Category: Efficiency in Government
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The End of Science! Lives Will Be Lost!
by James A. Bacon Don’t question university overhead costs or thousands will die! That is essentially the message of Virginia’s big three research universities — Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University — in response to a National Institutes of Health initiative capping reimbursable overhead costs to 15% of the research grants…
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Mark Warner Needs A Thesaurus
by Kerry Dougherty For years, they’ve worked as an adjunct to the Democratic National Committee, obediently trotting out talking points and providing their critics with hilarious montages of these mid-wits spouting the exact same lines. With their heads spinning since Donald Trump became president, the left has latched onto a tired word to characterize what…
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A Whisper of Fresh Air
by James A. Bacon In December the University of Virginia College of Arts & Sciences emailed faculty members with a new form to use in their annual assessments. Much to the wonder of a correspondent who conveyed the details to me, missing were the usual boxes requiring expositions of professors’ contributions to diversity in teaching,…
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Avula Engineers Transition in Richmond Waterworks Leadership
by James A. Bacon April Bingham, Richmond’s director of public works, has stepped down in what Mayor Danny Avula described as a voluntary and amicable parting of the ways. In the wake of the cutoff of water supplies to residents of Richmond and neighboring counties last week, Avula said, “there probably are other skills that…
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A Horrible Death in Colonial Heights – Part Three. Who Is Responsible?
by James C. Sherlock The government alleges that a woman patient helpless with cerebral palsy and diabetes was so badly neglected at Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (CHRNC) that: It is important for justice to be fully served to peel back the onion — to address the system in which they worked. CHNRC is…
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Political Blood in the Richmond Water Fiasco
by Paul Goldman But for former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney running for Lieutenant Governor, the RVA water fiasco would likely have been a far different political story. High profile for sure. But Mayor Danny Avula is new, and folks likely would have been willing to let him fix the issue, fire the public works director, and…
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Stupidity on Steroids
EV charging stations as a microcosm of the ineptitude of America’s governing class. by James A. Bacon The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has granted Virginia $10.8 million to build out its EV charging infrastructure. The goal is to deploy 392 charging ports at “urban and rural tourism destinations across Virginia,” with more than half to…
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The Hits Just Keep on Coming
by James A. Bacon Ordinarily, one would categorize a busted-water main story as routine news and forget about it the next day. But in the wake of the breakdown of the City of Richmond’s water treatment plant, which cut off water supplies for the better part of a week, the natural reaction is, what’s next?…
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Dry January Takes on a Whole New Meaning
by Jon Baliles The start of every New Year often comes with people making resolutions to do more exercise, choose better eating habits, and make changes to improve one’s life. One of the newer traditions in recent years has been Dry January, which started in England but has spread worldwide and challenges people to spend…
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Richmond’s Water-Gate Fiasco Will Be Investigated
by James A. Bacon Richmond Mayor Danny Avula committed himself yesterday to an “independent” investigation into the failure of Richmond’s water treatment facility, while Governor Glenn Youngkin said yesterday that the state would conduct its own inquiry. “We are absolutely outsourcing this. We’re going to bring in a third party to do that investigation,” Avula…
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The Real Reason Dem Legislators Hate New Accountability System
by James A. Bacon Democratic legislators in the General Assembly want to delay implementation of the state’s school accountability system that is scheduled to go into place next school year. Critics have called the rollout of the new system “rushed.” The new standards would identify failing schools in “need of intensive support.” Although the Youngkin…
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Sentara’s Opportunity to Improve Hospital-to-Nursing Facility Patient Transitions
by James C. Sherlock Sentara Healthcare in October announced an important initiative to improve the quality and availability of primary care. It will double number of advanced practice providers (APPs) in its primary care facilities. APP refers to nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, or certified nurse midwives. In order…
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How to Frame a Positive Story as a Negative
by James A. Bacon The Governor’s Office under Glenn Youngkin grew staff from 51 under former Governor Ralph Northam to 79 by the end of fiscal 2023, and increased spending on salaries from $3.7 million to $6.5 million, finds an audit by the Auditor of Public Accounts. Cue the partisan sniping. “His actions don’t add…
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Youngkin’s Quiet Successes in Government Transformation
by James A. Bacon It’s refreshing to see that legacy media are still capable of publishing articles about the nuts and bolts of good government, a topic that once was a preoccupation of local journalists but no longer seems to be. Michael Martz, an old-timer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, wrote an informative article today about…
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How Wise County Schools Excel
by Martin DavisEditor-in-Chief, FXBGAdvance Fat Boy’s restaurant in St. Paul, Virginia, is well-known — at least in Wise County — for the two BBQ items that sit atop its menu hanging behind the counter. The Heart Attack, and the Stroke. This 1930’s-era diner, marked by low-rent flooring, plain tables, and chairs that are best described…