From The Bull Elephant
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Jeanine’s Memes
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“The Worst Tour of the 14 Colleges We Have Been on This Year”
A UVa college tour, circa 2019. Photo credit: UVA TODAY by James A. Bacon
This past April a University of Virginia alumna took her son for a tour of the university conducted by a student-run organization, the University Guide Service. The woman had been a University Guide herself 25 years previously, an activity that accounted for some of her best memories and most enduring friendships at UVa. “We prided ourselves on the Guide Service being all volunteer, student led, and unaffiliated with the Admissions Office,” she wrote in an evaluation form obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The alumna and her son, a high school junior, made the rounds of some 14 universities this spring. As a former Guide, she wrote, “naturally I expected the Virginia admissions tour to be head and shoulders above the tours at other schools. Unfortunately, I was completely wrong and so disappointed.”
It’s important for university guides to be candid and honest, she wrote, but one also expects them to represent their institution in a positive light. “A prospective student should come away with the impression that the guide loves the school and is proud of it.” Sadly, her guide was negative and apologetic about the school. She complained about the large class sizes, the terrible advising system, the lousy food, and inadequacies of the mental health services. (more…)
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Assaults on Virginia Police Up 62% Last Year
by James A. Bacon
Alongside the continued rise in the number of homicides in Virginia, the year 2022 saw a dramatic increase in the number of assaults on police. Two officers were killed and 2,903 assaulted, according to data released by the Virginia State Police in its 2022 Crime in Virginia report.
The number of injuries spiked as well: 703 officers experiencing minor injuries and 61 suffering major injuries ranging from severe lacerations and broken bones to internal injuries and loss of consciousness.
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Bacon Meme of the Week
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No Clarity In This Process
by Dick Hall-SizemoreHere is another example of the utter inanity of this countryโs medical care system and its financing.
First, some background.ย I am covered by Medicare.ย I also have a Medicare supplement insurance policy issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia for retirees, administered by Anthem. (Good deal, by the way.)ย I chose to include the vision and dental coverage on the Anthem policy.
Like almost everyone my age, I have developed cataracts.ย A couple of years ago, an ophthalmologist told me that I qualified for cataract surgery, but that the cataracts had not progressed to the point that such surgery was highly recommended.ย I chose to put it off.
Today, I went in for my annual eye exam.ย As I was checking in, the staff at the Virginia Eye Institute (VEI) went to great lengths to explain that a refraction (the process of determining whether I need the prescription of my glasses changed) was not covered by insurance and that I would be responsible for the $70 if I chose refraction.ย I even had to sign a form acknowledging that I had been informed of this. (more…)
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VRS “Diet COLA” Squeezes Pensions Second Time
by Steve HanerVirginiaโs โDiet COLAโ approach to calculating annual inflation increases to Virginia Retirement System pensions has constrained the increases once again.ย Beneficiaries will see a benefit increase of 5% effective July 1, up from the 3.85% increase they received a year ago.
Both are below what they would have been if the increase had simply matched the full annual change in the consumer price index. The CPI-U measure of inflation for the calendar year 2021 was 4.7% and for 2022 was 8.0%.ย The compounded rise was 13%.ย But instead of rising those amounts, the VRS retirement benefits will have risen less than 10% over two years.ย (Those figures have been corrected since the initial posting.)ย ย (more…)
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Compromise and Subtlety are Becoming Dirty Words
Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus by Dick Hall-Sizemore
For those on this blog who are still lamenting the actions taken by “progressive” Democrats in the 2020 and 2021 General Assembly sessions, it might turn out that you ain’t seen nothing yet.
In the Senate, several members of that Democatic caucus are retiring or have moved on to Congress (Jennifer McClellan) and will be replaced with younger members. Furthermore, as described in today’s Washington Post, three incumbent Senate Democrats are being pushed hard by primary opponents. The opponents’ beef is not on policy. Rather, they contend the incumbents were not progressive enough, were not aggressive enough, and were too willing to compromise with Republicans. As Heidi Drauschak, who is challenging Sen. Dave Marsden (Fairfax), put it, “We just havenโt been bold enough.โ (more…)
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What Hath Wokeness Wrought?
by James A. BaconThe surge in homicides in Virginia continued unabated for the third straight year in 2022, with number of deaths from homicide and non-negligent manslaughter reaching 621.
