From the orphanage to college soccer: Michael Blackburn’s incredible story

AFP

Fishburne Military School soccer standout Michael Blackburn signed his letter of intent to continue his athletic career at Potomac State College on Monday. And that’s not even close to the most interesting thing that you can know about Blackburn, who spent his formative years in a Kazakhstan orphanage where he picked up soccer and a sense of determination that should inspire anybody reading this story.

Chris Graham: Content is king for small-business owners on the web

AFP

If you build it, it being a website, using the “Field of Dreams” mantra, then they will come. Alas, if only it were that easy. The national brands have unlimited budgets for seemingly endless stream of Google and Facebook and Twitter ads. Chances are if you’ve clicked my article for advice, you’re not among that subset of the business marketing population.

Chris Graham: Why do elected officials have it so nice on our dime?

Chris Graham

For all the controversy over the Augusta County School Board maintaining insurance benefits for its own members even as it has cut them for the school system’s part-time employees, the real outrage should be the relatively lavish pay and benefits our elected officials vote for themselves across the board in the first place.

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Virginia women’s lacrosse defeats Penn in NCAA Tourney

Chris Graham

Virginia women’s lacrosse attacker Casey Bocklet (So., South Salem, N.Y.) scored four goals to lead eight different UVa scorers as the Cavaliers posted a 12-6 victory over Penn Friday afternoon at Georgetown University’s Multi-Sport Field in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship.