What Would We Do Without Tom Whipple?

Va News Sunday, April 06, 2008
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1. IN 2006, TRANSPORTATION HAD FUTILE END-- COULD IT RECUR THIS YEAR?

By Bob Lewis
AP Political Writer

Ashburn, VA - Gov. Timothy M. Kaine knows this movie by heart: Virginia lawmakers fight over funding for new roads on and off for months before calling it quits and heading home frustrated and empty-handed. He didn't enjoy the way the long-running legislative melodrama ended in 2006, and he's not sure the 2008 remake will be any better, but the governor is nothing if not an optimist. Kaine will propose legislation soon that not only restores two regional transportation funding districts voided by the state Supreme Court but also covers growing cost overruns for highway maintenance statewide.

2. AT NORFOLK CONFERENCE, KAINE TELLS TEENS THEIR VOICE MATTERS

By Patrick Wilson
Virginian Pilot
NORFOLK

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Saturday told teenagers they can have a serious influence on public policy. Kaine spoke to more than 600 teenagers, parents and teachers at the 11th annual Hampton Roads Youth Leadership Conference at Booker T. Washington High School. "We respond to constituent concerns, but we all notice how infrequent it is when young people will contact us. And when they do, it makes a difference," Kaine said. "You will be very surprised that you will be listened to and that your point of view will be taken under consideration." Teenagers put together seminars at the conference on topics such as gang violence, the online social networking site MySpace and the disproportionate number of minorities in the criminal justice system.

3. HAGER FACING RIVAL IN GOP
By Seth McLaughlin
Washington Times

Virginia Republican Party Chairman John H. Hager was doing pretty well.  His son is engaged to marry one of the daughters of the president of the United States next month, the top of his party's ticket is set more than a year from the gubernatorial elections, and he was expected to handily win re-election as state GOP chairman.  Then in January, Delegate Jeffrey M. Frederick, Prince William Republican, declared his candidacy for the leadership of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV).  What's followed has been an unusually contentious campaign between the 71-year-old former lieutenant governor and the 32-year-old sophomore delegate from Prince William County that has threatened to divide party members who had finally appeared to heed repeated calls for unity.

4. SIGN OF THE TIMES
Allison Brophy Champion
Staff Writer
Culpeper Star Exponent

A new state law that takes affect July 1 could mean Culpeper's day laborers will soon be moving on down the road - again. The law, sponsored by Del. Vivian Watts, a Fairfax County Democrat, and signed by Gov. Tim Kaine March 10, makes it a traffic infraction to loiter along highways in areas where localities or the Virginia Department of Transportation has determined it to be "a public safety hazard." Culpeper Town Council, at the prompting of Councilman Steve Jenkins, is taking a look at the enabling legislation and its possible applicability to the weekday gathering of mostly Hispanic day laborers along Bus. 29.

5. YOUNG REPUBLICANS HEAR PITCH FROM VIRGINIA LEADERS

A group member says they are worried about making a living, paying for college

By Chris I. Young
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

Seasoned Republican leaders urged their younger supporters to recruit more party members and build their ranks at the annual Young Republican Federation of Virginia convention. About 50 members who attended the convention yesterday in Richmond heard again and again that the GOP had suffered losses to Democrats in recent state elections and needs to build momentum for November's general election. State officials said the party needs a candidate with bold ideas. They cited Ronald Reagan's presidential years as an example. "When we're successful, it's because the grass-roots [effort] was strong," said Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick, R-Prince William. "Look at [Democratic Sen. Barack] Obama's campaign events. They're energized. . . . We have to get excited again."

