Town Talk
Town Talk: A conversation with Brian Sours, Richards Bus Lines
Brian Sours, Operations Manager at Richards Bus Lines in Luray, Virginia joined our publisher Mike McCool in the Royal Examiner studio and had a conversation about the motorcoach industry (we still call them buses) and how this industry has been overlooked by Congress during these past months.
Last week more than 400 motor coaches rallied in Washington DC to bring their case to Congress. This industry includes 3,000 companies across America, operating 36,000 motor coaches and transporting nearly 600 million Americans and visitors annually across our country, generating more than $237 billion in transportation, travel and tourism revenue.
A Richards bus ready to roll to Washington, DC.
The industry is composed primarily of family and independently owned businesses employing nearly 100,000 hard-working Americans while providing the most economical and eco-friendly mode of transportation, taking up to 50 cars off-road.
Motorcoaches are visible in every community, servicing every region and connecting tens of millions of Americans each day. Buses link rural areas to urban centers, bringing workers to Business campuses to do their jobs. They connect communities to train stations and shuttle travelers to local airports. They bring children to school, families on vacations, church groups on trips, and transport our servicemen and women home from deployments overseas.
In times of natural disasters, buses are vital to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state emergency response efforts, moving people efficiently and effectively to safety.
Today, during our ongoing national response to the coronavirus, buses are bringing medical personnel and essential workers to the front lines from California to Texas to New York City. However, because of COVID-19, nearly every motorcoach is sitting idle.
The industry supports the public health restrictions put in place to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 but they also want our employees to have jobs when this crisis is over.
Like U.S. airlines, public transit systems, and Amtrak, the motorcoach industry is an essential portion of our nation’s transportation network and economy.
This bus came from Alaska.
Police escort awaits the buses entering Washington DC.
One of the staging areas for the buses before entering the rally route.
Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com
Local News
Town Talk: A conversation with Lt Robbie Seal and Capt Jeff Holzbauer, Community Advisory Council update
In this Town Talk, we’ll have a conversation with Captain Jeff Holzbauer and Lt. Robbie Seal from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. Lt. Seal is the Community Resource Officer and Captain Holzbauer is in charge of the Patrol Division. The Warren County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division has the primary law enforcement responsibilities of providing a wide range of services and to initiate a proactive approach when assisting the community.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office embraces a strong community policing philosophy. This philosophy emphasizes efforts that support fair and impartial law enforcement practices, transparency in service delivery, and participation in neighborhood activities that strengthen the relationships between our office and the citizens we serve.
As part of our efforts to build strong, positive community relationships, the Sheriff’s Office calls upon community members to act as an advisory council regarding organizational policies, practices, and programs. Sheriff Butler states “the only way we grow and advance with our community is to embrace each other, and listen to their ideas and concerns.” The Sheriff’s Office wants transparency in discussing policy issues with the public, such as body-worn camera systems, use of force, and other topics.
The main purpose of the council is to facilitate open, honest, and direct interactions between the residents of Warren County and their Sheriff’s Office. The Community Advisory Council (CAC) provides a forum for candid conversations about the realities and challenges that exist when seeking to address the most difficult issues that face a community and a law enforcement agency, such as cultural diversity and relations.
Lt Robbie Seal and Capt Jeff Holzbauer bring us up-to-date on the Community Advisory Council (CAC), discuss some new traffic laws that went into effect on July 1 and body cameras.
Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com
Sheriff’s Office calls upon community members to act as an advisory council
Local News
Town Talk: A conversation with the Front Royal Christian School
In this Town Talk, our publisher Mike McCool speaks with Lorraine Hewitt and Mary Anna Ouakil from the Front Royal Christian School. Lorraine Hewitt, M.Ed., PCET, is the school superintendent and Mary Anna Ouakil, M.Ed., Ed.S., is the Vice-Principal and Director of Communications.
When Governor Northam closed all the schools in Virginia, the Front Royal Christian School (FRCS) moved the entire K3-12th grade school to a virtual platform on April 17, 2020. FRCS students received the same quality Christian education as they were in the classroom, along with social, emotional, and spiritual support.
The goal at FRCS is education and formation. They feel both are important in creating lifelong learners destined to make a difference in their personal lives and the world around them. Through their mission and vision, they work in partnership with parents to meet the individual needs of each child, while at the same time helping each to build their strengths, explore their interests, and develop into the person God has called them to be.
