Advertisement
April 06, 2008
Fees, credits the right tack for stormwater management
With the election now in plain view and the chasm between them still widening, the City Council's feuding factions are preparing to begin work on next fiscal year's budget amid acutely challenging economic circumstances. Among the primary considerations are what to do about stormwater and whether to cut spending or increase taxes to balance the budget.April 05, 2008
Conservatism returning to GOP
The candidacy of Northern Virginia conservative Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, for attorney general along with those of Robert McDonnell for governor and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling for the top two spots on the state ticket appear to indicate a building resurgence within the beleaguered state GOP.April 04, 2008
Conservatism returning to GOP
The candidacy of Northern Virginia conservative Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, for attorney general along with those of Robert McDonnell for governor and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling for the top two spots on the state ticket appear to indicate a building resurgence within the beleaguered state GOP.April 01, 2008
PDR program yielding doubt
Augusta County supervisors, amid their wrangling over a $172.5 million budget, have decided to bid adieu to the agricultural development director they hired just two years ago. They reasoned that Miles Bobbitt's job description substantively rendered the job itself superfluous. He was to have administered a purchase of development rights program that supervisors have decided - and then reaffirmed - need not exist.March 30, 2008
Council needs cooperation
Spring may be upon us, but the chill inside council chambers has plummeted to a record low in the wake of the still-unresolved flap over whether to televise a candidates forum on the city government access channel.March 29, 2008
Va. lawmakers have valid point on No Child Left Behind
State lawmakers hedged on a threat to withdraw from the No Child Left Behind program - and turn down $300 million in federal money, to boot - but their reasonable objections to the law have been heard nonetheless.March 28, 2008
Va. lawmakers have valid point
State lawmakers hedged on a threat to withdraw from the No Child Left Behind program - and turn down $300 million in federal money, to boot - but their reasonable objections to the law have been heard nonetheless.Farmers market shows example
A thumbs-up, thumbs-down assessment of newsmakers here and beyond:March 27, 2008
Obama, Hillary quite humorous
If the ability of presidential candidates to recover from roundhouse blows delivered with precision to their own chins from their own hands is an appropriate measure of their fitness for the job, Barack Obama might just as well move into the White House now.March 25, 2008
Council should keep doors open
Right-to-work is helping Virginia
Concealed beneath the clamor over the state budget and bills covering such issues as gun rights, mental health and puppy farms were bids targeting the commonwealth's right-to-work law.Local GOP needs focus
Unrest continues to swirl in the Augusta County Republican Party after being stirred last year by Scott Sayre's failed primary attempt to unseat state Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon.March 23, 2008
City Council at the bat
On the front page of today's newspaper, in this space and in a guest editorial by Waynesboro businessman and Wayne Theatre Alliance Chairman Bill Hausrath, baseball is again the topic of the day.Time for city to step up to the plate
I have read with interest the articles about building a professional baseball stadium in Waynesboro.March 21, 2008
Grisham should stick to novels
John Grisham, the trial lawyer turned best-selling novelist who lives near Charlottesville, has linked arms with billionaire George Soros in calling for an end to judicial elections, popular and politicized in almost two-thirds of the 50 states. Such is not the case here, where state lawmakers elect judges, a better but not ideal alternative in Grisham's view.March 20, 2008
Valley will stay that much safer
A thumbs-up, thumbs-down assessment of newsmakers here and beyond:Pay for efficiency: better for teachers
As local public school teachers await word on whether city officials will approve another round of seniority-based raises, here is an intriguing and growingly open secret about teachers unions: they increasingly are the object of disdain among some of their rank and file.March 18, 2008
Justices expected to make right call
Lottery point stands
Miffed by our editorial last week backing state Del. Ben Cline's push to halve what he described as a $26 million advertising budget, a Virginia Lottery official fired off a missive that we published Sunday disputing the figure. Lottery officials say the advertising budget is $20 million, not $26 million.Ballpark needs council’s support
Since January 2007, Virginia has enticed large companies to expand or relocate here with more than $20 million in tax incentives, ranging from tax breaks to cash grants to job training, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. That has resulted in the creation of almost 3,000 jobs.March 16, 2008
Shining a light on government
Today marks the start of an annual journalistic rite: newspapers' championing open government under the banner of Sunshine Week, which starts today and runs through Saturday.March 15, 2008
Spitzer not a tragic figure
Amid the rubble of another political career felled by scandal are lessons some people are loath to learn.March 14, 2008
State budget worth the wait
A thumbs-up, thumbs-down assessment of newsmakers here and beyond.March 13, 2008
Good luck to the Little Giants
They ran through the Southern Valley District, they pulled off the biggest upset of the year in the Region III tournament on a last-second shot. They've done everything they can to turn around a moribund girls basketball program. And, by golly, they sure did.Chamber gets a bum rap in debate discussion
Letters to the editorMarch 11, 2008
Blame game hard to win
In a Weyers Cave news conference replete with colorful charts and graphs, U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, called for an end to runaway federal spending that has produced a $9 trillion deficit.Political times getting strange
Times like these drove Rod Serling to a career of chain-smoking and penning screenplays about such things as mysterious furry monsters lurking on airplane wings.March 10, 2008
Dollars better off left behind
Their feet firmly entrenched in a mire of red ink, Virginia lawmakers led by Del. Steven Landes, R-Augusta, stand ready to respond to the latest advances of their well-heeled bully suitor, the federal government, with a suitable cuff to the cheek.March 08, 2008
Legacy is victim to circumstance
Forgive Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for stealing occasional glances at the exit signs inside the Executive Mansion in Richmond. Recent months have borne him all the kindness of a late-night mugging.March 07, 2008