6. HAWKINS CALLED 'TRUE SON' OF VIRGINIA
By Denice Thibodeau
Danville Register Bee

More than 250 friends and supporters of former Sen. Charles Hawkins gathered to celebrate the Downtown Danville Association's choice of him as their "Honoree of the Year" on Saturday night at the Stratford Conference Center.  Hawkins said he had dreaded, as well as looked forward to, the evening, during which he was roasted and toasted by friends Rep. Virgil Goode, Danville City Councilman David Luther, Averett University professor Jay Hayes and Linwood Duncan, Goode's press secretary.  As roasts go, this one was fairly gentle - mild teasing was about as far as it went, with "roasters" admitting they had a hard time finding anything bad to say about Hawkins' service to Southside Virginia.  oode brought chuckles from the crowd when he talked about how state Democrats figured they'd gotten rid of two thorns in their sides when redistricting was done in 1991 with Hawkins and George Allen in the House of Delegates. Instead, they wound up with Hawkins in the Senate and Allen in Congress.

7. ROAD WOES DRAW PENINSULA, SOUTH HAMPTON ROADS CLOSER

Lawmakers are considering new ideas and reaching across the legislative aisle to find common ground.

By Kimball Payne
Daily Press

The amazing four-lane high-rise bridge?  Transportation meetings last week produced some compelling new road possibilities and triggered some shifting subplots in the General Assembly's quest to smooth Hampton Roads traffic.  Ratcheting up road discussion has also drawn new ideas out of familiar faces. Philip Shucet started studying Hampton Roads' transportation network as a private consultant in the mid-1990s and was eventually tapped to turn around the Virginia Department of Transportation as a reform-minded commissioner.

8. RELUCTANT HRTA MEMBERS HELP MEND BRIDGES

Daily Press

For more than a year, transportation meetings have been something akin to political bloodletting for many local General Assembly members. Last year, under the crunch of an election cycle, lawmakers put together a transportation package that not only included the hated abusive-driver program but also created the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority.  The regional authority triggered a substantial backlash, especially on the Peninsula - one speaker dubbed it the "Marty Williams effect" after the deposed state senator from Newport News - and critics trashed the General Assembly for taking a step toward regional government.  Further, the authority faced votes in a dozen cities and counties throughout the region, and many local elected officials (some who would eventually support the authority) used that platform to harshly accuse lawmakers of ducking their responsibilities by passing tough decisions down the line.

9. WEEK IN REVIEW

March 30-April 5

Washington Post
Sunday, April 6, 2008; C04

Loudoun Officials Approve Tax Increase
Average Bill Will Rise by More Than $300

The pain of a declining housing market is making itself felt across the Washington region. But Loudoun County residents felt the sting especially acutely last week, when the county board of supervisors approved a 19 percent increase in the property tax rate. The move will increase the average bill by more than $300 this year. Board Chairman Scott K. York (I) opposed the increase, proposing instead to withdraw $36 million from the county's rainy-day fund and to raise the property tax rate by a smaller amount. But members of the board's new Democratic majority contended that drawing from the reserves could come back to haunt the county if the economy worsens further.

10. BALILES: NCI KEY TO ECONOMY
NCI Foundation kicks off fundraiser

By Mickey Powell
Bulletin Staff Writer

The only certain way of transforming Southside's economy is to increase the number of residents with college degrees, former governor Gerald Baliles believes.  The New College Institute (NCI) already is helping to do that, Baliles said Thursday night during a dinner at Chatmoss Country Club to launch a $2.5 million fundraising campaign by the institute's foundation.  Higher education is "increasingly the engine that drives the American economy," he said.

11. LYNCHBURG INDEPENDENT LIVING CENTER DRAWS STATE SCRUTINY

By Cynthia Pegram
The News & Advance

Turmoil within a Lynchburg-area agency charged with helping people with disabilities gain independence has drawn intense scrutiny by state officials concerned that core services are suffering.  Two of seven board members for the Lynchburg Area Center for Independent Living resigned in March. A third submitted his resignation effective in June, as has the executive director. And one of its most experienced managers resigned last week.  Documents obtained by The News & Advance through a Freedom of Information Act request to the state's Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) detail several ongoing concerns that have prompted the state to put tight monitoring in place.

12. SEVERAL OFFICIALS LEAVING AGENCY FOR DISABLED

Media General News Service

Turmoil within a Lynchburg-area agency whose task is to help people with disabilities gain independence has drawn intense scrutiny by state officials concerned that core services are suffering. Two of seven board members for the Lynchburg Area Center for Independent Living resigned in March. A third submitted his resignation effective in June, as has the executive director. And one of its most experienced managers resigned within the past two weeks.

