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Prices at the pump continued to stabilize, even retreat in some areas of the country, this week, leading many to wonder if 2012 gas prices have peaked weeks shy of when 2011 prices peaked. The national average price for regular grade gasoline dropped 2 cents this week to $3.88 per gallon Friday, marking the third…
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Virginia’s unemployment rate dropped for the fourth straight month. The unemployment rate for the month of March was 5.6 percent. That is the lowest unemployment rate in Virginia in over three years, and a decline from 5.7 percent in February.
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Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today that March general fund revenue collections rose 7.6 percent. The year-over-year increase was driven in large part by growth in sales and corporate income tax receipts. March is typically not a significant month for revenue collections. On a year-to-date basis, total revenue collections have risen 5.3 percent, ahead of the…
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George Allen led a town-hall-style meet-and-greet in the open air outside the entrance of Luray Caverns in Luray Saturday afternoon. His main topic of discussion revolved around how rising gasoline prices are adversely impacting the people of the Shenandoah Valley. “I am running for the Senate because I don’t like where things are going,” said…
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The State Senate voted 35-4 on Monday to pass a budget that adds millions to support public schools, reduce the cost of tolls, help families who have suffered during the foreclosure crisis, and protect the safety net that supports the most vulnerable Virginians. “I’m pleased the Senate has passed this budget, which better funds our…
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Senate Democrats are claiming success in a budget vote by the Finance Committee that provides for more funding for public schools, families who have suffered during the foreclosure crisis, and Virginia’s most vulnerable citizens. “We made this budget a lot better in terms of health and human services and public education. It was a cooperative…
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The Republican mantra on jobs is that recent growth in job numbers at the federal level isn’t enough and that President Obama hasn’t been doing enough. At the state level in Virginia, modest gains in the jobs sector is reason for celebration for Republicans hoping to gain political advantage. “Needless to say, I am delighted…
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Some politicians are still calling contraception a social evil. This is an astonishing claim in the 21st Century when all the evidence is that contraception is key to a more successful economy and a better quality of life – not only for individual women and their families, but for us all. Because contraception makes it…
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Martha Bogle, superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, will lead the Augusta County Historical Society’s spring meeting in considering the history and future of the park, which celebrated its 75th Anniversary last year. Her talk, “Shenandoah National Park: 75 Historic Years & Growing,” is Sunday, March 18, at 3 p.m. at Wilson Memorial High School, Fishersville….
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During one of our district tours last year, a concerned constituent told me that federal government regulations are “taking the breath” away from small businesses and family farms in the Fifth District. And as I make visits with Central and Southside Virginians across our district, I am constantly reminded of those words as I see…
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