Webb urges quick release of heating assistance

AFP

   Staff Report News Tips: [email protected] With record low temperatures and more Americans participating in federal assistance programs due to the current economic crisis, Sen. Jim Webb joined 47 of his colleagues to urge the president to speed up the distribution of funds from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to assist cash-strapped…

On knowing when to ‘say when’ in 2010

Jim Bishop

   Column by Jim Bishop Submit guest columns: [email protected] Wonder if I can write anything substantive while riding shotgun in our 2001 Alero on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on a bitterly cold Sunday morning while returning to Harrisonburg? Stay tuned and see . . . I was hoping to start a column draft during three glorious…

Resolved: Get your financial house in order

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  Submitted Guest columns: [email protected] New Year’s resolutions often revolve around losing weight and getting in shape, but this is also a great time of year to take stock of your fiscal fitness. Whether you’re worried about paying off debt, saving for college or planning for retirement, the New Year is a new chance to…

Crunching the numbers

Chris Graham

Do the data on growth back up conclusions of school redistricting committee? Column by Terry Short Submit guest columns: [email protected] Purpose Statement: “To address increasing enrollment in Westwood Hills Elementary School and changing student/teacher ratios in all elementary school.” – from Recommendation for Redistricting Elementary Schools for the 2010-2011 School Year, Waynesboro Public Schools (12/11/09)…

Slower turn toward recovery?

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   Staff Report News Tips: [email protected] Most turnaround professionals predict a hard slog toward economic recovery in 2010 as businesses weighed down by debt hit rough patches and credit markets shun them. Nearly half (49 percent) the respondents to the Turnaround Management Association’s distressed industries forecast think durable economic improvement is unlikely until at least…

Fifth District Report

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  Column by Tom Perriello www.perriello.house.gov As we close out 2009, here is a summary of all that we have accomplished during my first year in office. When I was sworn in almost a year ago, our economy was on the brink of collapse. While we still have a long way to go toward complete…

Report: Virginia manufacturing jobs down 7.1 percent in 2008-2009

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   Staff Report News Tips: [email protected] Industrial employment in Virginia fell 7.1 percent over the past 12 months according to the 2010 Virginia Manufacturers Directory, an industrial directory published annually by the Evanston, Ill.,-based Manufacturers’ News Inc. MNI reports Virginia lost 26,531 industrial jobs and 377 manufacturers between October 2008 and October 2009.

Focus | Getting the economic ball moving forward

Chris Graham

Waynesboro still in limbo on economic-development position Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Sixteen months and counting. That’s how long it has been since the city government in Waynesboro had its economic-development director post filled. Things seemed to be winding down on that until the news started circulating in City Hall late last week that the…

Focus | A hand up to local agencies

Chris Graham

Augusta Health Foundation monies help agencies help those most in need Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Running a food pantry isn’t easy even when times are supposedly good. Try getting enough food in to help those who are in need when things aren’t so good. “These organizations didn’t see a commensurate increase in donations to…

Stimulus needs better reporting

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   Column by Greg LeRoy Submit guest columns, letters: [email protected] Aside from health-care reform, probably the most divisive issue in Washington today is the $787 billion economic stimulus program. One camp argues that the Recovery Act has done a good job in preventing the country from plunging into a more serious crisis than the one…