I’m a person of faith. And when I read Scripture, I see Jesus erring on the side of grace time and again. I see him embracing the social and religious outcasts of his day. I try my best to do the same.
Planning with the End in Mind: Feedback on the Pulaski Co. Solar Farm Plan
The Pulaski County Solar Farm is a promising initiative that uses our local resources (empty farmland) to address our need for green energy and tax revenue. But there are ways it could be improved.
Who can represent the diverse landscape of the Ninth District?
The image above is the ninth district as seen by the 2011 edition of the National Land Cover Database (you can zoom in to explore this data at http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=e4c45b7769af40d280c1a74208662c9d — note: it takes a moment to load all layers) Our district is larger than New Jersey. In the image above: The red is our roads and cities. The […]
Finding Truth in Noah Thomas’s Death
I have spent the majority of my adult life working on, consulting with, and learning about truth and reconciliation commissions. These bodies are generally tasked with investigating human rights abuses or other injustices so that a community or nation can learn from the past, establish accountability for what happened in some way, and make recommendations […]
Primary Elections are tomorrow – Tuesday, June 12!
Historically, very few people show up to vote in primary elections like the one that will happen tomorrow (Tuesday, June 12) in Virginia. But there are all sorts of reasons why we should. One is that higher numbers of primary voters signals to national parties and others that people in our part of the state […]
I ♡ Poor Boys Produce, Part 2
Around this time last year, I published my first love letter to Poor Boys Produce Stand, but over the past year, I discovered more reasons to love the place, so here I am again. While I appreciate that I can find Daisy’s Bread in the local produce stand all year round, Doug Steger’s story about […]
Dont forget to vote in local elections tomorrow, Tuesday May 1
Elections will be held tomorrow (May 1) in Pulaski and Dublin. On the ballot will be candidates for Mayor (Pulaski) and Town Council (Pulaski and Dublin). Full sample ballots for both can be found at the Pulaski County Registrar’s website (http://www.pulaskicounty.org/Registrar.html). In Pulaski, David Clark is running unopposed for mayor and 5 candidates are running […]
On expanding Medicaid: “Virginia’s money needs to stay in Virginia”
One of my hardworking colleagues just found out that her family’s health insurance premiums are about to go from about $250 to $1200 a month. Upon hearing that, I was tempted to sarcastically exclaim, “Thanks Obama” and rethink my limited support for the Affordable Care Act. But then I looked into the reason her premiums […]
Beth O’Connor: When a Hospital Dies
At a recent media event sponsored by Virginia Organizing, Beth O’Connor, executive director of the Virginia Rural Health Association shared the following remarks. We are publishing them in full here because all of us in Pulaski County – insured or not, health care professionals or not – have a stake in our local economy and should […]
Can you afford to “vote yes for PCMS”? (You might be surprised at the answer.)
As I’ve spoken with my neighbors about the upcoming referendum to fund a new consolidated middle school, I’ve learned that many people have no idea of what the tax increase will mean for their own families’ budgets. That’s in part because many of us pay our county taxes through our mortgage servicers and therefore never […]