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August marks the 50th anniversary of the first use of herbicides by United States military forces during the war in Vietnam. From 1961 until 1971, more than 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides were stored, mixed, handled by U.S. troops and sprayed by U.S. airplanes over millions of acres of Vietnamese forest…
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A bipartisan group of 12 senators, led by Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), today sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) urging them to make full elimination of costly ethanol subsidies and tariffs a priority. In June, a measure offered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein…
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On July 20-21, Staunton hosted a statewide training presented by the Virginia Main Street program at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and Conference Center. The VMS program, managed by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development since 1985, works to revitalize Virginia’s historic downtowns by providing training and technical support. Participating communities improve and beautify…
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In a close vote, the House recently passed a provision that undercuts one of the most successful environmental programs of the decade – one that requires all bulbs – including the incandescent – to achieve higher efficiency levels. The amendment, which was tacked on to the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2012, delays…
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Results of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s 2011 survey of “Great Colleges to Work For” were released today and Blue Ridge Community College was once again recognized as a “Great College to Work For” in 10 of the 12 two-year college categories. The primary factor in deciding whether an institution received Great College to Work…
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Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., today called for the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to incorporate his Virginia Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Energy Production Act in pending offshore energy legislation this week. “Outer Continental Shelf production has strong support among Virginians and their political leadership,” Webb wrote the Committee’s Chairman and Ranking Member. “I look forward…
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July 16 marks the 66th anniversary of the first nuclear weapons test explosion. The United States’ test, code-named “Trinity,” was exploded in the desert of New Mexico and ignited the nuclear age. The bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9 were followed by some 2,050 nuclear tests worldwide, with over half…
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American Meat, a feature documentary about a grassroots revolution in sustainable farming starring Virginia’s own Joel Salatin and his Polyface Farms, will have its world premiere July 9 at Waynesboro’s Zeus Theater and July 10 at Staunton’s Visulite Theater. Reported and directed by filmmaker Graham Meriwether, the movie explains how America arrived at its current…
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We politicians like to take credit for accomplishments even when our connection to what has been achieved may sometimes seem less than clear. We also tend to ignore things that are not going as well as they might. For example, Governor McDonnell as most governors before him regularly announces new jobs that are created in…
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Dr. James McClintock, a renowned University of Alabama-Birmingham marine biologist who has conducted research in Antarctica for more than 25 years, told me the following story. “You work in a scientific lab in the quietest place on Earth — Antarctica. “There’s a Crack! Boom! “You rush to the window of your remote lab with a…
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