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Bronco wants UVA to beat Tech: And the problem is?

It is, for some reason, seeming to be a bit much for some in the UVA football fan base that coach Bronco Mendenhall wants to beat Virginia Tech.

Virginia unemployment rate holds at 3.2 percent

Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged in June at 3.2 percent, but was down 0.5 percentage point from a year ago.

Is Waynesboro going to do this history museum thing, or not?

The ground work continues for a $10.4 million Virginia Museum of Natural History Waynesboro branch campus, with three possible locations still under consideration.

Waynesboro YMCA board member, volunteer honors her late husband through service

As a retired schoolteacher, Liza Scallet isn’t a philanthropist in the traditional sense, endowing her favorite charity with gobs of money.

UVA wideout Olamide Zaccheaus: Keep doing what you've been doing

A kind of a dumb question, dumb answer thing got my attention from today’s ACC Kickoff, involving UVA wideout Olamide Zaccheaus.

Local/State News

First four bronze statues commissioned for Virginia Women’s Monument

- The first four bronze statues commissioned for Voices from the Garden: The Virginia Women’s Monument, the nation’s first monument recognizing the full scope of significant but often unrecognized contributions of women.

NIBCO of Virginia receives Star designation under state labor protection program

- The NIBCO of Virginia plant in Stuarts Draft has been recertified as a STAR Worksite under Virginia’s Occupational Safety and Health Voluntary Protection Program, the program’s highest level of recognition.

Politics

How can companies encourage employees to go green?

- Many companies talk the talk when it comes to going green and do the minimum possible so as not to look bad (e.g. install recycling bins), but fewer actually walk the talk.

Virginia selected for NGA Smarter States, Smarter Communities Learning Lab

- Governor Ralph Northam has announced Virginia’s selection to participate in the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices’ (NGA Center) Smarter States, Smarter Communities Learning Lab.

Sports

Carolina Mudcats even series with Lynchburg Hillcats, win in extras

- In a game that featured four ties and five lead changes, a Hillcats error in extra innings proved to be the difference, as the Mudcats won, 6-5, in 10 innings on Sunday.

Braymer, P-Nats bullpen blank Red Sox, 5-0

- For the seventh time this year, the Potomac Nationals (13-16, 50-46) shutout their opponents en route to victory, this time a 5-0 win over the Salem Red Sox (15-15, 47-51) on Sunday.

Business

Understanding the opioid crisis In America

- The opioid crisis in America is so widespread that you likely have a loved one or know someone who is addicted.

7 ways to expand your restaurant business

- Developing a successful restaurant is a notoriously difficult task. In just about every town or neighborhood, there is that location that has housed ten different restaurants in the last 10 years.

AFP Editor Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the editor of AugustaFreePress.com, will mark his 23rd year in the media industry in 2018. An award-winning journalist and editor, Chris has also hosted local TV news programs, a syndicated sports talk show and worked as a commentator on ESPN3 college football and baseball broadcasts.

A 1994 graduate of the University of Virginia, Chris has covered Virginia politics actively since 1997, conducting interviews with governors George Allen, Jim Gilmore, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Bob McDonnell, Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam, and political newsmakers including UVA political-science professor Larry Sabato, ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl and Fox Business host Lou Dobbs.

Other notable interview subjects have included author John Grisham, ESPN TV personality Dick Vitale, sportswriter and author John Feinstein, Weather Channel anchor Stephanie Abrams and musician Bruce Hornsby.

An author of six books, Chris also co-wrote a book on the history of University of Virginia basketball, Mad About U: Four Decades of Basketball at University Hall, which was published in 2006.

Chris has covered University of Virginia sports since 1995, and is a credentialed member of the press box and press row at UVA football, basketball and baseball games, covering the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, the NCAA Tournament and Virginia’s run to the Sweet Sixteen at Madison Square Garden in 2014, and also covering the UVA baseball team in the ACC Baseball Championship, Regionals and Super Regionals.

From 2009-2014, Chris was the play-by-play voice of the Waynesboro Generals, a team competing in the Valley Baseball League, a premier college summer baseball league affiliated with Major League Baseball and the NCAA.

Books by Chris Graham

Chris Graham offers a glimpse behind the curtain of the pro wrestling business in his new book, The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, the inside story of the 2011 Night of Legends, a live pay-per-view event featuring stars including WWE Hall of Famers Kevin Nash, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and The Rock ‘n Roll Express that was met with almost universally negative reviews.

Read for free: click here.

Mad About U: Four Decades of at University Hall, by Chris Graham and Patrick Hite, is a look at the players, coaches and memories of University Hall at the University of Virginia. From Barry Parkhill’s last-second shot to knock off No. 2 South Carolina to the struggles faced by coaches Barbara Kelly and Dan Bonner in the early years of UVa. women’s basketball to the excitement of the early 1980s in the House that Ralph Built to the move to JPJ – it’s all here.

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AFP Marketing/PR

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(We won’t ever try that again. Almost killed us!)

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