Bacon's Rebellion

  • VHHA to Sunset COVID-19 Hospitalization Data Dashboard

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Shaun Kenney

    The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) is getting ready to turn the lights off on its COVID-19 Dashboard this week, as the federal emergency for the pandemic officially ends in May 2023.

    VHHA noted the unprecedented scale of co-operation between Virginia’s hospitals and health care apparatus in creating the dashboard, one which millions of Virginians relied upon for accurate information in the very early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic:

    Overall, the dashboard has been viewed more than 7.7 million times and has been an invaluable resource to help health care providers, state and federal government partners, the public, and the news media gain a clearer picture of the impact of the pandemic on hospitals and the health care delivery system. Now, with the federal COVID-19 public health emergency slated to end May 11 and statewide coronavirus hospitalizations at relatively low levels, VHHA will discontinue publication of the data dashboard as of Thursday, April 27, 2023. (more…)

  • School Closures Resulted In Spike In Suicide Attempts Among Kids

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Kerry Dougherty

    How is it that those of us without fancy degrees from prestigious universities or medical training intuitively KNEW that the Covid-19 lockdowns and school closures would have a profoundly negative effect upon kids?

    I watched one of my nieces, who graduated from high school in 2021, spend her junior year at home, isolated from her friends and extended family. A future physician and excellent student, she sat alone, doing class work off of a computer screen. On top of that, her entire social structure was dismantled. There were no sleepovers or parties, no sports, dances or proms. When schools finally reopened she was seated more than 6 feet away from the nearest other student at lunch and if they dared speak to each other, a teacher would scream, “NO talking!”

    All for a virus that barely affected kids, as we all knew from the earliest weeks of the pandemic.

    I worried about her and her friends. Turns out, she’s OK. Some of her classmates? Not so much.

    Last week, UVA Today published a study showing a sharp increase in the number of attempted suicides by children ages 10 to 19 from 2020 on.

    The rate of suspected suicide attempts by poisoning among children and adolescents ages 10 to 19 reported to U.S. poison centers increased 30% during 2021 – the COVID-19 pandemic’s first full year – compared with 2019, a new UVA Health study found.

    Attempted suicides continue to climb.
    (more…)

  • Residents Ask VA Beach to Reject Wind Easement

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    Source: John Locke Foundation. Click to expand.

    By Steve Haner

    Opposition to offshore wind is stirring in Virginia Beach, but the focus is on a North Carolina proposal that would bring its power ashore at Sandbridge Beach, not the Dominion Energy Virginia project which is closer to the state’s largest city.

    Private energy developer Avangrid Renewables LLC still needs a key easement from Virginia Beach City Council to proceed with its plans.  That vote was delayed earlier this year and the company was asked to increase its local outreach and engagement.  A public meeting which is part of that effort will take place Thursday, May 4 at Municipal Center Building 1. (more…)

  • The Tyranny of One

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The superintendent of the Spotsylvania County schools has removed 14 books from the school libraries in response to the complaint of one parent that the books had sexually explicit content. Two of the books removed were by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.

    The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the superintendent claims that he was required to take that action by a law recently enacted by the General Assembly. However, that Code section (22.1-16.8) requires schools to notify parents about instructional material that may be sexually explicit and provide alternative nonexplicit instructional material for that student if the parent so requests. It says nothing about completely removing library books that are not assigned reading. Moreover, one of the enacting clauses of the legislation stipulates, “That the provisions of this act shall not be construed as requiring or providing for the censoring of books in public elementary and secondary schools.”

    The superintendent claimed, “This is about maintaining libraries as a safe space for our children.”

    When asked how many parents had spoken out about sexually explicit material in library books, the superintendent admitted that “parental engagement has been unfortunately rather light.” He suggested other parents had not participated because they had long commutes to work. He praised the one parent who had spoken out and suggested that, without her, the issue would not have “come to the fore here in Spotsylvania at all.”

