The state Office of Telework Promotion and Broadband Assistance has published a map showing broadband penetration in Virginia. There is a broadband “gap,” as one would expect. But I would argue that it’s nothing to worry about — a gap exists only because the bar for what constitutes cutting-edge broadband service is always getting raised.…

Strap on your seat belts, folks, it’s going to be a wild ride. The condition of Virginia’s secondary road system is deteriorating. State funding available for road maintenance is shrinking. And not a single county has accepted the option to take over responsibility for their own secondary roads because they are worried that the state…

A Decade of Change in Virginia’s PopulationThe Virginia NewsletterNorthern Virginia dominated state population growth in the 2000s while many non-metro localities lost population. Racial minorities, Asians and Hispanics especially, gained population share. California Enacts “Amazon” Tax on Online SalesTax FoundationCalifornia is the latest of seven states to tax sales of in-state affiliates of online retailers.…

Anyone who still equates economic development with recruitment of manufacturing investment ought to read a new report by the Brookings Institution, “Responding to Manufacturing Job Less: What Can Economic Development Policy Do?” The report takes a close-up look at eight metropolitan areas — Charlotte, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Indianapolis, Louisville, Rochester and Scranton — over…

Time for the MWATA Board to Look in the MirrorGovernment Accountability OfficeThe Metropolitan Washington Area Transit Authority needs to proceed with its proposed self-evaluation. The hoped-for result: A stronger focus on strategic planning and less time spent micro-managing the organization. New York’s Middle Class Under AttackDemos, Drum Major InstituteNew York’s rich are getting richer. The…

How do you make a company seem more “Virginian?” One way could be to hire an old-school, molasses-voiced, aristocracy wannabee who likes to wear bow ties and runs a Richmond brokerage. The problem is that Virginia Uranium, the Chatham-area company, wants the General Assembly to get rid of a two-decades-old moratorium on uranium mining so…

Given all the bad news about safety problems with the Chinatown buses and all the billions of dollars being pumped into high-speed rail projects, you might be tempted to conclude that it’s just a matter of time before inter-city buses become as extinct as chariots. And you’d be wrong. Inter-city buses are undergoing a renaissance…

State Budget Cuts Slow Economic RecoveryCenter on Budget and Policy PrioritiesState and local governments have slashed payroll by 535,000 since the beginning of the recession. The loss of jobs, combined with cuts to vendors and nonprofits, has slowed the economic recovery.The Lake Wobegon Effect: All Schools Are Above AverageDemosAmericans have a dim view of the…

The nation’s population is aging, as everyone knows. But it is aging at an uneven pace, reports a new Brookings Institution study, “The Uneven Aging and ‘Younging’ of America.” In 36 of the 100 largest metro areas the population below the age of 45 declined between 2000 and 2010. But in 29 metro areas, the…

As a follow-up to EMR’s post, “Job Creation in the Countryside,” which highlighted how German villages are adapting to contemporary economic challenges, I would point readers to a Wall Street Journal article, “In Bioenergy Villages, Power to the People.” Dozens of villages across Germany have begun generating their own heat and electricity from biofuels such…

Wonders never cease. The Washington Post editorial board and I agree on the propriety of mandating a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for Phase 2 construction of the $3 billion+ Rail-to-Dulles project. In a recent editorial, the WaPo said it was imperative to reign in costs on the heavy rail project, even if that meant constructing…

Drug Courts Do Prevent Crime and Substance AbuseUrban InstituteDrug courts are effective at reducing substance abuse and preventing crime. They work equally well for most subgroups of the population. Adoption of best practices can make them work even better. Why Oregon Should Not Cut Its Capital Gains TaxOregon Center for Public PolicyThe capital gains tax…

The Decline of Michigan’s Middle ClassDemosMichigan once had a prosperous middle class, now it doesn’t. Middle-income workers aren’t getting their “fair share” of the income pie. The Top 1% of earner take home more pay than the entire middle class combined. Gearing up for 21st-Century Law Enforcement ThreatsHeritage FoundationCoping with the rise of the lone-wolf…

Bob McDonnell is trying to kick start his political future. There he is writing the lead story on the op-ed page of the conservative-friendly Wall Street Journal June 25 touting his 18-month-old administration as a shining example of what he and several other news Republican governors can do. He’s off at the Paris Air Show…

Al Gore, the man conservatives love to hate, is back and he’s spelling out some truly inconvenient truths about the propaganda campaign to pretend global warming doesn’t exist. Writing in Rolling Stone, Gore notes that an overwhelming number of the global scientific community says hands down that climate change is a major problem demanding attention…