Bacon's Rebellion

  • A Whisper of Fresh Air

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Christa Acampora, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences

    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, research, advising and so forth.

    To be sure, a diversity question has survived any winnowing of wokeness in the Student Experience of Teaching Evaluations, in which students evaluate their courses and professors. Students are still asked if they agree/disagree with the statement, “The instructor created an environment that respected difference and welcomed diverse perspectives.”

    Still, our interlocutor expresses delight: “Someone has smelled the coffee, and it [the diversity-state requirement] is all completely gone!”

    Many universities are scrapping their diversity statements. Critics have condemned the requirements as a form of compelled speech — an ideological litmus test of sorts. The University of Michigan Board of Regents, for instance, voted recently to drop diversity statements in hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions. So have several other universities.

    (more…)

  • Avula Engineers Transition in Richmond Waterworks Leadership

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Richmond Mayor Danny Avula

    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 have emerged as what we need in terms of oversight at the water treatment plant.”

    Bingham, who had previously run the customer-service operation, had no engineering background. Her interim replacement, Anthony “Scott” Morris, does. Morris, currently a chief deputy for Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, spent four years working in wastewater plant operations in Richmond.

    It is notable that Avula managed the transition with a minimum of recrimination. Nobody had asked Bingham to resign, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Asked whether he would have fired her, Avula said he and Bingham had had “a lot of conversations over the last two weeks as we (thought) about the next phase of leadership.”

    “We’re really grateful for … the work she’s put in,” he said.

    Bingham was allowed to resign with her dignity intact, which seems appropriate under the circumstances.

    (more…)

  • Right to Choose Natural Gas Law Proposed Again at Assembly

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    Virginia’s General Assembly is being asked again to protect the use of natural gas and prohibit local government efforts to restrict or ban it in homes and businesses. A Senate bill pending at the 2025 session is backed by a large coalition which includes the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy and the Virginia Manufacturers Association.   

    The sponsor of Senate Bill 944 is Senator Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach. It is similar to previous bills rejected in previous sessions on party line votes with legislative Democrats unified in opposition. But the 2025 Assembly represents a fair amount of member turnover since the last attempt.  

    Underlining the devastating consumer impact should any locality actually force homeowners or businesses to switch away from natural gas, the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) has published an updated estimate of what it would cost for a single-family home to convert from gas to electricity: about $31,000.   

    That is based on the average costs in Richmond to convert from gas to an electric heat pump, an electric range and oven, an electric water heater, and to upgrade the electric service panel box to support them. Not surprising given inflation, it is a significantly higher cost than CEA found with a similar report a few years ago. The new report  concludes:  

    (more…)

  • What’s Driving Richmond’s Population Growth? Dynamic Economy or… NoVa Refugees?

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    James A. Bacon

    Source: Axios-Richmond

    by James A. Bacon

    The Richmond metropolitan area continues to dominate population growth in Virginia, as shown by this map published by Axios-Richmond. (Click here to access interactive features.) This represents a sustained reversal of a decades-long trend in which population growth had been dominated by Northern Virginia.

    What’s going on?

    Axios doesn’t speculate about what’s driving this growth, but Old Dominion University’s 2024 State of the Commonwealth report provides some context.

    Between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2023, the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area population grew 2.5%, exceeded only by 3.0% in the Winchester MSA. That compared to 1.0% nationally and 0.9% statewide. Metro Washington and Hampton Roads population growth slowed to a crawl, while Roanoke and Blacksburg lost population.

    (more…)

  • Legislators Kill Bill to Modify Certificate of Public Need

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Hans Bader

    Legislators in a subcommittee killed a bill in the Virginia legislature would reform the state’s obsolete and costly certificate-of-need laws, which require state permission for healthcare facilities even in badly underserved areas. Cardinal News reports:

    Legislation put forth by state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, to reduce regulations in accessing machinery, equipment and patient services for some health care providers was effectively killed in subcommittee on Tuesday.

