Search
Friday Read These Founding Fathers Were Frenemies. Maybe We Can Learn Something.
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is one of the most beloved sites in America, drawing more than 300,000 visitors a year up a steep mountain road to enjoy majestic views of the Virginia Piedmont and house tours that can feel like stepping into its creator’s complicated mind. But in 1775, it was a muddy construction site — and, as a guide told a tour group gathered on its front portico on a recent morning, a pretty good metaphor for the not-quite-born United States itself. “Things were just getting started, and they weren’t going great,” the guide said.
Mills: Don’t cut farmers (like me) off at the knees
As a young farmer raising tobacco, small grains, cattle and chickens alongside my dad in rural Virginia, I’ve learned one lesson very clearly: To survive as a farmer in the Southeast, you’ve got to be creative. Commodity prices swing like a pendulum, and profit margins vanish overnight. For my family, flue-cured and dark tobacco are the stabilizers — the crops that help us weather the storm and stay on the land. That’s why I’m sounding the alarm about a little-noticed piece of the reconciliation bill making its way through Congress — one that proposes to carve tobacco out of the duty drawback program.
New Averett president says school is ‘so far from closing’ despite year of financial challenges
Averett University’s new president says he has a plan for financial recovery that includes repaying the school’s vendors and endowment, and could include further limiting academic options and selling more real estate. But the school’s ongoing financial issues are “not fatal,” and Averett will not close, Thomas Powell said. “As I meet people in town, the first question they ask me is, ‘Are you closing?’” Powell said. “Well, we are so far from closing.” The Danville school has been consumed by financial issues since last spring, when it revealed that financial mismanagement had led to a budget deficit.
Warner gets an earful at event with Richmond seniors
Virginia Senator Mark Warner was in Richmond Thursday morning to meet with seniors and groups that aid them. Many of the residents gathered in the basement of the Randolph Place senior living facility were angry with what was happening in Washington. Kate Ruby is with the Birdhouse Farmers Market, a local food source for folks who can get their SNAP funds doubled thanks to federal grants. That is until July when, thanks to cuts in Washington, Ruby said the grant funds run out. And while she was angry at the loss of funding, she was also angry about something else: “I don’t feel like we’ve got a good opposition party. I’m seeing a lot of angry noises and chest pounding, but not any real opposition!”
Virginia hits lowest recidivism rate in the United States, VADOC says
The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) recently hit a milestone, with a new study showing the Commonwealth has the lowest recidivism rate in the country. VADOC Director Chad Dotson announced Thursday that recent data shows there is a 17.6% three-year reincarceration rate for inmates in state custody. The FY2020 rate is Virginia’s lowest in more than 20 years and an improvement from FY2019, when it was at 19%. VADOC noted that the state has had the lowest or second-lowest recidivism rate in the nation for 12 consecutive years.
Howard: There is fraud and abuse in Medicaid, but it won’t cover $700 billion
To preserve tax cuts for the richest Americans, Republicans plan to add almost $3 trillion to the national debt and make deep cuts to a wide range of government programs. Medicaid is a prime target. As much as Republicans claim that these reductions will simply minimize waste, fraud and abuse, it is impossible to make sizable cuts to Medicaid without hurting thousands and thousands of Virginians. Let’s do a little math. The GOP budget would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $700 billion over the next decade. Virginia’s share of that would be at least $2 billion. Could Virginia find $200 million dollars a year in Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse for 10 years in a row? No.
Tata: Virginia must reshape its child welfare system
When I joined Virginia’s House of Delegates four years ago, improving outcomes for kids in foster care became one of my top priorities. I’ve had the privilege of meeting hundreds of incredible young people involved with our foster care system. In my conversations with them, I always focus on casting a vision that their best days are ahead. To truly make this vision a reality, much work is needed to transform our child welfare system, which faces major challenges. Last year, there were almost 95,000 reports of child abuse and neglect, about one-third higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Yancey: 10 ways Democrats can decide who to vote for in the lieutenant governor and attorney general primaries
In 1977, Virginia Democrats went into the voting booth of a party primary and came out with a statewide ticket that didn’t make any sense. Voters nominated the most liberal candidate for governor (Henry Howell) and the most conservative candidate for attorney general (Ed Lane, not just the most conservative but an actual conservative) and a candidate for lieutenant governor (Charles Robb) who was closer to the center than anyone else. To put the best face on this unusual ticket, Democrats declared it the “Rainbow Ticket.” ... General election voters were not impressed, rejecting two of the three Democratic candidates. Only Robb was elected. The choices in this year’s Democratic primaries for lieutenant governor and attorney general are more demographically diverse than in 1977, when all the candidates were white men, but less ideologically diverse ...
On anniversary of Beach shooting, a time for healing, support and reflection
Time heals all wounds, the adage goes, but the scars of the 2019 shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center remain visible and tender to the touch. The “Virginia Beach Strong” signs may be fewer in number now, the raw emotion of that day’s horror has dulled, but each May 31 still recalls the awful tragedy of 12 lives senselessly cut short on a sunny Friday afternoon.
Radford just raised property taxes almost 20% and still hasn’t paid some bills. Why the city is financially stressed.
The sharp tax increases and tightened budget that the Radford City Council approved last month are a signal of a badly needed course correction, Radford’s mayor and other officials said recently. For years, the city council’s budget decisions were based on inaccurate, overly rosy revenue projections, leaving income to lag behind expenses, officials said. It may take several more budget cycles to bring the city back to a more stable financial outlook, they said.