Today's Sponsor: Eldon James & Associates Inc.

VaNews Dec. 16, 2019
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Today's Sponsor:


** Eldon James & Associates Inc.
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Beginning our 26th year of providing public policy consulting in the Commonwealth. www.eldonjamesassociates.com

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** FROM VPAP
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** VISUALIZATION: INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY WANES IN HOUSE, GROWS IN SENATE ([link removed])
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The Virginia Public Access Project

Recent turnover means the Virginia House of Delegates will convene next month with the least amount of institutional memory in a generation. But the opposite is true in the State Senate, where close to half of the members have served 15 years or more.


** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** NORTHAM SEEKS $92 MILLION TO REDUCE EVICTIONS, BOOST AFFORDABLE HOUSING ([link removed])
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By MEL LEONOR, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam’s two-year budget will include a request of $92 million to curb evictions and expand affordable housing for low-income and homeless Virginians. Northam made the announcement Friday in Richmond at the New Clay House, an 80-unit complex serving people facing housing crises.


** GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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** VIRGINIANS MOSTLY WELCOME DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER, CNU SURVEY FINDS ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia voters want stricter gun laws, nonpartisan redistricting, marijuana decriminalization, a minimum-wage increase and passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, but they oppose giving local government control over Confederate monuments, according to a new poll by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.


** UNIONS ENCOURAGED, BUSINESS ALARMED BY PENDING DEBATE ON VA. RIGHT-TO-WORK LAW ([link removed])
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By PATRICK WILSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A Virginia labor law passed in 1947 can be confusing because it doesn’t mean exactly what it sounds like, and a powerful state lawmaker said the public isn’t even aware of the law. The idea that it could ever be repealed has instilled concern among business leaders who have long wielded great influence in Virginia’s politics.


** JUDGES FACE QUESTIONS ON PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS ([link removed])
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By PETER VIETH, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Paywall for some articles)

Legislators had tough questions this month for a handful of Virginia trial judges seeking new terms on the bench. Five of the 47 judges appearing before General Assembly panelists were asked to explain low marks on their bench performance.


** LEGISLATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR NAMED DEPUTY CLERK OF HOUSE OF DELEGATES ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The man behind the scenes for the drafting of legislation for the Virginia General Assembly will have a new role in front of the House of Delegates when it convenes on Jan. 8. Mark Vucci, director of the Division of Legislative Services, has been named deputy clerk of the House, which Democrats will control for the first time in more than 20 years.


** RUNION READY FOR FRESHMAN YEAR ([link removed])
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By JESSICA WETZLER, Daily News Record (Subscription Required)

Before Chris Runion was elected to the House of Delegates, he was preparing for what would be his newest role in public service. The delegate-elect from Bridgewater spent nearly every week with former Del. Steve Landes, learning the ins and outs of working at the General Assembly.


** HANGER’S BIPARTISANSHIP WILL BE USEFUL IN UPCOMING SESSION ([link removed])
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By JESSICA WETZLER, Daily News Record (Subscription Required)

Since being elected to the State Senate in 1996, Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, has spent half of his legislative career in the minority and built a reputation of working on both sides of the aisle. The only difference between this upcoming session and sessions in the past is that Democrats are in control of the House of Delegates, Senate and the governorship.


** ELDERLY MOTHER OF FORMER VIRGINIA STATE LAWMAKER INDICTED ON FELONY EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGES ([link removed])
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By PETER DUJARDIN, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The 89-year-old mother of a late former state lawmaker is accused of stealing more than $180,000 over a three-year stretch from an American Legion Women’s Auxiliary in Hampton, where she had been treasurer for more than four decades. Anna S. Gear — who lives in a nursing home and turns 90 in February — was indicted by a Hampton grand jury on Dec. 2 with eight counts of felony embezzlement from the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 48 between February of 2015 and May of 2018. One of Anna Gear’s sons said that “all of the money” went to another son, former state Del. Thomas D. “Tom” Gear, to feed his gambling addiction.


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** REPUBLICAN DEL. CHRIS STOLLE CONCEDES TO DEMOCRAT NANCY GUY AFTER UNOFFICIAL RECOUNT RESULTS ([link removed])
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By MARIE ALBIGES, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

After a day and a half of recounting thousands of ballots cast in a Virginia Beach delegate race, the Democrat who originally declared victory seems to have picked up a few more votes. The new results won’t be certified by judges until Wednesday, but the Virginia Beach voter registrar said Democrat Nancy Guy unofficially gained 14 votes after recounting, apparently defeating incumbent Republican Chris Stolle by 41 votes.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** AMID CHICKEN FARMING BOOM ON EASTERN SHORE, STATE WORRIES ABOUT WATER SUPPLY ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Which comes first, chicken farms or the public water supply? On Friday the state signaled it ranks a sustainable aquifer above concerns about poultry industry costs when the State Water Control Board unanimously voted to require 45 major Eastern Shore chicken farms to look at the shallow Columbia aquifer instead of only deep-water reserves as a source of water.


