Politics: The Reporter's Notebook, Style Weekly

"I Want What I Want When I Want It"

Peter Galuszka — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:01:10 -0400

Eric Cantor, Greater Richmond's Golden Boy of politics, is flying very close to the sun these days as he plays a dangerous game of chicken in budget negotiations that could have disastrous economic consequences.

Cantor is trying to run to the head of the Tea Party parade and scuttle any negotated budget deal between his own Republicans and Barack Obama.…

Ah! June In Paris, Courtesy of Virginia Uranium

Peter Galuszka — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 05:45:45 -0400

Virginia Uranium Inc., a tiny Chatham-based firm that wants to mine uranium in south central Virginia near Gretna, is flying more than a dozen state legislators to France to drum up momentum to end the state's ban on uranium mining in next year's General Assembly.

The lobbying effort includes all-expenses paid and three days off in Paris so the legislators can visit a closed uranium mine in the city of Bessines in western France where uranium was extracted for a half a century before shutting down in the late 1990s.…

Cashing in on SEAL Team 6

Peter Galuszka — Tue, 17 May 2011 11:51:00 -0400

Guess which giant American corporation stands to rake in dough by grabbing branding related to SEAL Team 6, the Navy commando unit based in Virginia Beach that killed Osama Bin Laden?

Disney. Surprised?…

On the Radio, Day 1

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's first year. Historian Ed Ayers, president of the University of Richmond, shared his thoughts on the war and its legacy in Richmond in this week's cover story (click here). I continued that discussion with him Monday morning when I filled in for Jimmy Barrett as guest host on “Richmond's Morning News,” on 1140-AM WRVA.…

Justin French Pleads Guilty

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

News Editor Scott Bass is back from U.S. District Court, where Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride have announced details of the plea deal with developer Justin French.

French faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, restitution, a fine up to $500,000 and three years of supervised release, according to the attorneys' offices. Sentencing is scheduled for May 3.

Style will have details to follow online and in this week's issue.…

Morning after blues for Black

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Outgoing Richmond CAO-cum-deputy-CAO-cum-acting-deputy-CAO-cum-CFO-cum consultant Harry Black was toasted at a going away party Tuesday night at Richbrau, the Wilder administrations unofficial hangout. Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, along with various administration officials partied at the same Shockoe Bottom brew pub on election night.…

Excused absence for Jones

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Both Mayor L. Douglas Wilder and Mayor-elect Dwight C. Jones were notably absent during the Nov. 19 joint meeting between Richmond City Council and the city's General Assembly legislative delegation -- a point made in next-day media reports. Wilder's absence was all but expected.…

Jackson told to beat it

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Mayor L. Douglas Wilder sure knows how to make an exit. That is, he knows how to make other people exit in dramatic fashion.…

Counting Richmond's Absentee Ballots

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Will Richmond's absentee ballots make a difference tonight? They could, considering Delegate Dwight Jones and Councilman Bill Pantele were separated by only 500 votes in the crucial District 3, with 78 percent of the precinct reporting.

NBC 12 reports there are about 12,000 absentee ballots.…

Final Richmond Results: The Winners

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Winners are marked with asterisks.

Mayor
Paul Goldman (dropped out)
Robert J. Grey Jr.
*Dwight C. Jones*
William J. "Bill" Pantele
Lawrence E. Williams Sr.

City Council

District 1
*Bruce W. Tyler (uncontested)*

District 2
Tyron K. Bey
Patrick D. Kjellberg
*Charles R. Samuels*

District 3
Jonathan D. Davis
*Chris A. Hilbert*

District 4
*Katherine C. Graziano (uncontested)*

District 5
Mark E. Brandon
*E. Martin "Marty" Jewell*
S. Lee Shewmake

District 6
*Ellen F. Robertson (uncontested)*

District 7
Clarence Kenney
*Delores L. McQuinn*

District 8
C. Allen Barrett
Eric W. Hunter Sr.
*Reva M. Trammell*

District 9
*Doug G. Conner Jr.*
Eugene A. Mason Jr.
Adrian R. Preston

School Board

District 1
*Kimberly M. Bridges (uncontested)*

District 2
*Kimberly B. "Kim" Gray*
Alice O. "Lisa" Dawson

District 3
*Norma H. Murdoch-Kitt (uncontested)*

District 4
Bert J. Berlin
John T. Lloyd
Jonathan C. Mallard
*Adria A. Graham Scott*

District 5
*Betsy B. Carr*
Otis E. Mallory

District 6
Art L. Burton
*Chandra H. Smith*

District 7
Ronald L. Bond
*Donald L. "Don" Coleman*
Torey J. Edmonds

District 8
*Dawn C. Page*
Charles D. Willis

District 9
*Evette L. Wilson (uncontested)*

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Council Appointees, Others, Partying with Jones

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

A couple of City Council appointees are sticking out in the sparse crowd at mayoral candidate Delegate Dwight Jones' party at the Paradise Lounge. Joining in the celebration are Jim Hestor, the city assessor, and Umesh Dalal, city auditor.

