VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local

My latest op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot Wednesday. In it, I take a brief look at some of the implications of a merger between Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School, a study of which has been proposed by Del. Johnny Joannou in HJ173. As an ODU alum, I would love to have a … Continue reading »

In its informal session yesterday, Norfolk City Council received a presentation on the proposals for Waterside. The document that was presented is here (pdf) and the video is here. Of equal interest to me in the session yesterday was an update on the Community Services Board. City Manager Marcus Jones’ information on how to handle … Continue reading »

Republican candidate Willard “Mitt” Romney released his tax returns late last night. He wasn’t kidding when he said “returns” plural: in addition to his personal 2010 returns, Romney released those of three trusts and a charitable foundation, plus an estimate of his 2011 return. The trusts are all grantor trusts, and the income from those … Continue reading »

Businessman Paul Hirschbiel officially announced his candidacy in the 2nd Congressional district today. The picture at left was taken from the campaign’s Facebook page and includes Sen. Mark Warner and former LG candidate Jody Wagner. I was unable to attend but local TV station, WVEC, was there. Below is their report.  

A quick look at some of the stories and other stuff from the past week. VA Republican primary: still Romney v Paul This was my lead last Saturday but it appears it is now final. Rick Perry appealed the judge’s ruling but the appeal was denied. Absentee ballots have been printed and voting has begun. … Continue reading »

I live in Ward 4, which is represented on the Norfolk City Council by Paul Riddick. I was saddened to see the story in Thursday’s paper about his owing more than $246,000 in back taxes. Alerted to the story when it first went online Wednesday afternoon, I thought it might just be the filing of … Continue reading »

Yes, I’m still on my school kick Back in the day, we didn’t have spell checkers. To see some of the writings these days, you’d think spell checkers didn’t even exist So while this is all in good fun, the truth is I wish more people would learn to spell. Or at least how to … Continue reading »

It seems that every day someone is writing a law or policy to take away our right to do something. The one that seems to keep coming up a lot lately is Freedom of Speech. At the national level the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate or the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in … Continue reading »

At a time when some localities in the 5th Congressional District have high unemployment rates, our congressman, Robert Hurt (R-Chatham) has been doing exactly as he is told. His masters in Congress give him the instructions. This means voting against extended unemployment, voting against actual job plans brought to the House, and voting to restrict … Continue reading »