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They pushed ahead with their dreams in a pandemic. Here’s what they’ve learned.
Despite all the uncertainty — economic and otherwise — that the pandemic created over the last year, some Harrisonburg-area residents chose to follow their dreams and turn their passions into businesses. While launching a new business is always a learning experience, even for seasoned entrepreneurs, doing so amid these conditions have inspired a unique set of lessons learned.
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Hey Elderly Aunt, how do I support my teenaged son whose grades are slipping?
Dear Elderly Aunt: My 14-year-old son’s grades have slipped. While his grades aren’t awful, they’re not up to what he was earning before the pandemic. I regularly ask how he is keeping up with homework and online classes, but he tells me he has it under control. I work during the school day, so I can’t be there to supervise him and want to encourage him to be independent and solve his own problems. At the same time, I don’t want him to fall behind or damage his future prospects because of the backsliding in academic performance. What suggestions do you have for me, as a parent, to best keep him on task while allowing him to succeed or fail on his own?Sincerely, A concerned parent
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Statewide environmental news roundup – January 2021
Appalachian Power wants the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to approve a rate increase to cover costs of “environmental improvements” at coal power plants. It also wants SCC approval of transmission line upgrades for five counties. The SCC did approve a service fee of $1.80/month. Dominion Energy wants the SCC to approve raising rates to pay for solar projects. The 2021 General Assembly session happening now will consider numerous energy and environmental bills. Some relate to utility reform.
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The Siren Song of Easy Money
In 1637, a unique economic event occurred that disrupted financial markets. It wasn’t a famine or plague as you might suspect. No, it was a far more devious culprit, human greed. It started with a tulip of all things, and it created one of the largest economic bubbles the world has seen.
Nearly 11 months in, here’s how local businesses have survived the pandemic and what they’ve learned
When the pandemic hit the United States last March and government orders closed down many of them temporarily, most local business owners were trapped in a kind of economic limbo. To survive, some businesses shifted their business models. Others pursued government loans to keep employees on the payroll. But, above all, many local Harrisonburg businesses learned they could count on the community’s support.
Community Perspective: A bigger jail will not solve the problem
The Middle River Regional Jail is one of the most expensive publicly funded facilities ever built in our region. Now, citing overcrowding, jail authorities want our communities to commit to one of three expensive expansion options.
‘A prophetic voice against racial and economic disparities’
Speaking to college students on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2015, Stan Maclin patiently, yet powerfully, explained the pervasive legacy of systemic racism. The group had crowded into a barber shop in downtown Harrisonburg, with sunlight filtering through the beige, lacy curtains. He traced America’s history of slavery and injustice up through the decades to policies in Harrisonburg, such as the urban renewal projects that razed the homes and businesses of Black residents in the city’s northeast neighborhood in the 1950s and ‘60s.But Maclin imbued his talk with optimism.
Hburg council offers chilly reception to jail expansion plan
Members of the Harrisonburg City Council expressed concerns about and, in some cases, outright opposition to a proposed expansion of the Middle River Regional Jail as the jail’s leader made his pitch Tuesday night. While the council didn’t take any vote on the issue, the discussion signaled that jail officials might have an uphill climb to convince Harrisonburg to kick as much as $1.2 million more a year for the city’s share of a nearly $40 million expansion.