Also spotted: City Councilman Bruce Tyler (uncontested tonight), Delegate Joe Morrissey, J.J. Minor, vice president of the City Democrats (and son of City Councilwoman Delores McQuinn) and Henrico County School Board member Lamont Bagby.…

Grey DJ plays "Sexual Healing"

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

As the mayoral election results trickled in, the deejay at Bob Grey's party headquarters in Carytown turned to Marvin Gaye. Specifically, with 60 percent to 70 percent of the precincts reporting, and seemingly giving the Rev. Dwight Jones the edge, Gaye's "Sexual Healing" piped in through the speakers, engerizing the crowd.…

Southside Baptist Recovers from Morning Rush

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

At Southside Baptist Church on Ironbridge Road in Chesterfield County, this morning's long lines have shrunk.

“I'm not going to lie to you, it was a wait,” says Curtis Sink, the precinct's chief election official.

“The extreme side was three to three and half hours.” The long lines were the result of hundreds of voters who wanted to cast their ballots, not any mechanical problems.…

Carver Braces for Big Turnout

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

At Carver Elementary School on Leigh Street in Richmond's 2nd City Council District, poll workers braced for unprecedented turnout, and with good reason.
Only about a thousand voters were registered in that precinct before this election cycle began. Now 3,500 people are.…

Pantele Camp Encouraged by Exit Polls

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

John Girardi with Bill Pantele's mayoral campaign has been roving the polls since they opened this morning. By noon, he expresses renewed confidence based on informal exit polling in the campaign beyond the 1st, 2nd and 4th districts, which were presumed by many as solid Pantele territory.…

Goldman Makes His Grand Entrance

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

He dropped out in the fourth week of October, but Paul Goldman's still pulling in the numbers. And he's not staying home tonight.…

Two seek School Board chair prize?

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

The election-day upset of Richmond School Board Vice Chairwoman Lisa Dawson has opened a power vacuum on the board. Two members -- one a veteran member and the other a new face -- are vying to fill that vacuum, according to School Board sources.

First district Board member Kimberly M. Bridges and the incoming 3rd Distrcit representative Norma Murdoch-Kitt both have begun campaigns to assume the chairman post, which is now up in the air after the departure of Dawson.

With four new members on the board, and the two most obvious coalitions on the board possibly neutralized after each losing members, who might take the spot may well be a real question.…

Turnout Strong at Mini City Hall

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Voters stay in line at the voting precinct at Mini City Hall, at 701 N. 25thSt., where more than 3,500 had voted by 2 p.m., says election officer John Gerner. Despite the precinct's overwhelmingly Democratic base, Gerner reports no tension.…

Dirt nearly denied vote

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Donnie "Dirtwoman" Corker, Richmond's most infamous 450-pound drag queen, says he was nearly denied his right to vote during Tuesday's election.

Corker, a former Richmond mayoral candidate who threw his endorsement to City Council President William Pantele, says he arrived at his Southside Plaza polling station yesterday in full drag -- ready to pull the lever for his candidate.

Once there, Corker says he presented a valid photo identification card, but a poll worker stopped him and demanded that he remove portions of his costume.

"That [expletive] made me pull my [expletive] wig off my head," says Corker. "He said I couldn't vote in drag.…

Richmond Registrar: It ain't over till it's over

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Richmond Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter says that her office's accounting of still outstanding ballots from Tuesday's election already has changed the mayoral race landscape.

After counting all in-person absentee votes for the Third District, that race now appears to be leaning -- just barely -- in favor of presumptive Mayor-elect Dwight Jones.

"That district now favors Jones by seven votes," Showalter says. Previously, election-night results showed Pantele carrying the district by a single vote.

And with 300 city-wide provisional ballots uncounted, and the vast majority of an additional 6,200-plus absentee ballots also yet to be tallied, there could be bigger results shifts yet to be realized, she says.…

AP Calls It for Mark Warner

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

It's one of the early senate races called, not a surprise. Still, the Associated Press felt confident enough to report that Warner had "breezed to victory" with fewer than 15 percent of Virginia precincts reporting.…

Obama supporters start celebrating early; McEachin wears sweatsuit to polls

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

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.…

AP Projects Barack Obama the Winner in Virginia; NBC Calls Him President-Elect

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Not all the votes have been counted, but the AP is making the projection.

The numbers from the State Board of Elections, with 90.3 percent of precincts reporting: Obama takes 1.539 million votes, 50.31 percent; McCain gets 1.487 million votes, at 48.63 percent.

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Full Richmond Results Soon ...

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

According to the city registrar's office, all of Richmond's precincts are in. Minor glitches have prevented reporting, but full results are expected soon.

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Barbara Grey at Cary Elementary precinct

Style Weekly Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Voters carrying umbrellas created a tunnel running out the door of John B. Cary Elementary School stretching all the way to the corner at 7:30 a.m. The line was longest when the polling place opened at 6 a.m. and receded as the day went on.

Barbara Grey, the diminutive mother of mayoral hopeful Robert Grey, handed out fliers asking people to consider voting for her son, reminding folks that he is a lawyer, not a politician.…