  • No More Deliveries Here

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital, South Boston

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Pregnant women in Halifax County will soon be faced with an unwelcome dilemma. Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital (SHRH) in South Boston has announced that, beginning in May, it will begin phasing out its labor and delivery services. Those patients expected to deliver before August 4 will continue to be served. Those obstetric patients expected to deliver after August 4 will be “contacted and supported in their transition to other regional obstetrics providers.”

    Sentara framed the decision to close the labor and delivery services at SHRH in financial terms. The service is unprofitable. The county’s population is getting older and fewer babies are being born. There has been a 33% decrease in the number of deliveries from 2018 to 2022.

    The most likely alternatives that will be available are hospitals in Danville, Lynchburg, South Hill, and North Carolina. Depending on where one lives in Halifax County (it is the fourth largest county by area in the state), getting to a hospital for delivery could entail a drive of 45 minutes to more than an hour. Of course, there could always be a trip to the emergency room at SHRH. (more…)

  • Geez, Louise

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Uh-oh. Looks like Louise Lucas is a little rusty when it comes to campaigning for office.

    The powerful Democrat from deep blue Portsmouth is used to steamrolling any hapless Republican who gets in her way and sashaying into Richmond where she serves as the president pro tempore of the Senate and gets the juiciest committee assignments.

    Thanks to redistricting, however, the queen of Portsmouth finds herself inconveniently lumped into the same district as another Democrat. That’s Lionel Spruill, who appears to be out-hustling her on the campaign trail and out-raising her in campaign funds.

    As of March 31, Spruill had $659,915 on hand and poor Louise had just $569,506. The Democrat primary is June 20.
    (more…)

  • Gas Taxes, EV Fees Will Rise Again July 1

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    Add the retail tax and storage tank fee in the first table to the wholesale tax in the second table to get the total tax per gallon.  Click for larger view.

    by Steve Haner

    Virginia motor fuel taxes will rise again July 1, to just over 39 cents per gallon on gasoline and just over 40 cents per gallon on diesel. This will be the second automatic increase in gas taxes since the 2020 General Assembly voted to index the gas tax to inflation. (more…)

  • Tuition, Room, Board and Fees Up 7% Next Year at Tech – Zero Cuts in Massive Administrative Overhead

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Letitia “Tish” Long

    by James C. Sherlock

    From The Roanoke Times

    Faced with inflationary pressures and state budget uncertainty, the school’s Board of Visitors voted unanimously to markup overall student costs by about 7%, increasing tuition and fees, plus room and board.

    It was not an easy decision, said Rector Tish Long.

    ”This is one of the most important and most difficult decisions that this board has had to make,’ Long said. ‘This is a very difficult decision, and we did and continue to take everyone’s comments into account.’

    Rector Long did not mention how easy it was to not cut administrative overhead:

    • No data required;
    • No difficult discussions;
    • No strained decisions;
    • No dispirited looks from the University President;
    • Let’s break for lunch. Early.

    Tech’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, who would be the one to recommend cuts, is enthusiastic about that school’s “Administrative Transformation” project.

    He notes that he has an Administrative and Professional (A/P) Faculty job architecture project underway. Alas, the obstacles include:

    Currently there are over 2,400 A/P faculty positions with over 1,800 unique titles. This lack of structure creates inconsistent pay and titling practices — which can unintentionally create pay equity issues — as well as makes it difficult to benchmark salaries to the external market.

    It makes it quite difficult to make cuts when the University COO has no idea what all those people do. (more…)

  • Donnybrook in South Hampton Roads

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) Photo Credit: Washington Post
    Sen. Lionell Spruill (D-Chesapeake). Photo credit: Newsweek

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    It had to get ugly, and it finally has.

