Bacon's Rebellion

  • All In The Family

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick.  Photo Credit: Roanoke Times

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    It is not just national Republicans that appear ready to tear into each other. A couple of Virginia Republicans have also been at it.

    Del. Marie March, R-Floyd.   Photo credit: Newsbreak

    Wren Williams is a first-term Republican Delegate from Patrick County.  Marie March, also in her first term, is a Republican delegate from next-door Floyd County. The redistricting has placed them in the same district.

    Last September, after a Republican meeting in Wytheville, March was standing with a group of people when Williams, according to her, “slammed into me.” She was able to brace herself to keep from falling. Moments later, she said, “I heard him mutter, ‘oh, sorry,’ from a distance.”

    March felt that the collision was intentional on Williams’ part and filed a criminal complaint of misdemeanor assault against him.

    At the trial earlier this month, Williams’ attorney admitted to “a touching,” but contended it was accidental. The Commonwealth’s Attorney, based on witness testimony, argued, “The bottom line is it was an unwanted touching that was purposeful. We have met our burden to prove it was assault and battery.” The judge ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove that contact between Williams and March in a crowd of people was intentional.

    Speaking to reporters after the trial was over, Williams called the accusation against him “a political hit job.”

    All this should make for interesting dynamics in the Republican House caucus meetings in the upcoming session.

    Note: I am indebted to The Roanoke Times for this story.

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

  • Governor’s Plan to Bolster Law Enforcement Is Meek Rather Than Bold

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    In October, amidst much fanfare, Governor Youngkin announced Operation Bold Blue Line.  In the words of the Governor’s press release, this initiative is “a series of concrete actions to reduce homicides, shootings, and violent crime.”

    I had some questions and wanted some details on the proposal.  I posed these questions to the Governor’s press office.  Crickets.  I then posed them to the office of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security.  I got an acknowledgement and a pledge to provide the information I had requested.  Time marched on and no answers, just requests for more time to prepare the response.  Finally, I was told that my inquiry was being bumped to the Governor’s press office.  Fortunately, someone in that office did respond and answer my questions.

    After doing some research and reading the responses to my questions, I have to say that I am underwhelmed by this initiative. (more…)

  • As TJHSST is Investigated, an Email from 2020 Reveals a ‘Pattern and Practice’ of Hiding Awards

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Asra Q. Nomani

    This week, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares walked through the glass doors of the Korean Community Center off Little River Turnpike, the dome of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology visible through the window, and with him stood five parents of current and former students at TJ, as the school is known locally.

    In a devastating announcement for Fairfax County Public Schools, Miyares announced twin civil rights investigations into, first, the withholding of National Merit Commended Student awards by TJ administrators and, second, a Fairfax County school admissions policy, put in place in December 2020, that a federal judge ruled discriminates illegally against Asian American students.

    Miyares’ team will be seeking to identify a “pattern and practice” of discriminatory actions, a standard in civil rights cases. Currently, in defense of the school district, FCPS spokeswoman Julie Moult told reporters on Dec. 29, that withholding National Merit Commendation awards from students this year was a “one-time human error in the fall of 2022 only.”

    “To suggest a deliberate intent to withhold this information would be inaccurate and contrary to the values of FCPS,” Moult continued. The district, she went on, values “hard work and dedication.”

    “Fairfax County Public Schools also seems to value obfuscation and deception,” said Norma Margulies, the mother of a student at TJ, an immigrant from Peru, and one of the parents standing on stage with Miyares.

    An email, obtained by Fairfax County Times, reveals that, indeed, in fall 2020, TJ staffers misled parents and students about the National Merit Commended Student award, presented to the top 3 percent of 1.5 million students who take the PSAT exam.

    In the email, dated Nov. 24, 2020, at 11:53:25 a.m., a TJ staffer copied and pasted information about the Commended Student award into an email to a parent, who was asking about the award, incorrectly stating, “There is no letter and no formal announcement for Commended scholars and the list of Commended scholars is not made public.”

