Young farmers want partnerships, not handouts
Virginia’s Farm Link program is a decade old, and Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers are working to reboot the program and encourage more farmers and would-be farmers to get connected.
“Young farmers are looking for partnerships, not handouts. We want to help preserve farmland by working it,” said Bob Harris, VFBF Young Farmers Committee chairman.
“Many people, particularly older landowners, are still not familiar with what Farm Link is or what it does. We really want to reach that age group, the farmers in their 40s and 50s who might be interested in being mentors to younger farmers and passing their businesses on to them.” Read more
Allied Realty names Polan new president
Allied Realty Company—with more than 2.5 million square feet of commercial, manufacturing and distribution holdings in downtown Huntington, Kenova, Nitro and Parkersburg, W.Va.; Paris, Ky. and Waynesboro and Harrisonburg, Va.—today announced that its board of directors has elected Rebecca Polan as its new president.
“One of my goals is to find ways to boost job creation and economic vitality in all of the communities where our commercial holdings are located,” Polan said. “Allied has a long history of finding profitable business opportunities that support the well-being of entire communities and I plan to continue that tradition as we head into the new year and beyond.” Read more
Weekend Watchdog: Chilly in Philly?
For the second straight year, the NHL brings its Winter Classic to Pennsylvania.
We’ll see if it will be chilly enough in Philly.
The Flyers host the Rangers Monday at 1 p.m. on NBC in the fifth Winter Classic. The fourth Classic, last year in Pittsburgh, had to be moved to the evening due to rain. Previous Classics in Buffalo, Chicago and Boston provided enough cold and thrills to make the contest a highlight of the schedule.
The festivities include an Alumni Game Saturday at 1 p.m. on Versus. Read more
Press Conference: Mike London
MATT GARVEY: We are joined by University of Virginia head coach Mike London, wide receiver Kris Burd, and Steve Greer.
Coach, if you could make an opening statement and talk about your bowl experience thus far.
COACH MIKE LONDON: First of all, obviously we see why the Chick-fil-A Bowl has been one of those bowls that has been very coveted and gracious in what they do for the players and the coaches, the community. We’ve experienced that the last couple days we’ve been here.
You can ask these guys. They’ve had fun. They’ve enjoyed the events. There’s still more to do. It’s been a neat experience. Read more
Quayle announces retirement as UVa. football radio analyst
Longtime radio color analyst Frank Quayle announced today the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl between Virginia and Auburn will be his final game in the radio broadcast booth calling Cavalier football. Quayle is currently in his 29th year as a broadcaster for the Virginia Sports Network.
Quayle’s first season came in 1983, the second year the Cavaliers were under the direction of coach George Welsh. He missed just two games over a span that covered 348 contests.
“I have had a front row seat that has enabled me to enjoy some wonderful eras of Virginia football,” Quayle said. “It has been a great run for me, and I feel so fortunate to have been around this year to see the renaissance of Virginia football under Coach London. A highlight has been sharing my passion for college football, the University of Virginia, and UVa football with Virginia’s wonderful fans across the Commonwealth on Saturdays.” Read more
Emma Leigh debut CD now available
She’s just 14, but Emma Leigh is already on her way.
The “Virginia Dreams Center Stage” veteran now has her debut CD available online at her website, www.EmmaLeighMusic.com.
The CD, “I Wanna Be Rich,” features original songs including the title track along with “Daddy’s Little Girl,” “Angel Within” and “If You Think You Can,” as well as covers of hits by Patty Loveless, Lorrie Morgan, The Dixie Chicks, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift.
Leigh is also prepping for her national-TV debut on Sunday, Jan. 1, with the premiere of “Virginia Dreams Center Stage” on RFD-TV.
Staubus set to release debut album, “Dam Town”
Jeremy Staubus has had family and friends encouraging him for years to pursue a career in Music City.
The Mount Solon native is taking a step in that direction with the upcoming release of his debut country-music album.
“Dam Town” is set for release this month. The CD will be available online at www.JeremyStaubus.com.
Staubus took a different road to a budding career in country music. As a teen, he listened to ’90s rock and started out in music playing guitar in a rock band with his brother. He made the switch to country jamming old country and bluegrass hits with his grandfather, which sparked his interest in country music.
