Grant will help Smart Beginnings with ‘Getting Ready’

AFP

Smart Beginnings Shenandoah Valley, a local collaborative coalition working to improve the quality of early education and care in the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton and Waynesboro, as well as in Augusta, Page, Rockingham and Shenandoah counties, has received a significant grant of $125,000 from the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, a public-private partnership headquartered in Richmond….

Operation Purple: Camp for military kids

AFP

Operation Purple is under way at Camp Horizons in Harrisonburg. The camp, created in 2004, is for children ages 6-12 whose parents are serving in any branch of the military. In 2004, there were 12 Operation Purple camps across the United States. The program has grown to the point that this year there are 68…

VDOT road work schedule: The week of Aug. 16

Chris Graham

The following is a list of highway work that might affect traffic in the Augusta, Rockingham and Rockbridge areas in the coming weeks. Work scheduled is subject to change due to inclement weather and material supplies. Motorists are advised to watch for slow-moving tractors during mowing operations. Also, when traveling through a work zone, be…

Capri, Hypes and a musical movement

AFP

Local celebrities Bobby Capri and Andrew Hypes are moving up into the big boys league. The duo has had shows here in the Valley as well as up and down the East Coast, including, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn and Manhattan. The pair have made their way from independent artists to collaborating and joining the independent label,…

Another Dem-less year in the Sixth

Chris Graham

It had been 10 years since the last Democratic Party nominee challenge to Republican Bob Goodlatte when Sam Rasoul made a run at the Sixth District seat in 2008. Goodlatte’s 61 percent showing in 2008 was convincing enough to convince Democrats not to field a candidate against the incumbent in 2010. The question today –…

Thinking liberally

AFP

Riley Murray knew he was onto something. “I got to know people in Roanoke by blogging and they invited me to come down to the Drinking Liberally meeting. I went and thought, Why not do something like that here in Staunton?” said Murray, who founded a local chapter of Drinking Liberally in December 2008. The…

March of Dimes awards grant for Centering Pregnancy Program

AFP

Shenandoah Women’s Healthcare has received a $28,000 grant from the March of Dimes to enhance their Centering Pregnancy Program. Centering Pregnancy is an innovative approach to providing prenatal care in groups. Certified nurse-midwives at Shenandoah Women’s Healthcare have been piloting this project since December 2008, and now, thanks to the March of Dimes, all of…