Staunton races heating up

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Constitutional-office races are generally afterthoughts – if they’re even given that much thought. At best you’ll see a heated race when a long-time revenue commissioner or sheriff or treasurer decides to retire – but even then, the issues, such as they are, come down to ones of personality. Which is why…

All eyes on the 26th: Fulk-Lohr race getting statewide attention

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Political observers across the Commonwealth have the 26th House District race on their radar screens – and for good reason. The contest between Democrat Lowell Fulk and Republican Matt Lohr is very much a toss-up at this stage – which is headline news for a political campaign in the Republican-leaning Shenandoah…

Waynesboro’s growing pains

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham  Waynesboro City Council members have come across in recent weeks as being at odds among themselves and with city manager Doug Walker over issues involving the debt load that the city can take on and the city government’s handling of a recent political controversy regarding a proposed West End fire substation….

Matalin breaks down ’05 gubernatorial race

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   The eyes of the nation are on the 2005 Virginia gubernatorial race, said Mary Matalin, a political commentator and former advisor to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. “This race is and will be the most-watched race in the country,” Matalin told Republicans across the state gathered for a…

The politics of teacher pay

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham The group from John C. Myers Elementary School in Broadway was wrapping up its Thursday-afternoon field trip to downtown Harrisonburg when it happened upon a real-life civics lesson. Republican Party gubernatorial-nomination candidate Jerry Kilgore was at a Court Square eatery holding court with reporters on the issue of, yep,…

The ins and outs of homeowner tax relief

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham It sounds like magic. The state comes in and guarantees that homeowners aren’t forced to bear the brunt of the tax burden for local governments, and, voila, it is done, and everybody is happy. Except for local-government officials, who have to figure out how to balance their books without…

Study in contrasts: Monroe, Reynolds vying for Ward B council seat

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Tom Reynolds won election to represent Ward B on Waynesboro City Council in 2000 after receiving more than 80 percent of the votes cast in his two-way race with Blue Ridge Area Food Bank chief-executive officer Marty White. On Tuesday, Reynolds, a member of the faculty at Fishburne Military School, is…