Ken Plum: ABC for sale

Ken Plum

In thinking about what makes Virginia special from her neighboring states, I would include on my list the fact that corner liquor stores with their barred windows and neon signs do not exist in Virginia. But that picture may change soon if the McDonnell administration has its way. As a candidate for that office, Gov….

Y, Augusta Health team up to fight obesity epidemic

Chris Graham

Sixty percent of adult Americans are overweight, and thirty percent are obese. And our bad habits are affecting our kids, whose life expectancy, shockingly, sadly, will be less than our generation, a major step back in quality of life that is entirely preventable. “It’s not just about the elderly and people who have had heart…

David Toscano: Inside the surplus

AFP

It is always better to have a surplus than have a deficit. Consequently, Governor McDonnell and many Virginians recently celebrated the fact that the Commonwealth will have a surplus at the end of the fiscal year. After all, who would not want a surplus? If we balance our family checkbook at the end of the…

Eastern Mennonite grad takes on pro-life ethics in new book

AFP

“This is a book about killing.” That’s the opening descriptive line in Eastern Mennonite Seminary grad Rob Arner’s new book. Arner, of Holland, a village in Bucks County, Pa., is a 2007 master of arts in religion graduate of the seminary. His recently-published “Consistently Pro-Life: The Ethics of Bloodshed in Ancient Christianity” is an extension…

Bruce Sallan: Being a teenager can be wonder-full

AFP

It’s so easy to complain about our teens. I know I’m guilty of too often dishing out criticisms, admonishments, and lectures. I worry that my boys might be doing drugs, drinking, or some other peer-pressure stupidity. But, they also deserve my support when they do well and my understanding when they slip up. My 16-year-old,…

Chamber looks for leaders

AFP

The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce is taking applications for its 2010 Community Leadership Program through Aug. 13. The program is designed as an avenue for the development of tomorrow’s community leaders. Since its inception in 1979, the program has graduated more than 800 community leaders. Each year, individuals from all business sectors, identified as having…

McAuliffe: ‘I want to keep all of my options open’

Chris Graham

Is Terry McAuliffe running for something? Well, not technically, but he is traveling with the former executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, Levar Stoney, who now works for him in a sort of nebulous role that doesn’t have Stoney as a political aide, per se, but … And McAuliffe didn’t begin his talk…

Webb announces nuclear initiative

Chris Graham

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., joined Virginia-based Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy Inc. and Bechtel Power Corporation on Wednesday to announce a formal alliance to design, license and deploy the world’s first commercially viable Generation III++ small modular nuclear power plant. Design work for the small modular reactors will…