    Stanley’s bill, SB 910, would have created a three-phase process to eliminate the certificate of public need, or COPN, requirement for smaller, rural health care providers seeking to obtain machines used for MRI, PET and CT scans, along with other equipment needed for radiation therapy and other service.

    In a 4-1 vote, the Senate Education and Health Subcommittee on Health declined to report the bill to the full committee….Stanley pointed out that there aren’t many hospitals in the largely rural Southwest and Southside regions. That can sometimes force residents to drive long distances to obtain medical procedures. This bill was an effort to remedy that…the COPN program requires health care providers to obtain a certificate before they are able to secure new facilities or equipment or provide certain new services. To secure that certificate, a commissioner must first determine that a public need exists and has been demonstrated….“It’s an old, antiquated system that has to change,” Stanley said.

    (more…)

  • Black Caucus Wants Fines on 30 Years of Hydrocarbon Use

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    Virginia’s Legislative Black Caucus has endorsed legislation that demands oil, natural gas or coal companies that operated in Virginia at any time since 1995 pay a fine (to be determined) for presumed damage to the climate and for extreme weather.  

    Before dismissing this out of hand, know that the State of New York has already passed such a law and is demanding $75 billion over 25 years from many of the same companies, most of them national and international firms. Its Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul could not be prouder of the accomplishment, as you can read here.   

    The Virginia bill sponsored by Delegate Rae Cousins, D-Richmond, was part of a long list of bills endorsed Tuesday by the influential Black Caucus, which of course includes the Speaker of the House and the chairs of numerous key committees in both the House and Senate. Other bills on the list have already cleared committees. The Black Caucus release describes the bill thus:

    The Extreme Weather Relief Act will require large fossil fuel companies to help offset mounting costs of extreme weather caused by climate change.

    Law firms are advising this is a trend. This has legs. 

    (more…)

  • A Horrible Death in Colonial Heights – Part Three. Who Is Responsible?

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    sherlockj

    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:

    • she died in late October last year after prolonged suffering from sepsis as a result of that maltreatment; and
    • criminal charges have been filed against 18 members of CHNRC staff.

    It is important for justice to be fully served to peel back the onion — to address the system in which they worked.   

    CHNRC is operated by the private-equity-owned chain Innovative Healthcare Management (IHM), one of two sister firms with interlocking management and investors.

    • IHM, with five facilities, operates in Virginia only. It closed on its first facility, CHRNC, on December 1, 2019 and the rest on Jan 1 of 2020. IHM’s office is in Richmond; and
    • IHM’s sister chain Medical Facilities of America (MFA) operates 30 facilities in Virginia and eight in North Carolina. It closed on its first facility, Fairfax Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, on October 31 of 2020. MFA’s office is in Roanoke.

    Please open the linked spreadsheet. It contains Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provider information curated to present all 35 IHM and MFA facilities. 

    (more…)

  • Political Blood in the Richmond Water Fiasco

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    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 move on as the promising new sheriff in town.

    However, Stoney and his chief aide Lincoln Saunders actually think they have a record to be proud of. They first thought Stoney was governor material. He had to drop out when getting only 8% in the polls. Then he decided to run for LG. Stoney‘s only private sector job was with the now bankrupt and scandalous-to-some GreenTech auto company. As for Mr. Saunders, his only private-sector job appears to be as a top executive for a now bankrupt Green B.E.A.N. Veggie delivery company. The Green Boys each also had jobs with the Democratic Party or Democratic politics operating under the Peter principle. Having the audacity to raise salaries to the highest levels ever, they and their cronies got rich off city government. (To be fair, RVA City Council had to agree with all of this.)

    Stoney’s bid for LG Is what has made this story politically juicy.

    Richmond’s water fiasco has given the GOP a political battering ram to use in 2025. Democrats have already made the classic mistake of saying this is a problem caused in part by the lack of state money and demanding the state provide money to Richmond. 

