McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin stated, “While we can have earnest disagreements about public policy issues, the manner in which Ken Cuccinelli and E.W. Jackson have demonized fellow Virginians who happen to be gay is divisive, dangerous and is damaging to the Commonwealth.”

Schwerin added, “While Terry McAuliffe is focused on important issues like growing Virginia’s economy and creating jobs, Ken Cuccinelli and E.W. Jackson have focused much of their careers on waging divisive, social battles, that will alienate mainstream Virginians, and deter families and businesses from locating in the Commonwealth.”

The statements from Cuccinelli and Jackson have drawn heavy scrutiny from across the political spectrum, including Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, who said Jackson’s anti-gay statements were “indefensible.”

The post McAuliffe campaign: Anti-gay rhetoric has no place in political discourse appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe released his campaign’s second advertisement today, which recounts his involvement in the February passage of Virginia’s bipartisan transportation bill–the first transportation funding measure that had been approved in the state in 27 years.

The ad describes McAuliffe’s efforts to convince Virginia legislators to support the bill and highlights his commitment to finding mainstream solutions to improving Virginia’s economy and infrastructure: “Terry McAuliffe thinks this is too important a time for partisan politics. McAuliffe reaches out to Democrats and urges them to support the bill, and the bill passes,” the narrator states.

The ad also comments that while the bill was “backed by Republican Governor McDonnell, tea party Republicans refuse to support the plan.”

The post Terry McAuliffe releases new ad highlighting bipartisan transportation bill appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

Today State Sen. Mark Herring released a web video comparing his record against State Sen. Mark Obenshain’s. A transcript of the video is below.

On Saturday, Tea Party activists in Virginia nominated their choice for Attorney General and Lt. Governor to join Ken Cuccinelli on the ballot this Fall. Emerging from this convention was Senator Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) for Attorney General.

Since Saturday, Virginians have been introduced to Senator Obenshain’s extreme record, which includes sponsoring a bill that would require women to report miscarriages to the police. Obenshain also sponsored the “Personhood” amendment with Ken Cuccinelli which would ban common forms of birth control, restricting women’s access to contraception and punishing them for their private medical decisions.

Obenshain’s extreme record isn’t just limited to his assaults on women’s rights; he also has an extreme record on guns. Mark Obenshain voted to allow guns in bars, voted to repeal the one hand gun a month law, voted to allow guns in child day care centers and voted against closing the gun show loophole.

“It’s no wonder Mark Obenshain was Ken Cuccinelli’s handpicked candidate to replace him as Attorney General,” Senator Herring said. “Obenshain has been pushing the same extreme agenda in the State Senate as Ken Cuccinelli. His views on women’s rights and on guns is completely out of the mainstream. Virginians need to know who the real Mark Obenshain is – a Tea Party politician looking to push ahead his extreme social agenda.”

Herring also announced he would be hosting a Tele-Townhall to tell voters the differences between his record and the extreme record of Mark Obenshain.  This includes:

• Standing up and supporting a woman’s right to choose and fighting legislative efforts of right-wing Republicans to restrict women’s access to contraception.
• Supporting comprehensive background checks for guns and the one-gun-a-month law. Herring also supported closing the gun show loophole and opposed allowing guns in bars.
• Making voting easier, not harder. Herring sponsored legislation to increase absentee voting and reduce long lines on Election Day. Obenshain sponsored the voter ID bill which disenfranchises voters and makes voting more difficult.

The post New web video highlights differences between Mark Herring, Mark Obenshain appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

“None of us can feel good if we hear the unemployment stats that our veterans are facing in a tough economy. As we draw down out of Afghanistan and as more transition from active to veteran life this challenge could compound if we don’t tackle it. It’s something that we owe to those who serve,” said Kaine. “It’s also good for our country and economy. Military training is an enormous public investment in skills. We should take advantage of those skills and talent that is there among our folks who are transitioning out of active duty for the benefit of our entire society.”

Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, first introduced the bipartisan bill with Sens. Chambliss (R-GA) and Baucus (D-MT) in early April to address the challenges servicemembers face during their transition into civilian life and employment. With the veteran unemployment rate among returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans higher than the national average, the Troop Talent Act will increase access for servicemembers to traditional and high-demand career fields such as information technology by streamlining the alignment of military skills acquired in active duty with civilian credentials.

Duckworth, a veteran of the war in Iraq and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced a companion bill in the House in late April.

