Month: February 2013
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Is Virginia Uranium Quickly Running Out of Money?
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in Agriculture & forestry, Business and Economy, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Health Care, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Science & TechnologyBy Peter Galuszka Just how financially viable is Virginia Uranium, which appears to be losing its battle to lift a 31-year-old ban on uranium mining in Virginia? Corporate documents filed with Canadian securities regulators state that as of last September, Virginia Energy Resources Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia-based parent of Virginia Uranium that wants to mine…
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Have HSAs Peaked in Virginia?
by James A. Bacon After surging for several years, sales of Health Savings Account policies in Virginia dipped sharply in 2012, according to a new report by the Department of Taxation. However, the number of policies in force eroded only slightly and the number of individuals covered by those policies continued to grow, albeit more…
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The Economics of Cigarette Smuggling
Shipping black market cigarettes from Virginia to New York City is more profitable than peddling cocaine, heroin or illegal firearms. So states a new report by the State Crime Commission, “Illegal Cigarette Trafficking.” The report also issues a warning, “If organized crime continues to view Virginia as an ideal location to obtain cigarettes, their habitual…
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Judge Carrico and Southern Mythology
By Peter Galuszka One of the infuriating things about Virginia is that one can never get away from its tendency to spin myths and construct a separate universe especially when it comes to what actually happened in its history. A case in point is the coverage of the death of 96-year-old Harry Lee Carrico, the…
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A Modest Proposal for Bailing out Metro Rail: Raise the Friggin’ Fares!
by James A. Bacon The Washington Metro system continues to crumble, as hundreds of riders found to their consternation Wednesday when a fire near the Anacostia Metro station stranded several Green Line trains underground for several hours. A rider named Scott posted an incredible first-person story on Unsuck DC Metro, describing getting stuck in a…
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Patents and Regional Prosperity
by James A. Bacon Here’s more evidence that economic growth in the innovation economy will gravitate toward existing centers of technology prowess: According to a Brookings Institution report, “Patenting Prosperity: Invention and Economic Performance in the United States and its Metropolitan Areas,” 63% of all U.S. patents are developed by people living in just 20…
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Documenting the Federal Distortion of Real Estate Markets
by James A. Bacon Between zoning codes, parking regulations, development fees, tax abatements, transportation and infrastructure spending, caps on building permits and other local government intrusions into real estate markets, the surprisingly widespread notion that dysfunctional human settlement patterns can be blamed on unchecked capitalism has always been a ludicrous one. Now Smart Growth America…
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Virginia Uranium’s Strangely Short Half-Life
Peter Galuszka After years building up to a critical mass, Virginia’s uranium controversy never quite reached fission. State Sen. John Watkins, a Republican and uranium backer from Powhatan, pulled the plug on his pro-mining bill Thursday as it faced certain death at a Senate committee. There are a couple of other legislative efforts out there,…