hburgnews.com

“Everyday Bikes” is a community bike project started by a collection of individuals affiliated with New Community Project, Our Community Place, and is sustained with the support and help of many others in our community. Their goal is to promote sustainable transportation, healthy living, and to empower low-income individuals. 

The Lynchburg News & Advance reports that water quality in Virginia has dropped yet again. A report due to be released by the Department of Environmental Quality is expected to add more waterways to the growing list of impaired rivers and streams.
Many of the state’s rivers and streams were listed as unhealthy because of elevated [...]

National Farmers Market Week is August 3 through 9. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is challenging everyone to eat local for a day. The Downtown Harrisonburg Farmers Market is open Tuesday August 5 and Saturday August 9 from 7am-1pm.

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed evidence of salmonella contamination in Mexican Serrano peppers through an “intensive investigation” stemming from the Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak. Domestically grown Serrano peppers, however, have not been tied to any contamination and are still reportedly safe to consume.
The multi-week investigation began after this previously rare strand of [...]

A friend of mine who works at JMU got this message in their e-mail last week:
“Just a friendly reminder that D-Hall will close after dinner July 22 to upgrade the tray return area.  The renovation will increase capacity, making the process faster, and will include installation of a pulper, laying the groundwork for composting and other sustainability efforts.”

The City of Harrisonburg, along with other Shenandoah Valley localities, was featured in the July-August issue of Stormwater Magazine in a article titled “Heritage and Promise”. The article describes the City’s cleanstream campaign which includes “A Doodie-Free Harrisonburg” campaign and “Harrisonburg’s Best Tips for Yard Care”.

On June 19, a group from the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries led by Steve Reeser & Paul Bugas went out to take several fish samples in Blacks Run. The group sampled at three locations in Blacks Run - one near Our Community Place, one in Purcell Park, and one just south of City [...]

Due to a combination of rising gas prices, greater awareness about carbon emissions’ impact on the environment, and individuals looking for healthier lifestyles, I’ve been seeing a lot more bicycles on the road and a lot more people walking. Although admittedly Harrisonburg doesn’t have the most ideal bicycle facilities (yet) and many neighborhoods were designed when cars dominated [...]

The City has just posted a video online titled “Your Trash”. The video has been shown at the Public Work’s session of Citizen Academy and it follows, literally, your trash.
Where does your trash go to after you put it out on trash day? What is the Resource Recovery Facility? How is recycling good for the environment and how [...]

While Rockingham County begins to rewrite its zoning ordinance, George Washington National Forest officials announced they will resume their land and resource management plan revision.
Roughly a quarter of Rockingham County is within the boundaries of the National Forest.

There’s an article in today’s Washington Post about the local poultry industry and federal immigration “reform.” It hits several of the same points touched on in past hburgnews and DNR articles (such as the effects of high grain prices on the industry).
Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, and Rep. Bob Goodlatte use [...]

Jim Gilmore, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, made his way though the Valley today, stopping at a “high end retail apartment construction site in Harrisonburg” (from NBC29). It appears that the primary issue he’s hitting over and over again is drilling for oil off the Alaskan coast. Gilmore is touting Alaskan oil as the solution [...]

I don’t know how I missed this story yesterday (it was reported on WSVA). 12 protesters, including several JMU students, were arrested in Richmond Monday for blockading Dominion Power’s corporate headquarters in protest of their plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Southwest Virginia.

There’s a story in today’s DNR about “deathanol,” the federal mandate, and the impact of corn-for-fuel on the local poultry industry. I recently read an interesting article about “the seven myths of energy independence” in Mother Jones that touched on some of the same points.