bridgewaterva.com

Ashby Pool turns 50!

webmaster — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:26:44 +0000

Asbhy Recreational is celebrating 50 years from 1962 to 2012. We are inviting locals to come and share stories and check us out for the first time, if you are new to the area. June 3, 2012 1 pm to 5 pm. Pricing for the day will reflect 1960′s.

We also are excepting new members at a special price this summer only. We have reduced the one time membership fee to reflect 50 years. Check us out at www.ashbypool.com.

Bridgewater Buzzers, we’re famous!

webmaster — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:03:39 +0000

Our fame comes from this article in the Shenandoah Journal. Thanks are due to Lauren Jefferson for an article that nicely captured the spirit of this site. Even more, thanks are due to all of our regular contributors, readers and lurkers. You make Bridgewater Buzz what it is!

With thanks to all,
Your webmaster

Tax-financed public broadcasting

libertarian — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:39:07 +0000

I’ve met some of the people from WVPT and they’re nice folks — good citizens. I’m sorry their jobs are in jeopardy as tax-financed funding for public broadcasting dries up. However, tax financing is not about keeping people employed in jobs that are not self-supporting, it’s about funding the legitimate functions of government. That does not include public broadcasting.

Here are three good reasons to de-fund public broadcasting and let it have a go at being self-supporting:

1. It’s for the rich. Who do you think is watching Masterpiece Theater? That audience can afford to pay for its programming.

2. It does so little local programming. Most public TV stations spend huge amounts of money supporting the national organization’s programming — but that so often duplicates what’s already available: news, commentary, cultural programming.

3. It’s left-leaning, which is fine in itself, but not when it’s combined with public funding. It means that everyone’s money funds a particular point of view. Taking everybody’s money to fund a particular political viewpoint is just wrong.

Thanks for comments

lauren — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:08:53 +0000

Thank you for your comments! Keep an eye out for the article about Bridgewater Buzz and bridgewaterva.com in an upcoming Shenandoah Journal.

Shenandoah Journal article on the Buzz

lauren — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:39:19 +0000

Hello Buzzers-

I am working on an article about the website and the discussion forum for the Shenandoah Journal.

I would appreciate some feedback for the article, which is scheduled to run this next issue.

Please let me know what you particularly value about the site and the discussion forum.

Why do you post?

What subjects on the forum interest you most?

Thank you,

Lauren Jefferson, editor

Budget time in Bridgewater

webmaster — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:11:01 +0000

It’s budget time in Bridgewater, with a public hearing set for Tuesday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the town hall. Here are highlights from the proposed budget:

A one percentage-point increase in the meals tax, going to 6 percent.
A cigarette tax of 20 cents per pack.
The creation of a stormwater utility and accompanying fee. The town says the fee would start next June and would be about $1 per month for single-family homes. Other properties would pay higher fees.
An inflation adjustment of 3.16 percent for water, sewer and sanitation fees.

Here’s a link to the meeting notice and here’s the Shenandoah Journal’s coverage.

Easter Weekend Tribute to Our Founders

traveler — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 18:37:12 +0000

This year Easter and Passover come close together — what a great time to recognize one of the great achievements of our country’s founders: freedom of religion. Our Constitution protects the free exercise of religion, it prohibits the establishment of a state religion, and it specifically forbids the use of a religious test for office-holding. Some of my friends worry that the state will mess up the church; others worry that the church will corrupt the state. And yet with our Constitutional scheme we can avoid both problems.

I do hope that on both sides of the church-state division we can have respect and harmony. This calls for the state to be extra careful when religious sensibilities are at stake. It calls for the church to take extra care, too, when it would influence the state. Lately, it seems to me that some politicians are all too quick to pick a fight with the church, and some people of faith are all too quick to seek out politicians who will not respect those of different faiths.

The Founders got this one right. Now, let’s not foul it up.

Obamacare

mcgill — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:17:02 +0000

Today the Supreme Court begins hearings on the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act. One can only hope the Justices will see fit to declare parts or all of the act invalid.
Health care in American needs to be fixed but it can be done without massive government intervention. Obamacare as it stands now is a first step in what will become socialized medicine. A new entitlement program that along with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are well on the way to bankrupting this country.
We have a growing national debt, the principal of which, will never be paid, only the interest. We cannot afford to continue to allow this nation to be a nanny state because the future Americans will suffer the failure of a once great country. Attempts at Socialism have repeatedly failed and this country needs to reverse the path it is on.

Annie, Jr.

oldtimer — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:54:46 +0000

Saw a delightful production of Annie, Jr. at Wilbur Pence Middle School last evening. How middle school kids can memorize all those line and lyrics is beyond me. The two leads of Annie (Bethany Estes) and Miss Hannigan (Allie Brooner) … Continue reading →

Sentence in cat case

traveler — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:56:17 +0000

Now we have a completed trial of the Harrisonburg police officer who awkwardly put an injured cat out of its misery, using a police baton. See http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/mar/09/harrisonburg-police-officer-convicted-beating-cat–ar-1752849/ . I know some of my friends are upset that the fine was only $50, but I would just remind everyone that we have courts to apply the law fairly. I’m really sorry the whole thing happened, but the main lacking element was evidence of malicious intent. An outside judge was brought in and he applied the law in this case. We do not change the law because a bunch of Facebook posters scream for a heaver sentence.