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…

Jim Bishop: Gettin’ in beachtime, makin’ waves, mullin’ the future

Jim Bishop

Column by Jim Bishop Submit guest columns: [email protected]   “Sittin’ on the dock of the bay, Watching the tide roll away . . .” – Otis Redding (1968) VIRGINIA BEACH – What could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning? How about poolside in Virginia Beach on a sunny, warm afternoon, alternately…

State sets first 70-mph speed limit under new law

Chris Graham

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   Gov. Bob McDonnell today announced the first stretch of Virginia interstate to post a 70-mph speed limit under a new state law that goes into effect today, July 1st. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton unveiled the new 70-mph sign along I-295 from I-95 in…

UVa. third in Directors’ Cup

Chris Graham

Edited by Chris Graham [email protected]   Virginia finished third in the final 2009-10 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup competition for Division I schools. The final results were announced Thursday by the National Association of Directors of Athletics (NACDA). The finish is the best for the Cavaliers in the 17-year history of the Directors’ Cup program. Virginia’s…