Style Weekly
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Black Confederates
Posted by Scott Bass on Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 4:00 AM
The Washington Post reports today that a fourth grade textbook recently distributed in
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Short Straw
Posted by Scott Bass on Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 4:00 AM
The Richmond Times-Dispatch's lead editorial takes a shot a Style this morning, pointing out just how “painfully stupid” it is for us to criticize the tea partiers for holding their anti-government, anti-tax spending rally at the Greater Richmond Convention Center this weekend.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The "Cooch's" Circle of Friends
Posted on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 4:00 AM
Want to see how Virginia's hard right conservatives operate? Follow the circle.
Del. Robert G. Marshall, a Prince William County Republican and a staunch social conservative, sets his social media a Twitter and before you know it, he has asked his dogmatic kinsman, Atty. Gen. Kenneth Cuccinelli, for a legal opinion on an issue that could come off a check-the-box list from Liberty or Regent University.
Arizona's racist anti-illegal immigration law gets slammed by a federal judge. Marshall tweets "the Cooch" who comes out with an opinion that in the Old Dominion, law enforcement can stop and question anybody they think might be undocumented.No matter that being undocumented is not a criminal violation of federal law which has jurisdiction here. It is a civil matter.
Finally want to stick it to Roe V. Wade? Marshall asks the "Cooch" for a legal opinion on whether outpatient abortion clinics should have the same standards as full-service hospitals that handle just about everything from the common cold to coronary bypasses.If fully implemented, Cuccinelli's ruling could shut down 17 out of 21 abortion clinics. He's been trying to do that for all those years he was a legislator.
Want to clear the state for Nativity scenes at fire stations even though it is still August? That's foremost on Marshall's mind so he asks the "Cooch" who says that Christmas displays are just fine on public property as long as other faiths have access, too.
Reactions are mixed. The ACLU advises all to ignore Cuccinelli's immigrant opinion but they are OK with the Christmas thing.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
McDonnell fiddles while education pburns
Posted on Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 4:00 AM
| The declining performance of public schools in the Richmond area and throughout Virginia raises big questions about how the administration of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell is handling education. Recent surveys under the federal No Child Left Behind program show that all regional cities and counties had worse performance in the 2009 to 2010 school year compared to the year before. In Richmond, for instance, 35 out of 47 public schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards in 2008-2009, but only 28 out of 45 schools made it this year. Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover County schools also showed declines. The declines mirror results from other surveys, such as the National Assessment of Education Progress that has shown decreases in performance for Virginia schools across the board. The Obama Administration has tried to boost public schools with its "Race to the Top" reforms which offer federal money to boost classrooms. But this spring, McDonnell rejected such help, writing in a pithy letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan that Race to the Top is "overly prescriptive and disregards individual state initiatives and progress." Huh? What initiatives? What progress? It seems that Republican McDonnell is once again sticking to his limited government script while schools deteriorate. Peter Galuszka |
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Merely Musing
Posted on Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 4:00 AM
Perhaps the pressure of working in such an atmosphere is telling in the writing. Every other area of the paper has shrunk; perhaps the editorial writers are watching the writing appear on the walls.
Whatever the reason, the editorial pages are terrible. They read as though the writers are all thoughtful pre-teens from 1955.
This writer is not aware of the pay scales extant in a newspaper, but it seems that editorial writers have achieved some status, and should expect higher pay levels.
Perhaps the paper should reduce its editorial pages staff, and reduce the editorial pages to a pair of columns, rather than fire experienced local reporters.
The question remains: will the readers still support a local paper with terrible local reporting and just AP news from better national news desks? Or will they drop their subscriptions to a poor local paper in favor of better national news in another locally-available major newspaper, like the Washington Post or the New York Times?
I'm going for the Post.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Excused absence for Jones
Posted by Style Weekly Staff on Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 4:00 AM
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Mayor-elect Jones brings back Hill-Christian
Posted by Style Weekly Staff on Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 4:00 AM
Mayor-elect Dwight C. Jones has announced his mayoral transition team.
Among those announced are former Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney David Hicks and former city Chief Administrative Officer Sheila Hill-Christian, whose short tenure under Mayor L. Douglas Wilder ended with a press release from Hill-Christian complaining that her ability to lead had been compromised.
