
Arts Council presents Ann Cheeks
The Arts Council of the Valley presents the paintings of Ann Cheeks at the Darrin-McHone Gallery in the Smith House. In coordination with the First Fridays Downtown, Cheeks’ show opens Friday, Aug. 7, from 5-7 p.m.

The Arts Council of the Valley presents the paintings of Ann Cheeks at the Darrin-McHone Gallery in the Smith House. In coordination with the First Fridays Downtown, Cheeks’ show opens Friday, Aug. 7, from 5-7 p.m.

The first step was convincing people that the old Robert E. Lee High School was a building worth saving. The men at the head of the development group leading the effort to transform the 80-year-old school campus into the new home for the Staunton Senior Center and ShenanArts didn’t have to do all that much…

You probably don’t like your health-insurance premiums going up, and that part of the additional money that you’re paying is being used to lobby Congress to keep the U.S. health-care system in the Dark Ages. Be careful trying to get that message across to your insurance company. You might end up in jail.

The Democratic National Committee launched a new offensive against Republican Congressional Leaders on Wednesday over the economy and the success of the Recovery Act. The multi-pronged effort takes U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell (Kent.) and Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and U.S. Reps. John Boehner (Ohio), Eric Cantor (Va.) and Mike Pence (Ind.) to task for supporting the…

I was still trying to be hopeful Sunday night after the loss to the Covington Lumberbacks that put our Waynesboro Generals team on the brink of elimination from the 2009 Valley League playoff race. Team owner Jerry Carter, out of character, for those who know him, was the realist among us. “We’re still in this,”…

I learned a little more today from doing research on Social Security. According to www.ssa.gov, Social Security as we know it did not really arrive in America until 1935. There was, however, one important precursor which offered something we could recognize as a social security program, yet only available to one certain segment of the…

Picture yourself with a serious health problem and no medical care. This is not difficult to imagine for anyone without health insurance or with substandard coverage. Fortunately, my partner Debra, and I were in excellent health when we departed the U.S. aboard our sailboat for a multi-year sabbatical. We left corporate and government jobs which…

The American people are understandably queasy.” – Barack Hussein Obama, July 22, 2009. What is making the American people queasy is a Congress that does not pay attention to those who hired them in the first place. What is making the American people queasy is a Congress that does not do the job for which…

There were no polls, as one of the candidates for the Republican Party nomination in the 20th, Dickie Bell, famously tried to assert upon the departure of State Del. Chris Saxman from the 20th District race two weeks ago, but conventional wisdom would have had Saxman ahead of Democrat Erik Curren if there had been…

The 20th District Republican Party nomination is Dickie Bell’s to lose, just as it appeared this time last week in the hours after Chris Saxman’s stunning announcement that he was dropping out of the race. Bell is an ideal candidate in more ways than one. The 62-year-old moderate is in his fourth term on Staunton…