Rural Virginians talk health care to Congress

AFP

Rural Virginians cleared the air about their position on health-care reform at the “Rural Issues in Health Care Reform” congressional briefing hosted this week by Reps. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.). Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Rep. Steve Kagen (D-Wis.) also spoke at the briefing. Jim White, a community member from the…

AFP InDepth | Synthetic-turf field of dreams

Chris Graham

If you build it, they will come. “Imagine what this would do for kids in Waynesboro,” Waynesboro High School football coach Steve Isaacs tells me, going into detail on his vision for a new synthetic-turf athletic field at the city high school. “Kids would grow up wanting to play on that field,” Isaacs said. “Football,…

Unemployment up slightly in May

AFP

Unemployment ticked up a bit across the Valley in May, though the slight increases were called seasonal by a Virginia Employment Commission economist today. Waynesboro still has the highest unemployment rate locally, at 9.1 percent, up from the 8.8 percent mark in April, according to VEC data released today. Staunton was up from 6.9 percent…

VDOT issues travel advisory for Fourth

Chris Graham

The Virginia Department of Transportation will help ease Fourth of July holiday weekend travel by opening lanes temporarily closed for construction or maintenance work on major roadways. The lanes will be open from noon Friday, July 3, until noon Monday, July 6. Long-term construction zones with concrete barriers and orange barrels will remain in place. 

Maybe a law was broken in registrar e-mail exchange

AFP

An AFP reader might have a point regarding a possible violation of laws in a discussion between the former voter registrar in Waynesboro and a candidate for the appointment to the post. “Providing information about the manner in which a specific vote is cast, or any information regarding an individual’s votes, is ABSOLUTELY illegal –…

Seller beware: It’s a buyer’s market, not a seller’s, and not a builder’s

Chris Graham

Elizabeth Barnes is “wiped out.” “We priced it right, too,” said Barnes, talking about her 325 Lee Drive, Waynesboro, home, that she put on the market in July 2008 at a list price of $275,000, $40,000 below what she was going to list it at a year earlier when she had flirted with the idea…