“The unemployment rate for Veterans who have served in the military since 2001 is nearly 10%,” said Duckworth. “That number is simply unacceptable. Our Veterans guarantee the quality of their work with their life and civilian employers are in need of that level of dedication and expertise. The Troop Talent Act will enable Veterans to make the transition to the private sector more easily and help our businesses thrive at the same time. Senator Kaine and I look forward to moving this bipartisan legislation forward.”

Bill Aramony, the Commander of Post 24, reminded attendees that during a roundtable at Post 24 with young veterans in 2012, Kaine promised to address the credentialing issue and return to meet with them if elected to the Senate. Aramony praised the bill and efforts by Kaine and Duckworth to create new opportunities for veterans returning to civilian occupations.

As the House of Representatives and Senate embark on consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act, both Kaine and Duckworth are actively pursuing avenues for passage. The Troop Talent Act has 10 co-sponsors in the Senate, including 5 Republicans, and 66 co-sponsors in the House, including 24 House Armed Services Committee members.

The post Tim Kaine talks up Troop Talent Act appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

“I have long advocated for additional exploration and the responsible production of domestic energy resources off of Virginia’s coast,” Sen. Warner said. “Our legislation includes appropriate environmental protections and an equitable formula for sharing revenues between the state and federal governments. I believe that changes in the membership of the Senate after the 2012 elections have helped to produce a potentially more supportive atmosphere for our legislation.”

“Virginia is well positioned to be a national leader in offshore energy exploration.  A comprehensive energy strategy – including oil, gas, wind, solar, tidal and other areas – can transition us to a clean energy future while bridging that transition with secure U.S. fuels we don’t have to import,” said Sen. Kaine.   “Virginia’s diverse energy portfolio is a model for the nation.  This legislation will bolster our energy security, create jobs and direct revenues to Virginia that will support important priorities across the state.”

The legislation would provide revenue sharing (37.5 percent) to Virginia, using a similar formula to what Gulf Coast states currently collect. The revenue sharing language is technology neutral, covering all forms of energy production, including offshore wind energy. Sens. Warner and Kaine have been strong supporters of wind energy’s potential for areas off the Virginia coast, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has recently announced that it is continuing to move forward with a plan to offer a wind energy research lease to the  Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Mines Minerals and Energy (DMME).

Sen. Warner introduced similar legislation in 2011 and 2012. Sales of leases off the Virginia coast were scheduled to begin in 2011 but were withheld until 2017 after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The Warner/Kaine legislation requires appropriate environmental reviews before any production could begin, as well as consultation with federal agencies such as the Navy, NASA, NOAA and others to ensure energy exploration or production does not disrupt federal activities along the Virginia coast.

The post Sens. Warner, Kaine submit legislation to expand offshore energy leases appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

This “”From Idea to Market” workshop is the last in the “Growing Together: Pathways to business renewal & expansion” series being offered by a collaboration of public and private organizations in the central Shenandoah Valley.  The series was designed to help strengthen the region’s economic vitality by making it easier for existing area firms to pursue advanced strategic paths for growth.

This workshop will begin with presentations spanning the spectrum of the innovation process  from fostering a Creativity Culture in the workplace to Protecting Intellectual Property to Attracting Investors.  A second set of presentations will provide an overview of some of the regional programs and resources available to assist with innovation development and commercialization, including SHINE Systems & Technologies, the Virginia SBDC Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP), GenEdge Alliance, JMU Research & Innovation, UVa Innovation, and Blue Ridge Community College, and others.   To conclude the event, owners of several local businesses that have experience generating creative ideas, developing those ideas into a viable product or process, and eventually taking that innovation to market will share their experiences and tips for business growth through development and implementation of new innovation.  Time will also be available for Q & A.

Admission to each of the Growing Together workshops will be free thanks to the generous support of local sponsoring organizations.  More detailed information about this workshop, along with a list of sponsoring organizations, is available at the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center (SV SBDC) website at www.ValleySBDC.org/growing-together.

Anyone interested in attending the “From Idea to Market” workshop should pre-register to ensure a seat by calling the SV SBDC at 540-568-3227 or visiting their website.

The post From Idea to Market workshop offered appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

To reduce these accidental births, Shenandoah Valley Spay/Neuter Clinic, with funding provided by PetSmart Charities, is introducing the Did You Know? Campaign, featuring a special $20 spay or neuter surgery for puppies and kittens under six months of age during the month of June.

