For the Record – Shenandoah Valley, October 2013

The  Augusta County Historical Society  could soon take ownership of a dilapidated house on New Hope Road in Waynesboro, believed to be one of the city’s oldest. City Manager Mike Hamp told members of the City Council that the group has a plan and the funding to make emergency repairs to the building to bring it up to safety standards of Waynesboro’s codes. The society plans to take control of the home to eventually turn it over to a local preservation group formed this year to save the Arnold House, Hamp said. (News Leader)

 Bath Community Hospital  signaled the beginning of a three-year, $14 million expansion and renovation with a groundbreaking ceremony in August that previewed coming enhancements.  The project will bring a new helipad and cafeteria, larger emergency department and more space for the latest medical services. Jason Paret, the hospital’s CEO, stressed that hospital operations and services will continue as normal during construction, which is expected to continue until 2015. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

A collaboration between  Lord Fairfax Community College  and Shenandoah University will make it possible for students entering the commu nity college to graduate with a master’s in business administration from the university in five years. The comprehensive agreement will create a “seamless web” of joint programs and services for students who choose to attend both institutions. The program, for example, will allow participants to transition from an associate of arts degree in business to a bachelor of business administration degree program and subsequently the MBA degree program. (Northern Virginia Daily)

Enrollment at  Massanutten Technical Center  has 859 students this year, marking its largest student body in its 41-year history and a 3.4 percent increase over last year. Twelve of the school’s 20 programs also saw individual enrollment gains, the largest being in visual effects and 3-D animation, one of the school’s newest programs, and electricity, which expanded this year to include a program for third-year students. MTC, operated jointly by Harrisonburg City and Rockingham County public schools, offers career and technical education classes to high-schoolers and adults. (Daily News-Record)

 Downtown  Strasburg has few er vacant and dilapidated structures than thought, according to a recent building survey. The Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission continues to work with town staff to aid in Strasburg’s efforts to revitalize downtown. Strasburg received the first part of a grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development to help the town plan the revitalization. (Northern Virginia Daily)

Washington and Lee University in Lexington received a National Science Foundation grant to acquire a mass spectrometer that will be shared with Virginia Military Institute. W&L biology professor Bill Hamilton says the spectrometer can detect stable isotopes that tend to occur in very low amounts in carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. It also will allow for the analysis of different types of organic matter samples, such as soil, plant tissue and hair. Washington and Lee says it expects to accept samples from other schools and become a regional hub in the future for isotope analysis. (The Associated Press)