Relief effort generates more than $300K

Jim Bishop

Brisk temperatures and sunny skies seemed to contribute to the “great community building experience” that epitomized the 45th annual Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale held Friday evening and Saturday, Sept. 30- Oct. 1, at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds. This year’s sale raised approximately $301,477 for the worldwide relief and service program of Mennonite Central Committee, up…

Augusta Health breaks ground on new heart and vascular center

Chris Graham

Augusta Health broke ground today for its new Heart and Vascular Center, a four-story, 67,500 square foot addition.  The construction project will also include renovations to 19,000 square feet in the existing hospital.  The project budget of $30.6 million will be funded through reserves; no money will be borrowed to finance the project. “This is…

Staunton wins national award for development brochure

AFP

The Staunton Department of Economic Development received an Excellence in Economic Development Award for its Economic Development Recruitment/Quality of Life Brochure in the category of General Purpose Brochure for communities with populations of less than 25,000 from the International Economic Development Council. The honor was presented at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, September 20 during…

Transcript: President Obama on the American Jobs Act in Denver, Colo.

Chris Graham

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Denver!  (Applause.)  What a beautiful day.  Thank you so much.  How’s it going, Lancers?  (Applause.)  I hear the Lancers have a pretty good ball team.  That’s the story I’ve heard.  (Applause.) Well, listen, there are a couple of people here I want to acknowledge who are just outstanding public servants.  First of…

Augusta Health Foundation awards $125K in local grants

Chris Graham

The Augusta Health Foundation, established by the Augusta Health Board of Directors in 2001 to support health initiatives and support partner health-improvement organizations in the community, has awarded $125,000 in single year grants to 12 local agencies. “This year, 2011, is a landmark year for the Augusta Health Foundation,” says Linda Gail Johnson, executive director…

ACLU encourages non-disruptive protests at Va. high school

AFP

The ACLU of Virginia has informed school officials at Colonial Forge High School in Stafford County that they must allow students to wear “Free Banana Man” t-shirts to protest the suspension of a fellow student who sprinted around the football field wearing a banana costume last Friday night. The student, Bryan Thompson, apparently did not…

Solar array at EMU exceeds output expectations

AFP

Judging by its performance over the past 10 months, the solar energy system at Eastern Mennonite University will exceed the annual guaranteed power production by 12 percent, according to officials at Secure Futures, the company that owns and operates the system at EMU. Secure Futures guaranteed an annual output of 126,783 kilowatt hours of electricity…

Vision 2020 announces board

Chris Graham

Creating a shared, unified vision for the future of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County has been an on-going process for the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce and hundreds of community leaders. Since 2009, three leadership workshops or forums have been held every six months, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce members have been surveyed to collect the business community’s…