Year: 2012
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A Bypass Built for Trucks… that Trucks Won’t Use
by James A. Bacon The McDonnell administration’s justification for the $244 million Charlottesville Bypass is to preserve the integrity of U.S. 29 for freight traffic. Only one problem: Heavy trucks traveling north won’t be able to use it, according to an analysis published by the Charlottesville-Albemarle Transportation Coalition. What’s more, the bypass will be unusable…
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Richmond’s Edge in Logistics: Human Capital
The Richmond region has the potential to become a leading center of shipping and distribution, and logistics could become one of the key drivers of the regional economy, concludes a report prepared by the Logistics Task Force of Richmond’s Future, “The Future of Logistics in the Richmond Region: Getting to the Tipping Point.” Over and…
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The Scary New World of Uneven Sea Water Levels
By Peter Galuszka Ten days later, New York City and parts of the New Jersey and New York coast are still reeling from Super Storm Sandy as yet another nor’easter packing 50 mile per hour winds approaches. Scientific evidence points out that sea level rises caused by melting polar icecaps caused, in turn, by climate…
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Red State, Blue State, Old State, New State
by James A. Bacon The American people have chosen four more years of partisan gridlock in Washington. There is a remote chance that President Obama and a Republican-dominated House of Representatives will reach a grand compromise to put the country back onto a fiscally sustainable path, but I’m not holding my breath. I foresee four…
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President Barack Obama!
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in Business and Economy, Children and Families, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, Transportation, Uncategorized, Water-waste waterBy Peter Galuszka President Barack Obama’s re-election and success with Virginia in Tuesday’s contest could provide a fresh opportunity to solidify more economic recovery than what have otherwise may have happened. It could be a real chance for bipartisan progress. Here’s my takeaway at 2:30 a.m.: Virginia has again shown that it is morphing into…
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Who Runs UVa?
By Reed Fawell Last month, the University of Virginia received the extraordinary news that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges was investigating the integrity of its Board of Visitors for the manner in which it had removed President Teresa Sullivan last summer. The Commission informed the university that it would refer…
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Danger, White People Voting!
Our long, national nightmare is almost over — the presidential election campaign of 2008 is fiiiiinally drawing to a close. There was a very long line this morning at my lily-white, Republican-tilting precinct in Henrico County. Thanks to a malfunctioning voting booth — voter suppression!! — it was a 50-minute wait. Due to my congenital…
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Thinking the Big Thoughts about Transportation Planning
by James A. Bacon Under the auspices of updating the VTrans 2035 transportation plan, the McDonnell administration is executing a far-reaching overhaul of Virginia’s strategic planning process. The new approach would use performance metrics for such criteria as safety, congestion, the economy and the environment to create a data-driven system for prioritizing transportation projects. The…
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The MWAA Contracting Scandal
by James A. Bacon Thanks to the Inspector General’s report, we know that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) has played fast and loose with expense accounts and hiring practices. Super Bowl tickets. Junkets to Europe. Relatives on the payroll. Sweetheart deals with former board members. It’s an ugly picture… but it’s not the real…
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No Need for Question 1 on Eminent Domain
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Economic development, Environment, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Money in politics, Planning, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka It hasn’t gotten a lot of attention during this campaign, but Virginia will decide Tuesday whether to go with an amendment resulting in the toughest law in the country regarding eminent domain. Virginia has a law already that requires fair market compensation for private property taken for “Public Good” such as building…
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Taming the Asphalt Jungle
Rain gardens and pervious pavers are encroaching on hard surfaces as Richmond’s three-year-old stormwater utility rolls out programs to control flooding and reduce runoff into the James.
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Fall Folly
If there’s one thing more ridiculous than the suburban ritual of cutting the grass lawn once a week (see “The Grass Isn’t Always Greener“), it’s the demented ritual of raking leaves every autumn. Leaf raking defies reason. Americans expend hundreds of millions of man hours yearly moving leaves from one spot to another. It’s like…
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MWAA: Even Worse than We Thought
The interim Inspector General’s audit of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, issued earlier this year, was scathing, documenting the abuses of a runaway board of directors. The final report, issued yesterday, is even more devastating. You know it’s bad when the title of the report — “MWAA’s Weak Policies and Procedures Have Led to Questionable…
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“The Bay,” The Chesapeake As Horror Movie
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in Agriculture & forestry, Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Environment, Government Finance, Health Care, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Property rights, Science & Technology, Water-waste waterBy Peter Galuszka Imagine you are enjoying a refreshing summertime swim in the Chesapeake Bay or one of the Rivahs. You feel great, but shortly afterwards, you become very ill. Before you know it, new forms of parasitic isopods are eating up your heart, lungs and kidneys. You are terrified, in great pain and you…