#24 UVa. holds off Seattle, 83-77
Senior forward Mike Scott scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the No. 24 Virginia men’s basketball team to an 83-77 victory over Seattle University Wednesday night (Dec. 21).
It was the second game of a two-game road trip to the Pacific Northwest for the Cavaliers. UVa opened the trip with a 67-54 win at Oregon on Sunday (Dec. 18).
The victory was the eighth in a row for the Cavaliers and improved their record to 10-1 on the season. It was the sixth consecutive loss for the Redhawks who now have a record of 2-8. The game marked the first time this season a UVa opponent scored more than 58 points. Read more
W&M loses to Iona
Playing its final game before the Christmas Holiday, the William and Mary men’s basketball team fell to a hot-shooting Iona squad, 83-65, at Kaplan Arena on Wednesday night. The Gaels connected on 15-of-24 from 3-point range to outdistance the Green and Gold, which knocked down 10 3-pointers of its own in the setback. W&M fell to 2-10 on theseason, while Iona upped its mark to 10-2.
Senior forward Quinn McDowell shook off a recent shooting slump in finishing with 18 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from3-point range. With his 18-point night, McDowell moved into 11th on the Tribe’s career scoring list with 1,351 career points, passing two-time First-Team All-CAA player Adam Hess. Junior guard Matt Rum continued his solid play for the Tribe tallying 12 points, including a 3-of-5 effort from 3-point range. Senior guard Kendrix Brown turned in a nice floor game, leading the Tribe with nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Read more
George Mason loses at home to Duquesne
The George Mason men’s basketball team saw its 18-game home winning streak come to a close on Wednesday evening as Duquesne defeated the Patriots, 75-64, avenging a double-overtime loss from a season ago. Mason dropped to 7-4 on the year with the loss, its first at home since March 16, 2010. Duquesne, meanwhile, improved to 7-5.
Senior Ryan Pearson and sophomore Vertrail Vaughns led the way offensively for Mason with 13 points apiece while senior Andre Cornelius, making his season debut after a 10-game suspension, chipped in 11. Sean Johnson led a quartet of Dukes players in double figures with 14 points. In a game marked by 40 combined team turnovers, the Dukes edged Mason off the glass, 32-28 while the Patriots out-shot DU by a 48.1-to-46.4 percent margin. Read more
Food Bank bracing for shortages
The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is expecting to lose more than 2 million pounds of food in the coming months – about 10 percent of its supply.
Within the last 60 days the Food Bank received word from food manufacturers that it would be receiving significantly less donated food due to advancements in technology that help manufacturers become more efficient. With less excess inventory, fewer products will be available for donation.
Compounding the problem is the threat of substantial drops in food donations from the federal government through the United States Department of Agriculture. The Food Bank is at risk of losing another 300,000 pounds of food as legislators seek ways to trim the budget. Read more
McDonnell: More than $2B in road, bridge contracts advertised in 2011
Gov. Bob McDonnell announced on Wednesday that the Virginia Department of Transportation advertised more than $2 billion worth of construction and maintenance contracts during 2011.
Contracts include repaving, bridge repairs and replacements, intersection and safety improvements and road widenings among several other transportation projects across the state.
“I tasked VDOT to push projects out the door and accelerate project delivery to get Virginia moving and out of gridlock,” McDonnell said. “VDOT and the construction industry moved aggressively to maximize their financial and labor resources, resulting in significant progress to make Virginia’s roads and bridges safer and better to travel on, in addition to creating jobs and stimulating the economy.” Read more
Erie Insurance presents donation to Habitat
John Lasher, vice president and claims manager for Erie Insurance presents Rhonda Howdyshell, executive director of Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Habitat, with a contribution of $1,000.00 on behalf of the employees at the Waynesboro office.
Erie Insurance employees throughout their service area have designated over $110,000 to help Habitat for Humanity build homes, lives and communities. Waynesboro staff at the Erie Insurance office will have an opportunity to work on a service project to build and/or restore home in the New Year.
Grand delivers Christmas cheer to Senior Center
It was another “grand gesture” on the part of Grand Home Furnishings.
“This is just our way to give back to our community locally and thank everybody for 100 years of support of Grand Home Furnishings,” said Colleen Price, the manager of the Waynesboro Grand Home Furnishings retail store, at the Waynesboro Senior Center, to which Grand had just delivered donated Snuggies, nutritional drinks, adult diapers and three rocking chairs.
Grand also brought along Santa Claus to pass out gifts to members of the Senior Center.
“Christmas is all about giving back and giving to other people. This is a great way for us to end our year and tell people thank you,” Price said. “The Snuggies will keep people warm. The rockers I’m sure will be put to good use. And we donated some time last week to wrapping gifts.
“What we really wanted to do is just give back, and we’re particularly happy to be able to give back to our seniors here locally, because these seniors are among our first customers at Grand,” Price said.
