Category: Politics

Sen. John Miller announces finance committee

In a press release today, Senator John Miller (D-1st) announced the formation of his re-election finance committee. The committee will be chaired by former Delegate Alan Diamonstein. “I am honored to have so many outstanding business and community leaders involved in my re-election campaign.  This is a diverse group of exceptional men and women who … Continue reading Sen. John Miller announces finance committee →

Quick links 03/25/11

From around the 'net: Rep. Bobby Scott considering Senate bid. This ought to be interesting. I'm convinced, though, that Dems need to wait until after November to announce a candidate. Let's not lose focus on the General Assembly races this fall. Besides, it's be fun watching the Republicans beat each other up for a while … Continue reading Quick links 03/25/11 →

An effort in futility

Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald wrote an interesting article on futility, opening with this: This will be a futile column. Experience dictates that it will change no minds, inspire no reconsideration among those who disagree. It will sit on the computer screen or the newspaper page taking up space, affecting nothing, until another column … Continue reading An effort in futility →

Quick links 3/22/11

By the time I got home from work today, wordpress.com, where this blog is hosted, was having some kind of meltdown, which made the backend inaccessible. In any event, here are a few posts that caught my eye as I waited for it to get back up: VLBC calls for second Congressional district with high … Continue reading Quick links 3/22/11 →

Please split up my ‘community of interest’

By Steve Vaughan It's  redistricting time. The General Assembly meets next month to draw the new lines for the state's 11 Congressional districts, 100 House of Delegates district and 40 State Senate districts. This year we've had an appetizer, since the governor's commission on redistricting (which only has advisory status), college students participating in a … Continue reading Please split up my ‘community of interest’ →

Northam: P.E. bill would fight obesity

Senator Ralph Northam wrote an op-ed for Thursday's Virginian-Pilot in which he discusses his bill, SB 966, which provides for 150 minutes of physical education each week for grades K through 8. The bill does not require schools to hire more teachers. All teachers in grades K-8 are already certified to teach P.E., so hiring … Continue reading Northam: P.E. bill would fight obesity →

Judge ignores FOIA law, refuses civil penalty on Westmoreland County

This article is reprinted from my blog a few weeks ago. The story is too good not to give it an encore. Heartland of Virginia During the trial phase of an action brought recently by citizens in Westmoreland County, a judge refused civil penalties for the Board of Supervisors, the Administrator of the IDA (Industrial … Continue reading Judge ignores FOIA law, refuses civil penalty on Westmoreland County →

Redistricting: what if VA looked like this?

This map (click to enlarge) surfaced yesterday as a potential way the Congressional districts in Virginia could be drawn. The alignment shows that there could be a second black majority district in Virginia. I'm hearing that such a map is doable - except a certain Democratic Congressman is blocking the attempt, even though said Congressman … Continue reading Redistricting: what if VA looked like this? →

Women’s History Month: A long, ongoing journey

My latest op-ed, title above, appeared in The Virginian-Pilot today. Two of the women mentioned are Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Norfolk acting (hopefully soon-to-be permanent) police chief Sharon Chamberlin. I managed to get through an entire column without once mentioning Gloria Steinem, one of the leaders in the women's movement from the 1970s, … Continue reading Women’s History Month: A long, ongoing journey →