Ken Plum: Your attorney general at work

Ken Plum

In my round of community meetings several months ago I found that the most-mentioned statewide official in Virginia was Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. As the third position on the ballot of statewide elected officials the position and the person occupying it have in the past received little attention. Few were the number of Virginians over…

Augusta Health repeats top showing in safety, clinical excellence ratings

Chris Graham

For the second year, Augusta Health has been recognized as the only hospital in Virginia to be named a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence by HealthGrades and also to receive the HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award. Augusta Health placed among the top 5% of hospitals nationwide for clinical performance—only 268 hospitals of the nearly 5,000…

Groups say UVa. must balance transparency and academic freedom in considering request for professor’s records

AFP

Twelve organizations concerned with free speech and the integrity of scientific inquiry on college campuses today asked the University of Virginia to protect academic freedom when it answers a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the American Tradition Institute Environmental Law Center and Robert Marshall, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. The…

Chris Graham: Accident of birther

AFP

Good thing I’m not thinking of running for City Council again. I have no idea where my birth certificate is. I know I’ve seen it, can’t remember exactly when, and don’t know where it is. Which leads me to this: For all I know, I was born in Kenya. Seriously. I mean, I’m sure I…

McDonnell signs innovation bills

AFP

Gov. Bob McDonnell on Thursday ceremonially signed the first part of his Opportunity at Work legislative package, along with other economic development legislation, at a morning event at the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park in Richmond. The 10 measures are designed to help attract new businesses to Virginia and help existing businesses grow and expand. “The…

Earth Talk: Can Japan do without nuclear energy?

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: Were Japan to close all its nuclear plants following the recent damage and radiation leaks from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, what could its energy mix look like? Would it be able to provide all of its power in other ways? – Richard Miller, New York Most experts agree that Japan would…

Goodlatte bill would push offshore drilling off Virginia waters

Chris Graham

Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte has reintroduced legislation that would open exploration for natural gas and crude oil off the Virginia coast. “Every day, folks across Virginia and the nation are confronted with the rising cost of energy, from the cost at the pump to soaring electric bills. I believe that Virginia should have every…

Augusta Health: Noted in the nation

Chris Graham

Augusta Health was recently named as a Top 100 Hospital in the nation by Thomson Reuters, an independent company that does research and business intelligence. On an annual basis, Thomson Reuters performs a research study of propriety methodology, in which they take all 5,000 hospitals in the United States and grade them across ten indicators;…

Fine-tuning Wikipedia

AFP

Count James Madison University senior Stephen Jones as one of the Wikipedians at James Madison University who are working hard this semester to improve the content on the popular resource website. In the process, Jones and 80 more JMU students are honing their researching, writing and editing skills. “Being a Wikipedian allows me to work…

Smart to stay at VCU: Agrees to eight-year extension

AFP

Virginia Commonwealth University officials announced today that head men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart has agreed in principle to an eight-year contract. The agreement comes on the heels of VCU’s historic appearance in the Final Four of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. “Coach Smart’s contributions to the university are unquantifiable,” said VCU President Michael Rao. “His character,…