** VIRGINIA NATIONAL GUARD RESPONDS AFTER DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN SUGGESTS IT MAY BE NEEDED TO ENFORCE GUN CONTROL MEASURES ([link removed])
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By OWEN DAUGHERTY, The Hill

The Virginia National Guard on Friday responded to a Democratic lawmaker after he suggested that it may be needed to enforce new gun legislation. The remarks from Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) suggesting that Gov. Ralph Northam (D) “may have to nationalize the National Guard to enforce the law” comes as dozens of counties across Virginia have declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” after Democrats took over the state legislature last election.


** A MATTER OF LUCK? ([link removed])
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By DAVID HOLTZMAN, Central Virginian

The electronic game devices that have appeared in stores and gas stations all over Louisa County look a lot like gambling machines. You could spend a few dollars on a game and walk away with a hundred in your pocket. But whether you succeed would be a matter of your skill, not luck, according to the company that makes many of the games.


** LACK OF BUY-IN, LEGAL UNCERTAINTY SLOW SPREAD OF NEEDLE-EXCHANGE PROGRAMS ([link removed])
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By SAMUEL NORTHROP, Virginia Mercury

A needle exchange service in the Culpeper area has been put on hold by local health officials due to lack of police support and uncertainty around a law due to sunset next summer. The Culpeper site would be only the fifth to open in Virginia, but April Achter, the population health coordinator for Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District, said a combination of factors convinced organizers to halt and reevaluate before moving forward.


** TWO WORKERS BROUGHT GUNS INTO A STATE OFFICE IN NORFOLK ([link removed])
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By MARIE ALBIGES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Weeks after being told two of their colleagues regularly brought guns to work, employees at a state child support enforcement office in Norfolk demanded to know why only one had been fired, even though both violated a state policy. They also wanted to know how the state was going to keep them safe, especially while the Virginia Beach mass shooting — carried out by a city employee — was still top of mind.


** VIRGINIA COUNTIES DECLARE GUN SANCTUARIES, BUT EXPERTS SAY THEY ‘DON’T HAVE FORCE OF LAW’ ([link removed])
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By LIZ ANDERSON, WTOP

A wave of resolutions have been passed in Virginia counties, declaring sanctuaries and constitutional havens in support of the Second Amendment as a new Democratic majority prepares to take over the state General Assembly in January. But what do they really mean?


** WASTE COMPANY SLASHES SIZE OF CONTROVERSIAL CUMBERLAND LANDFILL ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

The company behind a controversial mega-landfill in Cumberland County has eliminated one of two cells from its plans, reducing the area where waste can be dumped by more than half.


** CONGRESS
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** KAINE, WARNER BRACE FOR U.S. SENATE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY ([link removed])
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By ANGELA WOOLSEY, Fairfax Times

Around the time that Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner (D-Va.) settled into their seats for the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s senatorial roundtable in Tysons on Dec. 9, their colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee were about 20 miles away listening to arguments for and against impeaching the president of the United States.


** WITTMAN: VA HEALTH CARE CENTER COMING TO FREDERICKSBURG WILL BE NATION'S LARGEST ([link removed])
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By JAMES SCOTT BARON, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

By 2025, the largest veteran’s health care center in the nation will be located in the Fredericksburg region. That was the message delivered by Rep. Rob Wittman, R–1st District, as he opened a briefing for veterans at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3103 in Fredericksburg on Friday morning. Wittman, who was accompanied by several representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said the facility will be “full scope,” and will feature “every element of service.”


** REP. BEN CLINE VOTES NO ON IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt, voted with fellow Republicans on Friday against a pair of impeachment articles against President Donald Trump. Members of the House Judiciary Committee voted 23-17 along party lines, to send the articles of impeachment to the full House of Representatives. Cline, Virginia’s only representative on the Judiciary Committee, had been defending Trump during what he’s described as a “sham” impeachment process.


** REP. DENVER RIGGLEMAN IS BEING HIMSELF ([link removed])
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By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Some people can’t figure out Rep. Denver Riggleman. They say he’s too far to the left, too far to the right or too libertarian. He votes with President Donald Trump a lot, but sometimes he votes against the president’s wishes. What’s up with him being in the House Freedom Caucus? Why did he officiate a gay wedding?


