Royals romp over Southern Virginia
Staff Report
EMU sports: www.emu.edu
On Dec. 12, Southern Virginia handed the Runnin Royals their first loss of the 2009-2010 season, 92-79 in Buena Vista. Thursday night, Eastern Mennonite paid back the Knights in Harrisonburg by racing to a 26-point halftime lead en route to an 89-68 victory.
The teams quickly started the game like a track meet, with both squads pushing up and down the floor. After a flurry of missed shots, EMU etched out an eight-point lead at 13-5. Southern Virginia came right back to get within one at 15-14 before the Royals blew it open.
With 7:17 left in the half and a 29-25 lead, the Runnin Royals clamped on the defense. EMU didn’t allow another field goal in the half and exploded with a 24-3 run to take a comfy 53-27 cushion into the break. George Johnson (Richmond, Va./Miller School) capped the streak with a three-pointer, his fourth of the half. Read more
Liberty outmuscles Keydets
Staff Report
VMI sports: www.vmikeydets.com
The Liberty Flames used a 66-32 advantage in points in the paint and a 53-25 rebounding margin to prevail, 91-73, over the visiting VMI Keydets Thursday night in a Big South contest played at the Vines Center in Lynchburg, Va.
Despite a 27-12 halftime rebounding edge, the homestanding Flames’ lead was just 42-37 at the intermission, but Liberty came out of the locker room with a 9-2 run to open the second half and take a 51-39 advantage with 17:05 to play.
VMI eventually rallied to climb back within nine with three minutes to play, but the Flames went on a 9-0 run to put the game away. Read more
Va. 907 bridge closed by VDOT
Staff Report
News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
The Virginia Department of Transportation has closed the bridge over Christians Creek on Va. 907 in Augusta County. This location is just off Va. 612.
Keith Weakley, the VDOT Staunton District bridge engineer, said that it appears that a vehicle struck the bridge causing extensive damage.
A sign is posted at the bridge site stating that vehicles over five tons are prohibited from using the bridge. The bridge, built in 1900, is a steel truss bridge.
Options concerning bridge repairs and future use of the bridge are under evaluation. The damage was discovered on Jan. 28 following inspections in the area after recent flooding.
Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber represented at Chamber Day at the Capitol
Staff Report
News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce made its presence known in Richmond on Wednesday at the annual Virginia Chamber of Commerce “Chamber Day at the Capitol”. Twenty-six Chamber of Commerce and 58 statewide organizations, leadership programs and businesses descended upon the Capitol to express support for business friendly legislation and concern for legislation hampering job creation and capital investment in the Commonwealth.
Gov. Bob McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and House Speaker Bill Howell each addressed the Chamber representatives. Participants spent the afternoon in the General Assembly Building meeting with local legislators. Chamber President Frank Tamberrino and members of the Chamber’s Public Policy Committee met with Senators Obenshain and Hanger and Delegates Lohr and Landes between the General Session and committee meetings. Read more
Webb, Warner introduced historic-school rehab legislation
Staff Report
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U.S. Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner today introduced The Rehabilitation of Historic Schools Act of 2010, which provides a tax credit for communities to partner with private sector developers to rehabilitate the nation’s older school buildings.
“Many of our nation’s historic schools are in need of significant repairs,” said Webb. “Rehabilitating schools will drive revitalization in some of our most economically vulnerable neighborhoods, while providing our students access to safe, modern schools.”
“Nearly one-third of our country’s public school buildings were built a half century ago, and this common-sense legislation will allow state and local governments to leverage private capital to upgrade and modernize these facilities in a time of limited public resources,” Warner said. “This simple change to the 1986 IRS Code supports public education and promotes economic activity and the creation of jobs.” Read more
Finish work on health-care reform
Column by Mary G. Wilsoin
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We have a health-care crisis in America. Too many citizens lack adequate health-insurance coverage and rising costs threaten everyone. The failure of Congress to act on these issues over decades has simply compounded the problems and undermined faith in government.
The League of Women Voters urges our elected members of Congress to finish work on health-care reform and send a bill quickly to the president for his signature. While many of the provisions of the House bill are preferable to those in the Senate version, we believe that the House of Representatives should step forward and pass the Senate bill.
Both the House and Senate have now passed comprehensive health-care legislation, and the bills share many essential elements: They greatly expand health-care coverage to include millions more Americans; they protect the coverage that currently delivers care to most; they contain essential elements to reduce costs over the long term; and they accomplish these goals at a reasonable cost. Read more
Verga: ‘There is a better way’
Column by Laurence Verga
www.vergaforcongress.com
Wednesday night, President Obama tried to press the reset button on his disastrous presidency and once again fell short. After driving up record deficits and wasting $800 billion on a failed stimulus bill that has only stimulated our debt, Obama’s disingenuous proposals to create jobs and reduce our debt are far too little and much too late.
