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A jogger was struck and killed by a hit and run driver around 5:30 a.m. today, according to a preliminary report from the HPD. It happened in the 1100 block of S. Main St., between Port Road and the railroad tracks near JMU.

The victim’s identification is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, the report said. The victim has since been identified as Sherry Anderson, 55, of Harrisonburg. Anyone with information is asked to call 574-5050.

The 2009 General Assembly session hasn’t officially begun yet, but prefiled bills have already come rolling in on Richmond Sunlight. Del. Matt Lohr has resubmitted his annexation moratorium bill. The “new” bill is identical to a previous bill that was voted down in committee in 2008, and another that was vetoed by Gov. Kaine in 2007.

For more on the annexation moratorium, read this and this.

One of the impressive things about our new mayor is his youth.  Several newspaper articles have speculated that he may be the youngest Harrisonburg mayor ever.  But it looks like at least one former mayor was younger than Mayor Degner. Read more »

The Daily News Record is reporting that “our” (former hburgnews blogger) Kai Degner has expressed interest in the mayorship, and that the now-democrat-majority City Council is expected to back him. DNR’s Jeff Mellott called the new Council members and found that Kai has enough votes to get it.

The official vote is on Friday, so we’ll make sure to have interviews and more info ready by then!

As 2008 comes to a close, let’s spend New Year’s Eve looking back at our year of news. HburgNews had about 463 posts this year, which averages to about 9 per week. Though Brent took a break as lead poster and handed over the reigns in November, he still wrote over 70% of the articles this year. We added the twitter sideblog and hashtag sections to the right sidebar, and Author links to the “about hburgnews” page. (P.S. Look for more technical upgrades in the near future!)

Continue reading (warning - long post ahead!)

Now that Christmas is over, many of you with Christmas trees might be wondering what options you have for disposing of them. Read more »

UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Development has just released a report projecting job growth statewide and the relevant educational requirements VA will need to provide to meet that growth. With both state and local unemployment rates steadily rising, it’s timely and useful; at just 2 pages the report is packed with info.  Some takeaways after the jump: Read more »

Sen. Mark Obenshain’s “noose bill” hasn’t even been introduced in the state Senate yet, but it’s already being supported and criticized by Virginians from across the political spectrum. Read more »

More bad news from the public broadcasting industry in a souring economy: stations across the country are laying off employees, and WMRA posted “a more urgent request than the usual public radio fundraising message.” Read more »