Conservation efforts in Valley get big boost

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   The Verona-based Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development Council has received a three-year partnership agreement worth $720,000 annually to help farmers with conservation practices. The funds were provided through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative. Shenandoah RC&D Chairman John Eckman said funds “present a real opportunity…

DREAM to reality

Chris Graham

Isabel wanted to create an impression on her visit to Washington, so she had members of the group there to lobby Sen. Mark Warner for support for the DREAM Act to wear their graduation caps. “We weren’t sure if we would actually be able to meet with him one-on-one,” she said. But the senator was…

UVa. football tickets on sale

Chris Graham

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   Single-game ticket sales for 2010 Virginia home football games begin Friday, July 9 at 5 p.m. online at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can purchase tickets in-person or by telephone beginning Monday, July 12 at 9 a.m. Single-game tickets are available for all home games and most away games for the 2010…

Grant to fund extension of streetscape signage in Staunton

Contributors

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   The Staunton Downtown Development Association has been awarded a Main Street Improvement grant valued at $2,500 to fund the extension of Downtown Service District streetscape banners to include Churchville Avenue and North Augusta Street. “I’m sure that the new banners on Churchville Avenue will help bring a more unified…

Whirley named new VDOT commissioner

Chris Graham

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today the appointment of Gregory Whirley as the new commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation. Whirley had been serving as acting commissioner under McDonnell since January. A VDOT veteran, Whirley also served as acting commissioner of the department in 2005 and had served as…

Still losing farmland, but not as quickly

Chris Graham

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   Good news for farming, sorta, kinda: The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported today that loss of farmland to development appears to be slowing in the Commonwealth. According to the recent numbers from the Farmland Information Center, between 1997 and 2002, Virginia lost 81,500 acres of agricultural…

An in-depth look inside the local economy

Contributors

The good news: Viewed from a long-term perspective, the local economy grew significantly in the first decade of the 21st century, just shy of 30 percent regionwide as a measure of total taxable sales by locality from 2000-2009. The not-so-good news: The growth seems to have passed Staunton by, also significantly. The really-not-so-good news: Yep,…

McDonnell, Warner, Webb still back drilling

Chris Graham

Virginia’s three top state elected leaders are holding to their support for exploratory oil and natural gas drilling off the coast of Virginia in the wake of the ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. “We will learn from Louisiana. We will have additional federal regulations. We will have new technology. Once we get some…