Author: James A. Bacon
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Another One Bites the Dust
by James A. Bacon From today’s news dump courtesy of VA News: The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected an application by Dynamic Energy LLC to build a five-megawatt solar facility on 40 acres of farmland near Bealeton, reports Fauquier Now. “When I looked at this,” said Supervisor Rick Gerhardt, “I didn’t want to…
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Kibosh the Cancel Culture
Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira has won two journalism awards — the Poke award for state reporting, and the Hechinger Grand Prize for educational coverage — for his coverage of “relentless racism” at the Virginia Military Institute. It’s a good bet that the Washington Post will nominate his coverage for a Pulitzer Prize, the gold…
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Kasey Meredith Makes History at VMI
Kasey Meredith made national headlines yesterday when she became the first woman in the Virginia Military Institute’s 182-year history to serve as regimental commander of the Corps of Cadets. She will be responsible to the commandant of cadets for the training, discipline, health, welfare and morale of the corps. “The great thing about VMI is…
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The F*ck Quilt Lady Is W&L’s New College Dean
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia had its “F*ck UVa” sign controversy. Brace yourself for Washington & Lee University’s “F*ck quilt” brouhaha. About ten days ago, W&L announced a new dean of the college, Chawne Kimber, head of the math department and co-director of the STEM education at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. She…
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Ranked Choice Republican Recap
by Chris Saxman Well, the Republican Party of Virginia actually pulled it off. Their Ranked Choice Voting Unassembled Convention Through the Legs off the Backboard with Twist (which lasted lemme see…one… two…three…no, FOUR days) finally ended and ended well. Not only did RPV manage to pull it off, but their statewide ticket of Glenn Youngkin,…
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Will Northam Cling to Mask Mandates?
by Kerry Dougherty Well, the ball’s now in Ralph Northam’s court. The CDC announced yesterday that it’s recommending vaccinated people lose the masks. Indoors and out. Imagine that! And, no, the science didn’t magically change yesterday. Many of us knew all along that a piece of cloth couldn’t stop a virus. What changed is that…
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Who Hit the Brakes on NoVa Growth?
by James A. Bacon Northern Virginia’s population is growing, but not nearly as fast as before. According to a new study by University of Virginia demographer Hamilton Lombard, Northern Virginia accounted for 66.5% of the state’s population growth between 2010 and 2019, but slipped to 33.7% in the last year. “While Northern Virginia is still…
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Shapira’s Confederates in the Attic
by James A. Bacon In a series of blistering articles over the past year, Washington Post staff writer Ian Shapira has accused the Virginia Military Institute of “relentless racism” and written favorably about the renaming of statues, memorials and iconography associated with slavery and the Confederacy. Reporting on the May meeting of the VMI Board…
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Gas Lines and Headlines
by Kerry Dougherty It’s tempting to mock the folks lined up at gas stations these past few days as “panic buyers.” You know, fearful, gas-addicted, greed balls. Smug members of the media have been quick to blame them for the shortages. The Washington Post: Panic buying strikes Southeastern United States as shuttered pipeline resumes operations New…
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Do Not Discount the Anger Over School Shutdowns
by James A. Bacon Arlington County is one of the “bluest” localities in Virginia, exceeded in its propensity to vote Democratic (81% in the 2020 election) only by black-majority cities like Richmond and Petersburg and the Berkeley of the East Coast also known as Charlottesville. (The way things are heading, I soon may be compelled…
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Great Moments in Virginia Governance: John Marshall Higgins
It looks like John Marshall Higgins, former superintendent of the Rockbridge County Regional Jail and former member of the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors, will himself be heading to jail. He was convicted Sunday on multiple charges of failure to protect inmates, denial of medical care, and accepting money for favors. According to WSLS, Higgins…
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Glenn Youngkin’s Good Vibes
by Chris Saxman Over the last week and a half, I attended three Glenn Youngkin campaign events with three different women — my wife Michele and our two daughters, Mary Kathryn and Nora. It wasn’t intentional that I went to separate events with each of them, it just worked out that way. All three are…
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This One Easy Trick Makes Gas Lines Grow Expontentially
by James A. Bacon As panic buying sends Virginians to the gas pumps to top off their tanks, Attorney General Mark Herring is encouraging citizens to report instances of price gouging. “This ransomewear (sic) attack on the Colonial Pipeline could create disruptions in the gasoline supply across the Commonwealth, and unfortunately, bad actors could take…
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Gas Shortages: Deja Vu All Over Again
by Kerry Dougherty It’s like old times. 1979 to be exact. Just 3 1/2 months into the Biden administration and we’ve gone from energy independence to gas lines. What’s next, 18% percent mortgages? Or will Joe borrow Jimmy Carter’s old cardigan and urge us all to turn down the thermostats? Yep, everywhere I went yesterday…