JMU nips ‘Cuse, heads to WNIT Final

Chris Graham

James Madison beat Syracuse 74-71 in the National Women’s Invitation Tournament semifinals Wednesday evening at the JMU Convocation Center. JMU advances to the WNIT championship game at Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 31.  The Cowgirls beat San Diego 73-57 in the other semifinal Wednesday. JMU, which won its school-record 29th game, improved to…

Warner urges House to pass transportation bill

Chris Graham

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) today urged the U.S. House to take up a bipartisan Senate transportation bill before the March 31st cut-off of federal funding impacts jobs and ongoing transportation projects across Virginia and the rest of the country. The Senate’s two-year proposal supports an estimated 39,800 highway construction and transit jobs in…

JMU women knock off UVa., head to WNIT semis

AFP

James Madison outscored Virginia 41-26 in the second half en route to a 68-59 win in National Women’s Invitation Tournament quarterfinal-round basketball action Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center. JMU, 28-7, advances to a 7 p.m. home March 28 semifinal game against Syracuse, a 74-73 overtime winner over Toledo on Saturday.  Virginia completed its…

Ken Plum: Balancing the state budget

Ken Plum

Adjourning a 60-day legislative session without approving a biennial budget may seem like Washington-style failure to some, but to those who work closely with the process taking more time to balance the budget reflects the realities and limitations of the tremendous task involved.  Contrasted to federal budget-making, there are no continuing resolutions or the ability…

Eastern Mennonite Seminary hires new professor

AFP

David Evans will nurture and push students as they wade into the increasingly diverse religious contexts of the world. The newest member of the Eastern Mennonite Seminary faculty in Harrisonburg, Evans has been named assistant professor of history, mission, intercultural and interfaith studies. Evans brings expertise in cultural analysis and interfaith and intercultural mission from…

Virginia gets big fat ‘F’ on transparency report

AFP

State governments are largely doing a poor job delivering transparency and accountability to their citizenry. Meanwhile, statehouses remain ripe for corruption and self-dealing. This is the discouraging picture that emerges from the State Integrity Investigation, a first-of-its-kind, data-driven assessment of transparency, accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms in all 50 states. In the ranking, not a single…

UVa. women top Richmond in WNIT

AFP

The Virginia women’s basketball team defeated in-state foe Richmond, 68-55, Monday (March 19) in the second round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The Cavaliers advance to host Appalachian State in the third round on Thursday (March 22) at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. With the win, UVa improved to 24-10 overall…

Karen Kwiatkowski: What does Bob Goodlatte really believe?

AFP

Bob Goodlatte tells us the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act (H.R. 4153) will improve EPA administration and effectiveness by giving states more control. It will not. Does the EPA overreach, cost too much, and use bad science in its pronouncements?  Absolutely!  It’s a government agency, isn’t it?  Beyond this, it’s no mystery that…

Earth Talk: Young farmers needed

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: American farmers are an aging population. Is anyone doing anything to make sure younger people are taking up this profession in large enough numbers to keep at least some of our food production domestic? – Beverly Smith, Milwaukee, Wisc. Indeed American farmers as a whole are an aging group today as young people…