Bridging the Valley with new program

AFP

Maude Puffenbarger of Mount Crawford, Joshua Lilly of Mount Solon, Alyshia Zimmerman of Staunton and Karla Martin and Christopher Reed, both of Stuarts Draft, are among 35 rising college freshmen who are spending July preparing for the rigorous study required for academic majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – STEM fields – at their…

In the News

Chris Graham

Friday, July 24 – JMU business students tke first in Marketing Challenge Thursday, July 23 – Staunton City Council work session, meeting agendas Wednesday, July 22 – Man arrested in La. on Staunton sodomy charges – Waynesboro City Council work session agenda – Augusta County Board of Supervisors meeting agenda Tuesday, July 21 – Long-time…

Jim Bishop | It’s a small world in the huge state of Alaska

Jim Bishop

It was one more close encounter of the best kind that quickly became commonplace for four pilgrims from Virginia turned loose amid the sweeping grandeur of Alaska. Wife Anna and I and friends Glenn and Kathy Zendt from Staunton were about four days into our great Alaska adventure. I was about to take my assigned…

Earth Talk | Population and warming

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: To what extent does human population growth impact global warming, and what can be done about it? – Larry LeDoux, Honolulu, Hawaii No doubt human population growth is a major contributor to global warming, given that humans use fossil fuels to power their increasingly mechanized lifestyles. More people means more demand for oil,…

The stakes on clean-energy legislation

AFP

A study from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy puts the lie to the wild predictions from partisans that the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act will end up costing you hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year in extra energy costs.  “This revised analysis directly underscores the important contribution energy efficiency…

Rick Webb | A lot of hot air?

AFP

Highland New Wind Development declares itself to be the “Greenest Wind Farm in the World.” See: Highland New Wind website. A month ago, HNWD development made national news when its public-relations firm announced that Virginia’s first utility-scale wind project was ready to start construction. That was a blatant misrepresentation. HNWD does not have a building permit,…

Newsworthy

Chris Graham

Friday, July 17 – Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researchers present systems biology as a clinical approach to cancer Thursday, July 16 – eVA passes $20B purchase mark – ACLU praises Newport News for action allowing tea party Thursday, July 16 – eVA passes $20B purchase mark – ACLU praises Newport News for action allowing tea party…

Art is dangerous, and complicated

AFP

You learn in Economics 101 about the market. Supply and demand. The allocation of resources. What the market will bear. And how it all works pretty much magically. Something about an invisible hand. And then there’s the story of a Staunton art gallery named Kronos, whose owner kept things going in the face of the…

Shepherd Bliss | 3-year-olds and cell phones

Letters

“The 3-year-old just walked right past me,” the Santa Rosa, Calif., pediatrician reported, “talking into a cell phone.” That stark image of toddler attached to machine has troubled me. “I was amused at first,” the physician continued. “Then I felt sad. She was learning how to relate to people through a machine. It was so…