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Merry Christmas from Bacon’s Rebellion
Grok imagines a Christmas celebration in Jamestown.
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When Is “Affordability” Not Affordable?
Affordability is a goal that everyone can get behind. I eagerly await an informed and dispassionate discussion by legislators of Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger’s 17-point agenda to achieve that goal.
Just a couple of reminders: Redistributing wealth from Group A to Group B might make life more affordable for Group B, but not Group A. More regulations might make one thing more affordable, but they often have unintended consequences that make something else less affordable.
I invite readers to comment on Spanberger’s proposals with those reminders in mind.
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Worth Reading….
Charlottesville, VA, Eliminating Use of Camera Systems Because Feds Might Track Illegal Aliens
From David Strom with Hot Air: “The Charlottesville police department will drop its use of the Flock license plate reading camera system due to concerns that the federal government might find illegal aliens it is looking for if it gets ahold of the data.”
Money quote:
Now, a city council has decided that solving murders and reuniting children with their families is all well and good, but when compared to saving an illegal alien gang member from being deported, it’s nothing.
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The Fever Is Breaking
Source: Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia Reports. Hispanics not broken out as a separate category. The number of homicides in Virginia declined in 2024 for the second year in a row after peaking in 2022 — down 24.5 percent during the two-year period — according to Virginia State Police data, including the just-published Crime in Virginia 2024 report.
The 109 murders and non-negligent homicides with White victims fell in 2024 to a significantly lower level than in the pre-COVID/George Floyd years. The overall homicide surge that followed the social upheaval beginning in 2020 was marked by a detectable but temporary increase in White homicides, although it was less marked than that for Blacks. (The number for Asians has been negligible all along.) The number of excess homicides (above 2019 numbers) for Whites in Virginia has been about 70.
The 305 homicides recorded for Black victims in 2024 also represented a big decline from the peak, although the number still remained significantly above the pre-COVID/George Floyd years. The number of excess (above 2019) deaths for Blacks in Virginia from 2020 to 2024 has been about 660.
The irony is that the cultural, rhetorical and criminal-justice changes that occurred during the “Black Lives Matter” era coincided with an estimated 660 excess Black deaths in Virginia. Perhaps it is time for the authors of those changes to be held morally and politically to account. — JAB
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The Losers in Wind Project Fight are the Ratepayers
By Derrick Max
Derrick Max President Trump’s decision to suspend Dominion Energy’s massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project is sure to stir up another gale of political fights across the Commonwealth. While some will hail it as a triumph for fiscal and national security; others will see it as an assault on clean energy. Both sides are worthy of debate before such projects are ever approved but are now trumped by one single fact – ending this project at this point of construction will strand at least $8 billion on Virginia ratepayers without getting a single kilowatt of power in return.
CVOW is no ordinary renewable project. It was created by legislative command. The 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) declared Dominion’s 2.6-gigawatt wind farm “in the public interest,” effectively tying the hands of the State Corporation Commission and guaranteeing Dominion full cost recovery and profit. The risk doesn’t sit with shareholders — it sits with Virginia’s ratepayers.
The Thomas Jefferson Institute opposed that structure from the start. We warned that forcing captive customers to underwrite an unproven, high-cost project located in a hurricane prone region would expose Virginians to escalating bills with little accountability. Yet when a group recently asked the federal government to shut CVOW down, we declined to join. Why? Because government shouldn’t pick winners and losers — not when it mandates projects, and not when it stops them. Especially when a project is in its final stretch and no economic analysis of such a decision has been completed (or shared).
If the project were canceled in its final buildout phase, Dominion would still seek recovery for billions in sunk costs, leaving consumers paying for turbines that never turn. That would be even worse for ratepayers than finishing the project.
The Trump administration’s pause is tied to classified national security concerns involving foreign-made components — undersea cables, turbine electronics, and data systems linked to Chinese suppliers. Those concerns are legitimate. The U.S. has already barred Huawei from telecom networks for similar reasons, and it would be naive to ignore potential risks in critical energy infrastructure.
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Fairfax County’s Sanctuary Policy Is Costing Lives
by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
Republished with permission from IWFeaturesOn Dec. 17, Marvin Fernando Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly shot and killed a man in Reston, Virginia. Only the day before, Fairfax County officials ignored an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer request and released him from jail.
According to case documents from the Fairfax County General District Court, police had arrested Morales-Ortez on Sept. 14 for a misdemeanor firearms charge and a felony malicious assault charge. Morales-Ortez, an illegal alien from El Salvador, is allegedly an MS-13 gang member and has a remarkably long criminal rap sheet.
Fairfax County Police reportedly obtained an emergency custody order for Morales-Ortez after his release from jail on Dec. 16 due to mental health and danger concerns. They were unable to locate him at that time. He is accused of murdering the man in Reston mere hours later.
And this isn’t even the first time Morales-Ortez will face a murder charge in court. Police arrested him in connection with the 2019 murder of Jose Lorenzo Guillen Mejia, also in Reston. While a transcript of his preliminary hearing in 2021 reveals that Morales-Ortez confessed to being present during the murder, and that he struck Meija three times with a machete, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Steve Descano, dropped the charges against him.
