Winners and Losers: Lucente, Goodlatte, Virginia GOP, Sixth District Dems

Chris Graham

Column by Chris Graham [email protected] WINNER: Frank Lucente gets his majority Give the old codger credit. A lot had to work just right for him to do it, but he did it. Now comes the hard part. He proved himself adept at being in the minority. But how will he do running the show when…

Webb Post-9/11 G.I. Bill passes House

Chris Graham

Item by Chris Graham [email protected] Jim Webb’s Post-9/11 G.I. Bill passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, moving the nation a giant step closer to doing the same thing for recent military veterans that we did for the heroes of World War II. “(Thursday’s) House vote places veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars one…

The importance of tax relief

AFP

Column by Bob Goodlatte In a letter written by Benjamin Franklin to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, Franklin said: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Taxes may be a certainty for every American, but high taxes shouldn’t be. As you know, lower taxes put more money in the hands of…

The Senior Boom: Are we ready to expand services to increasingly aging population?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] It was hard enough getting Kitty Lough to go into an independent-living facility, harder still to get her to accept the change in her lifestyle. She never would have guessed back then that she’d miss it as much as she does now. “She’s finally gotten over the stage of saying,…

baseball

Field of Dreams: But will economic realities nip proposed $20M stadium in the bud?

Chris Graham

Yeah, I know, invoking “Field of Dreams” in a piece examining the economic aspects of a proposed $20 million baseball stadium is beyond cheesy. But I do it to try to make you consider something that you might not otherwise. Namely, that the whole idea rests on the notion that a Downtown Waynesboro baseball stadium…

Immigration, race hot topics at BC

AFP

Story By Erin Gutzwiller The issues of illegal immigration and racism have long been topics of spirited discussion. And the issues have not disappeared in the last few years, and in fact have only been growing into more of a flash point. Bridgewater College welcomed three speakers who talked to the students and faculty members…

Energy solution: Made in the USA

AFP

Column by Sam Rasoul Last September, I bought a hybrid car, which I had long wanted. The decision to buy at that time was a practical one: campaigning in the Sixth District required driving from Roanoke to Woodstock with a side trip to Lynchburg. I had to decrease gasoline costs. At the same time, I…

Citizens groups join suit to block I-81 widening

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] The New Jersey Turnpike in the Shenandoah Valley. That’s what critics of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Interstate 81 widening plan envision happening if the engineers get their wishes. “For us, our mission is to protect farms, forests, open spaces and cultural heritage – and this is impacting all of…