While some pet parents may worry that their pet is too young for this procedure, spaying and neutering is safe and easy for kittens and puppies as young as eight to 10 weeks old, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“Many owners put off the procedure and wait until the puppy or kitten is six to eight months old,” says Cate Mansfield, Executive Director, Shenandoah Valley Spay/Neuter Clinic. “But by then, it can be too late. By then, a litter of puppies or kittens can be born.”

This special rate is even less than the organization’s normal low-cost priced and is available to all residents.

Pet parents who wish to take advantage of this offer must mention the “Did You Know?” promotion when they call to schedule their appointment.

Thanks to the PetSmart Charities grant, Shenandoah Valley Spay/Neuter Clinic will provide 250 puppy and kitten sterilizations for $20 during June. Please visit www.spayandneuterclinic.org or call 540.437.1980 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

About Shenandoah Valley Spay/Neuter Clinic
The Clinic is a 501(c)3 and offers affordable spay/neuter services, transport services, subsidy programs, monthly low-cost wellness clinics, and a pet food pantry.  The Clinic has performed over 100,000 surgeries since first opening in 2005.  For more information, visit www.spayandneuterclinic.org.

About PetSmart Charities
PetSmart Charities, Inc.  is a nonprofit animal welfare organization that saves the lives of homeless pets. More than 400,000 dogs and cats find homes each year through our adoption program in all PetSmart stores and our signature adoption events. PetSmart Charities grants more money to directly help pets in need than any other animal welfare group in North America, with a focus on funding spay/neuter programs that help communities solve pet overpopulation. PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization, legally independent from PetSmart, Inc.

The post Campaign offers $20 spay/neuter surgeries for puppies and kittens under 6 months old appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

Using the new measure, the Cooper Center found that more Northern Virginia residents live in or near poverty than standard poverty measures would suggest, despite the region’s very high median income. The standard official poverty rate for residents inside the Beltway is 7 percent, while the new measure finds that 12 percent of Virginians in this region are in economic distress, on par with the new state poverty rate of 11.9 percent.

“Northern Virginia’s particularly high cost of housing and other goods is to blame,” lead researcher Dustin Cable said. “The new measure’s poverty rates for Virginia better conform to our common-sense understanding of the actual resources available to families, and the necessary costs they face. A one-size-fits-all poverty measure that ignores regional differences doesn’t make sense.”

The new “Virginia Poverty Measure” improves standard poverty measurement by incorporating contemporary spending patterns; accounting for regional differences in the cost of living; and including in family resources the effects of taxes, government programs and medical expenses – all ignored in current official poverty statistics. The measure is attracting attention from poverty researchers across the nation for its comprehensive and contemporary look at economic well-being in Virginia.

“Through the creation of the Virginia Poverty Measure, the commonwealth joins a handful of states taking steps to dramatically improve the way the nation has measured poverty for more than 50 years,” said Qian Cai, director of the Cooper Center’s Demographics & Workforce Group. “The methodology developed in Virginia extends the work done earlier in other states, has the potential to be a national model and can be applied by U.Va. researchers to other states using state-specific data and conditions to understand poverty among their citizens.”

Kathleen Short of the Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division at the United States Census Bureau commented: “Many poverty researchers from across the country will find this work both impressive and valuable, especially for other states working to develop their own alternative poverty measures.”

The new measure also reports significantly lower poverty rates for Southwest Virginia, good news for a region that is typically reported as having particularly high poverty rates under the official measure.

“Although Southwest Virginia still has the highest poverty rate in the state under the new measure (16 percent), it looks much more like its neighbors to the east,” Cable said. “The region is no longer an outlier in terms of economic deprivation. Accounting for a broader array of anti-poverty programs under the new measure helps lower rates in this region, as well as in Southside, the Northern Neck, the Valley and the Piedmont sections of Virginia.”

Among other findings from the new measure is a significantly lower poverty rate for children. Cable points out that the new poverty measure accounts for a broader array of anti-poverty programs and tax credits that are preferential toward families with young children, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and food stamps. By including these programs in the calculations of family resources, fewer families with children are found to be poor. On the other hand, by including the costs of medical out-of-pocket expenses, more seniors are found to be in poverty.

You can find the full report and press materials here: http://www.coopercenter.org/demographics/VPM

The post UVa. demographers’ new poverty measure finds rate in NoVa high appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

Glioblastomas are the most common form of brain tumor in adults – and the most aggressive. Because of the way the tumors invasively infiltrate the brain, spreading like ivy, they cannot be removed fully by surgery. There is no cure, and few patients survive more than two to three years even with aggressive treatment.

