Archives
Page 136/202
With CARES Act funding, city housing agency launches drive to recruit landlords
Landlords in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County have an opportunity to get some guaranteed on-time rent payments and a few other incentives while also lending a helping hand to some of the area’s most vulnerable residents.
Community Perspective: Health standards needed to protect workers
In response to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, members of Congress, including Virginia U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, tried to get the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to create mandatory and enforceable standards to protect workers, but they were blocked by the current administration that wanted purely voluntary guidelines without inspections or sanctions.
Local reports of child and domestic abuse during COVID lockdown mirror wider trends
For people whose homes aren’t safe places, COVID-19 and the subsequent stay-at-home orders represent a dangerous double bind: unsafe to leave, unsafe to stay. Over the past three months, local reports of domestic violence are on the rise. Meanwhile, child abuse or neglect reports have declined, leaving local responders bracing for a spike in cases that may have gone unnoticed during the spring.
On and off campus, pressure mounts to rename several buildings at JMU
In a public ceremony in the fall of 1917, six buildings on Bluestone Hill — the center of campus for what was then the State Normal and Industrial School for Women — were renamed. And for the last 103 years, four of the six have borne the monikers of men who were slaveowners or confederates.
Harrisonburg schools superintendent suggests revising relationship with police department
Harrisonburg City Public Schools will review — and potentially revise — the district’s relationship with the Harrisonburg Police Department, which has four school resource officers placed across the schools. Superintendent Michael Richards brought the item to the school board’s work session on Tuesday.
Plans for Elkton Black Lives Matter protest sparked controversy on social media and debate at Monday’s town council
After a closed-session discussion, the Elkton Town Council ultimately voted 5-1 Monday night to approve a permit that will allow a high school student-led Black Lives Matter protest on Wednesday. Plans for the event had touched off a social media-fueled controversy after a Facebook post calling for armed counter-protesters went viral over the past several days.
JMU students lead silent march to turn up volume on calls to end systemic racism and remove confederates’ names from buildings
In leading a protest march Friday that was both silent and loud, JMU students — joined by university employees and community members — called on the university to step up its response to systemic racism, starting with removing the names of confederate leaders from three of its buildings.