Harrisonburg Blogs

Want some pain relief at the pump? Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) is co-sponsoring a measure designed to rein in market speculators who have been able to bid up crude oil prices to unnatural highs. While addressing unnaturally high prices driven by speculation is a more immediate solution, Webb stated his belief that a comprehensive national energy strategy is needed for long-term energy independence and greater control of pricing. Webb says, “Strengthening regulation of futures markets is necessary, but it is just one part of the solution. Our nation’s leaders need to start becoming creative about our energy options in order to drive down costs and ensure a healthy economy.

A suspicious object that appeared to be a pipe bomb was found Wednesday afternoon near the entrance of the Wal-Mart shopping center in Dayton. Local police quickly secured the area and waited for a bomb squad to arrive. Once on the scene, the squad quickly diffused the device. Virginia State Police say that the object was not a bomb but it had the potential to be dangerous. VSP First Sgt. Bryan Hutcheson, VSP, says, "Our bomb technicians were able to detonate the device. Just to be sure if there was anything that was going to explode, we wanted to do it in a controlled environment. Now, after a closer examination of it, it appears as though there was not any explosives in it. But he says they blew it up just to be sure. State police also say that most bomb scare situations usually turn out to be fake but they must take the proper precautions to ensure public safety.

A fee for ambulance service is being considered by volunteer rescue agencies in Shenandoah County. The idea was discussed at a work session attended by members of the Shenandoah County Fire and Rescue Association and a couple of members of the Board of Supervisors on Saturday. Chief Sam Bohus say says fees for service have been discussed among the members of the Mt. Jackson Rescue and Fire Company. He says donations are going down and they need to do something to raise money if the community wants to keep it as a volunteer department. Winchester started charging for ambulance services two years ago, and Frederick County is considering a similar fee. Warren County also charges patients. The fees in surrounding localities range from around $300 to $600, plus a per-mile charge as well.

A fee for ambulance service is being considered by volunteer rescue agencies in Shenandoah County. The concept was discussed at a work session attended by members of the Shenandoah County Fire and Rescue Association and a couple of members of the Board of Supervisors . Fees for service have been discussed among the members of the Mt. Jackson Rescue and Fire Company. With donations are going down," he said. "We need to do something to raise money if the community wants to keep it as a volunteer department. Volunteers are going by the wayside. We can't afford anything. Doing all the extra fundraisers and everything is just taxing everybody.
"If we don't do something to raise money to help volunteers out, you're probably going to see more career staff."
Winchester started charging for ambulance services two years ago, and Frederick County is considering a similar fee. Warren County also charges patients.
The fees in surrounding localities range from around $300 to $600, plus a per-mile charge as well.
Also discussed during the work session, according to the minutes, was the resignation of Dr. Robert L. Harvey as the rescue agencies' operational medical director. Harvey, an emergency medicine physician at Shenandoah Memorial Hospital, cited wanting to spend time with his family, the minutes say.
"He will be discontinuing his services at the end of this month," Streett said. "We have a medical director who has given us verbal commitment to resume that position by the end of the month."
That is Dr. Anzir Adam, an emergency medicine physician at Rockingham Memorial Hospital.
"It's a requirement for licensure to have a medical director," Streett said. "They provide medical oversight and direction to EMS agencies. Essentially, it's the physician for which our EMS providers operate under. It's a huge responsibility. Dr. Harvey has done a great job for us for the years he has served."
If a locality is without a medical director, a regional director fills the role on an interim basis, he said.
Operational medical directors don't get paid for their role, Streett said.

Concern over high gas prices has one local county addressing car use by county employees. With gas hovering around $4 a gallon, people in Page County want officials to address the cost of operating county vehicles. The Board of Supervisors formed a four-member committee to look at the county's vehicle use policy. Supervisor J-D Cave says they're looking at ways to cut expenses, and they're making two recommendations. County employees who currently have take-home vehicles will keep them. These include positions like building inspectors and emergency services personnel. However, to cut down on mileage, new employees who live outside the county will not be assigned a car at all. Officials are also asking employees to use the cars as sparingly as possible. The roughly two-and-a-half dozen county-owned vehicles will have decals added to the side of the car if they don't already have one. The changes to this policy don't affect the Page County Sheriff's Office employees. A separate policy governs the use of those vehicles. The Page County Board of Supervisors is expected to hold a formal vote on the proposed changes at its meeting next month.

A former Front Royal police officer is behind bars without bond Wednesday after allegedly shooting at his son. Police say they responded to a shots fired call Tuesday evening. They arrested 51-year-old James Douglas Striker. He's charged with brandishing a firearm, reckless handling of a firearm, and discharging a firearm within a building or dwelling.

Be careful when you buy frozen microwable sandwiches like Lean Pockets and Hot Pockets. Martin's Food Markets have removed packages of frozen Lean Pockets spinach artichoke chicken sandwiches from their shelves. The store, which has locations in Harrisonburg, Staunton and Waynesboro, says the manufacturer Nestle announced a voluntary recall of the product because they may contain pieces of plastic. The sandwiches have the establishment number P7721A on the side of the package. Consumers who have purchased the products are urged to return them to the store for a full refund.

Controversy is brewing over a proposed West African exhibit at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton. The museum was awaiting the arrival of three Nigerian Bushmen to help build the new exhibit, but earlier this month, their visa's were denied because it was believed the bushmen would defect to America. On Wednesday, director of marketing Mike Sutton released a statement ...which says, "As a publicly funded and directed educational institution, we would be remiss if we ignored such a significant group. We are obligated to give due consideration to the contributions African people and cultures have made to American culture, and make African-American history, culture, and perspectives part of our American exhibits and programs.

He volunteers his time as a firefighter for a Valley fire department, but now he's under arrest. Thirty-nine-year-old Byron Fritz is facing charges of possessing lights and sirens for what looked like a police car. Investigator Brian Jenkins says he found police lights, badges, handcuffs and more inside of Fritz's car and business last week. Jenkins says after Fritz approached Augusta County Sheriff’s deputies about purchasing police equipment from his new police supply store, they became suspicious. After some checking, he says they found some circuit court records which indicated that he had been barred from possessing certain items, Virginia state seals, badges, patches and whatnot. After visiting Fritz's store in Stuarts Draft, police confiscated all of the items inside. They even took his two cars, a Dodge Intrepid and Dodge Charger, which are both models commonly used by police departments. Police say Fritz never tried to pull anyone over in Augusta County, but he does have the means to do so. In fact, Fritz has been convicted of impersonating a police officer in Virginia Beach. Fritz was a volunteer firefighter with the Dooms Fire Department for two years before his arrest. He has since left that position.

Four million dollars worth of safety improvements to Augusta County dams are almost finished. The county, city of Waynesboro, and feds all chipped in to update them, and Tuesday local leaders got to see the payoff. At Robinson Hollow, a thick concrete wall raised the top of the dam by four feet. And construction is finishing this week on improvements at Inch Branch. Project engineers say while the improvements are expensive a failure at any one of these dams would cause millions of dollars in damages. Engineer Jerry Wright says since they've been in place, we've had residential and commercial growth in that flood zone. And these dams will continue to help protect those properties and lives forever now. Crews expect to soon begin construction on a five-foot concrete wall at Tom's Branch Dam. An overflow there would put nearly 1,000 people in the path of a flood.