For once I agree with John Chichester. (Scary, huh?) During a legislative retreat in Staunton yesterday, the Senate Finance chair warned that the state’s budget “will be hit hard’’ when there is a drop in national defense spending, which he anticipates in the next few years. Reports Bob Stuart with the News Virginian: “Virginia is…

World-class historical sites, from Monticello to Colonial Williamsburg, play a critical role in Virginia’s economy and self image. (Any state blessed with a “Bacon’s Castle” is truly endowed with a rich heritage). Historical sites generate tourism and dollars. And therein lies a problem for historians and those who interpret history for visitors. The current edition…

Bloggers can argue until they’re blue in the face about what kind of development Virginians prefer — low-density subdivisions and shopping centers, compact small towns, or dense urban environments, but the marketplace is speaking very plainly. Virtually every major development project proposed today entails mixed use on a small-town scale and density. Projects highlighted in…

Interesting dilemma: Dominion predicts that Northern Virginia faces the risk of blackouts by 2011 unless a 240-mile high-voltage transmission line is built from Pennsylvania to a power sub-station in Loudoun County. Predictably, the Piedmont Environmental Council and other citizen groups are up in arms — nobody likes transmission lines cutting through their farms and villages.…

Blenheim, the 500-acre, mixed-use development project proposed by Pat Robertson and the Christian Broadcasting network, has hit a speed bump: The Federal Highway Administration has rejected an interchange on Interstate 64 that would provide interstate access to the development. Deirdre Fernandes with the Virginian-Pilot has the details. Federal engineers, writes Fernandes, aren’t convinced that the…

The Village News, a weekly community newspaper based in Chester, VA, has joined the parade of print media outlets exploring the blogosphere and its impact on public life. With a story titled, “I’ve Got Something to Say,” writer Elyse Reel examines the nature of political blogging and offers a bit of commentary on the roles…

Republicans aren’t the only casualties of the 2006 elections, reports Jennifer S. Forsyth with the Wall Street Journal. Political gridlock could turn into real estate gridlock as federal agencies and federal contractors hold off signing long-term leases. Contractors also have reason to worry about curtailed spending on the defense, intelligence and homeland security sectors that…

Senate Finance Chair John Chichester says the General Assembly should cut its 46-day schedule in 2007 to 30 days. Chichester made the suggestion out of sympathy for legislative staffers, who have been forced to work overtime for two of the past three years, reports Christina Nuckols with the Virginian-Pilot. But Chichester added that idea won’t…

Leonard Downie, Jr., executive editor of the Washington Post, has distributed a memo to the newspaper’s editorial staff, which has been picked and up published by Editor & Publisher. “Readership and economic challenges remain daunting,” Downey wrote. “We must produce high quality, compelling journalism and carry out our public service mission while adjusting our cost…

Sorry, I’m so slow. I was occupied with the election. That’s my story. Nevertheless, three weeks ago the York School Board changed their policy on Religion. The School Superintendent offered a much longer, and seriously flawed, change to the Religion policy. (See http://www.ycchh.org.) Parents asked that the Religion policy not change, but simply add a…

Loudoun County has engaged The Telework Consortium Inc., of Herndon, to upgrade its telwork program. Loudounm, which has 92 government offices dispersed over 500 square miles, worked with the consortium in early 2005 to pilot a video and collaboration tool. The pilot has since been expanded, as has the role of telework, in helping the…

State lawmakers will have an extra $600 million to play with when it reconvenes in January and next, but Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr., R-Fairfax, chairman of the House Appropriations committee, is urging fiscal caution. Revenue growth is slowing from the double-digit rate of the past few years to a single-digit rate. Says Callahan: “We…

The Washington Metro is planning to purchase 100 rail cars at $2 million a pop to run trains along the silver line, the 24-mile Rail-to-Dulles extension of the metro system, reports Examiner.com. That’s despite the fact that no one is certain how much the project will cost or how any amount over the current $2.1…

More than a year ago, I predicted on this blog that the impending end of the real estate bubble would portend fiscal problems for local governments, especially those in Northern Virginia, which have relied upon soaring property assessments to fund their massive spending increases. Not to toot my own horn, but I was right about…

Drachten, a Dutch town of 50,000, has removed nearly all of its traffic lights, converting major intersections to roundabouts and counting on residents to employ simple courtesy at other intersections. Amazingly, anarchy works. Treehugger.com reports that the new system has “eliminated dangerous crashes and road fatalities and created a surge in bicycle and pedestrian traffic.”…