Category: Uncategorized
-
How’d Virginia Do in “The Great Pandemic Migration?”
Glenn Youngkin was right. Yes, Virginia, we have a problem. by Chris Saxman Most mornings start with brewing a large pot of coffee, letting the dogs out into the fenced in backyard, and waiting for the papers to be delivered. Usually I can skim through the local old soldier, the Richmond Times Dispatch, before the…
-
It’s New Year’s Eve. What, Me Worry?
by Kerry Dougherty When I was a kid, my mother said I worried too much. “Consider the lilies of the field,” she’d say, taking a drag on a Pall Mall before paraphrasing Scripture. “They neither toil nor spin, yet the Bible says God gives them beautiful blossoms.” “So cut it out, and just relax,” she’d…
-
The 2021 Election: Firing up the Base
Virginia’s electoral map favors Democrats. But according to this graphic from the Virginia Public Access Project, Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin did a better job of boosting turnout in Republican-leaning localities in November than his rival Terry McAuliffe did in Democratic-leaning localities. See the details here. — JAB
-
Abortion, Black Women, and the Thirteenth Amendment
by Paul Goldman I write today to put the abortion debate in its proper Virginia political, social, and legal contexts. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution banned not only slavery but also “involuntary servitude.” “While the general spirit of the phrase ‘involuntary servitude’ is easily comprehended, the exact range of conditions it prohibits…
-
Is Virginia’s Higher-Ed System “Inequitable”?
by James A. Bacon State appropriations per student to Virginia’s four-year colleges and universities vary widely, ranging from $14,121 in FY 2019 for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise to $4,460 at George Mason University, according to a recent report, “Higher Education School Finance Inequity and Inadequacy in Virginia.” Not only is state funding…
-
Mask Mandates Causing Air Warfare
by Kerry Dougherty Almost two weeks ago the CEO of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly, told a congressional committee that face masks were essentially useless as protection for airline passengers. He supported a repeal of the executive order that made face coverings mandatory on flights until March 2022. “The statistics, I recall, is that 99.97 %…
-
Merry Christmas from the Family
The best Christmas song in the history of the world… Season’s greetings from Bacon’s Rebellion.
-
Uh, Oh. Charlottesville Strengthens Its Police Review Board
by James A. Bacon Earlier this year Charlottesville police officer Joseph Wood stopped a vehicle driven by a local musician, LaQuinn Gilmore. Gilmore proved uncooperative and, according to local media reports, the encounter ended with Wood throwing Gilmore to the ground. A subsequent internal affairs investigation found that Wood had unlawfully detained Gilmore, but rejected…
-
Where Have All the Students Gone?
by John Butcher The estimable Jim Bacon recently posted on declining enrollments in many public schools. He used VDOE data comparing the fall division enrollments (aka division “memberships”) in 2021 with those in 2019. Those data showed the largest drops in “rural, non-metropolitan” areas. Of course, most Virginia school divisions are in such areas. Highland County, with the smallest enrollment in…
-
Cummings Appointed Secretary of Finance
Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin has tapped the private sector once again in his selection of Secretary of Finance: Steve Cummings, former president and CEO of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in the Americas. “Lowering taxes and restoring fiscal responsibility in Richmond is a primary focus of our Day One Game Plan, and Steve’s experience and expertise will…
-
Youngkin Taps Merrick for Commerce
by James A. Bacon Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin has appointed Caren Merrick, a Northern Virginia investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, as his Secretary of Commerce and Trade. Merrick is best known as co-founder with her husband of one of Northern Virginia’s most successful home-grown IT companies, webMethods. They launched the company out of their house in 1996.…
-
Looks Like Omicron Cases Are Surging in Virginia
by James A. Bacon It has been nearly three weeks since the Omicron variant of COVID-19 reached Virginia. Nationally, Omicron now accounts for almost three out of four new COVID cases. So, how’s Virginia doing? Here is the number of cases reported on the Virginia Department of Health COVID dashboard around noon today. The red…
-
“Equity and Identity” Now at the Core of a Virginia Tech Education
by James A. Bacon A Blacksburg correspondent has forwarded to me a copy of the “Indigenous Peoples’ Day Resolution,” in which the Office for Inclusion and Diversity at Virginia Tech calls for replacing Columbus Day as a state holiday with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The resolution honors the Monacan-Tutelo people as the “historical stewards and traditional…