Senior Center director Janice Gentry expressed thanks on the part of the Center and its members.
“There’s no way on a nonprofit’s budget that we’d be able to afford such nice furnishings,” Gentry said. “It’s wonderful to have that donation. And I know that our homebound clients who receive those Snuggies that were donated will relish having them for the wintertime coming up.
“It’s so generous of them to do that, along with bringing Santa, and Santa taking pictures with all of our members and all of our guests here today as well. It’s just been a fabulous day,” Gentry said.
Senior Centers celebrate Christmas
Santa Claus was in town, and he saw a full house at the Waynesboro Senior Center on Wednesday.
WSC hosted a Christmas lunch for its members and members from sister Senior Centers in Staunton and Churchville.
The Centers hold similar mixers once a quarter, said Janice Gentry, the director of the Waynesboro Senior Center.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the members to be able to socialize with folks that they don’t get to see all that often,” Gentry said.
This year’s joint Christmas lunch was the first that the local Senior Centers have held together, said Gail Ham, the director of the Churchville Senior Center.
Close to 100 local seniors took part, with the lunch supplemented by entertainment and visits with Santa.
“You come here and get together, and you can mingle with everybody. I try to mingle with everybody, crack jokes. It’s nice. I enjoy it,” Waynesboro Senior Center member Larry Ransome said.
“I think it’s just wonderful that we’re all together. It’s the Christmas spirit that everyone should have at this time, love for one another, joy and celebrating Jesus’ birth. It’s just wonderful,” Staunton Senior Center member Marilyn McGonigal said.
SSC director Lynn Harris was all smiles seeing “so many people coming and enjoying themselves and singing and seeing Santa Claus and exchanging gifts.”
“It’s just been a great way to celebrate the holiday,” Harris said.
Churchville Senior Center contests conclude in shopping spree
Businesses in Churchville are struggling this Christmas season. as they are everywhere. Members of the Churchville Senior Center decided to do something about it, at least for one business.
Karen’s Boutique is a new business residing in an old grocery store. The owner, Karen Luster, is a resident of Deerfield who provides a marvelous array of gifts and antiques in her homey shop. A woman of many talents, Karen is also a dance instructor! During the month of December, gift certificates have been awarded as prizes for the various games and contests at Churchville Senior Center.
The big shopping day will be Thursday, Dec. 22, when Karen will provide refreshments for shoppers, give a 20 percent discount to CSC members, and redeem the gift certificates. This is the first of community partnership programs that the center is planning for the coming year.
More online at www.ChurchvilleSeniorCenter.org.
Set New Year’s Resolutions that strengthen your life and your community
The New Year is a time for new beginnings! For the Waynesboro Family Y – a leading nonprofit that strengthens community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility – one of the most important resolutions is to resolve to make positive changes that strengthen individuals as well as entire communities.
Following are five New Year’s Resolutions the Waynesboro Family Y recommends for 2012:
1. Live Healthier: Achieving greater health and well-being is all about taking small steps. Take care of your health by eating nutritious foods and being physically active each day – experts recommend 30 minutes of daily physical activity for adults and 60 minutes for kids. This can be achieved throughout the day by incorporating physical activity into your daily routines (i.e., taking stairs instead of elevators, walking instead of driving, etc.) The Y offers many fun opportunities for individuals and families to be active. Visit www.waynesboroymca.com to learn more or contact MaryBeth Robb at 540-943-9622 ext. 211. Read more
Senate Dems oppose education cuts
Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed deep cuts to K-12 public education and pre-kindergarten in his 2012-2014 budget. Senate Democratic leaders are raising issue with the governor’s budget, with one calling McDonnell “the most anti-public education governor” of the last three decades.
“There is no way we should be taking money out of public education in order to give corporations tax credits for donating money to private schools or paving roads,” said Senate Democratic Leader Dick Saslaw, citing one provision in the McDonnell budget that would provide $10 million in tax credits for corporations that donate money to private schools.
Senate Democrats are also raising issue with a proposal that would increase the amount of the state sales tax that would go to transportation, and proposals from McDonnell to cut pre-K funds by $82 million and the “cost of compete” stipend that helps jurisdictions recruit school personnel by $65 million, which will mostly be felt by Northern Virginia.
“There are not 21 votes in the Senate supporting these massive cuts in public education,” said Caucus Chair Donald McEachin. “Senate Democrats are committed to ensuring children in Virginia receive the best education possible.”
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Karen Kwiatkowski: Goodlatte finds his inner conservative
Posted on December 21, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Goodlatte still defends his pending Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and E-Parasite legislation, which as written will bring Communist Chinese methods to America’s Internet and promote government-backed website blacklisting.
However, on a brighter note, Goodlatte behaved in a constitutional and responsible manner in two recent House votes. Read more
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with bob goodlatte, congress virginia, karen kwiatkowski, republican primary virginia, sixth district