Year: 2012
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Tarheel Lawsuit Could Change VDOT Planning Practices
The proposed Monroe Bypass south of Charlotte. (Click for more legible image.) A lawsuit filed against a proposed bypass near Charlotte, N.C., could have a big impact on how road and highway projects are decided in Virginia. If a coalition of conservation groups win their case in U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, it would…
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The Uranium Quagmire
By Peter Galuszka For the 50 or so people sitting in the quaint Pepsi-Cola building Tuesday in Danville’s tobacco warehouse district, the information seemed to spawn more frustration than clarity. They had gathered to hear two economic impact reports regarding controversial plans by Virginia Uranium to mine an ore deposit a dozen miles to the…
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Big Oil… Big Solar… Big Algae?
President Obama may rue the day when he touted algae-based biofuels as a long-term solution for rising energy costs. Conservatives from Newt Gingrich to Charles Krauthammer have subjected the idea to endless mockery. Google “Obama algae for fuel” and you’ll hit a treasure trove of ridicule and satire. Lucky thing for Obama that the late night comedians…
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Virginia: Best State to Make a Living
MoneyRates.com has ranked Virginia the “Best State to Make a Living” in its annual study , beating out Washington state, Texas and Illinois to snag the top spot. The ranking considers four factors: Average Income, which increased in Virginia over the past year; Cost of Living based on ACCRA Cost of Living Index, which slightly…
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Tracking Sea-Level Rise on Virginia’s Coast
by James A. Bacon Scientists Scott Hardaway and Bryan Watts, both affiliated with the College of William and Mary, have made a specialty of studying hummocks along the Chesapeake Bay coastline. Hummocks, which are stands of trees growing in patches of dry land surrounded by marsh, are a visible gauge of rising sea levels. As…
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IG of the Day: Metro Population Growth
This map, published by the Brookings Institution, shows the rate of population growth for the nation’s largest metropolitan regions in the 2000s. Click here to compare and contrast growth rates during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and to view differing rates of growth for “cities” (urban core municipalities) and “suburbs” (outlying municipalities). — JAB
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At Last… Stottlemyer Appointed to MWAA Board
Gov. Bob McDonnell has finally got his man, Todd Stottlemyer, on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Board. Sadly, it took the departure of Mame Reily, a former board chair who resigned in order to battle breast cancer, to open up a seat. The governor had originally tried to appoint Stottlemyer, CEO of Northern Virginia…
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Back 2 Busing Basics
Civic entrepreneur Jim Porter has discovered a new niche in the mass transit realm — free bus rides for students and other weekend revelers. Chalk up another victory for private-sector transit.
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The “Agenda 21” Nutbars
By Peter Galuszka A half a century ago in rural places like the tobacco and corn fields of Eastern North Carolina, there used to be billboards with strong and aggressive messages. One said: “This Is Klan Country.” Another advocated: “U.S. Out of the United Nations.” Both represented frightening, hard-right elements. The source of the first…
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Virginia Government Scores an “F” for Transparency, Accountability
Virginia transparency and accountability report card. (Click for more legible image.) by James A. Bacon Virginia scores 47th out of 50 states in a ranking of transparency and accountability conducted by the State Integrity Investigation project. In case you were wondering, a score of 50 is the absolute worst. In other words, 46 other states…
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Who Will Report the News? 2012 Update
More bad news for news junkies: The press is the fastest shrinking industry in the United States. Advertising sales have halved since 2005. For every digital ad dollar earned, newspapers have lost $7 in print ads. Digital advertising is expected to surpass the combined advertising of newspapers and magazines combined. “There’s no doubt we’re going…
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Virginia Toll Projects and “Loss Aversion”
— James A. Bacon In his book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” psychologist and Nobel Prize winner in economics Daniel Kahneman describes the phenomena of “loss aversion” and “reference points.” These deeply embedded cognitive quirks, which had survival value for hunter-gatherers, pose dilemmas for politicians in complex modern societies who try to change the status quo.…
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Factoid of the Day: Virginia’s Biggest Agricultural Customer
Virginia agricultural exports are on a roll, having increased 6% in value in 2011. And our biggest export customer was… Morocco. Yes, that small African country purchased $360 million in Virginia farm and wood products, more than China ($304 million), Canada ($220 million), Switzerland, Egypt, Tunisia, Cuba, Venezuela, Indonesia, or any other country. Top export…
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E-Z as Pie? Not Really.
Brace yourself for a slew of new toll roads in Virginia. E-ZPass will make it a breeze to pay the tolls, but it won’t ease the suspicion that people in “other parts of the state” are getting a sweeter deal.
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Who Gets Credit for Virginia’s Recovery?
By Peter Galuszka As with fruit tree blossoms, economic recovery is in the springtime air in the Old Dominion. Virginia’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in January, a three-year low. The question now is who gets credit for it. Leading the “credit me” pack is Gov. Robert F. McDonnell who insists that his job…