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The town of Broadway, a smidge north of Harrisonburg, challenged the U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimate and won. It was one of four towns in the U.S. to do so this year. I wrote the story for the Daily News-Record on Friday. Today, the Assocated Press picked the copy up, rewriting it for a broad […]

I pulled past Harrisonburg’s mall today. Couple dozen people were standing, shivering outside one of its entrances. I watched from a stoplight as cops came and started ushering people away from the doors.
A bomb threat? Gas leak? Fight? Wasn’t sure. So I pulled in and started fishing for my cell phone. Gotta call the […]

Today, through the editor’s grapevine I hear, “Kelly, we need a story on the PS threes tonight.” So I nodded, “Oh yeah, of course. Sure thing.”
Truth be told, I didn’t know what a PS threes was. We planned to talk about it, but calls came in, meetings started and other news beckoned.
Plan B: Walk over […]

One Injured In Bridgewater Hostage Situation

By Kelly Jasper
BRIDGEWATER — Police responded to a failed homicide-suicide plot Tuesday afternoon, pressing a South Carolina man with nine felony charges after he attempted to kill the mother of his son and a Bridgewater police officer, police officials said.
The suspect surrendered after a standoff at […]

Feedback, some by comment, some by e-mail, is evenly split down the middle. I am both a big-fat cheater and reasonable, level-headed spender, it seems we have decided.
Let me amend my last post with this: Since the social experiment began, I’ve become hyper conscious of how I spend money and $40 is all of a […]

What, it’s been like a week and I’ve already botched my own plan. I don’t want to justify my spending … but I think I’ve come up with some great excuses. I’ve deemed each of these purchases necessary. Take a look:
$8: Stamps, cause not paying bills for a month would be a bad idea (and […]

It’s always interesting to me which of my stories generate the most traffic.
As I’m sure it is with most jobs, sometimes work that I’d call brilliant will just sit there while other projects that are just initially blips on the radar screen will generate enormous response. So it was with this, which more than a […]

Thanks for all the great feedback on this new experiment of mine. (Check the previous post for details. Basically, it’s an attempt to shop for only real, true essentials for a month. Food, minimal gas, medicine, cat food and toilet paper as of now.)
So far, it’s been easy. Probably too easy. I haven’t felt deprived […]