    The premier party primary election this year will be the Democratic primary in Senate District 18 (Parts of Portsmouth and Chesapeake), featuring incumbents Louise Lucas and Lionel Spruill. Redistricting threw them into a newly-drawn district that includes about 71,000 of Spruill’s current constituents and 61,000 of Lucas’s constituents. Reportedly, party leaders tried to prevail upon both of them for one to move to a new district with no incumbent. Both refused. This has promised to be a donnybrook from the beginning.

    The recent flash point is the chairmanship of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. George Barker (D-Fairfax) is currently a co-chair and is running for re-election as well. (The other co-chair, Janet Howell [Fairfax] is retiring.) Barker has his own electoral worries. He is facing a strong primary challenger in a redrawn district that includes only a small portion of his old district. (more…)

  • Math SOLs Up First for New Superintendent Coons

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    Figure 1. Average scores in numeracy for age 16-34 (bars) and age 16-24 (red dots): OECD PIAAC 2012. (From Goodman et al. 2015, Data © OECD 2012. Used with permission.)  Click for larger view.

    by Eric (Rick) Nelson

    In K-12 education, can Virginia lead the nation? If that’s the goal, in my view as a career educator, Dr. Lisa Coons is the best possible choice as our new state Superintendent. As Chief Academic Officer in Tennessee, the programs she guided to help teachers improve reading instruction are among the best in the nation.

    But in Virginia, challenge #1 is mathematics. The department Dr. Coons now leads is tentatively scheduled in June to submit to the state Board of Education a proposed revision of our K-12 math Standards of Learning (SOLs). Workforce math skills are vital for our nation’s prosperity and defense, but current standards, in both our state and nation, are failing to teach mathematics effectively.

    The evidence? On national standards, much of it can be found in the International Journal of Mathematics Education, among other places.

    • On a 2012 international test of numeracy skills for citizens aged 16 to 34, among 22 tested nations, the United States ranked dead last;
    • Since 2012? In national NAEP LTT testing in January 2020, before the U.S. arrival of Covid-19, math scores were lower than in 2012 for nearly every student group;
    • As noted by columnist George Will, “About 76,000 students each year receive from U.S. universities advanced degrees in engineering disciplines …. Of those graduates, about 43 percent are U.S. citizens….”;
    • Electrical engineering (EE) is an especially important field in the competitive world economy. Of EE doctorates awarded by U.S. universities, the proportion going to non-U.S. citizens rose from 62% in 2010 to 70% in 2019. Almost as many U.S. EE Ph.D.’s went to citizens of China as to U.S. citizens.

    Many of these “best and brightest” from around the globe stay in the U.S. and contribute disproportionately to our economy. But one wonders: how long will U.S. taxpayers support higher education their children are not being prepared to enter? (more…)

  • Conservative Snowflakes

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Delicate snowflakes aren’t found only on college campuses. Some conservatives in Virginia, it seems, are just as prone to melting down and suppressing images and ideas they don’t like.

    It appears that “multiple parents” have approached Patrick County Supervisor Denise Stirewalt with concerns about reading materials their children are being exposed to in school. What are we talking about? Inappropriate sexual content? Profanity? Suicide? Race war? Genocide? No, we’re talking about Norse mythology stories.

    “One instance involved a third-grade student who was having nightmares as a result of a story he had read in class. The story was a single Student Reader, Unit 6, titled ‘Gods, Giants, and Dwarves,’” reports the Martinsville Bulletin. The story has been removed from the curriculum.

    Good grief!

    I don’t know for a fact that the parents who complained are politically or culturally conservative, but Patrick County is a very conservative and Christian community. And I don’t know how graphic the material was that the child found so disturbing. But with those caveats, I feel moved to issue a warning: conservatives, don’t adopt the pathological traits of the left! Don’t become snowflakes! Don’t coddle your children! Cultivate the virtues of courage, resilience, and determination. (more…)

  • RVA History: Merging Manchester

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Jon Baliles

    I often joke with people when I am asked about Manchester that it was an independent city until 1910 when they merged with Richmond — and they have probably regretted it ever since.

