The above is the original title of an op-ed penned by 4th Circuit Court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III for the New York Times, which was reprinted in The Virginian-Pilot today. The risks of continuing our present constitutional course are grave. One faction risks damage to the nation at large, the other to the vital … Continue reading “Cry, the Beloved Constitution”
I saw it mentioned on Twitter a couple of days ago that this is Sunshine Week, a celebration of open government. The Virginia Coalition for Open Government has been tracking stories across Virginia related to this week. The nonprofit alliance was "formed to promote expanded access to government records, meetings and other proceedings at the … Continue reading Let the sun shine
Editorial writer Michelle Washington of The Virginian-Pilot has a column today on Womens Strikeforce. This new organization is making waves across Virginia, as this list shows. From Washington's article: Katherine Waddell, a former state delegate from Richmond, considers herself a Republican, a conservative who believes in small government and individual privacy. She worked for Jim … Continue reading WSF: From fury to political action
I think so. In my op-ed last week for The Virginian-Pilot, I mentioned who the three used to be: the House Republicans, the Senate Republicans and the Democrats How quickly that has changed! It appears now that the split is occurring amongst the Democrats, while the Republicans remain mostly unified. This does not bode well … Continue reading Do we have 3 parties in Virginia?
The League of Women Voters of South Hampton Roads and the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast have teamed up to host an International Women's Day celebration in Norfolk tomorrow. Women are definitely in the news! The League of Women Voters of South Hampton Roads, the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast and all of … Continue reading Norfolk International Women’s Day event tomorrow
Super Tuesday over and here in Hampton, we have council elections coming up. However, I have become very discouraged by the political environment of recent years, for two reasons: the partisan political fighting and also the promises candidates make that they can not keep. When I go to a "meet the candidate" event, I have … Continue reading What I hope for in a candidate
The reality of the tolls being used to fund transportation projects in Hampton Roads is starting to hit home: A two-part series in The Virginian Pilot (1, 2), protests in Portsmouth, letters to the editor (one of the best of which was in today's paper and is not yet available online). Hampton Roads, particularly the … Continue reading Hampton Roads: the cul de sac of Virginia
In response to anti-women legislation in the General Assembly, a new political action committee was launched just days ago. The Women's Strike Force, a bipartisan effort, is raising money to recruit and support candidates who challenge those legislators who supported the legislation. The group was mentioned on the Rachel Maddow show on the day it … Continue reading Women’s Strike Force
One of the urges that I have to suppress when writing op-eds is that of a blogger, where we opine on the latest information. I think I've done a fairly good job of doing that over the last 20 months that I've been writing a weekly column for The Virginian-Pilot. Until yesterday's column. Honestly? I … Continue reading Spoke too soon
Over the last couple years the City of Hampton has been trying to improve citizen participation in the budget process. Citizens of Hampton were initially upset because they said the city did not listen to their opinion on the budget. So Hampton started going out to different neighborhoods and taking computer key pad generated inputs … Continue reading Hampton trying to improve budget input from citizens
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 