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PJM Capacity Prices Tick Even Higher Into 2028
by Steve Haner
Last week’s PJM capacity price per megawatt-day, to start summer of 2027. The regional electric grid operator that serves Virginia held another of its periodic auctions to secure sufficient supply for the future last week and the price went up again, slightly higher than in last summer’s auction. Even worse news, PJM Interconnection fell short of securing its target amount needed to guarantee reliability.
PJM has been holding auctions for future supply on an accelerated basis, and the one last week secured energy contracts for late 2027 through early 2028. With the new contract period 18 months away, there is time for some adjustments by accelerating new supply or recalculating the forecasts. The shortfall still set off alarm bells at a meeting of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The price paid was $333 per megawatt-day, up slightly from the $329 per megawatt-day price in the July 2025 auction (for the 2026-27 rate period). Those prices are for the entire PJM region, so will apply to Dominion Energy, Appalachian Power Company, and the various regional electric cooperatives in Virginia. The cooperatives are the most sensitive to capacity pricing due to their reliance on purchased power.
Dominion’s need for purchased power is likely to spike substantially if President Trump’s Administration succeeds in cancelling the Dominion offshore wind project. A pause in construction of the 2.6-gigawatt facility was announced yesterday. The other four projects paused are outside the PJM territory, but if they do fully die it will change all the electricity math on the East Coast.
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Block the Flocks?
According to the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism, there are well over 1,000 Flock license-plate readers in Virginia. Here follows a Copilot AI-generated article about the cameras.
Flock cameras in Virginia are automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) used for surveillance and law enforcement, recently regulated by new legislation aimed at balancing public safety and privacy concerns.
Purpose and functionality
Flock cameras are designed to capture images of vehicles, including license plates, make, model, and other identifying features. They are widely used across Virginia, with municipalities like Bridgewater employing these cameras to monitor traffic and assist in criminal investigations. For instance, Bridgewater’s five Flock cameras capture images of nearly 60,000 vehicles monthly, and the data collected has been accessed millions of times by law enforcement agencies.
Flock camera locations in southeastern quadrant of the state. Source: Deflock. Click here to view interactive map. Recent legislative changes
In 2025, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed a law regulating the use of Flock cameras. Key provisions of the law include:
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FLASH: Trump Administration Stops CVOW Construction Work
by Steve Haner
Virginian-Pilot photo. I was wondering why Dominion Energy had not issued its quarterly report on the progress of its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, or why when down there earlier this month, watching with binoculars from a high hotel room, I could see no sign of any activity on the construction site. Now we know.
WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior announced today that it is pausing—effective immediately—the leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States due to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports. This pause will give the Department, along with the Department of War and other relevant government agencies, time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.
“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers. The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.”
The following leases are paused:
- Vineyard Wind 1 (OCS-A 0501)
- Revolution Wind (OCS-A 0486)
- CVOW – Commercial (OCS-A 0483)
- Sunrise Wind (OCS-A 0487)
- Empire Wind 1 (OCS-A 0512)
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Old School Journalism
by Dick Hall-Sizemore
Joe Gatins, 1946-2013 While recently lamenting to myself the sad state of local journalism, I began ruminating about the outstanding reporters for the Richmond Times-Dispatch who used to kept us informed. There was James Latimer, the dean of political reporters; Charles McDowell with his wry wit and columns about national politics; Shelly Rolfe and his insights into state finances; and Dale Eisman and his investigative reporting.
But, my favorite was Joe Gatins, who covered the General Assembly for many years. Joe retired from the RTD in 1996 and died from a heart attack in 2013. In appearance, Joe seemed to be a reporter from a 1940’s movie. He seemed to be always disheveled. He wore wide floral print ties that were often stained. His tweed sport coat was frayed.
Despite his appearance, he was persistent and respected. “In my dealings with him, I found his word to be his bond,” Jay Cochran, former director of the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said of him. “His reporting was always accurate, without editorializing or inflammatory language.”
His obituary describes him as the “tormentor of Virginia’s political class.” One incident illustrates this role perfectly. Late during a General Assembly session, the Senate Finance Committee was meeting late in the afternoon. As it recessed for dinner, Sen. Ed Willey, the crusty chairman, admonished the members not to imbibe too much during dinner because they had a lot of work ahead. Nevertheless, when the committee members reassembled after dinner, it was obvious that several had had more than a couple of glasses of wine for dinner. Seriously perturbed, Willey lectured them soundly. Then, turning to Gatins, who was covering the committee meeting, he said (paraphrased), “Now, Joe, if you print any of this, I’m going to throw you out that window.” (The committee met on one of the upper stories of the old General Assembly Building.) The story in the next day’s edition of the RTD related the lecture Willey delivered to his members along with Willey’s threat to throw the reporter out the window.
We need more “tormentors of the political class.”
