Author: sherlockj
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Public Featherbedding at the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority?
by James C. Sherlock Daniel Berti published an excellent investigative report this morning in The Virginian-Pilot. “Norfolk’s housing authority is in ‘dire’ financial condition, bloated after years of failing to downsize” details what may prove to be waste and abuse at that agency to preserve jobs as the administrative requirements and funding of the mission…
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Want to Retain Teachers? Give Them Choices within the Public School System
James C. Sherlock We can’t stay with the current public school model in Virginia. Both teachers and kids are leaving in droves. It is broken. The politics of the standards of learning are fierce. The politics of discipline standards are even worse. I am going to write about potential solutions to teacher shortages. I recommend…
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Charlottesville’s Dysfunctional City Government and the Left’s Four-Card Monty
by James C. Sherlock In Canada, three-card monte is illegal. It is banned by name in Canadian law because the mark has no chance of winning. In fact, anyone who wins can be presumed to be a shill. Four-card monte dominates public debate in America. Like its street game counterpart, only shills win. For the left,…
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Hospitals Continue to Cut Labor and Delivery and NICU Services
by James C. Sherlock Virginia and the nation continue to see the results of the baby bust. I wrote yesterday of the baby cliff, the 15% decline in live births that started in the great recession of 2007-09. It continues. And it continues to drive change, much of it not good. I have written here…
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Gender Dysphoria Treatment for Children Needs Some Rules in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Virginia needs, for the protection of children, parents, and physicians, a law to specify minimum age requirements and require court orders for voluntary medical intervention in child sexual development. When there are physical abnormalities involved, the court can order those treatments as well. On the other hand, I propose a ban…
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Regulations and the Costs of Doing Business in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock About the only category I found interesting in the “Top States for Business” rankings by CNBC, other than the progressive metrics that are featured in many of the categories, is “Cost of Doing Business.” Virginia’s worst score among the six categories of metrics is that one. The methodology used for costs…
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The Crisis of Reducing Costs and Maintaining Standards at Virginia’s State Colleges and Universities
by James C. Sherlock Virginia’s state-funded colleges and universities are too expensive. Tuitions are the headline numbers. But student fees and food and housing costs are as important to the budgets of families and individual students as tuition. Costs within the college system have gone up because of a general lack of management systems and…
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The Costs of Avoidable Hospital Visits in Virginia and a Proven Solution
by James C. Sherlock I have written often of the costs of (1) avoidable emergency care and (2) avoidable hospital admissions for chronic diseases. Each type of excess costs could be prevented by timely visits to primary care practitioners and following their prescriptions for treatment. The avoidable costs are largely paid by Virginia’s Medicaid program…
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The Governor’s Tuition Freeze Request and the Board at UVa – It’s Complicated
by James C. Sherlock Much has been made of a recent request by Governor Glenn Youngkin to eliminate a tuition increase at the University of Virginia and the Board’s decision not to honor it. The tensions between means and ends that have to be resolved in producing a budget at any large and complex university…
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Portsmouth: Chaos + Casino = Chaos
by James C. Sherlock Portsmouth has a lot of problems. Look for them to get worse in February when its new casino is scheduled to open. A key thing you need to know about the casino is that it is the realization of Louise Lucas’ vision. Senator Lucas has spent 22 years promoting a casino…
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Marcus Alerts in Virginia and Risks to Unarmed Responders
by James C. Sherlock The Marcus Alert is named after Marcus-David Peters, a teacher killed by Richmond police in 2018 amid a mental health crisis. The Marcus Alert system requires coordination between 911 and regional crisis call centers and establishes a specialized behavioral health response from a combination of behavioral health professionals and law enforcement…
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School Security and Public Recreation
by James C. Sherlock Richmond Free Press (RFP) has editorialized about an issue of importance to all Virginians. The editorial “Indoor basketball courts or outdoor courts? Why not both?” discusses the fact that the City of Richmond has late-stage plans for the construction of the new George Wythe High School that have secure entrances to…
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Homicides in Richmond Soar – Cleared Homicides Decline
by James C. Sherlock We have seen considerable reporting on violent crime in Richmond, homicides in particular. There is reason for that. The statistics are appalling and getting worse. Data from 2010-2020 show that homicides have soared since 2015; clearance rates have plummeted since 2016; 91% of the offenders and 89% of the victims are…
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A Promising Richmond Healthcare Program with Statewide Implications
by James C. Sherlock Reporter George Copeland Jr. of the Richmond Free Press (RFP) has alerted its readers, of which it claims 135,000, and Virginians as a whole, to a very promising Richmond healthcare initiative. Richmond’s new Health Equity Fund (HEF) is managed by Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD), a local agency of the Virginia…
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New Fed Policy Would Hide CMS Data on Patient Safety Records of Hospitals
by James C. Sherlock One of the most disturbing commentaries I have read in a long time relating to federal efforts to improve hospital patient safety reports a major step backwards in that program. I have written here many times of the power of the hospitals over Virginia’s politics. A proposed new federal rule shows…