    In fact, more than two entire months earlier, on Sept. 10, 2020, according to a National Merit Scholarship Corporation spokeswoman, the Illinois-based nonprofit sent a letter to TJ Principal Ann Bonitatibus notifying her the school had 230 National Merit Commended Students. Most of them were Asian- American. The school district typically releases the names of National Merit Semifinalists, who advance to compete to be National Merit Finalists.

    The National Merit letter included a note with the explicit expectation that schools will inform students and parents, “Please present the letters of commendation as soon as possible since it is the students’ only notification.” (more…)

  • Conservatives Are Exaggerating Violence In Schools: Newport News Edition

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Hot off the wires from The Virginian-Pilot:

    A teacher was injured in a shooting Friday afternoon at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, according to police and school officials.

    No students were injured but an adult was taken to the hospital. Police believe they have the person responsible in custody and said there is no longer an active shooter.

    A Newport News school district spokesperson confirmed the adult is a teacher. The extent of the teacher’s injuries [was] unknown.

    Never fear. This won’t affect teacher morale. I have it on the highest authority that the explanation for the increasingly acute teacher shortage in Virginia is the Youngkin administration’s policies on transgenderism and prohibition on the teaching of “real” history!

    — JAB

  • UVa’s DEI Bureaucracy: the Details

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Here is the breakdown of DEI positions and salaries at the University of Virginia identified in the Virginia Association of Scholars report, “Should Virginians
    Pay for University ‘Diversity’ Leftism?”

    In 2020, UVa spent more money than any other public Virginia university on DEI staff and salaries. In 2021, UVa doubled the number of administrators and increased spending on salaries by 66%.

    These numbers reflect only a fraction of the total administrative costs imposed by the DEI bureaucracy. They do not include employee benefits, office space, travel & entertainment, engagement of outside consultants and speakers, or DEI-related tasks performed by staff and faculty with other job responsibilities.

    — JAB

    UVa DEI Positions in 2020

    (more…)

  • $15 Million+ and Growing Fast

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    The Jefferson Council released the following press release at 1:00 p.m. today.

    The cost of Virginia’s higher-ed DEI bureaucracy is spinning out of control.

    CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., January 6, 2023 – Virginia’s 15 public four-year universities paid its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion administrators more than $15 million in salaries in 2020, according to a new report, “Should Virginians Pay for University ‘Diversity’ Leftism?”

    And DEI spending exploded the following year, 2021, at the two universities for which data are available: 119% at James Madison University and 66% at the University of Virginia. So found the report, which was published by the Virginia Association of Scholars and funded by The Jefferson Council and The Spirit of VMI alumni organizations.

    UVa was the biggest spender. In 2021 its DEI bureaucracy numbered 77 employees and cost $6.9 million in salaries. JMU had 65 DEI employees whose salaries totaled $5.3 million. In 2020 Virginia Tech ranked No.2 statewide in DEI spending, with 47 staff costing $4 million in salaries.

    In 2020, Virginia State University, a historically Black university, and the Virginia Military Institute, a senior military college, were the only two institutions without a DEI staffer. VMI hired a DEI director in 2021. (more…)

  • New VCCS Chancellor Focuses on Linking Industry and Education

    Posted on

    by

    Bob Rayner

    by Shaun Kenney

    One of Virginia’s hidden jewels is our community college system. For both bang for the buck and ease of access, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is perhaps one of our most underutilized resources, not simply because of the architecture or infrastructure, but because of the sheer quality of both the professors and — quite frankly — the students who move through the system.

    Governor Glenn Youngkin came into office with specific intentions about how the VCCS should meet the 21st century, ideas which rubbed the existing VCCS board in the wrong way at first. Chalk it up to politics, image management, or that great enemy of all communication (miscommunication).

    With the selection of David Doré as the new chancellor of VCCS, whatever sour first impressions there might have been have ended in compromise. In fact, it is hard to see where anyone could have gone wrong with the selection at all. (more…)

  • Politics, Virginia Style

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Bill Bolling

    It has been said that if you love politics, Virgina is a great place to be because there is an election every year! This year, 2023, will be no exception with all 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly up for grabs.

