Sharp-eyed blogger Rick Sincere noticed an all-but-forgotten name under a letter to the editor in the Sunday Richmond Times-Dispatch: Wyatt B. Durrette, Jr., former Republican candidate for Attorney General and Governor in the 80’s. An enjoyable Virginia political history lesson follows.

I just took a stroll around some of our sister and brother Virginia blogs, finding lots of good stuff. Commonwealth Conservative is impressed with Republican Sean Connaughton, candidate for Lt. Governor … Virginia Progressive has promised to keep an eye on Republican gubernatorial long-shot George Fitch … Sic Semper Tyrannis is all over a charge…

If you do a Google search using the keywords “miserable failure” the top hit returned by Google is President George W. Bush’s biography posted on the White House website. You can’t even find the words “failure” or “miserable” in the text of the biography. Apparently, this trick is possible because Google searches more than just…

Gotta love Jon Baliles, aka “Snoopy,” over at RiverCity Rapids blog. He sat through the public comment session on a baseball stadium for downtown Richmond and summarized an incredible number of three minute opinions. I don’t know how local government officials do it. I can’t bear to watch more than a few televised moments of…

Virginia is apparently going to be build a data center in Richmond, a back-up data center, and a help desk/call center as a follow-on to the creation of VITA, the Virginia Information Technology Agency. The Bristol Herald Courier editorial page is urging that the back-up center be built in Wise County to take advantage of…

Back in 1996, budget cuts eliminated the job of State Archaeologist. Now, according to the Virginian-Pilot, the job is about to come back via HB 2078. With all this surplus floating around and the Jamestown 2007 celebration coming up, who wants the state to be shorthanded in archaeology? The last State Archaeologist, Catherine Slusser, is…

Fellow bloggers, help me out. The rash of “social” legislation during the current General Assembly session has created a strong impression on me. Is Virginia getting more culturally conservative? Virginia is part of the Bible Belt, of course, and I know the history of the blue laws and gambling restrictions and all that. But within…

Voting 9-6, a Senate committee today defeated Delegate Dick Black’s ‘fetal pain’ bill after medical experts testified that administering pain-killers to a fetus could endanged the life of the mother.

Many of the good-governiks who write for Bacon’s Rebellion have pointed out the deleterious effects of gerrymandering on Virginia. Some would say the problems are on display in Capitol Square right now. There’s an anti-gerrymandering movement gaining a small head of steam in California. The Golden State often leads the way for the nation on…

Dahlia Lithwick, a senior editor at Slate and, if I’m not mistaken, a Charlottesville area resident, has a good analysis of the church-state issues raised by a recent Staunton School Board decision. The board has allowed a program of religious instruction for elementary students to continue. Here’s the rub: Several Staunton parents—many of them new…

The Senate Finance Committee today gutted the House of Delegates proposed billion dollar transportation package in a move one observer described as a ‘bitch slapping.’

The Senate Courts Committee this afternoon killed Delegate Dick Black’s bill that would have required adoption authorities to ascertain whether prospective adoptive adults had ever engaged in homosexual behavior. There was no vote. The bill died for lack of a motion. Or lack of emotion. Or lack of interest. Or of boredom. There just seemed…

As expected the Senate Finance Committee this afternoon killed a proposal by House Republicans to finish implementation of the car tax cut by phasing out the remaining 30% over the next six years. The move leaves intact state reimbursement for the locally-imposed property tax at an aggregate of $950 million annually. At present, that amount…

Vince Callahan (THE chairman)Lacey Putnet (Senior member, 44 years, token ‘Independent’. Wink. Wink.)Kirk Cox (Herr Ideologue)Leo Wardrup (Fearless old salt, UNC graduate)Phil Hamilton (Token Centrist. For real!)Johnny Joannou (Has chip implanted in his head to receive messages from the Speaker.)

On page 1A above the fold and on page 1B (Metro) The Washington Post does it again today. Instead of helping citizens understand how to overcome congestion and lack of mobility, they spend prime media exposure and resources on the funding of transport facilities. Nowhere do they indicate that building new roadways or rail extensions…