Is there a plan post-Commonwealth Center? Of course there isn’t

Chris Graham

The state is closing the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents as part of a strategy to shift mental-health care for children to the private sector and local community services boards. OK. Except that the closing is the result of the state budget shortfall. Got it. I think we have our real motivation right there.

Finally, early voting in Virginia?

Contributors

Gov. Tim Kaine is backing legislation that would allow for no-excuse, in-person absentee voting in Virginia. Patroned by State Sen. Janet Howell, D-Reston, and State Del. Rosalyn Dance, D-Petersburg, the legislation, styled SB 810, would allow Virginia voters to cast absentee ballots in person at their local registrar’s office during the 45-day absentee voting period…

The saga of the Downtown Wall

Chris Graham

If you’ve been to Downtown Waynesboro at any time in the past eight months, you’ve probably wondered to yourself. What the … why don’t they … who’s responsible for … Funny thing, that. Everybody that I’ve talked to about the unfortunate landmark that is the Downtown Wall, as people have taken to calling it, is…

Partisan Kaine

Chris Graham

Solve problems. Unify people. Results. This is the message that Republicans are in their own inimitable partisan way are saying will mark the death of the Virginia Democrat as Tim Kaine prepares to take over the Democratic National Committee. The last time I saw Kaine, two months ago in Staunton, in the afterglow of the…

Wait continues on ED director

Chris Graham

Sometime this spring – that’s the time frame for having a new economic-development director on board in Waynesboro. “We’ve developed a recruitment profile, and we’re going ahead with advertising after the holidays,” assistant city manager Jim Shaw told me this week, laying out the plan for filling the position left vacant by the departure of…

Groh makes splash with staff additions

Chris Graham

The spread didn’t work when Mike Groh implemented it this year. But Al Groh seems intent on giving the offensive scheme another look. “Gregg is in the front of the pack in the development of offensive schemes that will be versatile and exciting for our players,” Al Groh said in announcing former Bowling Green head…

Bloom off Obama rose

Chris Graham

Or should I use every rose has its thorn as my opening cliche? Either applies to the stupefying decision of the president-elect to have ultraconservative windbag Rick Warren deliver the invocation at his inaugural, the appeal for which has dramatically gone down for me and millions of progressives like me who worked our tails off…