    But 2023 will not be your typical General Assembly election year.

    Thanks to the complete failure of the new Virginia Redistricting Commission to successfully complete its work, new legislative districts were drawn by the Supreme Court of Virginia, and to say that the Supreme Court shook things up would be a gross understatement.

    For example, consider the Virginia State Senate.

    Under the new redistricting plan approved by the Supreme Court, no less than 14 of the Senate’s incumbent legislators find themselves paired in districts with another incumbent Senator, often a Senator of the same political party.

    Some of the notable pairings include: (more…)

  • Why Law Enforcement Supports Gov. Youngkin’s Behavioral Health Transformation

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Deputies

    by James C. Sherlock

    Updated Jan 6 at 13:10.

    Virginia’s sheriffs and police chiefs are reasonably hardened by what they see every day.

    They have very difficult jobs to do and are unlikely, either individually or in groups, to support nonsense.

    Governor Glenn Youngkin has accepted the challenge of finally fixing Virginia’s behavioral health system. He is strongly supported in that effort by Virginia’s sheriffs and police chiefs.

    This is a straightforward proposition for law enforcement.

    • They want people with mental health crises treated by professionals before they commit crimes, not after; and
    • They want them housed when necessary in facilities appropriate to the task of treating them, not in jails.

    The Governor proposes to spend $341.6 million in the next fiscal year on that problem, including $123 million in new funding.

    • The law enforcement community sees that as a bargain.
    • Neither the Governor nor law enforcement are known to put up with failure.

    The case is sufficiently compelling for small government conservatives to back this effort. (more…)

  • RVA 5×5 — Who Really Voted Down The Casino Referendum?

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Jon Baliles

    The casino referendum is the issue that won’t go away — kind of like a desperate or compulsive gambler who stays put because the next hand is the winning hand, or the slot player who is completely convinced the next pull of that handle will deliver the jackpot. At some point, you need to walk away.

    The relentless effort to build a casino in Richmond and revive the referendum for the third time in 2023 (it failed in 2021 and tried but failed to return to the ballot in 2022) is about to become the hottest potato tossed around the General Assembly session when it opens next week. I won’t bore you to tears with recapping the details from the past few months — this is a look back at the vote in 2021 and what it means in 2023 — but you can read more about the non-stop casino drama here, here, and here, if you so desire.

    The people voted the casino down in 2021 in a referendum that was required by the state, but Mayor Stoney and others looked at the results and concluded the easiest and most convenient explanation of the final tally could be explained by race. Except, what Stoney and others maybe didn’t realize is that the voting data show that the referendum failed because a huge number of Terry McAuliffe voters also voted against the casino.

    The Stage

    Before we get into the data, however, let’s set the stage. Richmond is lobbying the legislature hard as we speak and will stop at nothing to get the referendum back on the ballot in 2023. Petersburg wants to have a shot at a casino referendum next year and make Richmond wait a few years since they already tried and failed. If Richmond does get approval for another referendum, the casino applicant in Petersburg has said it will not move forward with its plan and there would be no need for a referendum in Petersburg. So, the stakes are clear and the battle has already been joined. Stay tuned.

    The inability of Richmond’s leaders to get the casino application/selection process completed and on the ballot for the 2020 election (like the other four casinos in Virginia did) cost them dearly. In a presidential year, that referendum would have been approved easily given the high level of turnout (the other four cities approved their referendums in 2020 with at least 65%). We saw a tight gubernatorial race in 2021 (with a record voter turnout for a gubernatorial election, but still lower than a presidential year), and the casino referendum went down to a very narrow defeat. (more…)

  • Things Fall Apart: Workforce Edition

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    A friend of mine, a Richmond-area attorney, received this message from his accountant explaining the increasingly difficult conditions in which his business was operating:

    Increasingly, we’ve experienced extreme disruption with our US Postal Service as well as the handling of payments by government agencies, regardless if they have confirmed delivery. This has caused unwanted computer-generated notices and unwarranted penalties and interest. The Virginia Department of Taxation has also recognized this issue and has announced that all tax payments above $1,500 MUST be made electronically.

