Augusta Free Press

The House recently passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act , an important step toward protecting our environment and building a clean energy economy. ACES has generated a lot of strong opinions, for and against, especially in the environmental community...

- Local News: Rose named grand marshal of Valley 4th parade - Local News: Rockingham seeks Auxiliary Deputy applicants - Local News: Drinking Liberally meeting next week - State News: Organizing for America announces Virginia staff ...

According to the American Stroke Association, a TIA is a “warning stroke” or “mini-stroke” that produces stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage. Recognizing and treating TIAs can reduce your risk of a major stroke. TIA is an abbreviation for transient ischemic attack...

Nearly 18 percent of Waynesboro residents are age 65 and older, 5 percent above the national average, with growth in the senior population forecast both locally and nationally in the next 10 years that could push the numbers nationally to one in five people and in Waynesboro to one in four...

I recently read an article about Bisphenol-A (BPA) that eerily reminded me of the movie, “Thank You for Smoking.” In the movie, the “merchants of death” or MOD Squad, as they call themselves, are lobbyists for the alcohol, gun, and tobacco industries and meet for lunch while plotting to...

Waynesboro Generals fans are invited to stay after the home game with Fauquier on Thursday night for a meet-and-greet with Generals players. Fans are invited to take photos and get autographs for 30 minutes after the game at Fishburne Military School Park at Kate Collins Field...

That’s one of the questions that Chris Graham and Jim Bresnahan tackle in their weekly WREL-1450AM sports chat...

How can you tell that we’re near a supposedly critical political fundraising deadline? By checking your e-mail. “May I have just five minutes of your time?” one in my in-box yesterday from Republican guberatorial nominee Bob McDonnell asked, then got to the point...

You’ve heard this song before - an appeals court has overturned the attempt of a Virginia woman to avoid complying with Vermont orders requiring her to grant visitation to her former lesbian partner to the couple’s child...

Last week, the U.S. House passed historic legislation to create millions of new jobs in the clean energy economy and increase our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil...

A new report released today by Smart Growth America, www.smartgrowthamerica.org/, and the Coalition for Smarter Growth, www.smartergrowth.net, based on official data of the states’ American Reinvestment and Recovery Act transportation funding decisions thus far, found that Virginia flexed funding...

I would caution against getting too excited, but good news on the gas-price front is good news on the gas-price front...

Waynesboro used a solid pitching performance from Ricky Marshall to break a three-game losing streak with a 4-0 win over Rockbridge Sunday night at The Fish...

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...

It’s the last weekend to enjoy your interleague play for the season. So we’ve got the big matchups - Yankees at Mets, Cubs at White Sox, L.A. Angels at …Arizona. Well, it’s hard to balance schedules when the West and Central divisions have different number of teams...

The ACC led all conferences with seven first-round draft picks in the 2009 NBA Draft - the Pac-10 was second with six. Since 1986, the ACC has had 88 players selected in the first round of the NBA draft, the Big East is second with 76 and the Pac-10 third with 67...

“Extremely blond.” That’s what I’m looking at in the mirror as I wake up for the beginning of my 37th year this morning. “It’s gray,” says the missus, like we’re on a school playground or something. As if to say, You’re old, you’re old, you’re old and gray-y-y-y...

- County awards janitorial-services contract - Jail authority seeks bids on uniforms - Meetings on the schedule County awards janitorial-services contract Augusta County has awarded a janitorial-services contract to White Owl Cleaning Service in Waynesboro. The award was made on Monday, June 15...

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...

OK, so the Waynesboro Generals lost 8-2 to the Staunton Braves on the field Thursday night. Even so, the game night was a fun one, with several Generals fans making the trek over ftom the River City to the Queen City for the game at John Moxie Memorial Stadium to encourage the kids in blue on...

It’s Father’s Day weekend. And Dad has plenty of good sports to enjoy on his day, after opening the card and present. Tiger Woods is playing golf. What could be better. Maybe a duel with Phil Mickelson, who finished second to Woods in 2002 when the Open was last at Bethpage Black...

