Ken Plum: Reversing bad fortune

Ken Plum

The Virginia General Assembly is not having a very good year.  After making the national evening news shows and late-night comedy programs for weeks about which ultrasound to require of women, the Assembly joined many other states in passing voter suppression bills that might affect the outcome of the presidential election. 

JMU nips ‘Cuse, heads to WNIT Final

Chris Graham

James Madison beat Syracuse 74-71 in the National Women’s Invitation Tournament semifinals Wednesday evening at the JMU Convocation Center. JMU advances to the WNIT championship game at Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 31.  The Cowgirls beat San Diego 73-57 in the other semifinal Wednesday. JMU, which won its school-record 29th game, improved to…

ACLU hires Gastañaga as new ED

AFP

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia today announced that it has hired Claire Guthrie Gastañaga to succeed executive director Kent Willis, who last week announced he was leaving after 25 years with the organization. Gastañaga is scheduled to start at the beginning of June. “Claire brings to the ACLU a huge network of people…

Ken Plum: Overreach

Ken Plum

If a single word or phrase can describe a General Assembly session, the 2012 meeting of the state legislature would be known for “overreach.” Governor McDonnell and Lieutenant Governor Bolling warned the Republican majority before the session got underway that there was a need for legislators to be careful to not overreach with their new-found…

#2 UNC 14, #8 UVa. 9

Chris Graham

The eighth-ranked Virginia women’s lacrosse team dropped a 14-9 contest to second-ranked North Carolina on Saturday (March 10) at Klöckner Stadium. Seniors Charlie Finnigan (Twickenham, Middlesex, England) and Ainsley Baker (Corning, N.Y.) each had two goals while classmate Josie Owen (Gibson Island, Md.) added a goal and two assists to lead Virginia. The loss dropped…

Webb introduces legislation to preserve Post-9/11 G.I. Bill

Chris Graham

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), author of the landmark Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, today introduced bipartisan legislation to preserve those veterans’ education benefits from abuses by certain schools. Troubling statistics show that the cost to taxpayers to send a veteran to a for-profit school is more than double the cost of a public university and that eight…