Earth Talk | Sunspots, solar wind and oil shale

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: Don’t some scientists point to sunspots and solar wind as having more impact on climate change than human industrial activity? – David Noss, California, Md. Sunspots are storms on the sun’s surface that are marked by intense magnetic activity and play host to solar flares and hot gassy ejections from the sun’s corona….

Earth Talk | The power of solar

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: I know of solar power systems that people can put on their roofs to generate electricity or heat water. Are there systems that serve whole neighborhoods? – Lee Helscel, via e-mail Collective bargaining is a good strategy when looking to get the best price on a given product or service. Solar power is…

They can’t steal an election, can they?

Chris Graham

The ongoing news story involving the apparently tainted Iran presidential election hits closer to home than you might think. The key difference being that the controversy over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 60 percent-plus victory spilled into the streets, while the controversy that still lingers in some circles in Waynesboro over the May 2008 city election is still…

In the News

Chris Graham

– Local News: Staunton appoints new fire chief – Sports: Waynesboro Generals game postponed – Economy: Consumer Price Index up in May – Local News: EMU residence hall to run on solar – Event: Presidential Library to host history camp – State News: Kaine signs veterans legislation  

Chris Edwards | A different world

Hunger. Child soldiers. Orphaned children raising siblings. Such tragedies might readily connote despair – but not to three African women who studied this year at Eastern Mennonite University’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute. When these women, attending their first SPI session, speak of the staggering tasks they and their colleagues have undertaken to heal lives and communities,…

In the News

Chris Graham

– State News: Kaine issues executive order on environmental impact of state government – Local News: Public meeting on South River study on Thursday – Sports: Free tickets for Friday’s Waynesboro-Staunton game – Local News: Flag Day at Wilson Library – Event: Valley Pride July 26