- State News: Commonwealth Transportation Board adopts six-year plan - Economy: Initial unemployment claims up slightly - State News: ACLU backs Gloucester residents in case involving attempted removal of supervisors State News: Commonwealth Transportation Board adopts six-year plan The...

AFP editor Chris Graham joins “Online with Jim Bresnahan” on WREL-1450AM in Lexington for their weekly sports segment...

President Barack Obama is going to bat for Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds. “I know a thing or two about tough primaries, and I know a thing or two about running tough races in Virginia...

Shannon-Cuccinelli first: The Ken Cuccinelli campaign is deeming itself the upstart in the attorney general’s race. I say that because the campaign is declaring itself the aggrieved party in what is standard practice with regard to the first scheduled debate in the campaign season...

Regular unleaded is over $2.50 a gallon in Virginia now, and with crude oil breaking the $70-a-barrel barrier, the pain at the pump is only going to get more intense...

I spent Sunday afternoon on the Pelham 123 subway line (the brand new Express version), then went home and switched to the 1974 Local, playing that night on an area TV station...

A Sean Ochinko three-run homer gave LSU the lead in the fifth, and a Ryan Schimpf two-run blast in the eighth gave the Tigers a couple of key insurance runs as top-ranked LSU knocked off #5 Virginia 9-5 Saturday night in the College World Series opener for both teams...

Steve Phillips I’m not. “Who is the guy there who looks like Anderson Cooper?” my wife asked me last night as I flipped the remote to “Baseball Tonight.” I explained to her that it was Steve Phillips, the former New York Mets general manager-turned-ESPN baseball analyst...

For the past week, I started building an ark out of popsicle sticks. Monday was so nice; I took a drive to interview and wonderful lady who is the key for the Staunton/Augusta Brain Injury Support Group...

Indian students stabbed a man in self-defense after being abused and threatened. This is not how Indians react to situations, but after 11 Indians were brutally attacked in Australia, they have no choice...

Today, we are nearing an auspicious occasion in all of our lives. Just as our college seniors around the country line up, preparing to walk across the stage to accept their diplomas, filled with pride, excitement, and perhaps a wee bit of trepidation, we all line up too – virtually, digitally...

Two new polls out Monday have Bath County State Sen. Creigh Deeds building a commanding lead in the Democratic Party gubernatorial primary heading into the Tuesday state primary...

That’s what a gallon of regular unleaded is running people in Virginia today, and the projections have it getting worse before it gets better. “Motorists are experiencing sticker shock at the pump with gas prices at seven-month highs,” said Martha M...

Eastern Mennonite University is offering two new undergraduate majors, “peacebuilding and development” and “environmental sustainability,” that draw on EMU’s core values in these areas...

They called Denny Walling “Good Wood” because he was, well, “Good Wood” coming off the bench in clutch situations, one of the best pinch-hitters all time, with 108 pinch hits in 18 big-league seasons...

Big plans at the South River Complex would have the former textile mill transformed into a mixed-use commercial-retail-residential development to be known as The Mill at South River. A 4:15 p.m...

Politicians and the business press are looking for signs that the economic crisis is over and we’ll soon be back on track. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks of “green shoots” of recovery...

It is no longer just the cost of labor anymore. The biggest reality check American car companies should ask themselves is, Who wants to buy my car? There is a large loss in the forefront of innovation, which has now been passed to European cars...

- Capitol Hill: Webb, Warner announce recommendation for Fourth Circuit - State News: Court overturns law prohibiting dissemination of Social Security numbers - Sports: Virginia Tech soccer coach steps down Capitol Hill: Webb, Warner announce recommendation for Fourth Circuit U.S. Sens...

Another day, another poll, and another direction in the 2009 Democratic Party gubernatorial race. This one comes from Survey USA, which has Terry McAuliffe in the lead by six points over Creigh Deeds in numbers that do represent some movement from the most recent Survey USA poll, but not much...

