McDonnell signs innovation bills

AFP

Gov. Bob McDonnell on Thursday ceremonially signed the first part of his Opportunity at Work legislative package, along with other economic development legislation, at a morning event at the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park in Richmond. The 10 measures are designed to help attract new businesses to Virginia and help existing businesses grow and expand. “The…

Earth Talk: Can Japan do without nuclear energy?

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: Were Japan to close all its nuclear plants following the recent damage and radiation leaks from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, what could its energy mix look like? Would it be able to provide all of its power in other ways? – Richard Miller, New York Most experts agree that Japan would…

Goodlatte bill would push offshore drilling off Virginia waters

Chris Graham

Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte has reintroduced legislation that would open exploration for natural gas and crude oil off the Virginia coast. “Every day, folks across Virginia and the nation are confronted with the rising cost of energy, from the cost at the pump to soaring electric bills. I believe that Virginia should have every…

Augusta Health: Noted in the nation

Chris Graham

Augusta Health was recently named as a Top 100 Hospital in the nation by Thomson Reuters, an independent company that does research and business intelligence. On an annual basis, Thomson Reuters performs a research study of propriety methodology, in which they take all 5,000 hospitals in the United States and grade them across ten indicators;…

Fine-tuning Wikipedia

AFP

Count James Madison University senior Stephen Jones as one of the Wikipedians at James Madison University who are working hard this semester to improve the content on the popular resource website. In the process, Jones and 80 more JMU students are honing their researching, writing and editing skills. “Being a Wikipedian allows me to work…

Smart to stay at VCU: Agrees to eight-year extension

AFP

Virginia Commonwealth University officials announced today that head men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart has agreed in principle to an eight-year contract. The agreement comes on the heels of VCU’s historic appearance in the Final Four of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. “Coach Smart’s contributions to the university are unquantifiable,” said VCU President Michael Rao. “His character,…

Earth Talk: Two-sided food crisis

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: I understand a recent government report concluded that our global food system is in deep trouble, that roughly 2 billion people are hungry or undernourished while another billion are over consuming to the point of obesity. What’s going on? – Ellie Francoeur, Baton Rouge, La. The report in question, the Global Farming &…

Raegan Weber: Setting the record straight

AFP

Over the past several weeks, there has been great speculation, poor reporting, and gross misrepresentation of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s positions on pension reform and collective bargaining. The erroneous claims have traveled through the blogosphere and grabbed the attention of mainstream media. Unfortunately, due to little or no fact-checking, ALEC’s positions and activities have…

McDonnell backs congressional effort to proceed with offshore drilling

Chris Graham

Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday that he backs Washington Republican Congressman Doc Hastings’ effort to require the Department of Interior to proceed with the sale of offshore energy leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Virginia that had been scheduled for June 2012. The Obama administration has put the sale off…

March of Dimes awards grant to Augusta Health Care for Women to improve health of mothers, babies

Chris Graham

Expectant moms will have a new option in prenatal care thanks to a grant awarded to Augusta Health Care for Women by the Piedmont/Shenandoah Valley Division of the March of Dimes. The grant of over $40,000 will be used to initiate and support a Centering Pregnancy® Program at AHCFW. This grant is one of many…