Staunton, Waynesboro earn Tree City status

AFP

Ceremonies celebrating Tree City USA took place in 57 communities across Virginia on Monday, including in Staunton and Waynesboro. The towns, cities and military installations that have achieved Tree City USA certification satisfy guidelines from the Arbor Day Foundation. “Trees are much more than a pretty face,” said Barbara White, urban and community forester with…

Jim Bishop: Letting go is hard and slow

Jim Bishop

I’ve known this for a long time but it’s still not easy to publicly divulge – I’m not good at “letting go, moving on.” For example, I don’t like face-to-face goodbyes when someone leaves our congregation for another setting about the time that we really got to know and appreciate them, especially those persons who…

Augusta County Sheriff’s Office goes green

AFP

The Augusta County Sheriff’s office announced this week the conversion of eight Ford Crown Victoria police cruisers currently in their fleet to propane autogas. Conversions are being made through funding from the Virginia Department of Mines Minerals and Energy as well as the United States Department of Energy. Grant funding is managed by Virginia Clean…

New BC residence hall features cutting-edge sustainability

AFP

The dedication of Stone Village – Bridgewater College’s new environmentally sustainable student residences – will be held Tuesday, Aug. 9, at 11 a.m. Featured speakers include representatives of the college and the United States government. The event is free, open to the public and will be held rain or shine. Refreshments and a tour of…

Robert Hurt: Continued focus on job creation

Robert Hurt

This past week in Congress we continued to focus on taking the necessary steps to help foster a better environment for job creation for the people of the Fifth District by shrinking the size and scope of the federal government, reducing unnecessary regulations, working to lower energy costs, and cutting spending. I was proud to…

Virginia schools to promote recycling

AFP

Virginia Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson and Secretary of Natural Resources Doug Domenech have joined with PepsiCo and Waste Management to encourage K-12 schools in the Commonwealth to participate in the Dream Machine Recycle Rally program in celebration of Earth Week. The Dream Machine Recycle Rally, as one pillar within the broader Dream Machine recycling…

Chris Graham: Draft Perriello?

Chris Graham

It seems to me that Tim Kaine is the logical choice for Virginia Democrats looking for a Senate candidate in 2012 – and I wouldn’t call myself a political genius for thinking that way. The conventional wisdom isn’t stopping a group of Virginia Dems who are pushing recently unseated former congressman Tom Perriello for the…

Obama offshore drilling ban draws bipartisan criticism

Chris Graham

A bipartisan group of Virginia leaders will work to get the Obama administration to reverse its move to block drilling off the coast of Virginia until at least 2017. “As a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we learned a number of lessons, most importantly that we need to proceed with caution and focus…