13. THE MONEY OF SPORTS: VAF CONTRIBUTIONS FAR OUTPACE ACADEMIC DONATIONS

By Brian McNeill
Daily Progress

In the University of Virginia's marathon race to raise $3 billion in private contributions, an indefatigable frontrunner is UVa's athletics department.  The Virginia Athletics Foundation, the department's fundraising arm, had collected $234.2 million by the end of February, representing more than 78 percent of its $300 million goal. UVa's five-year campaign to raise $3 billion will conclude Dec. 31, 2011, and is just over halfway finished.  The athletics foundation has received so many contributions from alumni, Cavalier sports fans, former athletes and corporations that it is outpacing the fundraising performance of nearly every academic area of the university, according to documents obtained under Virginia's Freedom of Information Act.

14. SUPERMAX LOCKUPS ADJUST TO DECREASING DEMAND

By Julie Carr Smyth
AP Statehouse Correspondent

Youngstown, OHIO - Kunta Kenyatta struggles to describe the 33 months he spent in the tight four walls of a super-maximum security cell at the Ohio State Penitentiary. "It's extreme isolation, sensory deprivation. It's hard to explain really," said Kenyatta, 39, out since 2001. Supermax prisons _ where inmates spend roughly 23 hours a day locked in soundproofed cells _ were trendy when Ohio cut the ribbon on its angular, steel-bedecked penitentiary April 9, 1998. One decade later, the winds favoring ultrasecure incarceration have shifted.

15. EXAMPLES OF SUPERMAX PRISONS WHOSE PURPOSES HAVE CHANGED

By The Associated Press

- Many states have converted all or part of their super-maximum security prisons for other uses, as lawsuits and public opinion have reduced the need for so many ultra-secure cells over the last decade:

State: Ohio

Prison: Ohio State Penitentiary

Action: Sections of the prison opened to maximum- and minimum-security inmates

Reason: All but 176 of 424 prisoners originally placed in supermax security were transferred to other security levels after a class action lawsuit in 2001 challenged the state's system of assigning inmates there. Today only 53 of 533 are supermax inmates. Ohio's death row was transferred to the prison in 2005 to fill some of the vacated space.

16. WEB PROGRAM WILL OFFER ACCESS TO VIRGINIA BLACK HISTORY

AP

Richmond, VA - A Virginia collection of black historical artifacts is gaining a larger audience. The Virginia Historical Society is launching a Web-based educational program aimed at increasing access to its trove of African-American items. "Linking to Our Past: Documenting the African American Experience in Virginia" is designed as a research tool for educators and students.

17. POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: "THIS ISN'T A GOOD-BYE COLUMN"

By Bob Gibson
Daily Progress

There is wisdom in a messy desk, but it's hard to find.  Cleaning out a desk after 31 years, OK, four desks really, but this one is quite the messiest, yields nice little nuggets of what made yesterday's news a few years back, having escaped the fleeting flirtation of an editor's knife and the lure of the landfill.  Wisdom can reside at the bottom of a story, the back corner of a drawer, the last page of a legal pad full of base notes.

18. MOVING FORWARD

Richmond Times Dispatch Editorial

Virginia faces not one transportation crisis, but two. The second is easy. The first is not. The second crisis, which arose only recently, is temporary and minor: a $600 million funding hole created by repeal of the abusive-driver fees and a Virginia Supreme Court decision striking down special taxing authorities in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Lawmakers are squabbling over how to fill that hole, and stand so far apart that even a date for a special legislative session remains up in the air. A recent meeting with the governor about the problem produced only fumes. That crisis flows directly from the first, much larger problem: Virginia's approach to transportation is out of date.

19. WHAT WILL THEY DO?

Danville Register Bee Editorial

Brosville is Pittsylvania County's fastest-growing community, Piedmont Drive is Danville's fastest growing commercial strip and there are six stoplights on Riverside Drive between Barkhouser Ford and Central Boulevard.

