Bolling lays out health-care plan

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham You don’t hear a lot of Republicans talking about health-care reform. “And I don’t know why that is, because one of the things that I believe in very strongly is that one of state government’s most important responsibilities is making sure that we have a system of health care in Virginia…

Matalin breaks down ’05 gubernatorial race

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   The eyes of the nation are on the 2005 Virginia gubernatorial race, said Mary Matalin, a political commentator and former advisor to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. “This race is and will be the most-watched race in the country,” Matalin told Republicans across the state gathered for a…

Kilgore fleshes out tax-relief plan

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Backdoor tax increases resulting from increases in local property-value reassessments are “unfair,” Republican Party gubernatorial-nomination frontrunner Jerry Kilgore said on Wednesday. “I don’t know about you, but the only number that I care about as a taxpayer goes in that little box on the right-hand side of each check that I…

Kaine talks regional growth, I-81

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Tim Kaine spent a good part of his day on Wednesday talking about how he wants to take steps to strengthen regional economies in Virginia. So … what would the presumptive Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee do to improve the lifeblood of Western Virginia’s regional economy that is Interstate 81?

Fitch waging solo campaign for GOP nod

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Somebody forgot to tell George Fitch that he was supposed to have given up on his bid for the Republican Party gubernatorial nomination a long time ago. “I’ve got another 10,000 miles between now and the primary,” said Fitch, the Warrenton mayor, who is waging the most grassroots of campaigns for…

Spring comes to the Valley

Chris Graham

Golf Things Considered column by John Rogers [email protected]   Spring wanders into the Shenandoah Valley like a vagrant, on no particular schedule, and likely to jump a ride out of town just when we get used to him being there. Technically, spring arrives around March 21, when the sun passes through the vernal equinox, whatever…

Bolling picks up key endorsement

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore has weighed in on the Republican Party lieutenant-governor nomination battle – in favor of Mechanicville Sen. Bill Bolling. Bolling, who is challenging Prince William County Board of Supervisors chair Sean Connaughton for the party nod, was a cosponsor of the legislation initiated by Gilmore that brought…