McAuliffe and ‘Moon’ Gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has a new television advertisement highlighting some of the main tenets of his business plan and his commitment to big ideas for Virginia’s future. “With Virginia families hurting, we need new ideas in Richmond...

A Virginia State Police review of the investigation into a 1967 double murder in Staunton and the role that a Staunton Police Department investigator may have played in helping the perpetrator get away with the murders has yielded nothing new...

The Waynesboro Democratic Committee and Augusta Free Press Publishing are sponsoring a Meet the Candidates event at the Downtown Pavilion in Constitution Park tonight - Tuesday - from 6-8 p.m...

When Jerry Falwell Jr. closed down the Liberty University College Democrats, a student club, we at the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia were inundated with calls asking when we were going to file suit against the school for violating the constitutional rights of the club members...

It was a clear fall day back in 1995 when you could almost see forever from Ambassador Gordon Beyer’s Sky Farm. Gordon was hosting a fundraiser for an area Democrat. As an a newcomer, I thought I should go. I also wanted to find out what local Democrats were like...

Our brave veterans wore the uniform of this country to defend our freedoms, and they deserve nothing less than world-class healthcare when they return...

It’s summer. We want fun. We want mindless laughter and crunchy popcorn. We don’t want Ingmar Bergman. No matter what those ancient, snootburger, cheerless critics say about it, what we want is films like “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” currently playing all over the joint...

Nearly 1,300 words about hatemonger Janet Parshall in Saturday’s News Leader, and the only thing the staff writer could come up with as being even the slightest bit critical is that “not everyone agrees” with her to-the-right-of-Himmler stances on abortion, gay rights and faith, family and...

Charles Hendricks of the architecture and design firm The Gaines Group joins “The Chris Graham Show” today to talk about the sustainable-building movement and how, well, sustainable it might be coming out of the recession and the eventual rebirth of the real-estate market. Length: 10:12...

It makes sense for the local hospital to tear down its smoking shelter, doesn’t it? You can watch it happen Monday morning, June 1, at 8 a.m., at Augusta Medical Center in Fishersville...

It was an unprecedented event in the life of the Mennonite Church that unfolded over three decades. Between 1951 and 1981, the Brunk Evangelistic Association, based in Harrisonburg, Va., held more than 100 tent crusades across the United States and Canada...

The Wayne Theatre Alliance I’m a Star contest for May-June is on through Wednesday, June 17. I’m a Star tests your movie trivia expertise. This month each quote is from a movie that was made from a play. Some were musicals, some not, and some were made more than once...

I remember going to the old A&N in Downtown Staunton around 1986 or 1987 to buy basketball shoes. It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was with my grandfather. I ended up getting a pair of Etonics, for those who care...

- Politics: Wagner hits the airwaves - Local News: Mayor hosting sustainability summit - Event: Task force to talk smoking cessation - Local News: Crozet travel pro honored ...

Humane Society endorsements for Moran, McDonnell Talk about hedging your bets … citing their strong leadership and support of animal protection policies, the Humane Society Legislative Fund announced Tuesday its endorsement of Brian Moran, D, and Bob McDonnell, R, for their respective party...

- Local News: Murder-suicide in Staunton - Capitol Hill: Biden calls for report on green economic opportunities - Capitol Hill: Senators announce education funding - Capitol Hill: Perriello pushes expanded health-care access for rural veterans - Event: Stuart Hall presents a night of acclaimed...

Looks like Frank Lucente has cornered himself back into being the minority again...

One last bit on the NCAA baseball tournament BS, and I promise I’ll be done. I’ve heard talk about how the NCAA was looking to make the seedings of the tourney field basically a 1-64 kind of thing...

WMRA and Theater at Lime Kiln have announced a free screening of the new documentary, “Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes,” Friday, May 29, 8:30 p.m., at the Theater at Lime Kiln in Lexington. Lime Kiln gates will open at 7 p.m. for concessions and picnicking...