In 2009, Staubus joined a local cover country band, Wildhorse, and has played clubs, fairs and private parties across Virginia and West Virginia with the band. As a solo artist, Staubus has performed in two prestigious country-music competitions, the Colgate Country Showdown and the Virginia Dreams Voice of the Valley, making it to the semifinal round in both.
More at www.VirginiaCountyMusicAwards.com.
UVa. women blow past Wagner
Senior guard Ariana Moorer (Woodbridge, Va.) paced the Virginia offense with 23 points and the Cavaliers’ defense did the rest as UVa stifled Wagner, 84-41, in its first game of the Marriott Cavalier Classic on Wednesday at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Cavaliers improved to 11-2 overall, continuing their best start since the 2008-09 squad opened with a 14-2 record. UVa also remained undefeated at home (8-0) and held an eighth-consecutive opponent to less than 60 points.
With 26 steals, Virginia tied the school record for steals in a game (Dec. 4, 1990 vs. Old Dominion).
Wagner is now 2-10 on the season.
UVa will face UMass in the championship game of t Read more
SMAC excels at the 19th annual TYR Capital Classic
The Shenandoah Marlins Aquatic Club qualified 11 swimmers for the highly competitive TYR Capital Classic Swim Meet held in Greensboro, N.C., from Dec. 16-18.
The 11 SMAC swimmers competing in the event were Jessie Arnold (14), Matt Bihl (16), Bobby Carey (14), Colleen Higgins (13), Norah Hunt (13), Steven Jenny (17), Justin Merritt (14), Alex Rayle (16), Brazil Rule (13), Remedy Rule (15) and Max Tempkin (14). The meet only had qualifying standards for boys and girls and no breakdown based on age so it was very impressive SMAC had so many young swimmers at the meet. The meet consisted of 18-and-under swimmers from Georgia to Connecticut. Read more
Package Chris Sharpe stands out in striped shirt
You probably don’t pay all that much attention to who the referee is. Chris Sharpe understands. Because if you’ve noticed him, it’s probably because he’s not doing his job.
“I think if you have two really great wrestlers in a match, but the referee isn’t really that good, then the match will suffer because of it. But if you have two wrestlers who are pretty new, and they may just be learning the ropes, but you have a really good referee, it can really help the match,” said Sharpe, the senior referee in Awesome Wrestling Entertainment, who worked several matches on the AWE Night of Legends pay-per-view, including briefly the main event featuring Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page and The Rock-n-Roll Express.
The pay-per-view was a homecoming of sorts for the Mechanicsville native, who cites another pair of Mechanicsville natives, Dave and Earl Hebner, as childhood influences who helped him decide on a career in professional wrestling. Read more
PPP: Paul continues to lead in Iowa
Texas Congressman Ron Paul continues to hold a modest lead in Iowa as the days count down to the first presidential contest of the 2012 presidential cycle.
Public Policy Polling has Paul at the front of the pack of contenders in the Iowa Republican caucuses at 24 percent. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is second at 20 percent, with recent national frontrunner Newt Gingrich in a distant third at 13 percent.
Michele Bachmann is at 11 percent, and Rick Perry and Rick Santorum are both at 10 percent.
Paul’s strength in Iowa, according to PPP, is with independent and Democratic voters intending to cross the lines to vote in the GOP caucuses. Paul has a 39 percent-to-12 percent lead over Romney among the 24 percent of voters saying they will take part in the caucuses and also say that they are independents or Democrats. The 76-year-old also has a strong following among younger voters, with a 35 percent-to-11 percent lead over Romney among voters under 45.
Paul also leads Romney 38 percent to 13 percent among the 45 percent of the likely Republican electorate that does not regularly watch Fox News. Romney, surprisingly, leads among the Fox News-viewing cohort with 27 percent, to 16 percent for Gingrich, 15 percent for Bachmann and 12 percent for Paul.
More online at www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2011/12/paul-maintains-his-lead.html.
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Chris Graham: Time to move forward
Posted on December 28, 2011 · 2 Comments
Your first instinct might be to say that it still is. Look at the West End. Every chain retail store and restaurant known to American man has set up shop out there.
Which is great – really, it is. It’s just that the jobs that they provide aren’t the backbone of a local economy, one, and two, even with the influx of low-wage jobs, we still have the highest unemployment rate in the region, by far. Read more
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with chris graham, economic development, moving waynesboro forward, shenandoah valley, waynesboro va