Earth Talk: Ocean sprawl

Roddy Scheer

We are all familiar by now with “urban sprawl”—the uncontrolled spread of urban development into areas beyond the city. But environmentalists warn that the next frontier in sprawl is ocean sprawl, where the proliferation of fishing, shipping, tourism, resource extraction, energy development, military exercises and other human activity has begun to call into question just how vast our oceans really are.

McAuliffe nominates Maurice Jones as Secretary of Commerce and Trade

AFP

Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe announced at a press conference on Thursday the nomination of Secretary Maurice Jones as Secretary of Commerce and Trade. Jones, a Kenbridge native, is the former president of the Pilot Media Group, and currently serves as deputy secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

augusta health

Augusta Health issues call for fine art entries

Chris Graham

The Art Committee of Augusta Health Inc. in Fishersville, Va.,is seeking high quality fine art for temporary gallery exhibits and for possible purchase by the hospital for permanent display. The gallery exhibits the work of an individual artist for a solo exhibition. Any purchases will be determined during the display time.

Gov. McDonnell announces matching tourism grants

AFP

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today that more than $750,000 in matching grant funds will be awarded to 42 local tourism initiatives as part of Virginia Tourism Corporation’s (VTC) Marketing Leverage Grant program. The grants are designed to help local and regional tourism entities attract more visitors by leveraging local marketing dollars.

Earth Talk: Dark factories

Roddy Scheer

So-called dark factories — otherwise known as “lights out” or “automatic” factories — are manufacturing facilities that do not depend on human labor to get work done. While they may have some benefits for the environment they are certainly not beneficial overall considering the impact widespread adoption would have on needed jobs.