UR Football: 2011 season to open at Duke

Chris Graham

For the second time in as many seasons, the University of Richmond is set for six home football games on campus at Robins Stadium as the Spiders have announced their 2011 schedule. The 11-game slate opens Sept. 3 at Duke. In addition to the 2011 regular-season schedule, Richmond also announced the annual Spring Game will…

State announces $100K in farmland preservation grants

Chris Graham

Gov. Bob McDonnell today announced the distribution of $100,000 in grants from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to eight Virginia localities. Localities must use the grant monies to preserve farmland within their boundaries through local purchase of development rights programs. PDR programs compensate landowners who permanently preserve their land by voluntarily placing…

VCU knocks off Wofford

Contributors

Senior Brandon Rozzell and junior Bradford Burgess combined for 31 points to lead VCU over Southern Conference power Wofford, 75-66, in the second game of the Richmond Marriott Holidays on the Hardwood Classic. “That’s a big, big win for this team,” coach Shaka Smart said. “Many people might not know about Wofford, but that’s a…

Local roads projects moving forward

Chris Graham

At its December meeting, the Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded several projects in the Virginia Department of Transportation Staunton District. The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties. In Augusta County a 3.6-mile paving and road rehabilitation project valued at $7,641,953.24 was awarded to Lanford Brothers…

Proposed cut of FOIA Council: Is it worth the trouble?

Chris Graham

There’s a saying about using a sledgehammer to kill a gnat that comes to mind with the recommendation of the Governor’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring to eliminate the Freedom of Information Act Advisory Council as a cost-saving move. The line item in the 2010-2012 state budget for the Council, a resource for the…

Cuccinelli: Voting Rights Act ‘creeping into the drawing of lines’

Chris Graham

Virginia has “outgrown” the need for federal oversight into political redistricting mandated under the Voting Rights Act, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told reporters and editors at today’s AP Day at the Capitol in Richmond. “I don’t for a moment mean to contend that we don’t have to contend, in our society and in Virginia, with…

The Valley’s maverick Republican: Hanger gears up for State Senate re-election run

Chris Graham

It hasn’t been that long since the word “maverick” triggered the next drink in the drinking game. John McCain, the original GOP maverick, has since made a hard turn to the far right, judging his political survival to be of more import than his political legacy. The maverick is a dying breed in the Republican…

McDonnell: $50M down payment on higher-ed push

Chris Graham

Gov. Bob McDonnell will call for $50 million in new higher-education spending in his amendments to the 2010-2012 state budget, he said today. McDonnell made the announcement as part of the rollout of Preparing for the Top Jobs of the 21st Century: The Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011, a legislative package that he…

Chris Graham: Smaller government, with a catch

Chris Graham

I don’t personally have any issue with the notion that government needs to be run more efficiently and run more like a business. Anybody with experience managing a business or organization knows that there are inevitably inefficiencies that can be accounted for and corrected to make things run more smoothly. A problem I have is…