The homicide epidemic in Virginia disproportionately affected Blacks. Blacks accounted for 90% of the increase in the number of murder victims since 2019, the year before the George Floyd protests sparked an outbreak of lawlessness, a crescendo of anti-police rhetoric, and a wave of legislation designed to reduce Black incarceration rates.
The toll in Black bodies has increased from 253 in 2019 to 436 last year, a three-year increase of 183 victims and a one-year increase of 54. By contrast, the number of White murder victims climbed from 157 in 2019 to 173 the following year and has plateaued at that level since.
The latest data from the Virginia State Police compiled in the 2022 Crime in Virginia Report demolishes the argument proffered by many on the left a year or two ago that the spike in homicides could be attributed to COVID-related lockdowns rather than the wave of leftist rhetoric and public policy changes.
The COVID hypothesis was never credible to begin with — the lockdowns affected everyone, but the jump in homicides occurred overwhelmingly in the Black community, was muted among Whites, and was invisible among Asians. (The report did not break out Hispanics as a separate racial category.) But the continued increase in homicides among Blacks in 2022 after the lockdowns ended indicates that something besides COVID was responsible. (more…)
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Countering the VEA… on a Shoestring Budget
The Internet ad displayed above, produced by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, reached 12,000 Virginia teachers. The return on the modest investment has been impressive. Says Co-President Chris Braunlich: “Inquiries about alternative educator associations are pouring in. Some have already cancelled their union membership (taking $700 in annual dues with them).”
— JAB
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Light Rail: Idiotic Idea In 2016. Idiotic Idea Now.
by Kerry DoughertyVirginia Beach voters THOUGHT they drove a stake through the heart of the absurd plan to bring light rail to the city after an overwhelming vote in 2016 against the nutty, developer-driven boondoggle.
But never underestimate cultists with an agenda. You know, developers who believe taxpayers have a duty to open their wallets to help THEM get rich. Or climate kooks who donโt understand a cost/benefit analysis.
No surprise, then, theyโre back. Some shadowy online group is beginning to push a bad idea that was buried in a landslide 7 years ago.
(more…)
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Cash On Hand Determining Outcomes in Virginia Senate Primaries
by Shaun KenneyOn 20 June, Virginians in both political parties will be selecting their nominees for the November elections to the General Assembly.
Virginia Democrats seem to be caught in a literal death spiral of trying to out-abortion one another, as flyers are going about accusing certain candidates of being โpro-lifeโ while others proudly announce their fanatical desire to stack the dead baby pile higher than their opposition.
Meanwhile, Virginia Republicans as an electorate seem to be keeping to the Buckley Rule, nominating the most conservative candidates that can win in the November general election. With that in mind, letโs take a look at some of the more contested seats in Virginia (gratuitously stolen numbers from our friends at the Virginia Political Newsletter):
SD-12:
โข Amanda Chase (R)
— $100,026 raised
–$19,199 cash on hand
โข Glen Sturtevant (R)
— $203,945 raised
— $112,882 cash on hand
โข Tina Ramirez (R)
–$218,281 raised
— $31,991 cash on hand
(more…)
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Men Need Not Apply
Mark J. Perry by James A. Bacon
Mark R. Perry, a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), has filed 841 complaints over the years against universities whose policies and practices discriminate against men. So far, the Office of Civil Rights has opened 28 investigations just based on more than 100 complaints he’s filed for Do No Harm, a Virginia-based organization formed to fight identity politics in medical schools.
In one of his earlier complaints, filed in 2018 against UVa’s Darden School of Business, Perry argued that the existence of eight scholarships (and an external fellowship) reserved exclusively for women violated the school’s own internal discrimination policies.
UVa argued that the scholarships were “independently selected, funded, and awarded by the UVA Darden School Foundation, and do not involve federal or state funds.” Because the female-only scholarships were privately funded, the university argued, they didn’t violate UVa’s internal anti-discrimination policy.
