Category: Local

State makes $137.2 million mistake in school financing

It seems there has been $137.2 million in mistakes in the calculation of the school financing in the state's budget proposal prepared by former governor Mark Warner's staff. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission cited two errors made by the Department of Taxation: A "careless error" in which staff added, rather than subtracted, estimates … Continue reading State makes $137.2 million mistake in school financing →

VA Beach finds $20 million

First Chesapeake found $14 million. Now it appears Virginia Beach has found $20 million. My recommendation is the same: give it back. You can't miss what you never had. Since the city didn't know the extra $20 million existed, just pretend it doesn't and return it to the taxpayers. Why is that so hard to … Continue reading VA Beach finds $20 million →

Ex-death row inmate wants full exoneration

Earl Washington, Jr., currently living in Virginia Beach, spent almost 20 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. He was pardoned in 2000 by then-governor Jim Gilmore after DNA testing showed that another man committed the crime. Now that the other man, Maurice Tinsley, has been indicted, Washington plans to petition … Continue reading Ex-death row inmate wants full exoneration →

Webb web ad on TV

So I was watching the news (WVEC) a few minutes ago and the reporter was talking about the George Allen situation and ran the YouTube video. Right behind that, they ran a copy of the Jim Webb web ad, straight from the Webb for Senate website. Hey - that's one way to get a web … Continue reading Webb web ad on TV →

A few quickies

I spent about 5 hours on the phone with Microsoft this afternoon troubleshooting a network problem (still unresolved) so just time for a few quickies. Virginia Beach Today's article about the cost of the convention center makes me glad that I don't live at the Beach. It seems that they thought they were going to … Continue reading A few quickies →

Ford plant cutting back

According to PilotOnline, the Norfolk Ford plant, which employs some 2,400 workers, will either "stop production or operate on one shift instead of two until the end of the year, according to production schedules distributed to employees today." The reduction is due to poor sales of the F-150 series trucks which are built at the … Continue reading Ford plant cutting back →

Outsourcing at the IRS

Do we have a deficit? Yes. Should we do all that we can to reduce it? Yes. So why would we outsource the collection of delinquent taxes and pay a commission to collections agencies when the IRS could better collect the money? Because we have idiots in Washington. From this story, we learn that the … Continue reading Outsourcing at the IRS →

Going to try to get up a podcast

I attended yesterday's Coffee with the Candidate that Thelma Drake held at the Willow Oaks Library in Hampton. I recorded the event and I'm going to try to get a podcast of it up, once I figure out how.

Some Norfolk news

Harry Minium at the Pilot did a front page, above-the-fold article on Vice Mayor Paul R. Riddick. I knew this article was coming and had feared it would be another biased, unflattering portrait of the man. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that the article is quite good. Kudos to Minium and the Pilot for finally … Continue reading Some Norfolk news →

Who would have thought…

... that you would have former UN Ambassador, Atlanta mayor and long-time civil rights leader Andrew Young saying this about Wal-Mart replacing mom-and-pop stores: "Well, I think they should; they ran the `mom and pop' stores out of my neighborhood. But you see, those are the people who have been overcharging us, selling us stale … Continue reading Who would have thought… →