** SPANBERGER TURNS TO TOUGH REELECTION BID IN TRUMP DISTRICT ([link removed])
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By JENNA PORTNOY, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A year ago, Abigail Spanberger was savoring unlikely victory, having defeated Republican Dave Brat to win a seat in Congress. She was eager and inspired, feelings that still stir when she sees the Capitol illuminated against the night sky. “Whatever has caused me to be at the Capitol that I’m leaving after hours and it’s cold and it’s lit up and it’s beautiful, is why I’m here. This is a beautiful symbol,” said Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat whose district includes the suburbs outside Richmond.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** DESPITE PROTEST BY LABOR, AMAZON GETS FINAL APPROVAL FOR ITS NEW HQ ([link removed])
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By PATRICIA SULLIVAN, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Amazon can build twin 22-story headquarters buildings in Pentagon City, the Arlington County Board agreed Saturday in a 5-to-0 vote after the online giant promised $20 million in funding for affordable housing and vowed to crack down on labor fraud on its construction site. It was the final approval Amazon needed to begin building its second headquarters, known as HQ2


** VIRGINIA'S ECONOMIC FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT, BUT WATCH FOR STORM CLOUDS ([link removed])
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By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

In their latest State of the Commonwealth report, Old Dominion University economists and researchers often get poetic discussing Virginia’s largely optimistic economic future in light of numerous known unknowns and those that can’t even be guessed at.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** STUDENT ACTIVISM PROMPTS VIRGINIA TECH TO REEXAMINE CLIMATE GOALS ([link removed])
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By HENRI GENDREAU, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Youth activism has triggered Virginia Tech to reexamine its environmental stewardship. Tech took its first concrete step (last) week toward updating a decade-old climate action plan, at a time when universities nationwide are touting ambitious goals to reduce their carbon footprints.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** U.S. SECRETLY EXPELLED CHINESE OFFICIALS SUSPECTED OF SPYING AFTER BREACH OF MILITARY BASE ([link removed])
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By EDWARD WONG AND JULIAN E. BARNES, New York Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The American government secretly expelled two Chinese Embassy officials this fall after they drove on to a sensitive military base in Virginia, according to people with knowledge of the episode. The expulsions appear to be the first of Chinese diplomats suspected of espionage in more than 30 years.


** LOCAL
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** PORTSMOUTH HOLDS BACK MILLIONS REQUESTED BY SCHOOLS — AGAIN ([link removed])
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By SARA GREGORY, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Portsmouth’s City Council is holding on to a multi-million-dollar surplus from the public schools — again. The school system asked to set the bulk of it, roughly $2.9 million, aside for future insurance expenses. Council members and city staff have questioned whether the schools need that much, and they’ve invoked an obscure, long-ignored city law to delay giving the money back.


** SUPPORTING GUN RIGHTS, 2,000 CROWD OLD TOWN ([link removed])
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By DON DEL ROSSO, Fauquier Now

After listening to more than four hours of citizen comments Thursday night, Fauquier’s board of supervisors took no action on a controversial resolution that pledges its support of the Second Amendment. Spilling onto Hotel and Court streets in Old Town Warrenton, about 2,000 people gathered outside the Warren Green Building to show their strong opposition to any attempts by the Virginia General Assembly to adopt stricter gun laws during the 2020 legislative session.


** CASINOS HAVE LITTLE IMPACT ON EMS WORKLOADS, ACCORDING TO REPORT ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

When it comes to facing a medical emergency, not everyone is ready for the ride to the hospital, especially if they’re in a casino, one study shows. In fact, a large portion of patients treated by emergency medical responders at one casino in Ohio refuse to be taken to the hospital so they can continue betting, according to a casino impact report paid for by the city of Danville.

Today's Sponsor:


** Eldon James & Associates Inc.
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Beginning our 26th year of providing public policy consulting in the Commonwealth. www.eldonjamesassociates.com


** EDITORIALS
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** NO SANCTUARY NECESSARY ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

In the weeks — months, even — leading up to the Nov. 5 election, Republican candidates for legislative office and the party’s most influential voices insisted that if elected, a Democratic General Assembly would strengthen restrictions on firearm purchases, possession and carrying. Many Democrats promised the same and, when the election concluded, the results not only confirmed the party would take control of the legislature come January, but that voters who favored Democratic candidates cited gun control as their primary motivation, according to polling by Schoen Consulting.


** LET’S FULLY FUND K-12 FIRST ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Late last month, Gov. Ralph Northam, fresh off a legislative election victory that delivered both houses of the General Assembly to his party, proposed “free” community college in Virginia. The governor now says he will seek $145 million from the legislature for his proposal when he submits his two-year budget to the House and Senate money committees on Tuesday, so the program is hardly free for taxpayers.


