Local economy ranks among tops micropolitans in country

Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro’s economy ranks among the country’s strongest micropolitan areas, reports the March issue of Site Selection Magazine.  Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro is tied at #13 in the national ranking and is top-ranked for Virginia. The only other Virginia locality to make the list, Martinsville, comes in at #32. The US Census Bureau defines a micropolitan region as an…

No more State Fair

State Fair of Virginia Inc., the nonprofit organization that produces the State Fair of Virginia, converted its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in Richmond District Court on March 7. As a result, SFVA will no longer produce the fair, the Strawberry Hill Races and the Meadow Highland Games & Celtic…

Critics blast McDonnell administration over weekend arrests

Chris Graham

The ACLU of Virginia is offering to assist reproductive rights protestors who were arrested Saturday at the state Capitol, if their constitutional right to free speech was violated. Approximately 1,000 demonstrators converged on the Capitol grounds to protest the passage of a bill to require pregnant women to undergo an ultrasound procedure prior to being…

JMU falls to UNC-W in CAA Tourney

Cedric Williams scored a career-high 22 points, and Keith Rendlemen added 14 as the duo powered ninth-seeded UNCW past eighth-seeded James Madison, 70-59, in the opening game of the 2012 Virginia 529 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship. UNCW (10-20) notched its first victory in the conference championship since 2008 and advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals against top-seeded…