Life, Love and Loss in Harrisonburg, Virginia

As has been widely reported, next month’s anticipated release of a new management plan for the George Washington National Forest (GWNF) may or may not include a ban on the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to mine natural gas. Opponents of fracking for natural gas in the national forest include thousands who supported …Read more.

Jeremiah Knupp writes about the soon-to-come decision from the forest service on whether to allow fracking in the George Washington National Forest. In 2010, a local grassroots effort kept hydrofracking from happening on private lands in Rockingham County, and a recent post on Old South High details how the energy company Carrizo is letting its …Read more.

Carrizo, the company that brought the term “fracking” and all its attendant concerns to the area with a 2010 permit application to drill a natural gas well in Bergton, has given up on gas drilling in Rockingham County and will not renew any of its local oil and gas leases. According to records on file …Read more.

The week begins with the latest installment of Old South High’s interesting Harrisonburg maps series, which doubles as our latest occasional exploration of the disconnect between Internet reality and real reality. This one comes courtesy of Walk Score, a website that assesses the walkability of neighborhoods and towns across the country. Using an algorithm that …Read more.

An article by Jeremiah Knupp, a journalist who has covered the local controversy over fracking for natural gas, and who attended a public event on the topic earlier this week. Three years ago the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy issued a permit to a Texas-based energy company for a natural gas well on …Read more.

On Tuesday night, city council will hold a public hearing giving residents a chance to speak out about Harrisonburg’s proposed city budget for the 2014 fiscal year (July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014). The total proposed budget amounts to $209.4 million – a $10.2 million, or 5.1 percent, increase from the current year’s $199.2 million budget. …Read more.