Study in contrasts: Monroe, Reynolds vying for Ward B council seat

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Tom Reynolds won election to represent Ward B on Waynesboro City Council in 2000 after receiving more than 80 percent of the votes cast in his two-way race with Blue Ridge Area Food Bank chief-executive officer Marty White. On Tuesday, Reynolds, a member of the faculty at Fishburne Military School, is…

Ricketts v. Egleston: Political heavyweights square off in at-large race

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Waynesboro Mayor Chuck Ricketts was unopposed in 2000 – but he wasn’t in 1996, when he came out at the top of a five-candidate race for the at-large seat on Waynesboro City Council. One of the candidates that he defeated in that election was DuBose Egleston, who won a seat on…

Wide open: Six candidates up for four spots on Staunton City Council

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Staunton’s all at-large election system should make for an interesting time on Tuesday. Six candidates – incumbent council members Dickie Bell, Dave Metz, Dick Robinson and Rita Wilson and challengers Doug Manning and James Welsh – are running for the four seats open on the seven-member public body.

Focused on ’05: Virginia Beach Republican stumps for AG job

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Del. Bob McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, is unopposed this year – technically speaking. But then, McDonnell, a former prosecutor who has represented the Tidewater area in the Virginia General Assembly for the past 12 years, is more focused on an election two years down the road than he is on the one…

State leaders figuring up real costs of Isabel

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham This time last year, Gov. Mark Warner was working with state-agency heads to figure out how to chop hundreds of millions of dollars from the biennial state budget to account for an expected revenue shortfall. This year, the governor and state leaders are busy trying to make sure that Hurricane Isabel…

Looking back at Hurricane Isabel

Chris Graham

Compiled by Chris Graham  Tim Spears was surveying the damage wrought by the South River on his downtown-Waynesboro music store Friday afternoon. “It could’ve been a lot worse,” said Spears, owner of Tim Spears’ Music City – which is located just a city block away from the South River. Spears estimated the damage to his…

Calm before the storm

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham  Depending on whom you believe, Hurricane Isabel is either going to enter and then leave Western Virginia like a lion – or like a lamb. Weather forecasters are offering predictions that rainfall amounts in the Shenandoah Valley associated with the powerful storm – which is on track to make landfall in…

Ready to rumble: Residents prepare for Isabel

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce executive director Ben Carter was thinking of Hurricane Camille on Tuesday. Many locals do look back at Camille whenever the region is in the crosshairs of a hurricane – as is the case right now with Isabel making a beeline for Western Virginia. But Carter…

Snack time

Chris Graham

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham Us American fat-slob types are always getting together for lunch. Or dinner. Or breakfast. And then we eat like “Survivor” contestants moments after they’re allowed to eat something other than berries and rats for the first time in 40 days. Which is to say, like a pack of…