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More than $3 million in projects for the Shenandoah = Valley has=20 passed the House, including large increases for non-state=20 agencies.

The new regional Governor's School would receive $190,000 = to get=20 off the ground. Gov. Linwood Holton started the Virginia = Governor's=20 School Program in 1973, and it has grown to 40 sites.

"This Governor's School will challenge academically = gifted=20 children ... with a curriculum which focuses on high-order=20 mathematics and science. The school is estimated to annually = educate=20 over 200 gifted high school students across our region," = Delegate=20 Clifford L. "Clay" Athey Jr., R-Warren, said.

The House budget also earmarks $1 million for the = Shenandoah=20 Discovery Museum and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, = both in=20 Winchester.

The Discovery Museum seeks to expand to accommodate high=20 attendance. The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley opened a=20 50,000-square-foot facility in April 2005, housing the = collections=20 of Bruce and Hildred Helsley and Julian Wood Glass Jr.

The rival Senate budget, which includes $29.2 million for = non-government agencies, earmarks $500,000 for the Discovery = Museum=20 but $300,000 for the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

The House budget also would provide funds for various = historical=20 groups:
* The Clarke County Historical Association would = get=20 $37,500 for a museum planned to open in 2007.
* The = Shenandoah=20 Valley Battlefields Foundation would get $100,000 to = maintain the=20 only congressionally designated national heritage area in=20 Virginia.
* The Woodstock Museum of Shenandoah County = would get=20 about $6,000 for accessibility improvements.
* Belle = Grove=20 Plantation, former home of James Madison's sister, Nelly = Madison,=20 would receive $75,000 for education programs and = exhibits.
The=20 House budget also includes $50,000 toward replacing New = Market's=20 190-year-old library.

And it contains $787,000 for free clinics to provide = health care.=20 The 4-H would receive $300,000 for education centers under = the House=20 plan. Our Health, a private nonprofit organization, may get = $250,000=20 to cover leases by the city of Winchester and Frederick = County.

"These worthwhile projects deserve assistance from the=20 Commonwealth of Virginia," said Delegate Beverly Sherwood,=20 R-Winchester. "In my role as a member of the House = Appropriations=20 Committee, I worked hard to get them into the budget, and I = am=20 pleased with their overwhelming passage."

The budget amendments must be approved by the Senate and = Gov. Tim=20 Kaine and incorporated in the final budget. The money will = be drawn=20 from the General Fund, which covers mainstay items such as = education=20 and public safety. Virginia's budgets are drafted for two = years and=20 tweaked by the General Assembly in the second year.

More=20 stories from The Warren Sentinel:

=95 Women's=20 History Month: Hathaway, Barbour and Neal - driving = forces=20 behind WRC

(The Warren Sentinel) - = Today

=95 Proposed=20 budget allows state to share in regional jail = costs

(The Warren Sentinel) - = Today

=95 Planners=20 ponder trucks, turkeys, dogs and homes

(The Warren Sentinel) - = Yesterday=20

=95 Baugh=20 Drive debt impacts EDA budget

(The Warren Sentinel) - Tuesday Mar = 07=20 2006

=95 Council=20 moving forward on infrastructure issues

(The Warren Sentinel) - Monday Mar = 06=20 2006

=95 Luse=20 criminal, civil hearings set for April and May =

(The Warren Sentinel) - Sunday Mar = 05=20 2006

=95 'Books=20 and Barks' makes reading fun