Comments on: Coming Soon: The Harrisonburg Times

By: Jay Bender

Jay Bender — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:07:48 +0000

Through the Harrisonburg Times, how would like to find out in such an agricultural area as Rockingham County if the food banks and food pantries in the area are well stocked. Are school children of needy families feed adequately during the school year?

Jay

By: Jay Bender

Jay Bender — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:51:46 +0000

I hope that the Harrisonburg Times can give a voice to the smaller rural communities surrounding Harrisonburg as well as the many neighborhoods within the city. As Harrisonburg grows with its big box stores and its chain restaurants I hope that the unique character of the central Shenandoah Valley does not give way to crass comercialism and a loss of regional identity. I hope that many residents of those surrounding areas speak up.

By: Jay Bender

Jay Bender — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:25:24 +0000

I hope that the Harrisonburg Times can reflect two outstanding qualities of Harrisonburg. One is the diversity of the small city. There are so many different ethnic and racial voices to be heard and what a wonderful opportunity the Harrisonburg Times can be. Secondly, with the differing resources in alternative and creative solutions to conflict couldn’t the Harrisonburg Times be an outlet for such peaceful forces?

By: David Rood

David Rood — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:29:41 +0000

As many of us who have even a modicum of education know, many assertions of the Right-Wing Fringe are based on logical fallacies. In cases where I have confronted them with this, I find that most are completely ignorant of the term “logical fallacy” and are unable to recognize even the basic ones in the arguments they present. Perhaps if we could get the Right to think rationally we could prevent them from being wrong so frequently. A good reference to send hyperbolic right-wing folks you encounter is: http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html
This may not win over hearts and minds but it may shame them into curtailing their idiotic rants.

By: Hood Frazier

Hood Frazier — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:08:53 +0000

This forum for the exchange of ideas is a good place to begin. As someone who is relatively new to the area, I’m looking forward to making more local connections. Also, since I don’t currently subscribe to the DNR, (I found its editorials and positions too right wing), I have not been able to really follow local news, events, and issues as closely as I would like to.

This, hopefully, may change that.

By: Growing Momentum for a Fresh Resource | Harrisonburg Times

Growing Momentum for a Fresh Resource | Harrisonburg Times — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:24:36 +0000

[...] Momentum for a Fresh Resource ShareThe announcement about the Harrisonburg Times’ pending launch stirred a surprising number and diversity of [...]

By: Dany Fleming

Dany Fleming — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:41:00 +0000

Does The Times have anyone(s) looking to cover the local sports scene? That seems like a pretty large and potent group of followers. It looks like there are a number of respectable local folks blogging on VirginiaPreps.com – a sports blog for Virginia high school sports. The Times might provide a good new platform for them. Does anyone know folks who blog there?

By: Lorena Beightler

Lorena Beightler — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:19:24 +0000

Harrisonburg,

I had the pleasure of meeting your Mayor, Kai Degner and discussed with him the Harrisonburg Times. I applaud his efforts to create a forum that foster citizen journalism and conversation.

I have experienced a similar forum here in my hometown of Sacramento, CA and I know that they do not prohibit content based on a viewpoint but rather rely on the community to help label content offensive or spam. In that way create a really strong sense of ownership.

I am looking forward to reading more about Harrisonburg !

By: Kai Degner

Kai Degner — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:21:44 +0000

Steven, thank you for writing. These are the types of important issues we want to bring attention to at the Harrisonburg Times. Soon, there will be a way for you and others to write an official post to share your information. We will be in touch offline.

By: Citizen

Citizen — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:21:18 +0000

March 7, 2010
AN OPEN LETTER TO CONCERED CITIZENS
Approximately two years ago, in 2008, while incarcerated, I was given a politically motivated “administrative transfer” from the Harrisonburg jail, to the Middle River Regional Jail in Verona, Virginia, after writing to the local Health Department informing them that the facility in Harrisonburg had ceased making available HIV-testing for prisoners. After being housed at Middle River for about three months, I was charged by that facility’s institutional investigator with two separate Class 6 felony charges (near misdemeanors) for: (1) “possession of a deadly weapon,” and, (2) “destruction of a fire system:. The “deadly weapon” was a half-broken $.72 cent toothbrush holder, and the “fire system” was a sprinkler button, with an estimated value of less than $100.00. These charges, although the most minuscule and petty of “offenses” under Virginia law, carry a maximum of 10 years in prison; which I have been threatened with potentially being sentenced to, in the Augusta County Circuit Court.

I was released from prison nearly a year ago for good behavior after having participated in the VA Department of Corrections’ Therapeutic Community prison facility at Indian Creek Correctional Center, for past issues with addiction and alcoholism. Since my release, I have maintained employment at Tyson Foods Corporation, and have not failed a single drug screen, for which I am tested regularly.
Consequently, for the very first time, I was recently awarded visitation rights by the courts with my only child, my 5-year-old son, Stephen Thomas. However, the authorities in Augusta County are seeking to prosecute me, now, nearly two years later, for the previously mentioned alleged offenses. The authorities in Augusta County have refused our repeated efforts to simply make restitution for the broken items in question and are intent on sending me back to prison now, during this most stable period of my adult life. Any plea or finding of guilt by the court in Augusta County will result in an immediate parole violation and a return to prison for several years, for me. The devastation that this ordeal would cause my family, myself, and particularly my 5-year-old, is simply unimaginable.

Because of the clear racial dynamics of this case, given the constant race-oriented insults that I was subjected to by the blatantly white-supremacist correctional officers at Middle-River Jail on the date of the incident 2 years ago, I am desperately requesting the interest, investigation, attention, and support of all sympathetic parties. I humbly request the assistance of the community in bringing these matters to a logical, rational, and amicable conclusion. Our community does not need yet another fatherless African-American child, nor another unwarranted African-American prisoner.

Thank you for all your time and interest.

Sincerely,
Steven L. Thomas