Administration and City Hall insiders have intimated that the compromise was largely over interference by Wilder. Her return as part of the Jones transition team marks an interesting turn, as Wilder and Jones often are viewed by many to represent opposing sides of the city's black leadership spectrum.
Hicks, who early in the mayoral election cycle said he was weighing the possibility of his own run for the seat, bowed out of the race earlier this year with his endorsement of Jones.
-- Chris Dovi
Below is the full text of the Jones press release:
MAYOR-ELECT DWIGHT C. JONES For Immediate Release Thursday, November 6 Contact Kevin O'Holleran (804) 648-0008 — office (312) 804-3825 — mobile Richmond
Mayor-Elect Dwight Jones Announces Transition Team Leadership Richmond
Mayor-Elect Dwight Jones announced today the leadership that will help him build his transition team. The leadership includes: David Hicks, Chair; Honorary Co-Chairs C.T. Hill, Delegates Franklin Hall and Jennifer McClellan; William Leighty, Transition Co-Director, and; Sheila Hill-Christian, Co-Transition Director.
“I am honored that these individuals have agreed to serve on my leadership team. They bring diverse backgrounds in both the public and private sectors and through their work have made huge contributions to our city,” Jones said. “In order to ensure a smooth transition, I will be working with them to find the most qualified professionals committed to moving Richmond forward.”
David Hicks, Chair: David Hicks is a former Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney, serving in that elected position for 12 years. Hicks is currently partner at Hicks Tymas Law Firm in Richmond.
C.T. Hill, Honorary Chair: C.T. Hill is Chairman, President and CEO of SunTrust Bank. C.T. also serves as Chairman and CEO of Venture Richmond.
Delegate Franklin Hall, Honorary Chair: Delegate Franklin Hall has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since 1976 representing parts of Richmond and Chesterfield County.
Delegate Jennifer McClellan, Honorary Chair: Delegate Jennifer McClellan has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2006 representing parts of Richmond and Henrico County.
William Leighty, Transition Co-Director: William Leighty is the former Chief of Staff to both Governors Mark Warner and Timothy Kaine. He has a wide-range of experience from nearly 30 years of state government service.
Sheila Hill-Christian, Transition Co-Director: Sheila Hill-Christian is the former Richmond Chief Administrative Officer. Prior to being named to that position she served as the Director of the Virginia State Lottery in Governor Timothy Kaine's administration. ###
Obama supporters start celebrating early; McEachin wears sweatsuit to polls
Posted by Style Weekly Staff on Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 4:00 AM
At 5 a.m. this morning, 100 people already were lined up waiting to vote at L. Douglas Wilder Middle School in Henrico County.
By 11 a.m., 941 voters had already come through the door to cast ballots in the precinct, which has 1,800 voters registered. A half hour later, they were “over 1,000” according to one poll worker. Add to that the 300 voters who cast absentee ballots from the precinct -- which is just north of the city line off Route 301 -- more than half of the precinct voted before lunchtime.
“I can remember one year where we had trouble getting a little over 300 people all day,” the poll worker says.
Among those lined up at the polls early this morning, was a sleepy-eyed, sweat-suit-clad state Sen. Donald McEachin, D-9th, who lives in the nearby Chickahominy Bluffs neighborhood. He‘s the head speaker at Democratic Party’s party at Toad's Place tonight.
He arrived at 6 a.m., wound his way through the line and cast his vote nearly two hours later. He says he plans to dress up for tonight's event.
“No need to get gussied up in this weather, but you do notice the blue sweat suit,” he says.
| Obama headquarters on Marshall Street. |
Meanwhile, the Obama camp is already celebrating. At 1 o'clock at the city campaign headquarters on Marshall Street behind the Siegel Center, the mood was already jubilant. Whoops and cheers emanated from the alley and the streets, if not a bit premature, perhaps a sign of things to come.
Bobby Whithorne, Virginia spokesman for the Obama campaign, says supporters and campaign workers are not counting yet on a victory, but they're encouraged by some of the early numbers and the overall turnout. -- Chris Dovi
Other Publications
