Category: Uncategorized
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Richmond Punts Again on Unionization Ordinance
By James C. Sherlock The Richmond City Council still has not decided whether to accept Mayor Stoney’s plan for unionization. He has submitted an ordinance that would let Richmond walk before it runs and maintain the sensible management controls he has laid out in a draft ordinance. Basically, he is OK with negotiating pay and…
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Deja Vu, All Over Again
by Dick Hall-Sizemore As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Governor Youngkin “wants state employees back in their offices under a new telework policy that will take effect July 5 to guide executive branch agencies out of workplace restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.” To that effect, he has announced a policy that will let state…
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Compelled Speech at UVa: The Morgan Bettinger Case
by James A. Bacon On July 17, 2020, Morgan Bettinger was driving home from her job along a street in Charlottesville that flanked the downtown pedestrian mall where an unlicensed protest was occurring. Demonstrators roamed the street, so Bettinger, a University of Virginia 4th-year student, got out and chatted with the driver of a city…
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Stoney Versus the Environ-istas
by James A. Bacon Environmental activists in the City of Richmond aren’t happy with Mayor Levar Stoney’s proposed budget. The City’s Draft Climate Equity Action Plan sets a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030 — and reaching net zero by 2050 — but Stoney’s budget plan doesn’t provide funding for conversion to…
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Economic Development in the Era of CRT and COVID
by James A. Bacon George Allen is no longer engaged in the rough and tumble of partisan politics. But as a Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar with the Young America’s Foundation, he still gives a fair number of speeches. And when he does, he sounds the Reaganesque themes that he championed as Governor and then U.S.…
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Would TJ Be a Republican or Democrat Today?
by Jim McCarthy “Don’t know much about history,” admitted Art Garfunkel in the opening line of the 1978 Wonderful World hit song. History was but one of several subjects Mr. Garfunkel recognized as wanting in his store of knowledge. A few lines later, however, he was confident to assert that “one and one is two.”…
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A Fairfax High School Principal Cracks Down on Cellphones in Classrooms
by James A. Bacon Virginia educators are waking up to the classroom disruption caused by cell phones, and one is actually doing something about it. On April 11, Herndon High School in Fairfax County started enforcing major restrictions on cell phone use, reports Fox News-Channel 5. More recently, the New Kent County School Board has…
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Racial Bean Counting for Dominion’s Offshore Wind Project?
by James A. Bacon Dominion Energy expects to create 900 construction jobs and support 1,100 employees in ongoing operations for its proposed $9.8 billion offshore wind farm. Hundreds more jobs could be created if, as hoped, companies in the wind power industry begin manufacturing components and providing ancillary services in Hampton Roads. As part of…
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Dust Mites: The Siege of Airlock Three
The year… 2075. The location… Galileo Station, the largest and most prosperous settlement on the Moon. The crisis… The United States federal government is determined to rope in its free-wheeling lunar colonies. Resentful of intrusive politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., the Galiletians are getting restless. The spark… When negotiations deadlock over Galileo Station’s right…
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Commanders, Punt the Name and Try Again
By Tom Blau For almost a century the local pro football team has been the Washington Redskins. When the Redskins name became politically incorrect, the team temporarily became “The Washington Football Team” (WFT). Two years later, the WFT is “The Commanders.” Few Washingtonians like the new name. Competing cities think it looks good – on…
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Steve Descano: Will “Not Prosecute” Harry Jackson
by Asra Nomani FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — An attorney from the office of Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano has filed a motion to nolle prosequi, Latin for “not prosecute,” Harry Jackson, a former U.S. Naval intelligence officer and father who has been a strong parent advocate against the war on merit education in this…