
Author signing at the Smith Center
Local James Madison University professor, artist and author Judith Townsend Rocchiccioli has released her first novel, Chaos at Crescent Medical Center, a medical thriller.

Local James Madison University professor, artist and author Judith Townsend Rocchiccioli has released her first novel, Chaos at Crescent Medical Center, a medical thriller.

I never thought of Governor Bob McDonnell as a performing artist until now. But his proposal to raise money for transportation without appearing to raise taxes is a stage act with contortions worthy of Cirque de Soleil.


U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine today announced additional members of his Virginia and Washington, D.C.,-based Senate staff.

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama focused on investing to create the, infrastructure, work environment and skills for good jobs and a thriving middle class. But, do you know how most jobs get created in America? The answer is small and microbusinesses.

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner announced on Thursday that he will reintroduce the bipartisan CAMPUS Safety Act, which would consolidate existing federal campus safety programs into a single, National Center for Campus Public Safety, to strengthen training and research initiatives and improve collaboration.

It may be time to upgrade your pans, given that the U.S. government has called for a complete phase-out of polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE, otherwise known as Teflon) and related products by 2015, due to health concerns. When Teflon is exposed to high heat it can degrade, which causes it to release its constituent chemical, PFOA, as a gas. This phenomenon can kill pet birds, and can’t be good for humans either.

In January 2011, I featured Social Media in this column. I reread it the other day and thought, “Wow, how things have changed in two years.” At that point in time I mentioned cell phones and laptops, and used the word “perhaps” in conjunction with smart phone and tablet use on the farm. For Social Media, I limited the discussion to Facebook, Twitter and blogs and only referred to “applications” once. I noticed that I wrote applications, not apps.

Agritourism in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia will be able to roll out a whole new range of activities in the coming years thanks to a recent $60,000 grant from the Building Collaborative Communities program. The Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission will administer the grant on behalf of the Fields of Gold region. Funds will be allocated to develop partnerships, create business support services for farmers and agritourism operators, market the Valley’s rich agricultural offerings and build a sustainable organizational structure for long-term viability.

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) on Thursday introduced Startup Act 3.0, an updated version of a bipartisan jobs and high-skilled immigration plan to strengthen the economic recovery through the creation and growth of new businesses.
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