Chris Marston: From the Pumpkin Patch

AFP

More than 400 people attended a peace rally at the Islamic Center of the Shenandoah Valley on Sunday. The rally came after someone vandalized the Islamic Center on Friday and the Reedemer Classical School in Keezletown on Saturday. Vulgarities like those painted on both of these buildings should not be considered a healthy example of our American freedoms. We may not share the same beliefs as our neighbor, but our American values should ring clear. It is our American right to freely celebrate and practice whatever religion we might want to.

Ryan makes brief stop in Valley

AFP

Local Republicans have been working on gettting a member of the Republican national ticket for four years. When then-candidate Barack Obama came to Harrisonburg in October 2008, Suzanne Obenshain vowed to bring a Republican to the area for the 2012 election. She made calls to anyone who would listen, and worked with the Republican Party of Virginia. In the spring, local Republicans contacted the Mitt Romney campaign to make sure that someone on the ticket would come to the Valley. The hard work paid off Friday when Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan spoke at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds.