Category: Political Influence
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Who Owns Virginia Mercury?
by James C. Sherlock The author just read a news article by the prolific Markus Schmidt in the Virginian-Pilot. It was a reprint of an article Mr. Schmidt wrote for his employer, the Virginia Mercury. His full-throated support of Virginia Democrats is his right. Examples abound: Virginia AG Jones joins 21 attorneys general condemning DOJ…
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Virginia’s Dreadful Nursing Homes – Part Five – Chain Corporate Structures and the Undoing of the Regulatory Structure
by James C. Sherlock Today, we will examine a big factor in why nursing home regulation fails. It is doomed in part by the organizational structures of chains that mask a deadly lack of corporate ethics. Government regulators not only do not stop it, but are currently helpless to do so for the simplest of…
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The Case of the Disappearing VPAP Data
By Steve Haner Revised June 5 The pro-green energy activist group Clean Virginia has announced a live television attack advertisement in opposition to Shannon Taylor, one of two Democratic candidates seeking the nomination for Attorney General. The ad (see it here) was authorized by the other candidate, Jay Jones. Taylor, currently Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney, accepted…
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A Horrible Death in Colonial Heights – Part Two
Nursing Facility Standards Enforcement Updated Jan 27 @ 1700 by James C. Sherlock Part One of this series served as an introduction to the circumstances surrounding one of the worst deaths humanly imaginable. It shows what happens when standards are not enforced. Charges against staff. The government has alleged that the death was the result…
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Atlantic Park Part 8: Surf Park Muni Bonds Add to Project Risk
By James C. Sherlock The surf park jumps right out at you. It is meant to. It will be the first surf pool in the mid-Atlantic region. The other components of Virginia Beach’s Atlantic Park will depend upon it to create buzz and draw visitors. A developer group led by Venture Realty Group initially planned…
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Atlantic Park Part 7: The Quest for Surf Park Financing
Commentary by James C. Sherlock A last-minute search for surf park financing delayed project construction for a year. Neither bankers nor the City of Virginia Beach wanted any part of it. The developer missed a funding deadline. The city forgave it, but the pressure was on. So, with city backing: The journey was so complex…
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Atlantic Park Part 6: Vote for Change
by James C. Sherlock Updated Sept. 14 at 11:14 AM and September 18 at 4:40 PM If an infrastructure project is assessed to be a potential commercial success, that judgement is based on a business plan. Inevitably, because they are very good at what they do, the developers of Atlantic Park had one that would…
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Atlantic Park Part 3: The Deal of the Century
By James C. Sherlock Updated September 18, 2024 at 10:07 AM and 3:27 PM Atlantic Park is due to open on nearly 13 acres of city land near the Virginia Beach oceanfront in May of 2025. The new entertainment district is the largest public-private partnership project in the history of the Commonwealth’s biggest city. It…
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Atlantic Park Part 1: Prologue
Updated September 18 at 10 AM and 3:16 PM By James C. Sherlock Atlantic Park is under construction as a massive new entertainment district near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach’s resort area. The centerpiece, a surf park, will be surrounded a 3,500-seat concert hall, shops, restaurants, offices, and apartments. If it succeeds, Atlantic Park will…
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An Obstructionist Rises to the Top
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Amid all the other topics being discussed and debated on Bacon’s Rebellion, we have neglected to note that the Commonwealth has recently picked up a dubious distinction. It is now the home of the chair of the House Freedom Caucus — Rep. Bob Good (R–5th District). His selection was not cheered by…
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Dominion, Clean VA Spend $23M Buying Influence
By Steve Haner Dominion Energy Virginia has increased its donations to Virginia state politicians six-fold in just four years. The other major donors in the energy regulation arena, Clean Virginia Fund and its founder, have done much the same. They are donating five times more in the 2023 election cycle than they did in the…
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Hey NCAA, Let JMU Go Bowling!
by Kerry Dougherty File this under “Even A Blind Squirrel Finds A Nut Occasionally”: Louise Lucas, one of the worst members of Virginia’s General Assembly and the ringleader of the obstructionist “brick wall” in the state Senate that blocked chunks of Gov. Glenn Youngin’s popular agenda, is on the right side of an issue. For…
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Webb’s Last Ditch Attempt to Save the Confederate Memorial at Arlington
by Shaun Kenney Former Virginia Democratic U.S. Senator Jim Webb is begging federal officials to save the last remaining Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in a forceful op-ed to The Wall Street Journal. Webb writes: [President William] McKinley understood the Civil War as one who had lived it, having served four years in the…
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The Problem Isn’t Guns, It’s Richmond
by Shaun Kenney Do you ever sit around and wish that a public figure would actually stand up and call out a problem for what it is? Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears is out there doing just that when it comes to Richmond’s rising tide of violence. Virginia Democrats have responded to last week’s tragedy at…
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The Lost Art of a Newspaper Hit Piece
by Kerry Dougherty Looks like newspapers have lost more than just their senior editors and writers. They’ve also lost the ability to craft a good old-fashioned hit piece. There was an art to that particular form of journalism. It had to be an expertly crafted story written with so much elegance that the subject sometimes…