    Wrong.

    (more…)

  • What Does Louise Lucas Have Against Poor Black Kids?

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    by

    James A. Bacon

    Image credit: ChatGPT

    by James A. Bacon

    Governor Glenn Youngkin wants to provide an educational escape hatch for lower-income Virginians. He has proposed a private school voucher program that would give $5,000 grants to 10,000 students whose families earn less than 200% of the federal poverty limit ($62,400 for a family of four).

    Virginia Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, says Youngkin’s voucher idea is “not going to happen,” reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

    “I just want to make sure that we’re clear that the governor is not going to take any money from public schools for vouchers for private schools,” Lucas told reporters after Youngkin’s State of the Commonwealth address yesterday.

    “I’ve heard that tone for many years in a row now. It didn’t happen year one, year two, and this year it’s not going to happen either,” she said. “I’m not going to take money from public schools for private school vouchers, it’s just not going to happen.”

    Why does Lucas want to keep poor Black kids trapped in dysfunctional public schools? Why does she want to perpetuate a system that all but guarantees that poor Black kids will graduate (assuming they do graduate) semi-literate, semi-numerate and incapable of competing for middle-class jobs in the burgeoning knowledge economy?

    (more…)

  • Check-Out Charities

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    “Wow,” she said. “Thirty dollars exactly. I can’t ask you to round up.”

    One day last week, on what felt like my 57th visit to my local supermarket, the cashier grinned as she rang up my order.

    Well she could ask. But my answer would be the same as always: No.

    Frankly, I’m tired of being asked if I want round up to the nearest dollar every time I make a purchase.

    It happens at grocery stores, department stores and fast food joints. Everywhere you turn, someone’s got their hand out.

    I like to think I’m charitable. But I like to pick my own charities.

    Right before Christmas when my basket was full of rich foods, a cheerful cashier asked me if I wanted to round up the food bank. I hesitated. The food bank does remarkable work feeding the poorest of the poor in Hampton Roads. It seemed churlish not to donate.

    I sighed. I glanced around and saw the man behind me, staring. I was embarrassed. I didn’t even look to my total to see what rounding up would mean.

    “No,” I replied.

    Not, “I’m so sorry” or “I gave at the office” just NO.

    I always say no to check-out charities. No matter how worthy the beneficiary. No matter how many people are within earshot.

    I don’t like the tactic. I want it to stop. Continue reading.

  • Big Talk; Little Action

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Governor Glenn Youngkin. Photo Credit: Associated Press

    Governor Youngkin is talking tough on immigration again, but he is not backing it up.

    In his State of the State address, he declared, “If someone is in this country illegally, and they commit a violent crime, they should get a one-way ticket back to where they came from. This should not be controversial.”

    It is not controversial. I have not heard of anyone objecting to deporting an illegal immigrant who committed a violent crime. (By the way, I see the Governor is careful to use the correct pronoun.)

    Then he goes on to declare, “Virginia is not a sanctuary state. If localities have ‘sanctuary city’ policies and refuse to cooperate with ICE, they should lose state funding—full stop.”

    He has made this threat before. How is he backing it up?

    (more…)

  • Don’t California Our Virginia

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Scenes from Los Angeles are apocalyptic. Thousands of homes and buildings destroyed in a massive, uncontained conflagration. So many lives disrupted and lives lost. Chunks of a city reduced to ashes.

    Is there anything good that can come out of such widespread devastation? 

    I believe there is.

    Virginians can look at the California catastrophe and see what happens when state and local governments are run by Democrat climate crazies and DEI devotees and avoid making those mistakes here.

    For instance, when governments factotums are more concerned with preserving a fish – the delta smelt – than human life, bad things happen. Dry reservoirs, for one, during a time of ample rainfall.

