Author: James A. Bacon
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Mayor Calls for “Radical Reinvention” of Richmond City Schools
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones may be a liberal Democrat but he is also a pragmatist. He has consistently shown that he is interested in what works. His approach can be seen in his positive approach to economic development and his emphasis on sound finances. (The city’s bond rating has nudged up five ranks in…
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Sub-Par Economic Growth for Virginia in 2012
Is this what Virginia’s economic performance looks like in the “new normal?” The Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan region, long Virginia’s economic engine, has seen its economy sputter and slow. In 2012, the regional economy grew less than one percent, according to new data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s what a $17 trillion national…
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Virginia Cuts K-12 Spending, Scores Improve Anyway
Sara Okos at the Commonwealth Institute is upset by Virginia’s tight-fisted approach to education spending. Virginia has cut per-pupil “investment” in K-12 schools by more than 11% since 2008. That’s a deeper cut than experienced by all but 10 other states, she blogs, drawing upon a recent report by the Center on Budget and Policy…
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Virginia Beach Light Rail Proposal Just Chugged Past the $1 Billion Mark
It will cost $1.05 billion to extend the Tide light-rail line from Norfolk all the way across Virginia Beach, according to an updated estimate by Hampton Roads Transit. That’s $200 million more than a 2011 estimate. The new analysis reflects inflation and a more detailed analysis of the cost to build seven bridges crossing roadways…
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Technology, Metrics and ROI
Now that Virginia has about $800 million-per-year more to spend on transportation construction projects, what’s next on Virginia’s transportation agenda? We’ll have more money to spend, but how will we spend it? House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, has some heretical notions. While praising the bipartisan achievement in 2103 of increasing transportation tax revenues, he…
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Why Bundling Parking Costs… Well, a Bundle
When you subscribe to a cable TV service, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a fan of Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow, you’ll get a package that includes access to FOX News, MSNBC and CNN, not to mention a host of other channels that you may or may not ever watch. Even if you find Hannity…
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Curry School to Launch Education Technology Accelerator
I like the sound of this news from Potomac Tech Wire: The University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education plans to launch a new education technology accelerator in Charlottesville, school officials said. … The news comes amid a sharp increase in venture capital for education technology companies in recent years, with UVA Curry spinning out…
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The Case for Interstate Tolls
Virginia faces a $13.6 billion price tag (net present value) to reconstruct its aging interstate highways, estimates Robert W. Pool Jr., with the Reason Foundation in a new study, “Interstate 2.0: Modernizing the Interstate Highway System via Toll Finance.” The cost nationally of reconstructing the Interstate system is estimated to cost $589 billion (in 2010…
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Coming to Virginia: Connected Vehicles
Over the next couple of years, a consortium of Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and Morgan State University will conduct 19 research studies of “connected vehicles” in real world traffic conditions. The work is almost ready to begin in Northern Virginia. Writes Jenifer Joy Madden with Greater Greater Washington: Researchers have attached tracking equipment…
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Live Art
It was a gorgeous day in Richmond yesterday, temperature in the high 60s and the most perfect blue sky I have ever seen — the ideal setting for street artists to ply their craft. In the second annual RVA Street Art Festival, nearly 30 painters gathered at the old GRTC bus garages this week and…
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Civic Elites Prefer Density, Transit in Richmond
In May about 300 people gathered at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center to participate in a Reality Check visioning exercise for the Richmond region. Everyone crowded around tables and placed Lego boxes on maps to indicate where they thought 450,000 new people and 200,000 new jobs expected for the region ideally should be located should…
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Henrico’s Cynical It’s-All-for-the-Children Gambit
by James A. Bacon It’s all for the children. It’s always for the children! Here’s how Virgil Hazelett, former Henrico County administrator, justified yesterday slapping a 4% meals tax on Henrico families, most of whom have seen a steady erosion of their take-home income over the past several years thanks to a sluggish economy and…
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UVa’s New Vision as Autonomous Public University
by James A. Bacon A University of Virginia panel has released a new vision for the state’s preeminent public university to operate more like a private institution: raising tuition, enrolling more out-of-state students and revamping the Board of Visitors selection criteria to include more “professional” board members. The discussions reflected in the document are part…
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Virginia Says Yes to Nuclear
Governor Bob McDonnell has made ten appointments to a new nonprofit group, the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority, which has the mission of serving as an interdisciplinary study, research and information resource for Virginia on nuclear energy issues. Another seven positions, all state employees, round out the 17-person board. Non-state appointees come from industry and…