Cline gives thumbs-up on rail news

Chris Graham

State Del. Ben Cline, R-24th, today applauded the elimination of a critical choke point with a reconfigured rail junction on Norfolk Southern’s Crescent Corridor near Front Royal. This was the final of six capacity improvement projects in Northern Virginia that will help more trains travel at higher speeds and ease traffic congestion on I-81. “Ensuring…

Text of McDonnell budget speech

AFP

Gov. Bob McDonnell addressed the joint Senate Finance, House Appropriations and House Finance Committees in Richmond on Thursday. Below are the governor’s remarks as prepared for delivery. Thank you. Chairman Colgan, Chairman Putney, Chairman Purkey, members of the General Assembly money committees, ladies and gentlemen: good morning. As is the custom each summer, I come…

Grant will help Smart Beginnings with ‘Getting Ready’

AFP

Smart Beginnings Shenandoah Valley, a local collaborative coalition working to improve the quality of early education and care in the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton and Waynesboro, as well as in Augusta, Page, Rockingham and Shenandoah counties, has received a significant grant of $125,000 from the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, a public-private partnership headquartered in Richmond….

Operation Purple: Camp for military kids

AFP

Operation Purple is under way at Camp Horizons in Harrisonburg. The camp, created in 2004, is for children ages 6-12 whose parents are serving in any branch of the military. In 2004, there were 12 Operation Purple camps across the United States. The program has grown to the point that this year there are 68…

Ken Plum: Yesterday’s solution

Ken Plum

A press release from Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office last month proclaimed that a charter school bill the governor signed put Virginia in the “vanguard of the National Charter School Movement.” While a certain amount of hype is to be expected in any press release, this one may have gone over the top. In considering the…

Back to school: Do you have your renters’ insurance?

AFP

About two-thirds of the 750,000 Virginia residents now renting homes and apartments have insurance coverage on their content, leaving nearly 165,000 Virginians at-risk for losing everything in a fire or theft, according to an Allstate survey. In addition, with thousands of Virginia college-age students back at school, the company recommends parents make sure their college-age…

Training Camp Report: UVa.

Chris Graham

The news from Virginia football camp: UVa. is still trying to figure out its running-back situation, and how stud offensive-line recruit Morgan Moses will fit in this fall. “He came here to play, and he will play,” coach Mike London told reporters on a conference call Wednesday morning. It’s T-minus 17 days until the Sept….