Category: Uncategorized
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The Unsettled State of Lee Chapel
by Kenneth G. Everett “Show me the manner in which a nation or a community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals.” — William E. Gladstone, British Statesman The respect with…
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VHHA to Sunset COVID-19 Hospitalization Data Dashboard
by Shaun Kenney The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) is getting ready to turn the lights off on its COVID-19 Dashboard this week, as the federal emergency for the pandemic officially ends in May 2023. VHHA noted the unprecedented scale of co-operation between Virginia’s hospitals and health care apparatus in creating the dashboard, one…
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School Closures Resulted In Spike In Suicide Attempts Among Kids
by Kerry Dougherty How is it that those of us without fancy degrees from prestigious universities or medical training intuitively KNEW that the Covid-19 lockdowns and school closures would have a profoundly negative effect upon kids? I watched one of my nieces, who graduated from high school in 2021, spend her junior year at home,…
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Geez, Louise
by Kerry Dougherty Uh-oh. Looks like Louise Lucas is a little rusty when it comes to campaigning for office. The powerful Democrat from deep blue Portsmouth is used to steamrolling any hapless Republican who gets in her way and sashaying into Richmond where she serves as the president pro tempore of the Senate and gets…
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RVA History: Merging Manchester
by Jon Baliles I often joke with people when I am asked about Manchester that it was an independent city until 1910 when they merged with Richmond — and they have probably regretted it ever since. Em Holter has a nice piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the merger of the city nicknamed “Dogtown” that…
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VMI Disguises DEI Contract
By Jake Spivey In late fall 2021, Virginia Military Institute’s Board of Visitors and its newly installed superintendent were still reeling from the state investigator’s specious report condemning the Institute’s cultural climate. Resolving to quiet a mostly nameless and unidentifiable assortment of individuals criticizing VMI, the Board submitted through the state’s contracting website a request…
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Apologies Run One Way in Woke World
by James A. Bacon The woke witch trials of the 21st century don’t burn their victims at the stake, but they still do immense harm. We previously told the story of how Morgan Bettinger, a 4th-year student who ran afoul of the University of Virginia’s social-justice warriors, was vilified on social media, investigated by university…
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JMU Debate Team Opposes Debate
by Kerry Dougherty It’s been decades since I was in college so help me out here. Wouldn’t you expect a university debate team to support free speech and the airing of diverse ideas? Yep, that’s what I thought too. But you haven’t met the easily triggered members of James Madison University’s debate team. They’re leading…
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Unaffordable Housing, Redux
by Joe Fitzgerald Proposed housing construction in the city of Harrisonburg could add about 1,200 students to the Harrisonburg City Public Schools, with housing already under construction in Rockingham County possibly adding 400 more. A quarter of the 1,600 potential students could be absorbed by the opening of Rocktown High School, leaving the city to…
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Is the Commanders Stadium Coming to Loudoun?
by Jeanine Martin The deal for Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder to sell the team to Josh Harris hasn’t even been inked and yet speculation begins again that the team may move to eastern Loudoun County. Supervisor Tony Buffington (R-Blue Ridge), is opposed to the stadium moving to Loudoun. He said today that he and…
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The Strike at the AdvanSix Chemical Plant in Hopewell – A Complex Story
by James C. Sherlock We don’t see very many industrial strikes in Virginia. Regular readers know that I have often supported blue collar unions in the private economy. My family roots are linked to Pennsylvania coal mines. Those miners’ strongest claims were for their own safety. Followed very closely by their demands for living wages.…
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Increasing Teacher Vacancy Rates
by Matt Hurt The teacher vacancy rate in the Commonwealth has become such a problem that the Virginia Department of Education created a database to track this problem. The Staffing and Vacancy Report found on the Education Workforce Data & Reports page of the VDOE website displays unfilled Virginia educator positions at the state, region,…
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Sens. Warner, Kaine Visit Roanoke To Tout New Bridge But City Council In The Dark About Scope of Project
by Scott Dreyer On a picture-perfect April 12 with a backdrop of the sparkling Roanoke River and dogwoods and redbuds in bloom, Virginia’s Senator Mark Warner (D) and Senator Tim Kaine (D) visited the Roanoke Greenway at Roanoke City’s Smith Park. The occasion was for the two senators to present a cardboard poster representing a…