Category: Public safety & health
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Highway Safety Provisions Embedded in Omnibus Bill
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Included in the Governor’s omnibus transportation bill, discussed earlier here, are some major highway safety proposals that have proved controversial in the past. The administration probably thought the chance of passage would improve if these proposals were wrapped up in a big package with lots of other stuff. The items are the…
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Dueling Crises: Unaffordable Housing vs. Flammable Housing
by James A. Bacon Citing housing affordability as the key issue, the Virginia Board of Housing and Community Development has voted down an update to the state building code that would have mandated the installation of sprinklers in all new single-family homes and townhouses. Virginia home builders have said that the sprinkler requirement would add…
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A Cautionary Note to the Drive to Legalize Pot
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In response to some of the comments to my recent post on crime and drug data, as well as to a running theme on this blog, I want to share a thought-provoking article that I recently encountered. I have long felt that the use of marijuana should not be a criminal offense. …
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Philip Morris: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by Peter Galuszka It’s been a very long goodbye. Faced with billions of dollars in health-related lawsuits and huge public relations problems in 2008, cigarette giant Philip Morris split itself in two very different companies. It reminds me of the scene in Stanley Kubrick’s brilliantly sarcastic war move, “Full Metal Jacket.” A colonel stops Private…
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Best Gun Violence Idea Not Proposed in VA?
by Steve Haner The most effective gun violence prevention idea presented to the Virginia State Crime Commission Monday was one seldom discussed in the state: Add violent misdemeanors to the list of convictions that prevent gun purchases from a licensed dealer. Four states, including Maryland, have that provision and a Boston University study found it…
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Gun Issues Return to Capitol Monday, Tuesday
by Steve Haner Proposed firearms regulations will pack a General Assembly meeting room Monday and Tuesday, and for that portion of the population not already locked into an ideological position either way, it could be useful to pay attention. The Republican majorities have taken some political bashing for failing to act on the flood of…
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Exercising Your Second Amendment Right
Interesting scenario: You are doing some shopping in Walmart. Alarmed by the recent nationwide shootings, you are carrying your recently legally authorized concealed handgun. A man walks in, carrying an assault-style rifle and a handgun strapped to his side, along with several magazines of ammunition. This also is legal in Virginia. What do you do?…
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Recidivism Revisited
As has been noted in previous posts on this blog (here and here), the latest three-year recidivism rate of offenders released from the Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) was the lowest in the nation. In fact, DOC had the lowest rate in the nation for the last three reporting periods. DOC can justly be proud…
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Police Antisocial Behavior, Not Addictions
In an 8-7 vote, a federal appeals court has struck down a Virginia law punishing “habitual” drunks. The law targeted homeless people struggling with alcoholism, thus “criminalizing an illness,” reports the Washington Post. Further, the court found the law to be unconstitutionally vague. There are reasonable arguments on both sides of this issue. Alcohol addiction…
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Yes, Mental Illness is Key, Says U.S. Secret Service
The United States Secret Service, probably not a tool of the gun-loving American right, has just issued a report on 2018 mass shootings with a strong focus on the mental health problems displayed by the shooters. Clearly it didn’t get the same memo received by our friends at Blue Virginia, who think any such discussion…
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Firearms Theater: Boring, Tiresome, Repetitive
It is easy to dismiss next week’s special session of the General Assembly on proposed gun control as meaningless political theater, because that it what it will likely amount to. It is also boring, tiresome and repetitive. Following the 2007 tragedy at Virginia Tech, a group of well-intended and well-informed experts formed a non-partisan task…
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Virginia’s Ten-Year Pedestrian Death Toll: 865
Smart Growth America’s 2019 “Dangerous By Design” report compiles a Pedestrian Danger Index based on annual pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people between 2008 and 2017. Among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, the safest metro in the country for pedestrians is Provo, Utah. The most dangerous is Orlando, Fla. Washington-Arlington ranked 24th safest in the…
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Bacon Bits: Hydroponics, Seawalls, and Emotional Support Critters
The future of Virginia agriculture? Shenandoah Growers, an indoor agriculture company, is undertaking a $100 million expansion of its three locations in Virginia over the next year. The facilities not only grow vegetables and spices in greenhouses, they package and ship the produce, reports the Daily News-Record. Locating the greenhouses next door to the packaging facilities…
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Bacon Bits: Two Reasons to Be Worried, and One Reason Not
Be afraid, very afraid. How frequent is cell phone use? According to a team of Old Dominion University researchers tallying seat belt use, some 4% of drivers they spot are on the phone or texting. So reports the Daily Press. Clearly, cell phone use is a problem. But I would argue that texting (which I…
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A Horrible Abuse Case. The Daily Reality Behind It.
The news today is horrifying – the death, possibly from sexual abuse, of a 17-month-old. Our distracted minds are focused, for a while, and we all go into a collective shudder and wonder what monster could do such a thing. The daily reality is worse and doesn’t get enough attention. In the fiscal year ending…