    When a city is run by officials whose hiring practices prioritize race and sexual orientation over competency the result is incompetent departments. The L.A. city government is a perfect example. The mayor was on a taxpayer funded trip to Ghana while the fires began. She also cut funding to the city’s fire department, which in turn spent time and capital trying to hire more female fire fighters instead of preparing for inevitable wildfires.

    And as we witnessed during the last Virginia’s governor’s reign of terror – don’t make me utter his name, please – Virginia’s Democrat party recently began looking longingly at the one-party state of California for inspiration. Continue reading.

  • Is Dominion Facing Fines Over Green Energy Goals?

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    Director Glenn Davis, Virginia Department of Energy

    The enforcement mechanism for the Virginia Clean Economy Act is a cash fine imposed on the electric utility if it fails to utilize the mandated percentage of wind, solar or battery power. The statute calls it a “deficiency payment” and has set the penalty at $45 per megawatt-hour. 

    The first of such penalty payments may be imminent. In debate Monday on a bill to eliminate the penalty, the statement was made that Dominion Energy Virginia has warned it may have to pay $450 million in a fine at the end of 2025. The report came from Glenn Davis, director of the Virginia Department of Energy, who said Dominion may fall short by 10 million megawatt hours.

    Under the language of the 2020 statute, the utility is allowed to just pass the cost along directly to its ratepayers. And just like its cousin, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Carbon tax, the cash collected by the state is directed to be spent on various specific projects such as energy efficiency programs and job training in historically disadvantaged areas.   

    The discussion took place in front of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, which of course promptly killed the bill on a party-line vote. That’s the thing about the Assembly’s odd-year short session – it starts like a rocket and important bills are heard from the first day. 

    (more…)

  • Stupidity on Steroids

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    EV charging stations as a microcosm of the ineptitude of America’s governing class.

    Abandoned EV charging station. Image credit: ChatGPT

    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 be installed in “disadvantaged communities to ensure accessibility for all.”

    The grant, dubbed E-Vacation, is part of a larger $635 million program to expand the EV-charging infrastructure nationally. One of the biggest reservations people have about buying electric vehicles is the uncertainty of being able to find locations where they can recharge their cars. The federal program is designed to address it. The program has been mired in federal bureaucracy and red tape, but the funds are finally trickling down to the state level.

    Now deployment will get mired in state bureaucracy and red tape.

    The Virginia Department of Energy website describes an existing Electric Vehicle Charging Assistance Program (EVCAP), which could be a template for the Electrified Virginia Accessible Charging and Tourism Infrastructure Network getting the $10.8 million grant.

    Let’s walk through the requirements of the EVCAP program.

    (more…)

  • Choosing Politics over Educational Progress

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    By Derrick Max,

    Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield) Photo credit: VPM

    Senator Ghazala Hashmi, chair of the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee, is introducing a bill that has no chance of becoming law — apparently trying to carry water on behalf of the Virginia Education Association (VEA) in hopes of gaining support for her campaign for Lieutenant Governor. Hashmi’s bill would require a “delay” in the implementation of the Youngkin administration’s new popular school accountability system to allow time to make  significant and unneeded revisions to the new system. Surely, Sen. Hashmi and her fellow Democrats know that if Sen. Hashmi’s delay legislation passes, the Governor will veto it.  

    The new accountability framework, which was just approved by President Joe Biden’s U.S. Department of Education, takes full effect next fall.  While the Youngkin administration may be willing to make a deal with Democrats on minor revisions that do not involve a delay in hopes of gaining broad bipartisan support, they are not likely to negotiate on anything approaching what Sen. Hashmi has proposed.  

    Democrats in the legislature really have 2 choices:  

    (A) Do not pass a messaging bill unpopular with the general electorate and get a bipartisan deal that incorporates some of their requested substantive revisions; or  

    (B) Pass a partisan messaging bill to be vetoed and that is unpopular with the general electorate but pleases the VEA and get little-to-no substantive revisions.

    (more…)

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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