VDOT road-work schedule for May 6-10

Chris Graham

The following is a list of highway work that might affect traffic in the VDOT Staunton transportation district during the coming weeks. The Staunton district is comprised of 11 counties, Alleghany, Bath, Rockbridge, Augusta, Highland, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Frederick, Page, Warren and Clarke. Work scheduled is subject to change due to inclement weather and material supplies. Motorists are advised to watch for slow-moving tractors during mowing operations. Also, when traveling through a work zone, be alert to periodic changes in traffic patterns and lane closures.

Manassas woman sentenced to 18 months for illegally buying and selling more than 31 handguns in 15 days

AFP

A Manassas woman was sentenced today to 18 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for illegally buying and selling more than 31 handguns in 15 days without a license. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride; and Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division Carl Vasilko made the announcement today after Kimberly Yvette Dinkins, 44, was sentenced by United States District Judge Claude M. Hilton.

Sen. Tim Kaine talks business in Waynesboro

AFP

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was in Waynesboro on Thursday to meet with city leaders to discuss economic development in Waynesboro. Kaine met with City Councilman Tim Williams, City Manager Mike Hamp and Assistant City Manager Jim Shaw to discuss several ongoing development projects in the River City. Kaine then toured Downtown Waynesboro to learn more about the work on the Center for Coldwaters Restoration and to meet with several owntown business owners.

University of Virginia team wins Governor’s Business Plan Challenge

Chris Graham

Timothy Higgins, Andrew Andreae and Jessica Ungerleider, representing the University of Virginia, won the Capital One Grand Prize today at the Governor’s Business Plan Challenge. In recognition of Virginia’s strong entrepreneurial environment, the statewide challenge, co-hosted by Work It, Richmond, featured the best business plans or concepts crafted by undergraduate students this year.

Event to celebrate preservation, digitization of Augusta Records

AFP

They are the records of a wild west, a new frontier, a nation struggling with its social conscience, of war, and of every day people dealing with the every day problems of society such as love, deceit, misfortune and even petty quarrels with neighbors. And for the first time the Augusta County Chancery Records are available to every person in the world with a computer screen – all 878,490 pages from 10,268 lawsuits!

Mark Warner, Tim Kaine join letter urging president to move on VA claims backlog

Chris Graham

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today sent a letter to President Obama urging him to take action to reduce the current backlog of veterans’ disability claims. Currently, the average claim takes over 300 days to be resolved. In the letter, Sens. Warner and Kaine, who were joined by 65 other members of the Senate, cited long delays in cities across the country in making the case for swift action to reduce the backlog.