Slight dip in gas prices in advance of the Fourth

Chris Graham

I would caution against getting too excited, but good news on the gas-price front is good news on the gas-price front.  “After nearly two months of daily gas price increases, we are finally seeing a little relief at the gas pumps, which motorists are welcoming just in time for the holiday weekend,” said Martha M….

On the top-state-for-business bandwagon

Chris Graham

The big news in an otherwise slow news week – for those who don’t consider Michael Jackson to be anything other than an odd curiosity – had Virginia earning another ranking as the top state for business, this time from Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc., a corporate site-relocation expert that has now tapped the Old…

Festival combines the serious and casual, sobering and hopeful

Chris Graham

Fanfares and flip-flops. Handel’s massive story of Samson and two short works written within the past year. A call to hope arising from the ashes of New York’s World Trade Center. The 17th annual Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival at Eastern Mennonite University combined serious music with casual dress, Baroque masterworks with contemporary compositions and painful…

Federal, state grants aid local criminal-justice efforts

AFP

State money going to support programs to improve criminal-justice services across the Commonwealth will be flowing to a few worthy programs in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia. The Collins Center and First Step Inc. in Harrisonburg will receive funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more popularly referred to as the…

Public review period opened on proposed statewide water regs

Chris Graham

Proposed changes to the state’s regulations regarding stormwater runoff flowing from developed properties are available for public review and comment. Five public hearings will be held statewide to receive comments on these changes, which have been more than three years in the making. Comments will be accepted through Friday, Aug. 21, 2009, by the Virginia…

Hometown favorites to play Lime Kiln

AFP

Many Rockbridge-area performers consider Theater at Lime Kiln their home. On Saturday, June 27, and Sunday, June 28, Lime Kiln hosts two events featuring artists who can make that claim. James Leva and Purgatory Mountain perform Old Time and original music in The Bowl on Saturday, and Lexington native, award-winning author and actor Peter Neofotis…