That's why the city cares so much about replacing the Robertson Bridge.

The 68-year-old Robertson Bridge is the first Dan River crossing for Brosville residents driving into Danville and the only one that directly serves the Piedmont Drive corridor.  But Virginia's political fight over road and bridge construction money threatens the Robertson Bridge replacement - and projects like it all over the state.

20. TRANSPORTATION WOES: STATE CAN'T DUCK AND HIDE

By Logan Anderson
News & Advance Op-Ed

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is all set to call a special session of the General Assembly to deal with the commonwealth's growing transportation crisis. Whether it's a success or an exercise in futility rests solely in the hands of Republican members of the House of Delegates.  Fiscal analysts with the Virginia Department of Transportation estimate that by the middle of the next decade, all of the money generated by the state's gas tax would only cover the cost of maintaining the current transportation network. (The gas tax, currently at 17.5 cents and unraised since 1986, is the state's primary funding mechanism for transportation needs.)

21. KAINE ACTS, GOP SOUNDS FEEBLE ALARM

By Jeff E. Schapiro
Times-Dispatch Columnist

WWJD? What would Jerry do? Republican Jerry Kilgore says that, had he beat Gov. Tim Kaine in 2005, he'd be pressing for the execution of convicted cop-killer Edward Nathaniel Bell, whose heinous deeds in Winchester in 1999 were spotlighted in Kilgore's over-the-top "Kaine-wouldn't-execute-Hitler" television commercial. That Kaine is delaying Bell's execution for three months, until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in a Kentucky case on the constitutionality of lethal injection, is another sign to Kilgore that Kaine is what he insists he isn't: a glib liberal who breaks promises to foist on Virginia un-Virginian views.

22. AN EXECUTION'S CRUELTY SHOULD BE WEIGHED VS. GRIEF-TORN LIVES

Kerry Dougherty Column
Virginian Pilot

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL.

Prepare yourselves. You'll hear that Eighth Amendment snippet a lot in the coming weeks as the U.S. Supreme Court decides if lethal injections are too barbaric for America's barbarians.  I just wish the folks who support this case would admit that they don't really want to make executions painless. They want to terminate them.  Never mind that most Americans support capital punishment. (Don't take my word: National Public Radio reported recently that 69 percent of us favor the death penalty.) Yet lawyers for a pair of condemned Kentucky men have asked the highest court to declare lethal injections - the preferred execution method in most states - "cruel and unusual."

23. 'MODERATE' DEMOCRATS REVEAL AGENDA
L. Scott Lingamfelter
Manassas Journal Messenger Column

During this past Session of the Virginia General Assembly, I was amazed with the determination of my liberal colleagues to expand government at the expense of your freedom, rights and pocketbook. By contrast, House Republicans took principled stands protecting the right to life, guarding constitutional freedoms, advancing mental health reforms, looking after consumers, keeping ballooning spending under control, defeating higher taxes, responding to illegal immigration and making tough choices about how to fight crime in our neighborhoods.  Legislative liberals, however, introduced bills creating new or excessive bureaucracy. As they did, I was reminded of the age-old saying, "a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take everything you've got." Here's a sample of the bills introduced by a handful of influential liberal Democrat legislators who ran in on "moderate" platforms last year, but dusted off their liberal agenda with glee the moment they showed up in Richmond this year (are you surprised?).

24. DEBATES CONTRIBUTE TO PUBLIC DISCOURSE

By Gerald L. Baliles
Times-Dispatch Columnist

CHARLOTTESVILLE Today's political atmosphere, characterized by some as "virulent partisanship," is not new. Since its founding, the United States has undergone extraordinary change, experienced periods of upheaval, and known times of grave distrust toward politics and government institutions. But struggle though we may, as a country we have remained strong, hopeful, and firm in our beliefs about what we do -- and should -- stand for. It is because of our willingness to explore the things that unite us as well as divide us, to exchange opinions, to be open to ideas we might not share -- and to do so freely, vigorously, and civilly. The idea that people can share opposing ideas and contribute meaningfully to the public discourse, rather than add to the partisan cacophony, is central to the National Discussion and Debate Series launched last fall by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