    Pre-COVID, I bemoaned the increased complexity of our information systems and the glitches that result from their imperfect interoperability. Now add to that the labor shortage — not just the shortage of workers with the necessary technical skills but with the right attitudes. After a generation of setting lower expectations, demanding less precision and exactitude, and excusing failure and mediocrity to spare children’s tender feelings, we have created a generation of young people who are sloppier and more careless than their predecessors.

    The other day, I encountered a young woman behind the cash register who had trouble making change for a dollar. I’d never seen that before. Ever.

    The problems experienced by my friend are murder on workforce productivity. We all suffer from it, even if we don’t see what is in plain sight. (more…)

  • Democrats Want to Raise Youngkin-Proposed Mental Health Budget Increase

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Health Resources and Services Administration Mental Health Care Health Professional Shortage Areas, by State, as of September 30, 2022, data.HRSA.go.                 Courtesy Governor Youngkin

    by James C. Sherlock

    There is fundamental agreement in Richmond over mental health services.

    From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

    Virginia’s forecasts of long-term budget surpluses mean this year’s General Assembly has a chance to catch up with years of under-funding Virginia schools and the state’s behavioral health system, General Assembly Democrats say.

    To govern is to choose. “Democrats” may wish they had used different words than “years of underfunding,” considering who had control in Richmond in 2020 and 2021.

    But it is actually helpful that they now think even the governor’s proposal for a 20% increase in the mental health budget approved last year is not enough. If (a big if) more money can be spent efficiently and effectively.

    The governor has proposed a $230 million increase in behavioral health program spending over what was approved last year.

    So, as the old saying goes, they are just discussing price.

    Let’s look at the behavioral health situation to see why. (more…)

  • Mysterious Laptop May Hold Clues To Virginia Beach Mass Shooting

    Posted on

    by

    Robin Beres

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Most of the country is focused on the chaos taking place in Congress.

    That’s nothing compared to the slice of crazy unfolding in Virginia Beach.

    As best we can stitch together from Facebook and stories in The Virginian-Pilot, a member of the House of Delegates has been sitting on what could be a key piece of evidence in the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center in May of 2019.

    Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, a Democrat, claims to have a laptop belonging to Dewayne Craddock , the city employee who murdered 12 people in a gruesome bloodbath in Building 2 on May 31, 2019 before he was finally killed by police.

    According to a Facebook post Wednesday, Convirs-Fowler no longer has possession of the mysterious laptop, but has entrusted it to her lawyer.

    The delegate refused to turn the computer over to Virginia Beach police who wanted to authenticate it as belonging to Craddock and examine it to see what’s on it.

    According to The Pilot, Convirs-Fowler is also refusing to return the laptop to the woman who allegedly possessed it after the shootings. Convirs-Fowler was given the laptop by a third party.

    Confused yet?
    (more…)

  • You’ll Have to Pry My Steering Wheel from My Cold, Dead Fingers

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    The latest from the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy….

    I don’t have any philosophical objections to electric vehicles. If they offer better performance for the price than combustion-powered cars, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one. I do have public-policy reservations about government subsidies for EVs and EV infrastructure, and I do have concerns about the impact of a 100% electric fleet on the reliability of the electric grid. But none of that would dissuade me from buying an EV.

    Here’s what would dissuade me: government mandates taking away my freedom of choice.

    As the TJI clip highlights, current Virginia law essentially requires California EV mandates to apply to Virginia. That law anticipates banning the sale of new combustion vehicles within ten years. If you want to buy a new car, it’ll have to be an electric vehicle.

    My reaction: Go Californicate yourself.

    I’ll drive my Rogue Sport as long as it lasts, as long as spare parts can be scavenged from junk yards, and as long as there are still gas stations to sell me fuel.

    — JAB

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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