Is the Valley safer?

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., were a wakeup call for those involved in the emergency-services community in the Shenandoah Valley. “The big thing that came out of 9/11 was the thought that, hey, we’ve got to look at our policies and…

The end of the car tax as we know it – revisited

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham Tim Williams doesn’t like passing the buck to taxpayers any more than he has to – particularly when Richmond is awash in money from those same taxpayers. “The state has a surplus, and here they are passing this onto us. I don’t understand that. They made the promise, and…

Operation MUNIS sees progress

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham The talk of the 2005 election cycle in Staunton wasn’t focused on the heated gubernatorial race pitting Tim Kaine against Jerry Kilgore at the top of the ticket or any of the other state races. It was instead on the delays in the installation of a new financial-management software…

Property Tax Fever

Chris Graham

Column by Chris Graham Quentin Kidd calls it a “sleeper factor” – though the mini-revolts that we have been witnessing statewide over what have become effective tax increases that have resulted from increased local property-value reassessments this spring could reawaken from their brief slumber in time to play a key role in next week’s Republican…