Tag: Dick Hall-Sizemore
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Report From the Front Lines
by Dick Hall-Sizemore I served as an officer of election yesterday in my home precinct. It was a quiet day. There were periods lasting ten minutes or more when there were absolutely no voters in the polling place. Then several people would come in and then there would be another quiet period. Between 4:30 and…
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Well, That Policy Change Didn’t Last Long
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/06/16/trump-farms-hotels-immigration-raids
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Trump Backs Off from Deporting Some Undocumented Immigrants
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Immigrants who work in certain sectors of Virginia’s economy, and their employers, can rest a little easier now. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump administration has ordered immigration agents to cease their sweep operations at agriculture and hospitality industry worksites. On June 12, a senior ICE official sent an e-mail…
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Storm’s Coming. Where’s FEMA?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore At his press conference in the Virginia Emergency Operation Center last fall in the aftermath of Hurricane Helen, Gov. Glenn Youngkin introduced “my newest best friend”—the representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (The “best friend” comment can be found at the 13:15 mark in the video.) When a major disaster…
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Bits and Pieces
by Dick Hall-Sizemore I have always thought that local government was the most interesting level of government to watch. Officials from two jurisdictions made the news (not in a good way) last week. Martinsville. A member of city council, Aaron Rawls, filed a lawsuit in federal court charging that the city manager and a deputy sheriff had…
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The Vanishing Starter Home
by Dick Hall-Sizemore When I moved to Richmond in the early 1970s, fresh out of graduate school, my wife and I rented a house for a couple of years. Then, with the help from my in-laws with the down payment, we purchased a “starter” home—a three-bedroom, one-bath, brick rancher, much like the one we had been…
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Sanctuary Localities All Over Virginia
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Trump administration has announced a list of “sanctuary” cities and counties that it is targeting. The President has threatened to pull federal funding and file suits against those localities that don’t change their practices that the administration deems make it harder for it to carry out its agenda of deporting undocumented…
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Kernels
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Chicken Tacos, Please Many Virginians, including this writer, have been warily following the financial markets and their investment portfolios as President Trump’s tariff policies change almost daily, seemingly on a whim sometimes. They should be encouraged by a term coined, as reported by the New York Times, on Wall Street to describe…
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The UVa of Mr. Jefferson
by Dick Hall-Sizemore We hear a lot on this blog regarding the current state of the University of Virginia. The Jefferson Council wants to lead it “back to Thomas Jefferson’s legacy of freedom and excellence.” If one examines the actual early years of UVa under the direction of the Sage of Monticello, an interesting contrast arises.…
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Trump Policies Hitting Southwest Va.
by Dick Hall-Sizemore It is not only Northern Virginia that is beginning to feel the effects of Trump administration policies and actions. Southwest Virginia, Trump territory, is also being affected. Earlier this month, Volvo announced it would be laying off 250-350 employees at its Volvo Trucks New River Valley plant in Pulaski County. As reported…
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About That $660 Million
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Earlier this year, I had an article in Bacon’s Rebellion discussing the concerns of U.S. Senator Mark Warner about a possible hold-up of federal disaster funds meant for the repair of the damage to the Virginia Creeper Trail caused by Hurricane Helene. Several readers expressed their consternation, and rightly so, at the…
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Talking Out of Both Sides of Their Mouths
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Two members of Virginia’s Congressional delegation, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-2nd District) and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-1st District) seem to be in a bind over how to handle budget decisions coming up later this year in Congress. As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, they joined ten other Republican members of the House of…
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Making America Great Again
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Is this what makes America great again? Before you answer, consider: Finally, can anyone identify a period in this country’s history (“again”) when such actions were considered to have made America great?
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No Rubber Stamps Wanted Here
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In addition to making a person really sick and miserable, the flu can be deadly. According to Virginia Dept. of Health data, 243 Virginians have died due to flu during the current flu season (Aug. 1, 2024 to March 29, 2025). Five of those deaths were children. During its peak, the week…
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City of Richmond Bumbles Along
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Hopefully, the new Richmond mayor, Danny Avula, will avoid the examples of his recent predecessors who spent their terms chasing shiny, big economic development projects and instead will try to improve the basic operations of city government. That will be a tall order in itself. One of my long-term complaints has been…