Governor announces specialty-crops funding

Chris Graham

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced funding today for 18 agriculture-related projects which will promote and enhance the competitiveness of Virginia’s specialty crops. The projects resulted from the competitive grant process established by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) for the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service Specialty Crop Block Grant…

Go inside the Wildlife Center

Contributors

The Wildlife Center of Virginia, located in Waynesboro, is hosting an open house on Sunday, Oct. 17. The times available for the tour of the Wildlife Center are 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. Reservations are available for groups up to five. The Wildlife Center of Virginia is an animal hospital that is known…

Virginia wine sales see boost

Chris Graham

Sales of Virginia wine in fiscal year 2010 increased nearly 13 percent from 2009, according to numbers released today by the state. Total sales of Virginia wine amounted to $1,604,387 in wine liter tax collections during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, whereas the total wine liter tax collected by the state derived from…

One last drive

Jim Bishop

At age 88, Margaret Martin Gehman of Harrisonburg has lost a little of her trademark drive, largely because she has parted company with a faithful friend. Dr. Gehman and her trusty, albeit a bit rusty, mechanical steed, a blue 1967 Volkswagen Beetle, are almost synonymous to many observers. For years she motored the streets of…

Hugh Pringle: A START to securing the safety of future generations

Contributors

Nuclear arms control: What high school student cares, much less has anything to say about this global issue? Some policy issues feel as complicated as – well, rocket science. But that makes it even more important for us to understand them. I started thinking about nuclear arms control while watching President Obama and Russian President…

Perspectives on the economy: U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling

Chris Graham

Interesting week for me in my often overlapping roles as a business writer and politics writer. On Wednesday, I met with U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, after a roundtable in Staunton with local business owners and business leaders who gave Warner quite the earful about the state of business and the state of the…

Wilson Library adds to Board of Trustees

Chris Graham

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Foundation on Tuesday announced that six members have joined its Board of Trustees: Mary Lynn Bayliss of Manakin-Sabot, Virginia; Katherine Grayson Wilkins of Washington, D.C.; R. Steven Nichols of Staunton; Hampden H. Smith III of Lexington; Rita M. Smith of Richmond; and William T. Walker Jr. of Staunton. All began…

WhenVirginiaWasBlue.com: Dems-Virginia taxpayers ‘real victims’ of Cuccinelli activism

Contributors

Democratic Party of Virginia chair Dick Cranwell spoke out on Tuesday on the ruling by an Albemarle County judge on a request for information made by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli related to climate-change research by a former University of Virginia professor. “I was glad to see this ideological crusade by Mr. Cuccinelli dismissed by Judge…

Judge blocks Cuccinelli climate-change investigation

Chris Graham

An Albemarle County judge has blocked Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s first effort to require the University of Virginia to turn over documents related to a former professor’s research on climate change. The ruling was handed down on Monday, and Cuccinelli’s office responded with a comment attributed to the Republican promising that he will tailor a…

Underage drinking prevention efforts get boost

Contributors

The Strong Families/Great Youth Coalition has been awarded a $7,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to help prevent underage drinking. The coalition plans to use the grant to fund writing, production and broadcast of a 20-minute educational video. The video will be written and produced by coalition youth with the help…