** IT’S WELL PAST TIME FOR VIRGINIA TO PURGE RACIST LAWS ([link removed])
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Washington Post Editorial (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

THE RACIAL panic triggered among Southern whites by the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring segregated schools unconstitutional, was codified in state law with incredible speed — nowhere more so than in Virginia, which mounted a campaign of “massive resistance.” In less than two years, the state had enacted more than a dozen laws designed to block integration and defy the court’s decision; incredibly, much of that legislation remains on the books.


** PRISON’S MISGUIDED POLICY ([link removed])
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Daily Press Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Few circumstances will turn the stomach of a reasonable person more than knowing a child has been placed in a compromising situation by an adult. Yet that seems to be the case of an 8-year-old girl who was stripped naked and searched for contraband by Virginia Department of Corrections staff while attempting to visit her father at Buckingham Correctional Center.


** WE APPLAUD THE FUNDING PROPOSAL FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Gov. Ralph Northam’s 2020 budget includes a host of education initiatives that will cost Virginia taxpayers about $245 million. The proposals range from free community college tuition for some, to investments in STEM and other ambitious plans.


** "RUMORS OF WAR" BUILDS UPON HISTORY ([link removed])
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Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Kehinde Wiley’s newly unveiled statue at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts offers art rich in symbolism and powerful in message. “Rumors of War,” modeled after the monument to Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart on nearby Monument Avenue, blends the past and the present as it looks forward to the future and a changing Richmond.


** IS THE NEXT GOOGLE IN BLACKSBURG? ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Is the next Google in Blacksburg? That’s the question we posed Sunday in part one of our three-part examination of “Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2019,” a study produced by a San Francisco non-profit that analyzed the economies of 150 metro areas around the world to determine which ones are the best places in which to launch a new company or move a growing one. We’ll spare you any more suspense. No, the next Google is not in Blacksburg.


** A CASINO RESORT IN DANVILLE? THE NUMBERS ARE THERE ([link removed])
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Danville Register & Bee Editorial

As Danville and officials from Rosie’s Gaming work together to hammer out the details for a historic horse racing gaming facility after voters approved pari-mutuel gaming in November, City Council continues to study the idea of trying to lure a full-fledged casino resort to the River Region. Though casinos aren’t legal in Virginia, that could change in the next several months.


** COLUMNISTS
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** SCHAPIRO: GUN DECREES ARE VA.'S VERSION OF N.C. BATHROOM BILL ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Randy Eads is city manager and city attorney of Bristol, which is struggling to restore its shredded finances and revive its battered economy. The small city in deep-red Southwest Virginia is betting it can achieve both with a casino, pushed by a local coal baron, that could generate 5,200 jobs over seven years. The casino, said Eads, is Bristol’s equivalent of Amazon, the online giant locating its second headquarters in Northern Virginia.


** WILLIAMS: HENRICO BOARD FACED ANGRY CROWD ASKING FOR SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

In pandering to an angry crowd demanding a Second Amendment sanctuary, the Henrico County Board of Supervisors opted for banality and redundancy over common sense. The day before its members would take an oath to uphold the Virginia and U.S. constitutions, the board sought sanctuary in a resolution to — wait for it — uphold the Virginia and U.S. constitutions.


** OP-ED
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** LEVINE: WHY I OPPOSE A PARTISAN JUDICIAL VIRGINIA GERRYMANDER ([link removed])
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By MARK LEVINE, Published in the Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A proposed amendment to Virginia’s Constitution could permanently gerrymander the commonwealth against the will of Virginia’s voters. By giving power to redraw district lines to a body — the Virginia Supreme Court — chosen by an illegally constituted former legislative majority, the amendment would allow the dead hand of the past to reconstitute itself forever, with little possibility of ever being uprooted again.

Mark Levine, a Democrat, represents Alexandria and parts of Arlington and Fairfax counties in the Virginia House of Delegates.


** IT'S TIME FOR VIRGINIA TO END THE DEATH PENALTY ([link removed])
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By DAVID SWANSON, Published in the Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The death penalty’s slow death is accelerating. At least 140 nations no longer use it. No nation in Europe uses the death penalty. No nation in the Western Hemisphere uses it except the United States. Twenty-nine U.S. states have banned capital punishment or imposed a moratorium, and most of the rest have effectively stopped using it. Virginia, the northernmost East Coast state with the death penalty, has not sentenced anyone to death in over eight years.


