Valley gets $5M for green job training

Chris Graham

   Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Blue Ridge Community College and James Madison University are among a group of Shenandoah Valley partners that will take part in a new program to train workers for jobs in the emerging green sector. U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb on Friday announced a $5 million investment from…

Time to ban this health threat: Leaf blowers

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   Column by Shepherd Bliss Submit guest columns: [email protected] ‘‘Avoid using leaf blowers and other dust-producing equipment to cut down particulate matter,” recommends the California Air Resources Board. Why? Simply put, leaf blowers kill. “Approximately 65,000 premature deaths from cardiopulmonary causes may be attributable to particulate air pollution each year,” according to the Natural Resources…

Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing

Chris Graham

Howard Dean, Tim Kaine, Vince Lombardi, and a guy named Phil Bengston Story by Chris Graham [email protected] When the football team starts losing games, the fan base tends to start getting antsy, and when the losses compound into a losing season, you can start hearing calls for the coach’s head. Politics isn’t unlike football in…

Lawmaker Dispatches

Chris Graham

Featuring: Randy Forbes, Tom Perriello, Robert Hurt, Kaye Kory Randy Forbes: National Dialogue www.forbes.house.gov Ask a teacher, and they will most likely tell you that one of the quickest ways to kill classroom discussion is for one strong-willed student to monopolize the conversation. A long-winded or uncomfortably impassioned monologue inevitably polarizes viewpoints. Conversation shuts down,…

Misdirecting charity by perpetuating the myth of widespread hunger in America

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   Column by Donald J. Boudreaux Submit guest columns: [email protected] Macy’s lately has taken to displaying in many of its stores a poster claiming that the number of Americans at risk of hunger is one in eight. That’s 12.5 percent of the population. Macy’s hope is that its posters will prompt its customers – who…

New nuclear energy is old news

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And new projects are already under way, benefitting economies and creating jobs Column by Jarret Adams Submit guest columns: [email protected] Right now, nuclear energy is expanding around the world. According to the World Nuclear Association, there are 50 reactors under construction across the globe and another 130 (and counting) scheduled to come online over the…

Fifth District Report

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  Column by Tom Perriello www.periello.house.gov In this economy, every dollar counts — and so does a tax credit worth up to $5,657. Jan. 29 was designated by the Internal Revenue Service as Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day. More than 534,000 Virginia taxpayers took advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and received…

Gone with the wind

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The budget, voter ID and, yes, clotheslines, in the Senate of Virginia  Column by Mark Obenshain www.markobenshain.com Another week of session is behind us, and although actual budget negotiations still lie ahead, producing a balanced budget remains the matter on everyones mind. The budget will be balanced, of course; the law requires it. The real…

The earnings report for Main Street

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   Column by Prakash Laufer Submit guest columns: [email protected] To add insult to injury to working America, in came the earnings reports from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. At these mega banks, balance sheets are healthy, profits are up and bonuses for top executives are bigger than ever. JPMorgan Chase just reported $11.7 billion in…

In honor of Lilly, take action now to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act

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   Column by Linda Meric Submit guest columns: [email protected] A year ago, dozens of women’s and civil-rights activists gathered at the White House to watch President Barack Obama sign his first piece of legislation into law: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. The signing was a triumphant moment – especially with its namesake, Lilly…