AFP Focus | Shannon pushes crime-fighting credentials

Chris Graham

It’s hard for Steve Shannon to understand being criticized for saying that as Virginia attorney general he would make it his priority to fight crime, but it’s out there. “My focus is always on keeping people safe, and I don’t view that as a weakness. I view it as a great strength,” said Shannon, the…

Baker undergoes minor surgery

Contributors

Calvin Baker, a senior guard on the Virginia’s men’s basketball team, had arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday to remove a loose piece of cartilage in his right knee. Baker is expected to be out two to three weeks. Baker has lettered twice for the Cavaliers since transferring from William and Mary. He averaged 8.4 points, 2.3…

Earth Talk | Butt, seriously

Roddy Scheer

Dear EarthTalk: Has anyone ever studied the environmental impact of discarded cigarettes? I’m constantly appalled at the number of drivers I see pitching their butts out their car windows? – Ned Jordan, via e-mail It’s true that littered cigarette butts are a public nuisance, and not just for aesthetic reasons. The filters on cigarettes—four fifths…

Two polls: McDonnell up 13 in Rasmussen, 18 in VCU

Chris Graham

A new Rasmussen Reports poll has Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell leading Democrat Creigh Deeds by a 54 percent-to-41 percent margin, and a new Virginia Commonwealth University Commonwealth Poll has McDonnell leading by a 54 percent-to-36 percent gap. Both polls, released on Wednesday, make clear that the strategy of the Deeds campaign to hinge its…

Chris Graham | Winners and Losers: Obama, Deeds, Zorn, World Series, McDonnell

Chris Graham

PUSH: Barack Obama campaigns for Creigh Deeds My inclination is to say that Obama ends up losing on this one. I’m surprised he even followed through, to be honest. Not only because Deeds distanced himself from the Obama campaign back in the summer, but because of the obvious – the stink of this campaign is…

PPP: McDonnell by 15

Chris Graham

It’s looking like it’s going to be a short Election Night. “At this point it’s pretty hard to see Creigh Deeds pulling it out,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, which released a Virginia state election poll on Tuesday that has all three Republican statewide candidates up and up big over their Democratic…