Virginia fights bank scams

Chris Graham

A new program involving state government and a group of Virginia banks and credit unions aims at protecting consumers and financial institutions from fake-check scams. Sixty-one banks and credit unions participating in this effort will hand out a brochure created by Consumer Federation of America about fake-check scams and similar frauds to every consumer who…

Cuccinelli opinion sparks debate on documents for drivers licenses

Chris Graham

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued an official opinion last week informing the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles that it is not required to accept federal work permit cards as proof of lawful presence in the United States for the purpose of issuing a driver’s license, permit, or special identification card. The Cuccinelli opinion was highlighted…

Dental Clinic to expand operations

Chris Graham

The Augusta Regional Free Clinic and the Augusta Regional Dental Clinic held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday for the expanded Augusta Regional Dental Clinic. To increase the number of patients served and better meet their needs, the Augusta Regional Dental Clinic will double in both size and capacity. The new 5,000-square-foot facility will include state-of-the-art…

BBQ & Bluegrass: Sending SDHS drama students to Scotland

AFP

The Stuarts Draft High School Drama Team is headed for Scotland. The team has been selected as one of only 50 high schools across the entire United States and Canada to receive an invitation to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, the world’s largest performing arts festival. Students will spend two days exploring London…

Jim Bishop: Indiana wants me? Lord, I can go back there

Jim Bishop

I’m starting to write this column while moving 70 miles an hour on the Ohio Turnpike. I hope it will be a moving experience for you as well, dear readers. This is something I’ve not done in years – heading to a professional conference. For any number of fairly valid reasons, I simply haven’t gotten…

Retired minister walks to raise issues with death penalty

AFP

Right foot, left foot. Right foot, left foot. One step at a time, Hunter Mabry of Waynesboro is raising awareness of the inequities in the application of the death penalty in the American criminal-justice system. “The attitude of most of us, and I’ve had it much of my life, too, is that criminals get what…

Holly Sklar: Wall Street has already voted

AFP

Before Wall Street drove our economy off a cliff, bullish Citigroup strategists dubbed the United States a “plutonomy.” They said, “There are rich consumers, few in number, but disproportionate in the gigantic slice of income and consumption they take. There are the rest, the ‘non-rich,’ the multitudinous many, but only accounting for surprisingly small bites…

Sarah van Gelder: Families can’t afford to stay home on Election Day

AFP

If you’re like me, this election doesn’t feel anything like 2008. The excitement and hope of that historic election have been replaced by worry and disappointment. The 2008 campaigns at least occasionally addressed our country’s serious problems. This year it’s all noise, attacks, and accusations. Little actual policy makes it through. Meanwhile, billionaires, big oil,…

Sanford D. Horn: Juan gone From NPR

Chris Graham

The vigorous and immediate support of former NPR commentator Juan Williams, in the wake of his unceremonious dismissal via cell phone, from both sides of the aisle both politically and in the media speaks volumes – especially when Williams has been silenced, albeit only by NPR. For a simple expression of his true feelings, that…