Perry didn’t buy it. “I thought it was a weak defense given the fact that the Darden School Foundation is physically located in the Darden School of Business and uses UVA Darden emails and UVA Darden phones, etc…. It’s probably the case that the Darden School and NOT the Darden School Foundation decides on who gets the scholarships. In that case, UVA is administering the scholarships and that would violate Title IX.” He recently re-filed the complaint, originally lodged with the university’s Title IX office, with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
In previous posts, I remarked upon the 56/44 ratio of women to men at the University of Virginia and asked why, at a university dedicated to “equity,” such an unbalanced sex ratio would prevail. The reasons are unclear. Any analysis based upon publicly available data leaves many unanswered questions. But two things are indisputable: (1) UVa provides many women-only scholarships, awards and programs; and (2) the administration has evinced no concern about the gender imbalance or discrimination against males. (more…)
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Lee Enterprises and the Newspaper Business in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock
Lee Enterprises, about whose frantic search for cash I wrote yesterday, owns a dozen newspapers in Virginia.
For now.
- The Daily Progress โ Charlottesville
- The Free Lance-Star โ Fredericksburg
- Register & Bee/Go Dan River โ Danville
- Bristol Herald Courier โ Tricities โ Bristol
- Martinsville Bulletin โ Martinsville
- The News & Advance โ Lynchburg
- The News Virginian โ Waynesboro
- Richmond Times-Dispatch โ Richmond
- The Roanoke Times โ Roanoke
- Culpeper Star-Exponent โ Culpeper
- SWVA Today โ Wytheville
- The Franklin News-Post โ Rocky Mount
Leeโs current nationwide total of what it calls news โbrandsโ is 85. It is a small and highly leveraged business.
This morning its stock (LEE:NASDAQ) market cap is about $81M at $13.37 per share at yesterdayโs close. With $433M in debt, the enterprise value is $524M (Schwab).
Lee is teetering financially, and has been since it successfully but expensively fought off a late 2021 hostile takeover bid from Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund.
Alden owns The Virginian-Pilot, the Commonwealthโs largest daily, and the Daily Press on the Peninsula. It has been written that Alden’s business model is simple:
gut the staff, sell the real estate, jack up subscription prices, and wring out as much cash as possible.
We have already seen Lee Enterprises gut the staffs of its Virginia papers.
I havenโt tracked the real estate transactions, but now it is jacking up subscription prices to avoid selling its inventory or trying to obtain additional financing.
Weโve seen this play before. (more…)
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Virginiaโs Best Nursing Facilities
by James C. SherlockThis is part 4 of a series on nursing homes in Virginia. Part 1 here Part 2 here, Part 3 here.
Medicare.gov curates and publishes a system of nursing home assessments that is outstanding in both design and execution.
As discussed in earlier parts of this series, Virginia has far more bad nursing facilities than it should, but the Commonwealth also has more than its share of outstanding ones.
Fifty-two of 289 are rated five stars by CMS. Only 10% of the nationโs nursing homes achieve that rating. Eighteen percent of Virginiaโs.
Weโll look at those best-of-breed facilities. (more…)
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Lee Enterprises Newspapers in Virginia Combine Huge Online Subscription Price Increases with Difficult Cancellations
Notice from The Roanoke Times subscriber services. https://subscriberservicesdsi.lee.net/subscriberservices/Content/Leaving.aspx?Domain=roanoke.com&_mather=2864cc43d3f9efd3 by James C. Sherlock
Lee Enterprises, in a bold move, has massively raised prices for online subscriptions to its Virginia newspapers, to some of which I subscribe.
Leeโs “brandsโ ย here include:
- The Daily Progress – Charlottesville
- The Free Lance Star – Fredericksburg
- Danville Register Bee/Go Dan River – Danville
- Bristol Herald Courier – Tricities – Bristol
- Martinsville Bulletin – Martinsville
- The News and Advance – Lynchburg
- The News Virginian – Waynesboro
- Richmond Times-Dispatch – Richmond
- The Roanoke Times – Roanoke
- Culpeper Star-Exponent – Culpeper
- SWVA Today – Wytheville
- The Franklin News-Post – Rocky Mount
I have for years subscribed to the ones in bold above. ย Online ad sales must not be going well. ย Lee in a sudden move has roughly tripled online subscription prices.
It also has made it very difficult for customers to cancel.
Perhaps someone should look into this to see if the difficulty of the cancellation is legal. (more…)
