Reminder: The deadline for signing up for the Norfolk Real Estate Tax Relief Program for the Elderly and Disabled is June 1.
Suffolk council has agreed to – but not voted on – a real estate tax rate reduction, making the proposed rate of 94 cents per $100 of assessed value the lowest in the region.
The Norfolk School Board has approved a plan to give new teachers a signing bonus. Also included is a raise for veteran teachers that exceeds the cost of living. One of the points made by Superintendent Stephen Jones at my civic league meeting last Tuesday was that Norfolk teacher pay needed to be increased in order to be competitive. He mentioned the solicitation of Norfolk teachers by Virginia Beach. Perhaps this increase will help maintain the teachers in our award-winning school system.
George Bush’s visit to Hampton Roads tomorrow for a fundraiser for Thelma Drake is likely to be met by competing demonstrations of fans and foes.
Areas of Virginia Beach, between 54th and 71st streets on the city’s North End, have been closed for swimming due to high levels of bacteria.
The immigration bill is moving through the US Senate but the Republicans in the US House is balking at what they consider to be a plan for amnesty.
The stock market ended the day Wednesday down signficantly – the largest one day drop in three years – due to concerns about inflation that may cause the Federal Reserve to continue increasing interest rates. With jobless claims increasing, the Fed will likely remained focused on fighting inflation.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Vivian: Are you aware that the Senate version of the immigration bill contains expansions of “business visa” or “non-immigrant visa” programs used to replace American white collar workers — esp. information technology workers? The business lobbies have been working overtime to use this as an opportunity to increase the numbers of skilled, college-educated foreign white collar workers permitted into the U.S. Latest reports have Sen. Dorgan repeatedly attempting to remove these provisions but lobbying by groups such as the ITAA (Miller’s last employer) and CompeteAmerica is ramming this through. Look for references to the “H-1b” and new “F-4” visa categories… It’s appalling. I’ve been reading about it all week: email, newsletters, web sites but the MSM is ignoring the matter or clueless. This is devastating to American workers in the high tech jobs sector.