Jim Bishop: All the world remains a stage for Ted Swartz

Jim Bishop

Column by Jim Bishop Submit guest columns: [email protected]   It’s a telling sketch. Local actor-playwright Ted Swartz plays a college student who comes home and tells his father that he decided to change his major from theater to pre-med. “I want to become a brain surgeon,” the young man tells his dad. The father, an…

Environmental group challenges Cuccinelli on emissions rule

Chris Graham

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   Following a 2007 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation today jointly issued a final rule on curbing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from light-duty vehicles, which contribute about one-fourth of America’s share of the world’s climate-change pollution.

Replacement Census questionnaire mailed out

Contributors

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   Beginning today through April 10, many Virginia households will receive a replacement 2010 Census questionnaire designed to increase census mail participation, get a better count for the state, and save taxpayers the higher cost of sending out census takers to collect information.

Letters to the Editor

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– K. Rashid Nuri: Making the case for urban agriculture – Hunter Mabry: Tell McDonnell to commute Paul Powell’s death sentence – Haresh Daswani: Of walks and meditation    K. Rashid Nuri: Making the case for urban agriculture In his State of the Union address, President Obama enumerated ongoing problems requiring his attention: health care,…

The Health Desk: Thursday, Feb. 25

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– Local News: RMH experts to speak at Free Heart Symposium – Local News: Free H1N1 shots available at RMH – Study: Socioeconomic status can affect life expectancy    Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]    Local News: RMH experts to speak at Free Heart Symposium RMH will hold its third annual “Matters of the Heart”…

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…