Fields of Gold receives grant for tourism marketing
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Gov. Bob McDonnell announced that the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission was among 37 recipients of tourism marketing grants totaling more than $543,000.
Search Results for environment
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Staunton implements new citizen alert system
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The City of Staunton announced last week the inauguration of the Everbridge system for citizen alerts. This new system will communicate with thousands of businesses and residents in the event of an emergency. Everbridge is an interactive communication and mass notification platform that helps organizations save lives, manage critical activities and improve the efficiency of daily operations.
Shenandoah Valley regional energy efficiency strategy yields impressive results
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As the results roll in from a two-year Shenandoah Valley Regional Energy Efficiency Strategy developed and executed by the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission, the program is being touted by Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy Projects Coordinator, Ron Hachey, as a “shining star” among other state energy efficiency projects.
Earth Talk: A greener laundry room
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While there are many ways to green one’s laundry room, one place to start is with detergent. Luckily, in 2009 the federal government phased out phosphates, harsh chemicals that help break down minerals and loose food bits during the wash cycle, because their presence in waste water causes algae blooms in downstream waterways.
Chris Graham: Guns don’t kill people, sure, but …
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You hear this retort often when anybody brings up the inescapable fact that the prevalence of guns in American society is a huge factor in our otherworldly homicide rate. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. Yep. Bob Costas sure stepped into that one with his halftime rant on “Sunday Night Football” discussing the murder-suicide involving Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher.
Conservationists celebrate landmark offshore wind lease in Virginia
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Conservation groups praised the Obama Administration’s announcement on Friday of a lease sale for the offshore wind energy area 23.5 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The Department of the Interior announced it would be conducting a competitive lease sale for the 112,800-acre area identified last February. DOI will auction the entire area as a single lease. The lease sale is an important step and is the result of cooperation among regulators, environmentalists, utilities and state lawmakers-all of whom support offshore wind energy for Virginia.
Earth Talk: Has recycling lived up to its promise?
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Americans still don’t recycle as much as they could. Nonetheless, the practice is already considered a huge success given that it keeps about a third of the solid waste we generate out of our quickly filling landfills and saves natural resources while generating much-needed revenue for struggling municipal governments. Recycling also helps us keep our carbon footprints down: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recycling one ton of aluminum cans conserves more than 1,665 gallons of gasoline.
Uranium Working Group delivers report to Gov. McDonnell
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Gov. Bob McDonnell has received and transmitted to the General Assembly the final report of the Uranium Working Group regarding a conceptual regulatory framework should the General Assembly act to lift the current moratorium on uranium mining in the Commonwealth.
Sen. Webb: Focus on Defense Department’s ‘must-have’ programs
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During debate on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) reiterated his concerns about using funding intended for operations, maintenance, and acquisition programs to expand biofuel research-and-development (R&D) programs in the Department of Defense.
Report: Public-Private Transportation Act needs overhaul
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A new report from the Southern Environmental Law Center on Virginia’s Public-Private Transportation Act, under which billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent and decades of substantial tolls imposed, warns that the law lacks adequate safeguards to protect the public interest.