25. TEACHER PAY

Big across-the-board raises don't sort good teachers from bad

Daily Press Editorial

Schools typically take the largest chunk of local budgets, as much as half, and personnel costs take up the biggest chunk of school budgets. That's why teacher salaries are front and center as local budgets are presented and debated. And well they should be. Nothing associated with schools is so important in determining a child's educational success as teachers. Research has shown that great teachers can make up for even very disadvantaged home backgrounds. And that just a few years with poor teachers can put a child so far behind he's not likely ever to recover.

26. THE COMMUNITY IS AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE WHO PARTICIPATE

By Jennifer McClellan
Times-Dispatch Guest Columnist

Whenever I speak to students about the General Assembly, among the first questions asked are: "How did you get involved in politics?" "Did you always know you wanted to do this?" "Why did you decide to run?" The answer lies with my parents. My father was born in 1925, just before the Depression, to a middle-class family in segregated Nashville, Tenn. After his mother died, he attended a school founded by his grandfather in rural Alabama for African-American children who were not provided a quality education by the state. My mother was born in 1932 to a family caught in the grips of the Great Depression in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

27. HONOR OUR HERITAGE BY MAKING THE COMMON WEALTH A PRIORITY

By Christopher Peace
Times-Dispatch Guest Columnist

Adults often ask young people, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Invariably the answer is a singer, movie star, or superhero. Twenty years ago when someone asked me that question I replied, "Either a lawyer or a minister." Based on most people's experience with other children it was understandable why my answer might have been surprising -- maybe even shocking. Immediately, I felt a need to explain how my calling to those otherwise seemingly incompatible professions could possibly be related. Looking back, I know that I never wanted to be a superhero or a celebrity; instead, with faith and hard work, I hoped to put myself in a position to brighten the corner where I am. In many ways since that moment my life has reflected a way of living out this childhood declaration that somehow or some way I could dedicate myself to others.

28. PROSECUTION, DEFENSE SEE INDIGENT CASES DIFFERENTLY

By A. Barton Hinkle
Times-Dispatch Columnist

Last Friday's column on indigent defense -- "Virginia Too Often Lets Prosecutors Play With the Net Down" -- turned out to be something of a "Rashomon." It should come as no great surprise that prosecutors and defense at torneys have different takes on the subject. The column noted that court-appointed attorneys get paid less in Virginia than in any other state. The General Assembly set up a fund to provide additional compensation. But -- for whatever reason -- few court-appointed lawyers have tapped it. And that's too bad, because America's adversarial court system needs strength on both sides of a case. Weak defense increases the likelihood of wrongful conviction -- and convicting an innocent man is the same thing as letting the guilty get off scot-free. One prosecutor found it hard to believe that life for court-appointed lawyers could be all that tough, when -- he said -- the supply of those trying to get on the list far outstrips the demand. He also disputed the assertion that Virginia's going rate for court-appointed lawyers was the lowest in the country. And he provided documents from the Supreme Court of Virginia showing that some lawyers and law firms seem to have no problem raking it in -- to the tune of six figures in some cases.

29. RICHMOND'S RACIAL HISTORY

By Bill Martin
Times-Dispatch Columnist

Tonight the Valentine Richmond History Center opens a new exhibition, "Battle for the City: the Politics of Race," which examines the impact of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s on the city's social, political, and physical landscape. The exhibition came to pass because we feel strongly that Richmond's 20th-century history is just as critical to understanding the city today as are its 18thand 19th-century eras. We want to recognize the significant progress that has been made since the mid-20th century in addressing critical community issues. Further, the History Center conducted a survey last year and found that Richmond residents know more about Richmond's Revolutionary and Civil War history than they know about its more recent past. Many respondents nevertheless indicated a desire to better understand how the city today came to be in terms of landscape, architecture, politics, and demographics. Over the next three years, the History Center will develop major exhibitions that will take new looks at the past century and its enduring legacy.

