Shepherd Bliss: Slow Food Nation attracts 50,000 … beneath the surface

AFP

Column by Shepherd Bliss “Come to the table,” Slow Food Nation invited. And come to San Francisco over Labor Day weekend they did — around 50,000 people attending perhaps the largest food celebration in American history. Tables and straw bales appeared in the heart of the city’s Civic Center around a victory garden on about…

Partnership cites JMU for supporting Richmond students’ higher-ed goals

AFP

Item by Janet Smith James Madison University is the recipient of a Helping Hand Award from the Partnership for the Future, an organization that provides scholarly activities, internships and support for Richmond students in preparation for higher education. The award recognizes “individuals or organizations that go above and beyond the call of duty in support…

Slow Food Nation gains momentum

AFP

Op-Ed by Shepherd Bliss Slow Food Nation leader Alice Waters – founder of Berkeley’s famous Chez Panisse Restaurant and author of eight food books – spoke at the small town (8,000 people) Sebastopol Farmers’ Market in Northern California Aug. 3. She was interviewed about the Aug. 29-31 SFN celebration to happen around San Francisco by…

The football and the book learnin’

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham [email protected] The presumed number-one quarterback, Peter Lalich, is busted for underage possession of alcohol. Then one of the incoming starters on the offensive line, Will Barker, is among two UVa. players picked up for stealing beer from a nightclub on The Corner. And that was just last week’s news….

Bowerbank gets three Dem endorsements

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Three of the four candidates for the 2005 Democratic Party lieutenant-governor nomination have endorsed Southwest Virginia pol Jon Bowerbank for the 2009 Democratic LG nod. ’05 nominee Leslie Byrne and state senators Chap Petersen and Phil Puckett all endorsed Bowerbank, a sitting member of the Russell County Board of Supervisors…

EMU has strong fund-raising year

Jim Bishop

Item by Jim Bishop Eastern Mennonite University has received $5,211,528 in total contributions for the 2007-08 fiscal year ending June 30, a 3.7 percent increase over the previous year. Kirk L. Shisler, vice president for advancement, reported that contributions of $1,857,265 to the University Fund set a new record, surpassing the 2007 annual fund total…

The true story of ‘Staunton’s Other Park’

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Thelma Newman remembers the anticipation of a late 1980s documentary produced by WVPT on the history of Staunton. Her father-in-law had been among those interviewed for the film, for one thing. The hopes of Newman and others in the Staunton African-American community that the film would do their…

Early start to ’09 Dem governor’s race

Chris Graham

Special Commentary by Chris Graham [email protected] The battle for next year’s Democratic Party nomination is ever-so-quietly heating up. House Democratic Caucus chair Brian Moran seems to have been focusing his attention on cornering the Mark Warner market at the outset of the ’09 nomination race. Moran has some of the big guns from the Warner…

Foreclosures in Fairfax

AFP

Op-Ed by Joe Russo I have never visited Virginia, even though I know their slogan is “Virginia is for Lovers.” I might convince my wife to take a vacation there with me now; I don’t know about the “Lover” part of it, but at least I’ll be in the company of “thinkers and doers.” Apparently,…