Don’t dump the Veep: Local Republicans advise president to stay the course

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham The talk that President Bush might want to look somewhere other than Number One Observatory Circle for a running mate for this fall’s election is just that, talk. “The streets of Washington’s political district are filled with rumors and scenarios where Cheney disappears from the GOP ticket. Yet if…

Was the governor ready for his closeup? Warner makes national debut with speech on big night at national convention

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham   Gov. Mark Warner was able to deliver one particularly good line in his brief speech to the Democratic National Convention Thursday night. Noting that the Old Dominion hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, Warner went Old Testament, invoking images of the Israelites fleeing Egypt to…

It’s the end of the no-car-tax as we know it: And not everybody feels fine

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham As House and Senate conferees struggle to work out the details of the state’s 2004-2006 budget, legislators outside of the spending maelstrom are focusing at least some of their attention on the revenue compromise that seemed to signal the end of the four-month-long budget impasse last week. One item…

Senator discusses state tax reform

Chris Graham

Column by Emmett Hanger  Wait a minute! We are talking about reforming Virginia’s antiquated tax system, and I mean really, actually debating the pros and cons of revising Virginia’s tax structure. For years, the need has been there, but it was more convenient to sweep things under the carpet rather than talk about it. Now it’s…

Voters value experience in clerk races

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham  Voters in the circuit-court clerk races in Staunton and Waynesboro wanted more of the same. That was the message on Tuesday – as Staunton voters re-elected Democratic incumbent Tom Roberts by a wide margin, and Waynesboro voters gave the nod to deputy circuit-court clerk Nikki Armentrout in her bid to replace…

Farmers for Hanger: Farm bureau endorses Republican’s re-election bid

Chris Graham

Column by Chris Graham  For Emmett Hanger, being conversant in agricultural issues isn’t an election-year strategy. It’s a way of life. “I think he’s more effective because he understands the realities that we face out here every day,” said Gerald Garber, a Weyers Cave farmer who remembers Hanger, a Mount Solon Republican, from their days…

Addressing the issues in the Wayne

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham The final candidate forum of the 2003 local election season – featuring the three candidates for the Wayne District seat on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors – drew 105 people to the Wilson Memorial High School auditorium Thursday night. Republican incumbent Tom Sikes and independent challengers Wendell Coleman and Larry…