    Em Holter has a nice piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the merger of the city nicknamed “Dogtown” that is worth the read.

    On the day of the vote in 1910, pro-merger pamphlets were distributed that promised lower taxes, better infrastructure, and free passage into Virginia’s capital city (no more toll on the bridge). Opponents cautioned that annexation would mean increased taxes and inferior services. History can certainly be ironic. (more…)

  • Virginia Democrats in the House of Representatives Vote Against Their Own Daughters

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    USA Women’s National Team 2019

    by James C. Sherlock

    Abigail Spanberger, (D) Va. – Voted against protections for girls and women in sports

    Every Virginia Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against a bill to amend Title IX to prohibit biological boys and men from competing against biological girls and women in K-12 and college sports.

    Voting nay: Donald Beyer, Gerald Connolly, Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott, Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton.

    H.R. 734 Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 amends Title IX (“on the basis of sex”) by stating that the term “sex” in athletics shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.

    Jennifer McClellan (D) Va. – Voted against protections for girls and women in sports

    The consequences of a no vote. H.R. 734 protects the dreams and hard work of girls who wish to play college sports.

    The ones who got up early and stayed late training for their sport. The ones whose parents ferried them to practice and games on weekends.

    It protects girls and young women in contact sports such as soccer and field hockey from inevitable injury from bigger, stronger, faster men.

    Indeed, it protects their ability to participate.

    It prevents the biological male who never won a medal from deciding — no hormones or surgery required — he is female to mount the platform and be awarded the gold. To break records set by girls and women.

    To get rich with the new NIL rule in college sports and richer yet in women’s professional sports.

    Everyone who thinks that won’t happen, raise your hand. (more…)

  • RVA 5×5: Valet Parking

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Jon Baliles

    There was a lot of talk and coverage this week about the City of Richmond’s Planning Commission unanimously approving the removal of parking minimums citywide with the full City Council expected to take the matter up at its meeting Monday night.

    The ordinance as written would allow developers to decide how much parking to include in new developments anywhere in the city — or if they need to include any parking at all to serve the development. For decades, the city-required developments to also provide a certain number of off-street parking spaces based on the size of development, the number of dwelling units, type of use, or total floor area.

    The end goal is to allow developers to determine how much parking to provide in their developments and if they don’t have to provide expensive parking, they will then increase the supply of needed housing units. The city recently declared a “housing crisis,” and the need for more housing across the entire region is urgent. The proposal is one of the recommendations from the Richmond 300 master plan, which is in favor of less “auto-centric” zoning and more in favor of denser and more walkable mixed-use neighborhoods.
    (more…)

  • New York Times “DEI” Article Prompts Questions About Ryan’s Views

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Bert Ellis. Photo credit: New York Times

    by James A. Bacon

    Kudos to Stephanie Saul for her front-page article in The New York Times this morning. She quotes Bert Ellis and me accurately and in context in an impressively even-handed account of the brewing controversy over Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the University of Virginia.

    Followers of Bacon’s Rebellion will find that the article, which explores DEI issues at UVa through the prism of Ellis’ appointment to the Board of Visitors, covers familiar ground. However, it does contain nuggets of news, mainly by putting UVa President Jim Ryan and other university officials on the record on issues about which they have been largely silent so far.

    Most astonishing are the quotes from Ryan, who comes across as totally clueless about the aims of his critics.

    James E. Ryan, the university’s president, said he believes the majority of alumni feel the way he does — that diversity is desirable and needed.

    “I haven’t heard anyone say we should have a community that is monolithic, unfair and unwelcoming,” he said in an interview.

    Mr. Ryan said he wonders about the motives of the critics.

    “Whether this is an effort to focus on the aspects of D.E.I. that seem to threaten academic freedom and push toward ideological conformity, or whether it’s an effort to turn back the clock to 1965 — it’s hard to know,” he said in an interview.

    (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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