30. BANKING ON KIDS

Free Lance-Star Editorial

THE FREDERICKSBURG AREA is fortunate that one of its newest corporate citizens cares about children--specifically, that it cares about encouraging their earliest interest in learning, the critical foundation for later opportunities in life. PNC Bank, which last autumn acquired the National Bank of Fredericksburg, is a big believer in early-childhood education. The Pittsburgh-based bank has pledged $100 million over 10 years to the Growing Up Great program, which targets underprivileged children in Virginia, seven other states, and the District of Columbia. This is a wise investment. For every dollar spent on good early education, society reaps as much as $17 in long-term savings, studies show.

31. J. TODD FOSTER: WISE (COUNTY) MEN TALK DIRTY TO PLANT FOE'S FAMILY

By J. Todd Foster
Editor
Bristol Herald Courier

Larry Bush survived a combat tour in Vietnam and a dozen years mining coal underground. Then the Wise County, Va., resident and native spent 14 years as a federal mine inspector before an on-the-job injury forced his medical retirement. Since then, Bush has spoken out against mountaintop removal and other extreme forms of surface mining. He's also made himself a target - coal truck drivers, he said, routinely menace him on the highway. Now, his enemies are taking aim at his family, and that's where the 59-year-old Bush draws a bold line in the sand.

32. NEW FOCUS ON COAL'S PART IN WARMING

Greater Advances In Technology Are Seen as Critical

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 6, 2008; A06

James E. Hansen, perhaps the best-known scientific advocate for curbing greenhouse-gas emissions, sent a letter recently to the head of one of the nation's largest power companies, calling on him to confront the role that his coal-fired plants play in global warming. Hansen proposed they meet. On Wednesday, James E. Rogers of Duke Energy accepted Hansen's invitation, though he made clear he does not foresee calling off plans to build more of the power plants that Hansen considers a main culprit in climate change.

33. SLOW GOING FOR N.Y. TRAFFIC PLAN

Proposed 'Congestion Pricing' Fees Hit Political Gridlock in Capitol

By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 6, 2008; A02

NEW YORK -- Traversing Manhattan's narrow width at midday can be an excruciatingly slow experience. There are the delivery trucks unloading their wares. There are the taxis discharging and picking up passengers. There are the double-parked limousines, the lane-hogging tourist buses and the occasional slow-moving garbage truck, all contributing to the city's legendary gridlock. All that congestion is not just inconvenient, it is costly. According to business experts and others, traffic congestion costs New York about 50,000 jobs and $13 billion annually in lost productivity. That includes slow deliveries, gasoline wasted in idling vehicles, and the repairmen who can make only a couple of stops each day. And it doesn't even begin to count the costs to human lungs from breathing in all that pollution.

34. MERCURY STILL STAINS SOUTH RIVER

Biologists: All Fish Except Trout Not Fit For Consumption

By Hannah Northey
Daily News Record

SOUTH RIVER - Only three years after Congress passed legislation to establish the Shenandoah National Park and conserve more than 199,000 acres, the Valley saw another major, yet less celebrated, change in the environment. In 1929, the same year as the Wall Street crash that ignited the Great Depression, DuPont started production at its Waynesboro manufacturing plant, unleashing mercury into the waters of the South River. During the following decades, the river, one of the two main tributaries of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, carried the material as far north as Front Royal, infecting soil, fish and other organisms on the way. Today, the river's fish show signs of steady mercury contamination and only trout that are stocked by the state are suitable for consumption, officials say.

35. CINTAS CITED FOR COPPER DISCHARGE

Allison Brophy Champion
Staff Writer
Culpeper Star Exponent

The town of Culpeper recently issued a notice of "significant noncompliance" to Cintas for exceeding sewer discharge limits for copper, a substance found in some textiles. The issue was caused by a malfunctioning pump and has since been remedied, town and company officials say. Cintas, a Cincinnati-based uniform and business services company, operates a facility along Bus. 29 in Culpeper.

