Category: Uncategorized
-
Tawana Brawley Surfaces… in Hopewell, of All Places
An oddity in the news: Tawana Brawley, the 15-year-old black girl who rocketed to momentary fame in 1987 for making racially charged accusations of rape, has surfaced in the public eye. And she’s living the Richmond area! Brawley had been laying low, living in Hopewell and working as a nurse at The Laurels of Bon…
-
Boomergeddon Watch: Chicago
Chicago is said to be the city that works. It has problems but its economy remains strong and diversified. It is no Detroit. Not yet… Unfortunately for that narrative, Moody’s last week made an unprecedented cut in the city’s bond rating from Aa3 to A3. “The outlook incorporates the likelihood of continued growth in unfunded…
-
Another Tired Defense of the Henrico Status Quo
Addressing the Henrico Business Council, County Manager John Vithoulkas made a familiar case for a 4% meals tax yesterday. The county, which has already cut to the bone, faces another $100 million revenue shortfall over the next five years, due in great part to the recent recognition of its massive pension obligations. A meals tax…
-
Dulles’ Grand Plan
How is it that Northern Virginia, with some of the worst traffic headaches in the country, has embarked upon an economic development plan to bring thousands more trucks into the region? by Reed Fawell III In October 2005, the Washington Airports Task Force (WATF) got a wake-up call. Its transportation consultant reported that traffic heading east…
-
Map of the Day: Venture Capital Per Capita
Despite the presence of a vibrant high-tech community in Northern Virginia, the Old Dominion is a relative backwater in the venture capital world. But there is one exception, albeit a small one — Charlottesville. According to data published by economic geographer Richard Florida in the Atlantic Cities blog, when measured on a venture deals per…
-
The Democrats’ Counterforce Troika
By Peter Galuszka Setting up a nice counterpoint to the Republican Party’s strident assault on women’s issues and other social matters, Ralph S. Northam, one of two good options, was selected as lieutenant governor candidate for the Democratic Party in Tuesday’s primary. Winning the attorney general nomination was Mark R. Herring. The two should be…
-
Dude, This Isn’t Chicago
Mayor Dwight Jones has done a creditable job overall running the City of Richmond — far from perfect but above what you’d expect from a locality with a deep-blue electorate. I’ve never had cause on this blog to criticize him. Until now. I do have to say, I’m taken aback by the revelation that he…
-
Corruption? This is Virginia!
By Peter Galuszka An old adage in journalism has it that good stories just keep getting better. And so it is with the saga of Jonnie Williams Sr. and the family of Robert F. McDonnell, the governor. First we learn, courtesy of The Washington Post, that the head of Star Scientific gave McDonnell’s daughter $15,000…
-
Technology and UVa’s Mission
by James A. Bacon Three days ago, I criticized University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan for proposing to jack up tuition roughly 20% over the next four years. Clearly, the four-year plan she is submitting to the Board of Visitors champions the interests of the faculty and administration over those of the students. But that…
-
Good Amtrak, Bad Amtrak.
Passenger rail in the United States is experiencing a renaissance, maintain the authors of a new Brookings Institution report. Amtrak ridership has increased 55% since 1997, faster than other major travel modes. The secret, the authors contend, is Amtrak’s collaboration with states to upgrade tracks, operate routes and redevelop stations. Hmmm… The report downplays the…
-
And the Knucklehead Award Goes to…
by James A. Bacon In the spirit of Don Rippert’s “Clownie” awards, I bequeath the Three Stooges Knucklehead award to the authors of the $100 levy on alternative-energy vehicles, a category that encompasses hybrids. I’m not sure who came up with the idea, but Gov. Bob McDonnell pushed it, and majorities in the House and…
-
An Alternate Vision for the Fifty States
For those of you who believe that the geographic boundaries of the 50 states are the arbitrary and illogical constructs of history, consider the map above, drawn by Artist Neil Freeman. Freeman’s boundaries have the virtue of creating states with near-equal populations of 6.2 million each. His goal was to solve address the injustice of…
-
So, What Would Happen If Richmond, Like, Got Hit by a Killer Asteroid?
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is expected to pass 17,200 miles from Planet Earth today. What would happen if a splinter, say the size of a school bus, broke off and plummeted to earth at 12 miles per second, striking downtown Richmond? You can get a glimmer from these videos on the Atlantic Cities blog of a…
-
The American War that Time Forgot
by James A. Bacon Two hundred years ago, a young America was engaged in one of the most obscure wars in its history, the War of 1812. Most Americans, if they know anything at all about the war, may recall that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner during the siege of Fort McHenry…