Tweaking NCLB: Republican delegation to ask feds to ‘back off’

The Top Story by Chris Graham

When Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, brought up his concerns with respect to the No Child Left Behind education-accountability initiative during the news conference in 2003 in which he announced his candidacy for re-election to the Virginia General Assembly, it didn’t take long for fellow Republicans to paint a bull’s eye squarely on his back.

“I remember that I got kicked around quite a bit by some of my colleagues in the Republican Party for what I had to say there,” Hanger told The Augusta Free Press this week. Read more

Are the Dems scared of Nader? Something’s going on behind the scenes of the ballot-access controversy

Story by Chris Graham

What are Virginia Democrats afraid of? Rick Johnson thinks he knows the answer.

“They’re scared, and they’re resorting to every trick in the book to keep Ralph Nader off the ballot wherever they can get away with it,” said Johnson, the media coordinator for Nader’s Virginia presidential campaign. Read more

With confidence comes success

Golf Things Considered column by John Rogers
JSpencerRogers@msn.com  

I recently passed a bittersweet milestone as a golf instructor. I’ve had several golfers improve to the point that they could beat me on the course, at least on a given day, but I have to admit that one of my golfers has become too tough to handle. Read more

Don’t dump the Veep: Local Republicans advise president to stay the course

The Top Story by Chris Graham

The talk that President Bush might want to look somewhere other than Number One Observatory Circle for a running mate for this fall’s election is just that, talk.

“The streets of Washington’s political district are filled with rumors and scenarios where Cheney disappears from the GOP ticket. Yet if Bush drops Cheney, the party conservatives, ever sensitive to a slight, will wail and gnash their teeth, threaten to go fishing on Election Day, and ruin any bounce Bush might get from a substitute veep,” University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato said.

It’s a tough spot for the president to be in, clearly. Read more

An interview with Michael Badnarik

Story by Steven Sisson

Poet Robert Frost wrote, “I never dared be radical when young for fear it would make me conservative when old.”

But what about being a … radical conservative?

That could be the best description for Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik out there.

Badnarik, 50, is a baby boomer - nothing radical about that, necessarily. Read more

Since Tiger asked …

Golf Things Considered column by John Rogers
JSpencerRogers@msn.com  

Welcome to Golf Things Considered, a roving weekly column dedicated to anything and everything related to the game of golf.

As a teaching professional I have access to and a good view of what’s going on in the world of golf. From instruction to the latest in equipment, the professional tours, local golfer success stories, golf-course reviews and whatever else comes up; this space is dedicated to the most intriguing, beguiling, satisfying and often frustrating game we play. Read more

Pres. Bush 49, Sen. Kerry 46: Poll numbers show Virginia really is in play

The Top Story by Chris Graham

Virginia wasn’t at all on Scott Rasmussen’s radar screen.

The polling-firm head and Fox News Channel regular had been tracking several battleground states in the walkup to the 2004 presidential election.

The Old Dominion, which has voted Republican in the past nine presidential-election cycles, wasn’t on that list at the outset of the ‘04 campaign, Rasmussen told The Augusta Free Press. Read more