How much money does your doctor take from industry?

The investigative website ProPublica has announced further results in their investigation into money that is given to medical professionals by those in the medical industry, such as pharmaceutical companies. It's a very handy compilation of money listed from all 50 states that goes to professionals in the form of promotional items (pens, clipboards, etc) and … Continue reading How much money does your doctor take from industry? →

10/17/11 financial reports – local races

Yesterday was the filing deadline for campaign finance disclosure reports for candidates on the ballot in November. The data below covers the period September 1 to September 30 and was taken from the Virginia Public Access Project, better known as VPAP. As of this writing, the information on VPAP is just the raw data from … Continue reading 10/17/11 financial reports – local races →

Video: Miller/Chohany forum

The Virginia Peninsula MAL League of Women Voters in conjunction with The Daily Press hosted a forum on September 30 for the candidates in the 1st Senatorial District: incumbent Sen. John Miller and challenger Mickey Chohany. As a courtesy to the League, I am posting this video in its entirety. (My report on the forum … Continue reading Video: Miller/Chohany forum →

Pilot editorial: Norfolk in the shadows again

In case you missed it, Sunday's Virginian-Pilot had an on-point editorial about the latest happenings in Norfolk, as I pointed out in this post. The ending, though, was quite thought-provoking: But City Hall's propensity to hide problems rather than acknowledging them begs one unavoidable question: What other troubles lurk in the city's shadows? What, indeed.

Upcoming candidate forums

Election Day is just about three weeks away, November 8th. Today, October 17th, is the last day to register to vote. If you are not registered, please take the time to do so. Upcoming candidate forums: October 21: Virginia House District 94. Candidates: Gary West and David Yancey. 6:30pm, Newport News Fountain Plaza II (City … Continue reading Upcoming candidate forums →

Leadership in Norfolk: absent again

My latest op-ed, title above, appeared in Wednesday's Virginian-Pilot. As if on cue, also included in Wednesday's paper was a report on the state's investigation of the death of a trash truck driver. For me, the issue wasn't that the report found 19 serious violations, although that certainly is cause for concern. The issue was … Continue reading Leadership in Norfolk: absent again →

City Loses Council Member, Citizens Lose Advocate

The City of Hampton lost a council member when Councilwoman Angela Leary resigned this week due to health reasons. With that resignation the citizens of Hampton have lost one of their most vigilant supporters.  Many people usually run for office as a stepping stone to a higher office or because of concern for a specific … Continue reading City Loses Council Member, Citizens Lose Advocate →

Site notes

A hearty welcome to the latest contributor here, Carol Garrison. You have already read some of Carole's post in the past as they have appeared as guest posts on the blog. Carole lives in Hampton and is involved in a number of issues. With Carole on board, we now have five people writing. One of … Continue reading Site notes →

Selective journalism and parsing comments

Actually, I shouldn't really call one of these examples journalism at all. It reads more like an essay from a jealous ninth grader that just can't get over it. There is that example, which I will get to shortly, and another, in which a blogger took the parts of a news article and used only … Continue reading Selective journalism and parsing comments →