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Chap Petersen’s Least Favorite Things
Crying snowflake image credit: Grok by Chap Petersen
It’s nearly the end of the year. Christmas will soon be here. In the spirit of the season, we need to celebrate all the great things that happened and be glad.
But what about the not-so-great things? Sometimes speaking them can be a form of purging. So, with apologies to Julie Andrews, here is my swan song for 2025: “A Few of My Least Favorite Things.”
(sung to the tune of “My Favorite Things”)
One party rule and Insider elections
Redistricting bills with mid-decade corrections
NFL seasons that last into spring
These are a few of my (least) favorite thingsIllegal lockdowns and child face masking
Blowing up speed boats without even asking
Large data centers and all that they bring
These are a few of my (least) favorite thingsPolitical reps that all sound like each other
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Snowflakes that cry and cling to their mother
Men that wear turtlenecks, girls that can’t sing
These are a few of my (least) favorite things
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What Is UVA’s Research Overhead?
And how much is driven by DEI? UVA won’t say.
Open the Books has published a new report, “Transparency Crisis,” examining the percentage of research funding devoted to university overhead. Nationally, 50% to 60% of federal research grants go to overhead, which is meant to cover university and departmental infrastructure and support. “Recent reports,” states Open the Books, “have suggested exorbitant overhead spending feeds into bloated university administrations that distract from academic inquiry, including through roles and spending related to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The report did in-depth analyses of five universities, including the University of Virginia. I have excerpted the UVA section below. — JAB
University of Virginia only gave Open the Books salary data for the years 2019, 2021, and 2024, although we asked for data from 2013, 2015, and 2017 as well. It is unclear why we did not receive the complete data that we asked for, but lack of transparency prevents the public from understanding historic trends in spending and staffing.
Additionally, UVA was selected for this report because they had previously provided salary spending databases that included both departments and titles when Open the Books investigated the university in 2024. Having staff salary data that includes departmental information is essential for counting DEI-related positions. This time, UVA only provided titles with no department connection. Therefore, Open the Books cannot include DEI-related staffing as part of this analysis.
From 2019-2023 UVA received $1.5 billion in federal R&D grants, or about $300 million per year. Grants came mostly from the Department of Health and Human Services ($1 billion). The Department of Defense (now referred to as the Department of War) and the National Science Foundation followed with about $180 million each.
Because there is no public dataset with all overhead rates, the public relies on universities to post the rates themselves. UVA, unlike many universities, does not post their overhead rate on their website.
Total university staff increased by about 2,000 over the five years of available data: from 9,799 in 2019 to 11,783 in 2024. Salary spending likewise grew from $966 million in 2019 and $1.3 billion in 2024.
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Illegal Alien Charged With Murder In Fairfax County
Kerry Dougherty provides an update on that illegal alien, Marvin Fernando Ortiz, charged with shooting his roommate a day after his release from Fairfax County jail. (See “Social Breakdown Update: Fairfax Edition.”)
Ortiz That’s right. This illegal hairbag was in jail – and released – last week but the order to turn him over to ICE in order to deport his illegal derriere back to El Salvador, was ignored by the sanctuary county of Fairfax.
Not only that, seems this particular illegal has been arrested at least six times in Fairfax County (God knows how many times in other jurisdictions) since 2020 on charges ranging from assault and battery, to brandishing a firearm to larceny and disorderly conduct.
Why wasn’t Ortez deported the last six times he was in custody by Fairfax law enforcement?
Instead, they waited until he killed someone to decide to actually lock him up without bail.
It’s worth noting that Descano is not only a George Soros puppet, he’s also a major supporter and pal of governor-elect Abigail Spanberger.
You’ve been warned, Virginia.
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An Affordability Suggestion
by Dick Hall-Sizemore
Gov.-elect Spanberger has released her plan to make Virginia more affordable. Forgive me if I do not see a lot in there that would quickly make life more affordable for most average Virginians. However, Dwayne Yancey of Cardinal News has identified a measure that could make a major expense more affordable for many Virginia families—college fees, intercollegiate athletic fees in particular.
Yancey uses James Madison University as an example. Its football team is one of the 12 teams that made this year’s College Football Playoff. His research revealed that “JMU’s mandatory student fees for [intercollegiate] athletics are more than four times higher than all the other College Football Playoff schools combined.” To be fair, those other schools they have revenue from lucrative TV deals they or their conferences negotiated.
The charges assessed by public institutions of higher education in Virginia can be divided into three categories—tuition, mandatory fees, and room and board. Most of the public attention is on tuition, but mandatory fees and room and board costs exceed tuition and are the fastest growing portion of higher education costs. For anyone interested in the costs of public institutions of higher education in Virginia, this report from the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia has a wealth of information.
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Violent Crime Down 7% in 2024, Homicides by 19%
Source: Crime in Virginia 2024 Hooray, the Virginia State Police has finally published its Crime in Virginia 2024 report! The big news was that violent crime in the commonwealth dropped 7% that year compared to 2023. The number of homicides (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter) declined from 520 in 2023 to 421 in 2024 — 19 percent!
There’s much more to unpack in the report, and I hope to hit the highlights in future posts. — JAB
