Category: Harrisonburg Issues
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What’s next for the Not Thomas Harrison House?
What has been called the Thomas Harrison House for many years — and what the city of Harrisonburg planned to spend $1 million to restore and turn into a museum of the founder’s life — now remains in limbo as city staff decides where to go from here. But some residents see an opportunity for the still-historic, if not as old as first advertised, building to delve into more of the area’s background.
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HPD Chief Eric English to field questions from residents at Monday’s town hall forum
On Monday evening, Police Chief Eric English will introduce himself, take questions and talk about policing in Harrisonburg at a public meeting at Thomas Harrison Middle School.
“A lot of people still have not met me,” said English, who was sworn in as Harrisonburg’s police chief last September. “I’ll talk about my philosophy and some things that we’ve already implemented, [as well as] things I’m looking to do going forward.”
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After city council elections, school board setting groundwork for new high school to open one year earlier than previously decided
Although the school board had originally presented plans to open a new high school by 2021, city council voted almost a year ago to take a slower approach, opening in 2023.
But after Sal Romero and Chris Jones––Democrats whose campaigns supported earlier construction of the high school––won the city council race in November, the school board has begun behind-the-scenes work to make that possible.
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19 Harrisonburg storylines to follow in 2019
Happy New Year! Now that 2018 is officially history, it’s time to look forward at some of the key questions and issues facing Harrisonburg in the new year. Here you’ll find 19 key storylines The Citizen will be following in 2019.
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One woman wanted to expand her daycare to address the area’s ‘childcare desert.’ She got blocked by her own driveway.
Even though available childcare remains scarce around Harrisonburg, only nine applications for special permits to expand child-care facilities have been filed in the city and Rockingham County since 2015.
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A Skyline learner becomes a Skyline donor, as community responds to keep organization open
While he opened the restaurant, Ridwan also began working toward another goal: American citizenship. On the advice of a friend, he wound up enrolling in a citizenship preparation class offered by Skyline Literacy. He was sworn in as a new citizen at the federal courthouse in Harrisonburg – “a very happy moment.”
After reviewing police body cam footage, NAACP leaders walk back criticism of weekend arrests but continue to seek ‘wider discussion’ on police relations
Hours before a rally organized to seek answers about police officers’ conduct while arresting two black women over the weekend, leaders of the NAACP withdrew from the event. Their decision came after Police Chief Eric English showed several of the organization’s leaders police body camera footage of the entire incident over the weekend — including what led up and what followed the cell phone video taken by party goers and circulated on social media.
After police response to weekend gathering turns ugly, community members will rally Thursday to seek answers
Community members, led by the local NAACP chapter, will rally at Court Square at 1 p.m. Thursday to call for answers about Harrisonburg Police officers’ handling of the break-up of a party early Sunday, which led to officers using their tasers on a woman multiple times before arresting her.
