Author: James A. Bacon
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Safety and Accountability
by Jon Baliles Richmond City Council approved plans earlier this week for a Civilian Review Board (CRB) for the Police Department that left people on all sides a bit upset, which fulfills one of the telltale signs of good legislation — if everyone is a little bit upset, then it is probably done right. If…
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Embarrassing Non-Action
by John Baliles The EnRichmond saga continues and it’s not a good read. In fact, it’s pretty awful. To recap, the EnRichmond Foundation was founded in the early 1990s and had grown to support more than 80 small, local, all-volunteer groups that worked to help Richmond in various ways, many of which focused on keeping…
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On the Road Again…
Governor Glenn Youngkin is flying across the country to yet another political event next week, this time to Oregon in support of gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan. But he may be shifting his focus to election races closer to home. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, he has launched a new super PAC, Empowering Virginia Parents, and…
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Stress, Fuzzy Symptoms, and Long COVID
by James A. Bacon WHRO Public Media tells the story of Chesapeake nurse Megan Temple, who contracted COVID-19 in October and has dealt with “long COVID” ever since. She got over the initial illness quickly. But in the weeks and months that followed, during which she also recovered from abdominal surgery, she developed an array…
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Data of the Day: 5-Year Enrollment Trends
A week ago I published data showing the winners and losers among public Virginia four-year colleges and universities in the enrollment sweepstakes for the 2022-23 academic year. Larry Houseworth, a Virginia Military Institute alumnus, has shared the table above showing the five-year record. For most institutions, declining/increasing enrollment this year represents a continuation of trends…
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Virginia May Have Elected a Republican Governor, But It Still Skews Blue
by James A. Bacon Virginia may have elected three Republicans to statewide office last year, but it’s still a blue state. It’s not a deep blue state, but a solid plurality of voters identify as Democrats. In the latest Wason Center poll, 35% of respondents said they generally consider themselves to be Democrats, compared to…
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One Candidate Was Snippy. It Wasn’t Jen Kiggans.
by Kerry Dougherty Elaine Luria is snotty. That’s my takeaway from Wednesday’s 2nd District debate sponsored by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce at the Oceanfront Marriott. Yes, the Democrat had the built-in advantage of incumbency and a command of lots of numbers, which she spouted with abandon during the debate with Republican challenger State…
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Statues, Vengeance, and Ritual Humiliation
by James A. Bacon The movement to expunge Confederate statues from the public realm has reached a tipping point. It started with the proposition that many people, Blacks especially, found sculptures honoring the defenders of a slave nation to be offensive, regardless of the meaning the memorials conveyed to others. But the rhetoric has transmogrified…
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Graduation Inflation
by John Butcher The estimable Jim Bacon points out that the (already inflated: see below) graduation rate this year was higher than the pre-COVID 2019 rate, despite the effect of the pandemic and the government’s response to it. The Virginia Department of Education’s excellent new Cohort Graduation Build-A-Table provides a more nuanced look. The reports we see in the press…
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Police Bias in Traffic Stops? Still No Proof.
by James A. Bacon The Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) has published a new report that finds that Black and Hispanic drivers in Virginia are more likely to be stopped than Whites, and they are more likely to be searched and arrested. However, the report also says there isn’t enough data to draw definitive…
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How Did You Celebrate Columbus/Yorktown Victory/Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
by Kerry Dougherty Well, yesterday was Columbus, er, Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Did you roast a turkey? Exchange gifts? Hang a flag? Cook out? Probably, like me, you worked. If you’re a state or federal employee chances are you didn’t do anything special to recognize whatever holiday it is that gave you a day off. I’m…
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No Grades, No Discipline, No Structure, No Learning
by James A. Bacon Albemarle High School opened the 2021-22 school year in a state of chaos after a year of COVID closings, and it never recovered, according to The Crozet Gazette. To ease students back into the rigors of a regular school day, the school stopped imposing penalties on students for skipping or being…
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Grrrr. Pit Bulls.
by Kerry Dougherty Harrowing. Bloodcurdling. Horrific. Those are the only words I can find to describe the latest two pit bull fatalities. Last Wednesday afternoon two children, a 2-year-old girl and a 5-month-old boy, were savaged to death by their family dogs in Millington, Tennessee. Their mother was mauled into critical condition trying to save…