36. CAPTIVATING AN AUDIENCE

In Break With Staid Look, Cash-Strapped Metro Sets Sights on Placing High-Tech Ads in Stations

By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 6, 2008; C01

In 1704, the Boston News-Letter published the first American newspaper ad. In 1941, the first TV spots were broadcast -- for a ticking Bulova watch. In 1999, Internet advertising broke the $2 billion mark. And in 2008, motion-triggered ads will come to the Washington area's Metro system. Maybe. If approved by Metro engineers, a large, interactive advertisement could be installed this spring in the Farragut West Station downtown, officials said. The wall advertisements go into action when people walk by or wave their hands. It would be the first such interactive ad in the area, according to the company that provides the patented technology, Orlando-based Monster Media.

37. TAX BILLS TO RISE IN MANY AREA LOCALITIES

The increase could be as much as a couple of hundred dollars

By David Ress
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

This year, most local government officials aren't even pretending to cut taxes. A handful of localities say they'll cut tax rates -- but, as is the recent practice, the cuts won't be enough to offset rising property assessments. Two -- Caroline and Charles City counties -- are raising tax rates. Five localities that saw their real estate tax bases grow in this year's assessment will hold rates steady, instead of cutting them, as they did last year. That means tax bills in those communities will rise, on average, too. Bottom line: Homeowners in 11 area localities will generally see tax bills rise -- in some localties by a couple of hundred dollars for a home worth $250,000.

38. REGION CAN EXPECT NEW PARTNERSHIP

In S.C., Richmond officials say an entity now forming will help tackle core issues

By Will Jones
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Richmond-area community leaders did more than pick up a deeper appreciation for jalape?o cheese grits, fried green tomatoes and other Lowcountry fare after three days in the Palmetto State last week. On this year's InterCity Visit, 110 business, government and other civic leaders got a sense of how Charleston has been able to thrive using its history and architecture, arts and culture, and strong, consistent leadership from Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.

39. ROSELAND'S FATE

Chesterfield supervisors to decide if largest community will be built

By Wesley P. Hester
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

Building the largest residential development in Chesterfield County requires patience, $3 billion and approval from the Board of Supervisors. The people behind Roseland say it would be the antidote to a county suffering from sprawl. The claim is bold for a 1,400-acre proposal that could mean 5,540 new homes and 1.5 million square feet of commercial and office space -- and 15,000 new county residents.

40. NEWPORT NEWS ASSESSMENTS TO RISE 5.35% FOR HOUSES

That's less than in previous years, but it still means higher taxes if rates remain unchanged.

By Sabine Hirschauer
Daily Press
NEWPORT NEWS

Owners of single-family homes in Newport News will see their tax assessments rise about 5.35 percent this year, according to information released today by the tax assessor's office. While that's a far cry from double-digit increases in previous years - assessments of single-family homes rose by an average of 18.62 percent last year, and by 16 percent the year before - city residents will still see higher tax bills if the current real estate tax rate remains unchanged at $1.10 per $100 of assessed value. That means the owner of a $200,000 home who paid $2,200 in real estate taxes last year will have to pay $117.70 more this year, or $2,317.70.

41. COUNTY PROPERTY TAXES COULD RISE 6 PERCENT

State revenue is down, the tax rate is up and schools need funding.

By Nicolas Zimmerman
Daily Press

MATHEWS

- A dip in state funding and rising costs all around could increase property taxes in Mathews County roughly 6 percent under a 2008-09 budget up for public hearing tonight. The $23 million budget is up just 3.3 percent from last year's, but it calls for the amount to be raised by local taxes to jump 8 percent, from $9.1 million to $9.8 million. The real estate tax rate would edge up from 53 cents per $100 of assessed value to 56 cents, and the personal property tax on vehicles would climb 10 cents, to $3.70 per $100 of assessed value.