About the Front Royal Christian School – FRCS is a PreK through 12th grade non-denominational, independent, private school in Front Royal, Virginia, that fosters student’s innate learning potential. Front Royal Christian School is the model school for the Center for Cognitive Formation, focusing its philosophy of education on cognitive modifiability and social-emotional learning. From special needs to gifted, FRCS is committed to the spiritual, moral, and intellectual development of its students.
FRCS is currently accepting inquiries for the 2020-2021 school year, offering virtual tours, virtual classroom visits, and an online application process. Contact them to learn more about the current and upcoming school year.
Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com
Local News
Town Talk: A conversation with Gene Kilby
In this Town Talk, our publisher Mike McCool speaks with Gene Kilby. In earlier Town Talks, he spoke with his brother James and sister Betty about growing up in Front Royal. In 1958, his father, James Wilson Kilby filed a lawsuit that forced Warren County High School to admit blacks. His sister, Betty Kilby was an “infant plaintiff” in the Betty Ann Kilby vs. Warren County Board of Education, which followed the landmark Supreme Court case Brown Vs. the Board of Education.
Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com
Local News
Town Talk: A conversation with Betty Kilby Fisher Baldwin
In this Town Talk, our publisher Mike McCool has a conversation with Betty Kilby Fisher Baldwin. In an earlier Town Talk, we spoke with her brother James M. Kilby.
Betty is the author of the book “Wit, Will & Walls”, a powerful epic of an African American family’s struggle for equality.
Betty Kilby was an “infant plaintiff” in the Betty Ann Kilby vs. Warren County Board of Education, which followed the landmark Supreme Court case Brown Vs. the Board of Education.
The Kilby family struggle started long before, when her father, James Kilby, took on Old Virginia’s deeply rooted apartheid system. James Kilby had been raised in what can only be called inter-generational semi-slavery on a farm in Rappahannock County. Like his father, he had worked at the owner’s beck and call essentially for a room, board, and the occasional dollar. Ultimately, James Kilby stood up and led his family on their journey through terror, isolation, and repeated defeats toward educational opportunity equal to that of white society.
Sorrowing, yet often humorous, “Wit, Will, and Walls” is more than just Betty’s autobiography; This book is also a family epic, spanning generations, with many frank forays into such areas as the “kitchen babies,” sired by her families white bosses, right up to the heartbreak of her daughters’ addiction to crack cocaine.
Her book is available on Amazon.
Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com
Local News
Town Talk: A conversation with James M. Kilby
In this Town Talk, our publisher Mike McCool, has a conversation with James M. Kilby. Kilby says many people confuse him with his father, James W. Kilby. In 1958, James Wilson Kilby filed a lawsuit that forced Warren County High School to admit blacks. We’ll learn more from Jimmy Kilby, that’s what his sister Betty calls him, and we’ll hear from her in our next Town Talk, about that moment in history. Kilby is also the author of the book “The Forever Fight” and available on Amazon.
Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com
Local News
Update: Town Talk: Skyline Christian Academy opens in August
Update: The Skyline Christian Academy will have an Open House at the school on Friday, June 12, from 6-7 p.m. and Saturday, June 13, from 1-3 p.m. The dates mentioned in the video where wrong. The Skyline Academy will start their first year with classes from K-6.
In this Town Talk, we’ll have a conversation with Butch Hammond and Karin Tyson from the Skyline Christian Academy. Skyline Christian Academy is a ministry of The Church at Skyline.
Skyline Christian Academy will be opening for the 1st time in August for grades Kindergarten through 6. (Yes, they will abide by the CDC regulations.). They are an affordable Christian School with quality teaching and training. They want students and families to feel like they are family not just a number.
The new school will use the Abeka streaming curriculum, but there is a teacher with a Master’s Degree always available to work with the students. They will keep the student/teacher ratios low so each student will receive some one-on-one attention each day. The students are their number one priority. The goal is to be a light in this community and to keep prayer and the Bible as a top priority in the classroom.
Skyline Christian Academy will have an Open House at the school on Friday, June 12, from 6-7 p.m. and Saturday, June 13, from 1-3 p.m. Please come and visit the school, or if you would like more information, please call their administrator, Karin Tyson, at 540-629-4531. Or you can find them on the church website at www.thechurchatskyline.com. The address is 7655 Stonewall Jackson Hwy, Front Royal, perfectly located on 340 between Front Royal and Luray.
Skyline Christian Academy
PO Box 1582 Front Royal VA 22630
Email: SCA@thechurchatskyline.com
Phone: 540-629-4531
Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com