Category: Uncategorized
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Troubled Times for Turtles: Habitat Loss, Poaching Threaten the Ancient Reptile in Virginia
by Bob Hurley The next time you see a turtle think of what life on Earth might have been like 220 million years ago. Turtles have been around for that long. They saw dinosaurs come and go; survived the Ice Age; and with their distinctive shells, have defended themselves against a variety of predators. And…
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What Would George Mason Say About GMU Protest?
by Kerry Dougherty We’re about to enter graduation season and you know what that means. Protests will break out at any college that dares to invite a conservative speaker. Not that many do. It’s become an annual rite of spring. Invite a speaker who’s wrapped in a rainbow flag, insists that women can have penises,…
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Langley Looks to the Moon
by Robin Beres While mainstream media may be transfixed by the gutter politics going on in New York, exciting, uplifting events are happening in other parts of the nation — including in our very own little city of Hampton. Located on Hampton’s Langley Air Force Base just off the Chesapeake Bay, the Langley Research Center…
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Free Speech and Open Inquiry Are “Non-Negotiable”
by James A. Bacon Governor Glenn Youngkin made a national name for himself by standing up for parents’ rights in public education. His administration has engaged in bruising battles over transgender policy, critical race theory, and educational standards in K-12 schools. His approach to higher-ed issues has been far less contentious. Other than fighting for…
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Flexibility Needed in Budget for Behavioral Health Funding
By James C. Sherlock I used to write and later in my career approve daily air plans for aircraft carriers. There were a lot of individual rules and dependent variables. Adding or subtracting the number or sorties, or ordnance, or changing cycle times, or a lot of other things after the plan was written required…
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Virginia Beach School Board Celebrates Excellence Again
by Kerry Dougherty Congratulations, Virginia Beach voters. You did it! By electing a handful of common-sense school board members to join the duo who were already on the board, you began the process of bringing back excellence to students in the Resort City. Board veterans Vicky Manning and Carolyn Weens needed more allies in their…
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We Have a Problem and It Reflects Poorly on Prince William County
by Kristina Nohe Go to almost any parking lot in Prince William County and invariably you will see discarded gloves and masks, littered reminders of the pandemic we all lived through. Litter tells others what the people in a community think about where they live. If someone walked into your home and there were chip…
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Virginia’s S.O.B
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia’s state flag is a S.O.B. This is the derogatory term used by vexillologists, people who study flags (who knew there were such people?), to designate state flags that are “Seals On a Blanket.” According to the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), such flags are “objectively terrible.” The Commonwealth is in good…
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If at First You Don’t Succeed….
We’ve been getting feedback from readers wishing to attend the April 25 George Will speech in Charlottesville who have been unable to register. They clicked on the link only to find that the event, accessible through EventBrite, has “sold out.” Nothing sells out that fast, not even free tickets to hear George Will. Our informed…
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George Will to Dissect the Assault on Free Speech
+++ Sponsored Content +++ The Jefferson Council invites you to hear George Will on April 25th at the University of Virginia. The topic of his address could not be more timely: “The Bad Ideas Fueling Today’s Attack on The Best Idea — Free Speech.” Will began writing national syndicated columns in 1976, making him one…
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An Open Letter to Sen. Louise Lucas About Funding New Richmond Schools
Editor’s note: Paul Goldman, a Richmond attorney and former chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, asked us to publish the letter below, which he sent last week to state Sen. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, a fellow Democrat who serves as president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate. As of today, Sen. Lucas has not…
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Did Southern Poverty Law Center and James Madison Museum Team Up to Put ‘Anti-racist’ Curriculum in Virginia Schools?
by Brenda Hafera The Albemarle County school district in Virginia has been subjected to two lawsuits related to its implementation of an “anti-racist” curriculum, which one parent said was “incubating a culture rooted in grievance, discord, and victimhood.” But parents in the school district near Charlottesville may be alarmed to discover that it is not…
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The Governor’s Tutoring and Special Ed Services Initiative
by James C. Sherlock VDOE has provided me a concise and clear description of the Governor’s initiative to provide tutoring and special education services to struggling Virginia school kids. The program seems both on point and appropriately careful. The input describes the sources of the money, where it was originally targeted, where some of it…