Category: Infrastructure
-
Two Stories on Change in Richmond’s Suburbs
—
by
in Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Public safety & health, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka Well, well, Jim Bacon has this month’s cover story in the Henrico Monthly about the changing nature of office parks in one county that has plenty of them. Not to be outdone, I have my own cover story in the Chesterfield Monthly, a sister magazine published by the same people. My…
-
Two Stories on Change in Richmond's Suburbs
—
by
in Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Public safety & health, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka Well, well, Jim Bacon has this month’s cover story in the Henrico Monthly about the changing nature of office parks in one county that has plenty of them. Not to be outdone, I have my own cover story in the Chesterfield Monthly, a sister magazine published by the same people. My…
-
New Film Documents Horrors of Coal Mining
—
by
in Business and Economy, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Government workers and pensions, Health Care, Housing, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka Several years in the making, “Blood on the Mountain” has finally premiered in New York City. The documentary examines the cycle of exploitation of people and environment by West Virginia’s coal industry highlighting Massey Energy, a coal firm that was based in Richmond. The final cut of the film was released publicly…
-
Coping with Risk in Highway Megaprojects
by James A. Bacon As Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne has had more time to dig into his job, he has developed an ever more nuanced appreciation of how things went wrong with the U.S. 460 Connector. There was more to the fiasco, which could cost the Commonwealth up to $300 million, than a simple failure to acquire…
-
One More Time Now… Devolve Transportation Funding to the States
by James A. Bacon Congress is floundering over what to do about the Highway Trust Fund, which collects the federal gasoline tax and plows it back to the states to finance a smorgasbord of transportation projects. The original justification for the gas tax was to build the Interstate Highway System, but the program has morphed over the…
-
Chill Out, Wintergreen!
by Stephen Haner To My Fellow Landowners in Wintergreen: Chill out, will you? My inbox is filling these days with Wintergreen-related propaganda opposing a natural gas pipeline that is proposed to pass through Nelson County. Here’s a recent example, emphasis added: “The great majority of Wintergreen owners will permanently see it as they enter Wintergreen…
-
Juggling Risk on Interstate 66
by James A. Bacon The specter of the botched U.S. 460 project will be hovering over the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) today as Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne updates the board about project financing for Interstate 66 outside the Washington Capital Beltway, expected to cost in the realm of $2 billion. Del. Greg Habeeb, R-Salem, set…
-
Finally, Tobacco Commission Gets Reforms
—
by
in Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Economic development, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & TechnologyBy Peter Galuszka Virginia’s infamous tobacco commission appears to be finally getting needed reforms 15 years after it went into existence. Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced today that he was appointing a new executive director, Lynchburg native Evan Feinman, ordering a slimmed down board of directors and requiring a dollar-for-dollar match on grants the commission doles…
-
Injecting the “Public” Back into Public-Private Partnerships
We haven’t heard much about Public-Private Partnerships since the days of the McDonnell administration, which touted P3s as a tool for leveraging limited state transportation funding into more road and rail construction. The problem with the McDonnell team’s reliance on P3s wasn’t the grand strategy but the execution. The tolling of the Downtown-Midtown Tunnel in…
-
Injecting the "Public" Back into Public-Private Partnerships
We haven’t heard much about Public-Private Partnerships since the days of the McDonnell administration, which touted P3s as a tool for leveraging limited state transportation funding into more road and rail construction. The problem with the McDonnell team’s reliance on P3s wasn’t the grand strategy but the execution. The tolling of the Downtown-Midtown Tunnel in…
-
Blankenship’s Incriminating Tapes
—
by
in Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Media, Money in politics, Politics, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka It may sound like something out of the Nixon White House, but embattled coal baron Donald L. Blankenship regularly taped conversations in his office, giving federal prosecutors powerful new ammunition as he approaches criminal trial in July. According to Bloomberg News, the former head of Massey Energy taped up to 1,900 conversations…
-
Blankenship's Incriminating Tapes
—
by
in Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Media, Money in politics, Politics, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka It may sound like something out of the Nixon White House, but embattled coal baron Donald L. Blankenship regularly taped conversations in his office, giving federal prosecutors powerful new ammunition as he approaches criminal trial in July. According to Bloomberg News, the former head of Massey Energy taped up to 1,900 conversations…
-
Private Investment in the Public Realm
by James A. Bacon The American suburbs built since World War II have many deficiencies, not the least of which are expensive, fiscally unsustainable infrastructure and a proclivity toward traffic congestion. But the greatest drawback of all gets the least attention: the poverty of the public realm. Outside of shopping malls, there really is no public realm in the post-World…
-
Private Immigrant Jail May Face Woes
—
by
in Business and Economy, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Federal issues, Government workers and pensions, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Social Services and Entitlements, TaxesBy Peter Galuszka Privatization in Virginia has been a buzzword for years among both parties. In this tax-averse state, contracting off public functions is seen as a wise and worthy approach. But then you get debacles such as the U.S. 460 highway project. And now, you might have one brewing down in Farmville. The small…
-
Grid Pro Quo
The EPA wants to restructure Virginia’s electric grid. Skeptics argue that slashing CO2 emissions will drive electric bills higher. Environmentalists disagree. Who’s right?