42. VIRGINIA BEACH COMMUNITY PROGRAM FACES END OF THE ROAD

By Richard Quinn
Virginian Pilot

Two women dove into the trunk together, pulling out two brown-bag lunches, a pair of fried-chicken dinners and a half-dozen pamphlets on how to protect yourself from scams. They walked up Louise Finnigan's Windsor Woods driveway and put their Meals on Wheels food on the kitchen counter. Cathy Parks, coordinator of the city's Consumer Affairs Program, spoke first. "If you all ever have any questions," she said, "or if you need help with anything, you can give us a call." "Us old folks," the 85-year-old Finnigan retorted, "we always need help."

43. CIVIC LEADER, W & M STUDENTS SQUARE OFF

He says they're trying to change laws by fielding a City Council hopeful.

By Seth Freedland
Daily Press

WILLIAMSBURG

A city leader's heated reprimand of students at the College of William and Mary on Saturday could color Williamsburg's coming City Council election. Jim Joseph is chairman of the city Neighborhood Council. He assailed the student government, student newspaper and the sole student running for a council seat during the group's monthly meeting. He accused campus leaders of refusing to work with residents, instead aiming to change laws by putting one of their own in city office by any means necessary. His condemnations got a healthy amount of support from the rest of the neighborhood council, made up of representatives from communities all over Williamsburg.

44. EX-OFFICIAL CHARGED OVER CREDIT CARD USE

The housing authority executive director was fired last year, weeks after a disagreement with the city.

By Danielle Zielinski And Seth Freedland
Daily Press

WILLIAMSBURG

Police have charged the former executive director of the Williamsburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority with embezzlement, alleging that she used an agency credit card to make about $1,000 in personal purchases. Janice Lynne Hillman, 41, of Williamsburg, is charged with one count of felony embezzlement, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, Williamsburg Police spokesman David Sloggie said.  Sloggie said the purchases in question were made in August and September 2007.

45. REACHING FOR TEACHERS

Roanoke's first-year superintendent is pulling out all the stops in an effort to attract teachers to the city's public schools, and to avoid the difficulties of starting the school year with vacancies.

By David Harrison
Roanoke Times

At a citywide PTA meeting in early March, Rita Bishop made an urgent plea to parents. The city was short of teachers, the Roanoke superintendent said, especially in math and special education. She needed them to help her find some. "You are my best hope right now," she pleaded as parents sat, transfixed. Bishop, in her first year as superintendent, has launched an aggressive, early recruiting drive. It's a new push for Roanoke, where administrators have started the past two school years scrambling to fill spots. In September, the school system started the year with about eight positions unfilled, about the same number as the year before.

46. TEACHER RAISES UNDER THE AX

Bedford County supervisors are trying to balance the budget without raising taxes.

Courtney Cutright
Roanoke Times

The bulk of funding requested for teacher raises is now among the proposed cuts to Bedford County's 2008-09 budget. Cuts were made across departments to balance the nearly $88 million budget without raising taxes. The real estate tax is proposed to remain at 50 cents per $100 of assessed value. Other planned cuts include money for electronic voting equipment and self-checkout systems at the public libraries.

47. NO TAX HIKE IN COUNTY BUDGET

By Debbie Hall
Bulletin Staff Writer

Henry County's proposed fiscal 2009 budget includes no tax increases, a more than $400,000 drop in state revenues, 2 percent raises for employees and construction of a new shell building to continue the success of recruiting RTI International Metals to the county.  "Any discussion of Henry County's performance in fiscal year 2008 and its anticipation" for 2009 must begin with RTI, County Administrator Benny Summerlin said as he began outlining the proposed nearly $128 million budget to the Henry County Board of Supervisors on Thursday.  "This perfect marriage of company and community will help us define who we are and what we want to be for many years to come," he said.

48. RIFT IN CITY COUNCIL WIDENS

By Jimmy LaRoue
The News Virginian

A quote from former President Jimmy Carter during Mideast peace talks in the 1970s - paraphrased by Waynesboro City Planner Jim Shaw during a recent Planning Commission work session - reminded Councilwoman Lorie Smith of the current rift among factions of the City Council. " 'We agree that we at least have the right to exist,' " Shaw said. "That's germane to some of the things that I'm dealing with," Smith said.

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