The small business tax credits and exemptions he proposed, while important, pale in comparison to the tax cuts needed to get Virginians back to work. The $15 billion spending cut he proposed for next year also pales in comparison to a projected $3.5 trillion budget.
There is a better way. Read more
Hofstra knocks off JMU women
JMU men upset W&M
Staff Report
JMU sports: www.jmusports.com
Senior guard Sam Brigham (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) scored 19 points, including two layups at the end of regulation to tie the game, as Hofstra (11-9, 4-4) defeated James Madison (15-4, 5-3) 69-62 in overtime in Colonial Athletic Association women’s basketball Thursday evening at the JMU Convocation Center.
Hofstra outscored JMU 13-6 in overtime and never trailed in the period. Redshirt sophomore guard Candice Bellocchio (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter’s) opened the period with a three-pointer at 4:28. Freshman guard Candace Bond (Fort Washington, Md./Riverdale Baptist) scored Hofstra’s next three points, all at the foul line, to put the Pride up 62-56 at 2:26.
After a JMU basket on a putback by junior center Lauren Jimenez (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) at 2:02, Hofstra scored six straight points to pull ahead by 10, 68-58, with 44.5 seconds to go. Bond hit a 10-foot jumper on the right baseline at 1:39, Brigham knocked down two free throws with 55.7 seconds to go, and Bond converted two foul shots to push the lead to 10. Read more
Perriello introduces legislation to ban foreign corporate money from U.S. elections
Staff Report
News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
Fifth District Congressman Tom Perriello has introduced legislation that would ban electioneering activity by corporations whose shareholders include any foreign nationals.
Perriello introduced H.R. 4523, the Save Our Democracy From Foreign Influence Act of 2010, to close a dangerous loophole that “would appear to afford the same protection to multinational corporations controlled by foreigners as to individual Americans,” as stated in Justice John Paul Stevens’ dissent to a recent Supreme Court decision overturning federal law to allow unlimited corporate spending in electioneering activity,
“George Washington said, ‘Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence… the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.’ That was before the age of global interconnectedness, but the principle remains the same: we simply cannot allow American elections to be influenced by anyone but Americans,” said Perriello. Read more
Morton: The strength in our union
Column by Feda Morton
www.fedaforcongress.com
Wednesday night in President Obama’s lengthy State of the Union address he declared our union to be “strong”. I take issue with that. I do believe the resolve of hard working Americans is strong. I believe in the strength of the voices of the voters of Massachusetts in last week’s election. And, I believe in the faith and willingness of our hardworking middle-class to persevere despite Mr. Obama’s job killing policies.
Mr. Obama, the only “strength” in our union comes from our people and their faith in God. The American spirit cannot thrive under the policies you propose. Growing government doesn’t help Americans who are struggling to find employment or small business owners who want to hire more workers. Policies like cap and trade and government-run healthcare stifle, not stimulate, job creation because they place an undue burden on entrepreneurs. Read more
Winter Storm Watch: 5 inches or more in the forecast
Staff Report
News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Greater Augusta area from late Friday night through Saturday evening.
The forecast for the two-day period is calling for potential snow accumulations of 5 or more inches of snow.
Temperatures are forecast to be in the lower to middle 20s through Saturday before dropping into the teens Saturday evening.
Butler: Life lessons, and some football
Former UVa. standout, NFL veteran talks politics, civic engagement at WHS
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Without football pads, wearing dress slacks and a light blue Oxford, no tie, Brad Butler could have passed for the high-school government teacher that he basically was for an hour at Waynesboro High School Thursday afternoon.
Which isn’t to say that the University of Virginia alum hadn’t been prepared by the NFL for the worst that the teens in the audience were capable of giving him.
“I play for the Buffalo Bills, and we have some pretty tough fans. I’ve heard just about everything in the book, so I’m not above being confrontational,” said Butler, a four-year NFL veteran in the fall and early winter, and a politico the rest of the year.
Butler’s visit to WHS was sponsored by the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Butler, a 2006 UVa. graduate and four-year starter at right tackle, interned at the Center for Politics, and learned the way of famed UVa. political-science professor Larry Sabato well. The message he scrawled on a flip chart at the front of the room relayed Sabato’s “Politics Is A Good Thing” mantra, and Butler told his personal story to try to relate to the teens how an informed and involved populace can make for good politics, good government and a good country. Read more
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