Category: Harrisonburg Issues
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Building name changes just the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ say some on JMU campus
For many student activists at James Madison University, changing the names of three buildings once named for Confederate officers represented progress toward a more inclusive campus, after their hard work lobbying the administration for years finally paid off. Many of them say, however, that renaming the buildings is only the tip of the iceberg of what they’d like to see happen.
In pursuit of equality, group seeks to continue ‘itchy’ conversations through public forums
A month after coming up with the idea for a new citizen-driven commission to push for racial justice in the Valley, organizers of the new People’s Equality Commission of the Shenandoah Valley are setting their sights on creating public forums to amplify residents’ voices.
Heritage Oaks getting into full swing despite budget cuts
After shutting down earlier this spring, Heritage Oaks Golf Course reopened golf operations on June 12. And while the course stayed available during the pandemic for cyclists and walkers, who populated the course like never before, Heritage Oaks was in the minority of Virginia courses that closed for COVID-19. WVVA reported in April that 89% of the other courses in the Virginia State Golf Association were still open for business.
In-person classes with covid regulations present challenges for students with disabilities
Weeks before students return to Harrisonburg schools and universities for the first time since March, educators have begun implementing safety measures for classes to resume, which includes measures to help students with disabilities navigate the educational landscape amid the pandemic.
School tech and suffering businesses and residents are in line for shares of Hburg’s CARES funds
Purchasing school technology for online learning, providing relief for local businesses and residents and covering some costs of delaying construction on the second high school are at the forefront of the draft for how the city could spend $4.6 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
A pandemic and protests have ramped up interest in city budgeting. Here’s The Citizen’s guide to Hburg’s spending
Continue with the plan for building a second high school? Reduce funding for the police department? The combination of the pandemic’s economic ripple effects and calls for social change out of this summer’s protests have sparked questions and deep-seated opinions about how the city of Harrisonburg spends its money. Residents have been bringing up budget issues in city council meetings, at rallies for racial justice and on social media.
Just how much of a surprise was the decision to scrap the Atlantic Coast Pipeline?
Last Thursday, a Dominion Energy media relations representative talked with The Citizen for 22 minutes about the future of the long-debated and controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which just a few weeks earlier had cleared a major hurdle in the U.S. Supreme Court. There was no hint of what Dominion and Duke would announce three days later.
Lightsabers and a little loneliness: How Hburg kids have been coping with the pandemic
The Citizen has covered the pandemic’s effects on Harrisonburg from many angles — how it has afflicted those who have had the virus, slammed local businesses, impacted city finances — even how it’s changed the way we interact. But we’ve mostly covered adults’ points of view and wanted to know how kids in the community have been affected. So we commissioned a student contributor to find out.