Tag: James Sherlock
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Independent Journalism – The Special Case of the Virginia Mercury
by James C. Sherlock I look every day to the Virginia Public Access Project’s (VPAP) VaNews. I am a donor. It proclaims: VaNews will consider ‘original news reporting’ that is published online by print newspapers, broadcast radio and TV stations and outlets that meet our standards as ‘online news providers.’ On that same page VaNews…
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Some Pretty Good Clues to the EnRichmond Saga
by James C. Sherlock Jon Baliles wrote an article about the EnRichmond Foundation. Seems everyone is in the dark. To throw some light, I offer the last Form 990 from EnRichmond that is available online. It was filed October 20, 2020. It offers some clues, such as … the name of the Executive Director; the…
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The Petersburg – VDOE MOU, a New Petersburg Superintendent and the Limits of State Oversight of Failing Schools
by James C. Sherlock Petersburg City Public Schools (PCPS) has hired Dr. Tamara Sterling as its new superintendent. She signed her contract in a September 28 ceremony and will start Dec. 1. Progress-Index reporting brings us the story. The School Board voted 6-0 to hire her with Virginia Department of Education support because Dr. Sterling: turn(ed)…
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Predicting State Revenue in the Face of Inflation and Recession – Bipartisan Issues, Bipartisan Approach, Damnably Difficult
by James C. Sherlock Governor Youngkin on Wednesday spoke to the Joint Advisory Board of Economists (the Board), part of a genuinely bipartisan structure established under Virginia law to support revenue assessments. Which in turn must be used to support budgets. Which are, at least in Virginia, far more political than the revenue estimates. The…
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Parents Taking Their Children Out of Poor Performing Virginia Public Schools by the Tens of Thousands
by James C. Sherlock Would you send your kid to this school? No? Someone else’s kid is attending it — or skipping school. Virginia public sch0ols lost 4% of their fall student memberships, a total of 46,165 students, between the fall of 2019 and the fall of 2021, while their budgets from the state went…
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Jamestown Settlement – A Flawless Weaving of American History
by James C. Sherlock Sunday, on a brilliant fall day in Hampton Roads, my wife and I went on an outing. Despite having lived in Virginia for many decades, neither of us had ever been to Jamestown. We all know the outlines of the story. Jamestown was founded in 1607 as a commercial venture by…
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Crime, Cops, Steve Descano and the “Needs and Values” of Fairfax County
by James C. Sherlock Deterrence of crime, measured as a combination of fear of getting caught and fear of punishment, has been visibly collapsing in Fairfax County since January 2020. In that month, Steve Descano took over as Commonwealth’s Attorney and has by policy greatly reduced risk of punishment for crimes in that county. He…
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Ungrateful Citizens of Fairfax County
by James C. Sherlock Jeff McKay, Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, can’t catch a break. Violent crime is up. The Fairfax County Police Chief has declared a police emergency for staffing. There has been a fairly brutal back and forth up there about who is responsible and who is or is not…
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The Widely Varying and Inflated Costs of State Colleges and Universities in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock A College Board report, “Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid” estimated the total costs of attending college in 2021. The figures above represent total annual budget costs. This is a drill that many parents have been through. But I offer for the broader audience the differences in costs for one…
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UVa Children’s Takes Step Forward in Support to Gender Dysphoric Minors
by James C. Sherlock I congratulate UVa Children’s Hospital for taking a step forward in the treatment of gender dysphoric minors. One of the criticisms of that service was its singular focus on endocrinology. Moving from mental health support to hormone therapy is, as Mayo Clinic warns, a big step. Starting this week, comprehensive services…
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Solar Farms Trump Environmental Justice in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Virginia is a solar energy boom state. The Commonwealth ranked 4th in total generating capacity of new solar installations in 2020. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) in 2021 ranked Virginia 6th nationally for projected growth in solar capacity over the next 5 years. The left is consumed by concern for…
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Progressive Initiatives in Virginia to be Blocked by Environmental Laws?
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes we are too clever for our own good. American environmentalists have been hugely successful and have done a great deal of good. We have them to thank for cleaner water and air. But traditional environmentalists, supported by legal interests, incorporated two features in America’s environmental laws that may prove as…
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Local Elections Dominated by School Issues – Chesapeake Edition
by James C. Sherlock Check out closely the citizens who are running for city councils, boards of supervisors and the school boards this time of year. The concerns of Virginians are still focused tightly on schools. That is the definition of the stakes in school board elections, which used to be sleepy, low-turnout affairs. But…
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Fixes are Available for Nurse Shortages – Virginia Needs to Take Action in the Upcoming GA Session
by James C. Sherlock A future without enough nurses is unacceptable. There is some good news. Clinical nurses make a lot more money now than they used to. COVID fixed that. The travel nurse bubble is burst, but the pay raises for staff nurses appear to be sticking. The raises for nurses across the field…
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Small and Medium Businesses in Virginia Cited Among Best Healthcare Workplaces Nationally
by James C. Sherlock There are a lot of problems in Virginia healthcare starting with staff shortages, especially nurses, and our COPN incumbent protection system. So, it is not an easy thing to compete and grow in the healthcare space. But two Virginia companies are doing so and succeeding in ways such businesses must, by…