Thanks to all who have responded with such generosity and offers of help to assist ShenanArts with our move to Gypsy Hill Place (the old R.E. Lee High School). We continue to fundraise and plan events to help us in with the realization of our move and renovation...

Virginia wins the ACC Tournament in four straight, knocking off Clemson, North Carolina and Florida State along the way, climbs to #6 in the unofficial warrennolan.com RPI ratings as of the end of the day today, and the Cavs will be traveling next weekend for the first round of NCAA Tournament play...

- Local News: Staunton PD needs help in solving hit-and-run - Local News: BRCC breaks ground on tech center - Event: Memorial Day service in Waynesboro Local News: Staunton PD needs help in solving hit-and-run The Staunton Police Department is requesting assistance in identifying the driver of a...

As our country continues to push for medical advancements, technological improvements and a sustainable quality of life, there is one common thread that ties these successes together – reliable electric power. Each of us is impacted every day by electric transmission...

Dear EarthTalk: How is the fur industry doing these days? Has it been impacted by activism from PETA and similar groups? - Clara Andrews, Edmonds, Wash...

Commander Lawrence M. Miller joins “The Chris Graham Show” today to talk about the Wounded Warrior Regiment and efforts of the American Academy of Physician Assistants to help provide medical services to returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Length: 8:35...

- Economy: Initial unemployment claims down - Capitol Hill: Webb calls for transparency in aid to Pakistan Economy: Initial unemployment claims down In the week ending Saturday, May 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 631,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous...

Over the past several months, I have had the pleasure of traveling our great Commonwealth learning more about the struggles facing everyday Virginians. In that time, I have come to one stark conclusion. As a proud Virginian, the single most important elected office to me is the governor...

- Local News: Valley Community Services Board gets state grant to establish Crisis Intervention Team - Event: Author explores POWs in Valley in WWII - Event: Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Festival set for July 11 Local News: Valley Community Services Board gets state grant to establish Crisis...

Artisan Night: Jazz Under the Stars, a gala benefit event in support of the Artisans Center of Virginia star-lighting Virginia artisan crafts, music, foods and drink, is scheduled for Saturday, June 6, from 6:30 pm to midnight at The Ix Event Space (Monticello Road & Second Street SE,...

The Virginia Department of Transportation will help ease Memorial Day holiday weekend travel by opening lanes temporarily closed for construction or maintenance work on major roadways. The lanes will be open from noon Friday, May 22, until noon Tuesday, May 26...

Behind glass doors a turret shaped music box sits, protected from the nicks and bumps of traffic, vacuums, and curious fingers. Intricately hand-painted scenes decorate its teal blue surface, crowned with a gold cherub...

The Community Health Forum will be focused a bit on the past, the present and the future at its May meeting. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Conference Rooms 2 and 3 in the Augusta Community Care Building at Augusta Medical Center in Fishersville...

A workshop on childhood obesity has been set for Wednesday, June 17, from 8 a.m. to noon at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave. Dr...

Two arrests have been made in the murder of a 20-year-old Staunton man whose body was found in Rockingham County last month. Brian P. Bingham, 21, and Justin M...

- Local News: Waynesboro Police joining in Click It or Ticket effort - Local News: Ayers addresses BC grads Local News: Waynesboro Police joining in Click It or Ticket effort Beginning today, Waynesboro Police will be partnering with law enforcement across Virginia and the nation to increase seat...

The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded hit the $2.31 mark today, with the price at the pump in Virginia reaching the $2.21-a-gallon mark as the days count down to the start of the summer driving season...

Main Street Muscle 2009 took over the streets of Downtown Waynesboro on Saturday, May 16. The eventdrew a record number of entrants to the River City to show off muscle cars from across the generations.AFP editor Chris Graham takes you on a video tour of the car show. Length: :45.