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Debbie Winters, director of Ride With Pride, received the Pete Geisen Humanitarian Award at Ride With Pride’s annual dinner on Thursday, Dec. 2, held at Memorial Baptist Church in Staunton. The Pete Gesen Award, given by the Shenandoah Valley Disability Employment Awareness Committee, is given to individuals who champion the cause of equal opportunity and…
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Dear Member of Congress: You’ve got a lot to consider in this month. You’re scheduled to debate international treaties and internet censorship. There’s talk of military affairs and revamping federal agencies. But this should be at the top of your agenda: extending benefits for unemployed workers and making sure struggling parents can continue to make…
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As a certified public accountant and business owner, I know the impact of taxes up close and personal. And the claim that ending Bush-era tax cuts on income over a quarter of a million dollars will hurt the economy, reduce employment and burden small businesses is patently false. Let’s take a look at the evidence….
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AAA today projected the number of Americans traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday will increase 11.4 percent from 2009, with approximately 42.2 million travelers taking a trip at least 50 miles away from home. Last year, 37.9 million Americans traveled during the Thanksgiving holiday. The 2010 Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as Wednesday, Nov. 24…
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Natural disasters, traumatic events, crises to families and terrorist threats are on the rise in the world. James Madison University’s graduate psychology department is ready to respond. Beginning January 2011, JMU will offer a Ph.D. in Counseling and Supervision. The innovative program will address urgent national needs to train and supervise more master’s-level counselors. Its…
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I was a Reagan Democrat and Republican activist from ’80-’06. My views have changed as this new-age, anti-Reagan Republican Party has devolved away from the Constitution into a party of extreme hatred and racial, religious and ethnic bigotry, claiming they’re the only “true” patriots and “real” Americans: everyone else is somehow un-American and “liberal” (as…
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I’m starting to write this column while moving 70 miles an hour on the Ohio Turnpike. I hope it will be a moving experience for you as well, dear readers. This is something I’ve not done in years – heading to a professional conference. For any number of fairly valid reasons, I simply haven’t gotten…
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That’s a big word. And depending upon where you sit, you will take a different stand. When consolidation takes place in the private sector, from airlines to movies, we cheer. However, when we attempt to consolidate operations and services in the public sector that is an entirely different story, we object. Why? Don’t we know,…
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Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today that September revenue collections for the state government increased by 4.1 percent over the prior year. This is the sixth month out of the last seven in which state revenue collections exceeded the previous year’s amount. The revenue increase was primarily driven by withholding (+6.8 percent), corporate income (+13.8 percent)…
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U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., voted on Wednesday to pass the Small Business Jobs Act, which now goes to the House of Representatives for final passage. “Small businesses are essential to the health of our economy — creating two-thirds of all new jobs over the last 15 years,” said Sen. Webb. “I have listened to…
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