On Friday, I noted that it was only a matter of time before the editorial writers of Virginia’s major newspapers would blame House Republicans for the legislative breakdown in the special transportation session. The Daily Press was quick to oblige. But not the Washington Post. One day went by, then another… and another… Now, finally,…

When voters go to the polls in November, they may have macaca on their minds, but they will have an opportunity to vote on three amendments to the Virginia constitution. One of the more obscure measures would expand the rights of localities to offer tax breaks to encourage redevelopment of blighted areas. It’s obscure but…

… Could it be a sign that the End is nigh? Nah, not really. There will be three proposal constitutional amendments on this fall’s ballot. While Marriage Protection Act gets all the attenion, another proposed amendment would re-define the legal rights of churches. According to Times-Dispatch reporter Pamela Stallsmith: One [proposed amendment] would delete a…

The Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority hosted its first-ever developers’ forum under the banner of JumpStart! Fredericksburg. Speakers from around the state told of their successes in redeveloping historic properties into mixed use properties that add to the vitality of their urban communities. Some examples: In a $5 million project, Fairfax Hall, a former girls’ school…

The editorial writers at the Daily Press are sputtering mad about their precious tax increases going down to defeat: You can talk about land use. You can talk about innovation. You can talk about privatization, creativity and reform. But at the end of the day, road improvements require money. Hard money. Unambiguous legal tender. Cash.…

(For those of you with warped minds, that’s an Economic Development plan!) Pat Gottschalk works fast. The Secretary of Commerce and Trade had a year to update Virginia’s strategic plan for economic development, but he cranked it out in eight months. (You can read the plan here.) There are no dramatic departures from the Warner…

While transportation and land use reform crashed and burned in the General Assembly this week, the traveling train wreck called Rail to Dulles lumbers ahead unchecked. As part of a long-term effort to get our arms around the most expensive public works project in Virginia history, I assigned writer Peter Galuszka to describe the major…

While the state Senate blocks meaningful reform on transportation and land use at a state level, the Lynchburg region is taking matters into its own hands. Reports the News & Advance: Region 2000’s Local Government Council called a meeting of public officials … to talk about how the area’s growth plans and transportation plans must…

The General Assembly special session on transportation drove off the cliff yesterday when the state Senate killed the legislative package submitted by the House. Acrimony was widespread as Gov. Timothy M. Kaine joined lawmakers in both houses in pointing fingers of blame. Said Kaine in a press release issued yesterday: After months of delay and…

The House of Delegates has passed a package of 26 bills related to transportation and land use. Three will be held over for study and re-presented in next year’s session. The rest move to the Senate for consideration. It will be interesting to see which bills survive Senate scrutiny. Despite all the hoo-ha reported by…

“Road-funding debate stalls,” proclaimed the Times-Dispatch headline over the article covering the transportation debate in the General Assembly yesterday. That was as fair and balanced as the story got. It was all down-hill from there. After noting that the Democrats had successfully stalled Republicans’ $2.4 billion transportation plan, Michael Hardy and Jeff Schapiro weighed in…

It was quite a sight: During the transportation debate in the House of Delegates yesterday, Democrats waved personal credit cards over their heads to mock Republican proposals to borrow $1.5 billion in order to pay for new road projects. Kaine administration spokesman Kevin Hall dissed the legislative package, telling Hardy/Schapiro with the Richmond Times-Dispatch: I’m…

The House of Delegates is holding firm against unrelenting pressure to raise taxes that would perpetuate Virginia’s antiquated and wasteful transportation system. The House Finance Committee spiked plans to raise taxes locally in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to fund regional road building projects. One plan did survive the legislative buzz saw: a $2.4 billion…

Lawyers for a black high school student who was rejected by a college journalism program filed a racial discrimination lawsuit Tuesday in federal court. The U.S. District Court lawsuit was filed on behalf of Emily Smith, 15, who said she was accepted last spring to the Suburban Journalism Workshop at the University of Richmond. One…

I lifted this chart from an article, “The (Illegal) Immigrant Effect,” in the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank’s “Region Focus” magazine. Surveying economic studies about the econonomic impact of immigration, the article concludes: “Immigrant labor lowers wages for less-skilled native-born Americans, but it also lowers prices for consumers. The biggest economic beneficiaries of immigration are immigrants…