Category: Harrisonburg Issues
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On I-81 improvements, legislators detour around tax-or-toll decision and opt for more time
Committees in both chambers of the General Assembly on Thursday approved revised versions of bills by Valley legislators that outline $2.2 billion in needed improvements to I-81 but now no longer explain how to pay for them. The new legislation, which Sen. Mark Obenshain called a “pale shadow of its former self,” was meant to keep I-81 in the foreground of public discussions amid continued disagreement over funding methods.
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HEC General Manager explains utility budget shortfall that city schools’ solar project is expected to cause
As reported last week in The Citizen, HEC says the planned schools project will result in a $225,000 net operating loss to its budget – even though the electricity generated by the schools’ solar panels will reduce the amount of electricity HEC buys from Dominion. That’s because HEC doesn’t sell electricity to the city schools, or any of its customers, at the same price it buys it.
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Some scooters might be hibernating — but for how long? The next month will be key for the future of shareable rides.
The scooters showed up suddenly last fall, sparked intense debate and then many of them disappeared when college students left for winter break. Did the “Birds” just migrate? Did city council’s decision to regulate the scooters cause them to fly the coop?
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City’s population estimate declines for the first time in more than 40 years
For the first time since Gerald Ford was president, Harrisonburg’s estimated population has decreased – if only ever so slightly. According to figures just released by the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center, Harrisonburg’s July 1, 2018 population was an estimated 54,606. That’s 83 fewer people than the July 1, 2017 estimate of 54,689, a decrease of 0.2 percent.
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From ‘bubble of fear’ to path of hope: Drug court’s effects beginning to be felt in Hburg
The courtroom was chilly as participants in the afternoon hearing on a recent Thursday trickled in. Some were alone, others entered with partners and family members. But this wasn’t like many other court proceedings, marked by tension and conflict.
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Power is money: HEC, city leaders to consider financial effects of city schools’ solar project
Nearly two months after the Harrisonburg City School Board announced its massive solar development, sealing the deal will require more talk between leaders at the school board, the city and the Harrisonburg Electric Commission about how it could financially affect all three intertwined entities.
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Valley Friends Meeting sees solar as better stewardship
Part of Quakers’ beliefs include stewardship and – upon listening to the divine within themselves and others – the group began to feel a need to do something about climate destabilization. In 2014, they put out a statement to invite other religious groups and communities to make an effort toward reducing their carbon footprint on the environment. Having already done an energy audit on their meeting house, one member said, “Are we going to put our money where our mouth is?”
Six years ago, residents made the case for a Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Here’s how one man says it paved the way for more progress.
In 2013, Stan Maclin — joined by like-minded citizens — began making appeals to the Harrisonburg City Council to rename a street after civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. “There was no reflection of the accomplishments of an African American in the 20th century,” he said.