The UVA researchers, however, have identified a potential “master switch” they believe is essential to the glioblastoma cells. This vital enzyme, they believe, regulates cancer cell survival, proliferation and tumor formation. Inhibit the enzyme, their work suggests, and the cancer cell dies.

“This is an exciting new target in cancer,” said UVA’s Benjamin W. Purow, MD. “It seems to have potential not just for brain tumors but for other cancers as well. We think it has activity on its own, but also in combination with other cancer therapies.”

Glioblastoma, Melanoma
Glioblastoma is difficult to treat because it is persistent, aggressive and resourceful. Efforts to block its pathways are often unsuccessful because the cancer simply uses others. That has researchers looking for ways to inhibit multiple pathways at once, or targeting critical signaling nodes that control multiple pathways.

“We’re finding that we’re not having a lot of luck, often, when we just inhibit a single target in cancer cells, so we’re really interested in finding master switches,” Purow explained. And he thinks he’s found one: Diacylglycerol kinase alpha. By targeting this lipid-modifying enzyme, the UVA researchers believe, they can inhibit and kill glioblastoma cells and other forms of cancer, such as melanoma.

A Drug in Hand
Promisingly, the researchers already have identified a drug that targets the enzyme. The federal Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved its use, but previous tests, when it was being evaluated for other purposes, have suggested the compound is safe for use in people.

“We think we have at least an initial way into patients,” Purow said. “We may ultimately want to come up with more powerful inhibitors, or more targeted inhibitors of DGKα, and I think those will be some future directions — but there are a lot of exciting ways we’re going with this.”

New Tool in the Toolbox
For now, the UVA researchers will continue to explore their new discovery, investigating it further and ensuring safety before testing it in humans. But that they have a drug compound in hand should speed the process, Purow said. “I’m hoping we can start doing phase I trials in people within a couple of years,” he said. “I think that’s a realistic time frame. I’d couch that by saying that’s our goal – but we think that’s feasible.”

Purow emphasized that the UVA discovery isn’t a cure for glioblastoma or other cancers. But he said it might prove to be a formidable new “tool in the toolbox” to complement existing treatments such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

“We’re optimistic that this may have an impact on cancer course and may help sensitize to other treatments as well,” Purow said. “I hope it can make a difference for people.”

Published by Cancer Discovery
The findings have been published online by the journal Cancer Discovery. The article was authored by Charli L. Dominguez, Desiree H. Floyd, Aizhen Xiao, Garrett R. Mullins, Benjamin A. Kefas, Wenjun Xin, Melissa N. Yacur, Roger Abounader, Jae K. Lee, Gabriela Mustata Wilson (of the College of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of Southern Indiana, Evansville), Thurl E. Harris and Purow.

The post UVa. finds possible ‘master switch’ for deadly brain cancer appeared first on Augusta Free Press.

One of the major issues small business owners face today is the challenge of retaining talent. With the struggle to create more jobs waning on the marketplace, small business owners that find the right people are being challenged to better understand how to create an environment in which their people are growing, delivering and then staying long term.

Small business owners always look at their costs and the bottom line and this is where taxes come to play. With the many unknowns still surrounding existing tax reform, small business owners are challenged to decide how to respond to rising costs: hire and better train more talent to increase sales and off-set the rise in taxes versus reducing staff and becoming more efficient. These are difficult questions to answer with no easy choices and decisions that will affect lives.

One last challenge to address is the issue of untrained talent from recent college graduates. Today over 2/3′s of companies say they are having trouble finding talent, and over 50% say applicants don’t have the necessary skills. With the enormous amount of talent coming into the industry (out of college) and not having the necessary skill sets to succeed in the current marketplace, they are not being able to deliver the functions that small business require of staff which includes: sales, communication, negotiation, etc. Instead of small businesses hiring needed staff, more than half of America’s college graduates are unemployed or underemployed and those lucky enough to find any type of employment often find themselves in positions that require a high school diploma or less.

Bottom line is that until the issues mentioned above get resolved and small businesses owners have a better understanding what the next 6 to 12 months will bring, unfortunately not much will change and small business will have a difficult time having a positive outlook for their businesses over the next year.

Sam Caucci is a principal with Sales Huddle Group, Inc.

The post Sam Caucci: Small businesses continue to face challenges appeared first on Augusta Free Press.