** PATOLIA: GUN LAWS ARE REASONABLE RESPONSES ([link removed])
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By HARSH PATOLIA, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a non-binding resolution declaring staunch support for the Second Amendment and refusal to allocate public funds to restrict such rights whilst flanked by more than 300 supporters clad with orange stickers prominently displaying “Gun Saves Lives.”

Patolia is a native of the Roanoke County and fourth year medical student at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.


** PRATT: SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARIES ARE LAWFUL AND RIGHT ([link removed])
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By ERICH PRATT, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Those hostile to the Second Amendment rights of individuals to keep and bear arms are mischaracterizing the efforts of Virginians who urge local governments to pass “Second Amendment Sanctuary” resolutions. Critics falsely claim such policies openly defy state law. They do not.

Pratt is Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America.


** GOP IS LEFT BEHIND BY CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS ([link removed])
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By BOB GIBSON, Published in the Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

How did Virginia’s once dominant Republican Party slip so fast from having 66 of 100 seats in the House of Delegates just over two years ago to 45 seats when the House convenes on Jan. 8? Part of the answer rests in the GOP going “super rural” and white-male culture with its messaging while Virginia trends “super suburban” with more women and minorities taking active political roles in growing suburbs.

Bob Gibson is communications director and senior researcher at the University of Virginia’s Cooper Center for Public Service. The opinions expressed here are his own


** KREYDATUS: VIRGINIA NEEDS A MORE TRANSPARENT REGULATORY SYSTEM FOR FOSSIL FUEL INVESTMENTS ([link removed])
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Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

With Democrats’ sweep of the General Assembly, Virginians might think the state was poised to embrace a clean energy policy — and prioritize public health, and clean air and water — over fossil fuel energy investment. Unfortunately, Virginia seems hell-bent on fast-tracking a massive expansion of fossil gas infrastructure.

Beth Kreydatus is a supporter of Concerned Citizens of Charles City County and a member of Mothers Out Front RVA, a group concerned about climate change.


** SHEPHERD: GENERAL ASSEMBLY CAN MOVE PAST PARTISAN PARALYSIS ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND DELIVER A CLEAN ECONOMY ([link removed])
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By WALTON SHEPHERD, Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Polarizing tribal politics too often overshadow Virginia’s common challenges of climate change and rising seas, obscuring ready solutions and economic opportunities in the process. With a new legislature in the statehouse soon, amid many pressing issues vying for attention, lawmakers can confidently act on climate change and a clean economy with three straightforward Es: efficiency, emissions and equity.

Walton Shepherd is Virginia policy director and senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.


** STIMPSON: MILDE'S UNDERPERFORMANCE IS REAL STORY OF 28TH DISTRICT RACE ([link removed])
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By DAN STIMPSON, Published in the Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Not so fast, Dr. Farnsworth. University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth recently wrote an op-ed in The Free Lance–Star analyzing the Nov. 5 election results in House of Delegates District 28 [“Changes in 28th District doomed the GOP,” Nov. 17], where Republican Paul Milde lost to Democrat Joshua Cole by 4 percent.

Dan Stimpson is a professor of quantitative analytics at George Mason University.


** HURST: A FAMILY-FRIENDLY ECONOMY IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS ([link removed])
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By CHRIS HURST, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Virginians are proud of the climate we offer businesses — and we should be. Our low taxes, smart regulations and strong economic infrastructure have made our Commonwealth the best place in the country to run a company. As good a job as we do offering companies the assets they need to thrive, we can always do better. One important place to start is to strengthen the support we offer the Virginia workers who help those companies succeed every day.

Hurst represents Giles County, Radford and parts of Montgomery and Pulaski counties in the House of Delegates. He is a Democrat.


** LEVY: NEXT CITY UP: RICHMOND, VA. ([link removed])
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By SPENCER LEVY, Published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

My office is Southwest Airlines. After almost 200,000 flight miles to more than 50 cities this year, I’ve spent more time in the air than I have in my home office. Like Johnny Cash, I’ve been everywhere, man. My life on the road affords me the opportunity to see a wide variety of markets — large and small; trendy and under the radar. One city that stands out as a contender for “next up” to become a strong secondary market is Richmond.

Spencer Levy is chairman of Americas Research and senior economic adviser for CBRE Group, Inc., the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment company.


** STREET: JAMES RIVER RESTORATION NEEDS CONTINUED EFFORT ([link removed])
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By WILLIAM STREET, Published in the Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

When you have something special, it only makes sense to share it. At the James River Association, we’ve long known that here in Virginia, we have something special in the James River. For over 40 years, we have worked to share that message with communities throughout our watershed. This year, we took the story of the James international — and it won one of the most prestigious awards for river restoration, the Thiess International Riverprize.

William H. Street is the chief executive officer for the James River Association
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