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Edited by Chris Graham [email protected] Good news for farming, sorta, kinda: The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported today that loss of farmland to development appears to be slowing in the Commonwealth. According to the recent numbers from the Farmland Information Center, between 1997 and 2002, Virginia lost 81,500 acres of agricultural…
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With audio from Ken Cuccinelli press conference Story by Chris Graham [email protected] A federal court on Thursday heard arguments in the suit brought by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to strike down the federal health-care reform legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama in March. The suit alleges that the law violates the…
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Special Report by Chris Graham [email protected] You might remember all the hubbub over what they were planning to do with Interstate 81. They were going to pave over the Valley! That was what people were saying, anyway, looking at the monstrosities of plans that we knew as the Star Solutions proposal and the Fluor…
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Edited by Chris Graham [email protected] Nine days before Virginia’s new laws take effect, Gov. Bob McDonnell today ceremonially signed legislation that will facilitate the expansion of charter schools in the Commonwealth. The legislation, HB1390, sponsored by Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Woodbridge, and SB737, sponsored by Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, was part of the governor’s 2010…
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Letter from Jill A. Hanken Submit guest letters: [email protected] Congress is close to making a $400 million decision for Virginia. This is the amount Virginia would receive from additional federal Medicaid payments (called “FMAP”). In fact, the two-year budget recently adopted by the Virginia General Assembly depends upon additional FMAP to avoid devastating cuts…
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Letter from Jeffrey Hunt Submit letters: [email protected] At a recent public square concerning the state budget, Gov. McDonnell proudly claimed he and former Gov. Kaine have shed $10 billion from the state budget in response to decreasing revenues stemming from the economic crisis. Much of the services cut are in the vital health and…
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Letter from Ward Scull Submit letters: [email protected] Some Virginians know, but many don’t know, that car title, payday, and open ended lenders charge interest rates of 300 percent, 400 percent APR or more on their loans. By any definition, this is usury. But usury is legal in Virginia under laws passed and reaffirmed every…
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Column by Ken Plum www.kenplum.com We did not have a television in our home until I was 16 years old. When Dad finally made some extra money raising broiler chickens in addition to his full-time job doing maintenance work on the Norfolk and Western Railroad, he took the extra hundred dollars and bought us…
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Edited by Chris Graham [email protected] In the opening game of the Charlottesville Regional, Virginia defeated VCU 15-4 on Friday at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers, the No. 5 national seed, totaled 15 runs on 16 hits as they opened regional play with a win for the fourth time in the past five years. Virginia will…
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Column by David Reynolds Submit guest columns: [email protected] Whew! That was close. It’s a good thing that the local budget season is over. One of these years a budget will cause real damage. Or do real good. But not this year. However, you would never have known it according to the local press. Each…
