure. Read more
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