Rydell Payne runs the nonprofit Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries, and he has a plan to lift up poor African-Americans living in the city. He wants to develop three acres of Woodlands off Prospect Street, building about 20 residential units in single-family homes and duplexes, a multi-purpose educational and vocational center, and perhaps some retail space…

The meeting the Hampton Roads/Tidewater members of the General Assembly had with the HRTA folks yesterday in at the state-funded Suffolk modeling and simulation facility held an interesting moment. I got an email telling how it was revealed that the funds to model Hampton Roads traffic were cut from the budget. So, multi-billion dollar decisions…

Henrico schools use an automated, mass call system to reach parents when important or emergency information must be relayed into the home as quickly as possible. Or at least that’s how the system is supposed to work. Tonight, however, we received one of these automated calls from Tuckahoe Elementary School. Has head lice broken out…

Veering away from the confines of Virginia for a moment… My alma mater, Colorado College, has blundered into another controversy regarding free speech. This one actually got some play at Inside Higher Ed, so you know folks are paying attention (at least within academic circles). The fliers in question are linked on FIRE site and…

This is truly the last post I’ll make regarding Gene Nichol (assuming he fades quietly from the scene). No point in beating a dead college president. But a letter has arrived from Michael K. Powell, Rector of the College of William & Mary, addressed to “alumni and friends” of the College. As a parent of…

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is working on a new transportation-funding plan in preparation for the special General Assembly session. Details are not yet available, but the governor has articulated at least three main principles, reports the Daily Press. The plan will address funding for the two most congested regions of the state — Hampton Roads…

An old friend of mine, John Martin, has taken a leadership role in raising awareness of one of the great demographic trends of our time: the aging and impending retirement of massive numbers of Baby Boomers. Martin, the CEO of the Southeastern Institute of Research, has partnered with Matt Thornhill to launch the Boomer Project,…

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is one of the few people, it appears, who is looking ahead to the year 2010 when a state moratorium on annexation expires. Unless the issues that inspired the moratorium years ago are addressed, Virginia could face a wave of bitter conflict between cities and counties. According to Ray Reed with…

An unidentified company has filed a “pre-application” to construct 90 400-foot wind turbines in parts of Virginia’s George Washington and Thomas Jefferson national forests. Eighteen miles of national forest crest line would be affected by the proposal, says Rick Webb, an environmental scientist at the University of Virginia who opposed another wind farm proposal, since…

As one who came of age during the Vietnam War years, I am amazed at the lack of protest over George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq War. Not only has the war now claimed the lives of 4,000 U.S. service men and women, it has killed 90,000 Iraqi civilians. New estimates put the overall…

Cockroaches famously scurry for their hideouts when the lights come on. Why do they hide? Light brings trouble — swatting brooms, smashing feet and toxic clouds of pesticide. In other words, the party’s over (for the moment). Like those apocalypse-proof denizens of the baseboard, governments aren’t too keen on the idea of having a light…

The flowers were blooming, the birds were singing and the Rebellion was spreading. There was optimism in the air. And hope, real hope, for fundamental change — an end to Business As Usual. Feel the freedom. Read the March 24, 2008, edition of the Bacon’s Rebellion e-zine. If you don’t subscribe to the e-zine, you…

Yes, folks, there is a soft and gentle side to Bacon’s Rebellion — a side that is sensitive to the arts and culture in Virginia. Part of the Bacon’s Rebellion manifesto is to liberate Virginia’s artists from the cultural hegemony of the New York/Hollywood axis that determines who makes it into the Big Time and…

In a comment following the 18 March post “ON THE ECONOMY” Anon 12:00 PM said… “Functional human settlement patterns will solve all our problems – by definition.” He / she was, perhaps, doing a funny but they have a point. We are painfully aware that many – ranging from advocates of remineralization; to vegetarians; to…

I normally don’t have much good to say about transportation planning in the Richmond region, but one institution does seem to be working well: The Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which governs the Powhite Parkway and Downtown Expressway, two critical commuting arteries funded entirely through tolls. The RMA is in the news today because the board took…