Robert Hurt: TRAIN ACT helps get the economy on the right track

Robert Hurt

With unemployment remaining unacceptably high across the 5th District and the country, the U.S House of Representatives has focused on promoting pro-growth policies that would remove the federal government as a barrier to job creation and help get our economy back on track. To that end, the House took action last week and passed another…

Former White House press secretary to speak in Staunton

Chris Graham

Marlin Fitzwater, press secretary for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, will reflect on his White House experiences at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6 in John Lewis Auditorium at Lee High School in Staunton. The program will be a conversational interview conducted by Don Wilson, President and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library…

Radtke claims foul on debate snub

AFP

Republican Senate-nomination candidate Jamie Radtke is raising issue with criteria established by the Virginia Associated Press Managing Editors and the Virginia Capital Correspondents Association for a Senate debate scheduled for December. Candidates must average 15 percent or better in published non-candidate polls and have raised at least 20 percent as much money as their party’s…

State: Record international tourism spending in 2010

AFP

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today that tourism spending by overseas travelers in Virginia increased by more than 12 percent in 2010. New figures released by Capital Region USA show international tourism spending was a record $321 million in 2010, up $35 million from 2009. Additionally, Virginia’s efforts to market to visitors from Canada are…

Ken Plum: Government in the sunshine

Ken Plum

A dark cloud passed in front of Virginia’s sunshine law when it was discovered that the Governor’s Commission on Government Reform had been meeting in small groups in secret with the Democratic members of the Commission left out of all the meetings.  The flimsy excuse offered by the Governor’s staff that the small groups were…

W&M nips New Haven

AFP

The No. 4/5 William and Mary football team extended its regular-season home winning streak to 11 games with a 13-10 victory against New Haven in its home opener on a rainy evening at Zable Stadium Saturday. Sophomore placekicker Drake Kuhn kicked a 28-yard go-ahead field goal with 5:28 remaining in the fourth quarter, and junior…

Presidential address on jobs

AFP

Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country.  We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that’s made things worse. This past week, reporters have been asking, “What will this speech mean for the President?  What will it mean for Congress?  How…