Tag: Guest contributors
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Why Offshore Drilling Is Good for Virginia
By Mark Greene According to a recent study, safely tapping Virginia’s offshore natural gas and oil reserves could provide nearly $1.8 billion of private investment annually in the Commonwealth. While many are quick to judge this initiative, all of the facts should first be considered. For example, federal revenue sharing could help transform the state…
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Grading Virginia at Crossover? Give them an A!
by Chris Saxman We are now on Day 38 of the General Assembly and only have 22 more days to go before Sine Die (adjournment) on March 10th. Tuesday of this week marked Crossover when each legislative chamber must have acted on its respective legislation, which is then sent over to the other chamber. House…
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Logging on from the Boonies
by S.E. Warwick Last December, the RUOnlineVA statewide, broadband-demand survey reported that “23 percent of respondents have no option for fixed internet access and 48 percent rely on technologies that are too slow or expensive to support critical applications.” These statistics reflect conditions not only in rural southwest Virginia, but just a few miles from…
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More P3s Coming. Taxpayers, Hang onto Your Wallets
by Randy Salzman The history of American transportation “public private partnerships” indicates that virtually all P3 shell companies go bankrupt before paying back federal loans and the “private activity bonds” which they sold to finance part of the debt. When these firms go bankrupt, who loses? Taxpayers. We get stuck (1) with paying back the…
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Verizon Decision Leaves Powhatan with Tough Internet Choices
By John Szczesny “How they heck can we get broadband internet?” That’s the question being asked in rural Powhatan County, where officials earlier this month held a meeting with frustrated residents living without a vital connection to the world around them. Cable never came to these folks; their neighborhoods weren’t densely settled enough to suit…
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Cycling Rolls through Chesterfield, but Will it Reach the Finish Line?
By John Szczesny It’s official, maybe: 360 new miles of bike paths and trails in Chesterfield County. Whether the plan endorsed this week by the Board of Supervisors in a 3-2 vote ever gets funded (and built) remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt cycling advocates scored a big victory. Given county staff’s initial…
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Striking a Balance on Municipal Broadband
by John Szczesny Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes… towards municipal broadband, that is. As officials in the Roanoke Valley move forward with plans for a municipal fiber network the state of North Carolina is busy suing the FCC to prevent its local governments from doing the same. To be fair, municipal broadband is no…
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No Easy Route on the Jeff Davis Highway
by John Szczesny Kudos to the Richmond Times-Dispatch for putting a human face on Chesterfield County’s plan to revitalize the Jefferson Davis Highway corridor. The RTD’s Pathway to Poverty feature is a sobering look at how poverty and homelessness have made life a daily struggle for so many in the area. It also begs the…