Ashland-Hanover Local – 07/12/17

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FESTIVAL

EDUCATION

39th Annual Hanover Tomato Festival

R-MC honors largest benefactor with Brock Hall

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Vol. 2 No. 52 | Richmond Suburban News | July 12, 2017

Rail hearing, altered photo top council talks By Logan Barry for The Hanover Local

Photos by Nick Liberante The Hanover Local

Karla Bloom directs the Hanover Concert Band in front of the Arts and Activities Center. Right: Emma Greth, a student at Oak Knoll, leaps in the sack race. Below: Barclay DuPriest was this year’s Grand Marshall.

Ashland Fourth of July

Celebration STORY PAGE 5

Parade goers watch as Corinne Luck leads the Cacaphony of the Universe Marching Band down Center Street and patriotic pets stroll by.

ASHLAND – The proposed highspeed rail that would roll through the Town of Ashland continues to dominate meetings of Ashland Town Council. During the July 5 regular session, held a day later than usual due to the Fourth of July holiday, Mayor James Foley talked about the second public hearing of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. He also addressed a Richmond Times-Dispatch photograph that had been altered and posted to social media. Opponents appeared at a meeting of the Virginians for High Speed Rail (VHSR) VHSR is a not-for-profit organization that strives to educate and advocate for a reliable rail service that is both fast and frequent, in hopes of connecting the commonwealth of Virginia to the entire East Coast. “Some Ashland citizens attended [the meeting] with their ‘No Third Rail’ signs – we are not opposed to VHSR, we support VHSR, but we were making sure that the threat to our town is known and visible,” Foley said. Two Ashland residents who were holding the signs at the meeting were verbally confronted by another woman who was supporting VHSR. She was described as being annoyed that they brought signs opposing the construction of a third set of railroad tracks through Ashland, referring to one of the options that is currently being proposed as an alternative for the DC2RVA

high-speed rail project. Supporters of the high-speed rail carried their own signs at the meeting, and Foley explained how “there was some great coverage where our citizens were holding up signs and it was PhotoShopped out, to show [them holding the supporters’] signs and posted on sites. We had a lot of media coverage on that – thank you to the media for that.” The tampered photo, originally taken by R-TD photographer Jim Mahoney, was uploaded to VHSR’s Facebook page. During the Town Manager’s Report, Joshua Farrar, who also attended the VHSR meeting – went deeper into the high-speed rail conversation. He outlined the summary of the meeting and what the town is currently hopeful for as leaders and residents prepare for the next meeting this month. The third meeting will be held July 28. The remaining sessions are scheduled for Aug. 28 and Sept. 25. The public hearings are designed to focus on considering new alternatives to the two original options that the Town of Ashland and Hanover County were dealt: the western bypass or through Ashland. The proposal to design the route of the high-speed railroad through Ashland is highly opposed by the town and its citizens as it would be an additional third set of tracks placed on top of an already developed train town designed for two sets of tracks. While the western bypass option is see RAIL, pg. 4


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