1. KAINE TO SEEK ANOTHER SOLUTIONThe governor's hard-won transportation package quickly fell apart amid lawsuits and criticism.
By Michael Sluss
Roanoke TimesRICHMOND -- Gov. Tim Kaine and state lawmakers might have hoped that a long-running debate over transportation funding had ended last year when they passed a multifaceted bill to generate new road-building funds and address acute needs in the congested regions of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. But the ink had barely dried on the compromise legislation before parts of the package came under attack and eventually fell apart. Controversial "abusive driver" fees designed to generate new maintenance revenue drew widespread public criticism, leading the governor and lawmakers to scrap them. Then a Virginia Supreme Court ruling invalidated the tax-collecting powers of transportation authorities in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, sending Kaine and lawmakers scrambling to fix the regional funding packages.
2. LEGISLATORS TO REVIEW ROAD PLAN
By Drew Houff
The Winchester Star
Winchester - State legislators will get about a five-week advanced look at a transportation proposal from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine before a special session in June. Gordon Hickey, Kaine's press secretary, said on Thursday that the governor will put his proposal out by the end of this week or early next week so that members of the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates can get an advanced look at what he thinks are the key issues. "It is going to have a statewide component, with money in there for maintenance statewide and also something for the regions with larger needs," Hickey said. "In Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, the need is there. That is where we have the biggest need, where the biggest traffic count is. "Whatever plan comes out of the General Assembly, it will have to take care of those [regions]."
3. A DEBATE OVER WHAT REVIVED DULLES RAILU.S. Cites Changes; Others See Politics
By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 5, 2008; B01
U.S transportation officials say they reversed their position last week on the proposed extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport because Virginia officials and the people overseeing the project made significant enough changes to make it viable. But many others close to the proceedings say the project actually changed very little. These political and business leaders credit the Federal Transit Administration for a willingness to revisit the details of Dulles rail, but they also believe that intense political pressure from Congress, the business community and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) forced the agency to renegotiate.
4. LITTLE RELIEF FOR CHOKED SECONDARY ROADS IN VA.
State Funds Slashed By More Than Half
By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 5, 2008; A01Winding, shoulderless Rolling Road looks like a two-lane country road. But the Newington street has become a major artery, connecting Interstate 95, Route 1, the Fairfax County Parkway and what will soon be a much larger Fort Belvoir. Thoroughfares like Rolling Road are the blood vessels that connect suburbia, the secondary roads that carry commuters to interstates, residents to supermarkets and children to school. They include Braddock Road in Fairfax County, Colesville Road in Montgomery, and even such larger highways as routes 7 and 50. They are the roads that Washington area residents traverse every day, sometimes several times a day.
5. MARK WARNER KICKS OFF HIS BID FOR SENATE
Seat Could Return to Democrats
By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 5, 2008; B01ABINGDON, Va., May 4 -- Democrat Mark R. Warner officially kicked off his U.S. Senate campaign Sunday night, pledging to invest in new energy sources, expand access to health care and rebuild the state's sagging infrastructure. Six months before the November election, the popular former governor is widely considered the front-runner to replace retiring Republican John W. Warner in a race that could help further solidify Virginia's gradual shift toward becoming a more Democratic state. Even Republicans acknowledge that Warner is considered the heavy favorite. But, they say, he could still lose.
6. WARNER KICKS OFF SENATE CAMPAIGN
By Bob Lewis
The Associated PressABINGDON -- Democrat Mark R. Warner opened his Senate campaign yesterday pledging not to forget Virginia's rural areas and taking his harshest shots yet at his potential Republican rival. The first stop on a three-day, 12-city tour that kicks off his campaign in earnest was politically and sentimentally significant for Warner. Abingdon was the first event in his 2001 race for governor, a victory that broke a brief GOP stranglehold on political power in Virginia. But it is also a region that Warner cultivated heavily when he was governor, pushing economic-development projects into the depressed region and highlighting its Appalachian culture.
7. EX-GOV. WARNER CALLS FOR 'RESULTS, NOT RHETORIC'
By Warren Fiske
The Virginian-PilotFormer Gov. Mark Warner kicked off his campaign for the U.S. Senate on Sunday, calling himself a "radical centrist" and pledging to bring a bipartisan spirit to Washington. "It is time for a new approach in Washington: results, not rhetoric; and progress, not delay," Warner, a Democrat, told about 250 people from Southwestern Virginia attending a barbecue dinner at a local middle school. "The old practices of left and right, or red versus blue will not work at a time when our challenge really is future versus past," Warner, 53, said. "If we work together to get our nation fixed, I'm confident our best days lay ahead."
8. WILDER PREDICTS DEMOCRATS WILL UNITE BEHIND NOMINEE
Mayor, a supporter of Obama, says Clinton should stay in the race
By Olympia Meola
Times-Dispatch Staff WriterThe Democratic Party will unite behind its presidential nominee despite the drawn-out fight to figure out who that will be, Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder predicted yesterday on CBS' "Face the Nation." New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "should stay in as long as she chooses," Wilder said. But he echoed comments he made on the show in February that the party's August convention could be riotous if voters think superdelegates have unfairly taken the nomination from a candidate. Wilder, who supports Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, balked at questions about Obama's potential inability to court certain voters and pointed to Republican interference.
9. DOCTOR CHALLENGES WITTMAN
By Chelyen Davis
Free Lance-StarA Westmoreland County doctor plans to challenge Rep. Rob Wittman for the 1st District congressional seat. Dr. Keith Hummel, an emergency-room physician, hopes to win the Democratic nomination to run against Republican Wittman for the seat in November's election. No others have filed as candidates. Wittman won the seat just last December in a special election, held after Rep. Jo Ann Davis died of breast cancer. The 1st District extends from Fauquier County to York County. Hummel, 57, who also runs a vineyard and winery, has never run for political office. He said he's running now because his own populist viewpoint isn't being represented.
10. HOUSE HOPEFULS SEEK PARTY NODS
By Drew Houff
The Winchester StarGOP: WOLF VS. MCKINLEY
Winchester - U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, continues to work for his constituents on Capitol Hill as the Republican primary for his seat approaches. Wolf's congressional efforts, which include the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Bill and helping to get financial assistance for the Dulles rail project, also serve as the bulk of his political campaigning. First elected in 1980 when President Reagan took office, Wolf generally has turned back each challenger easily. His last primary battle against a fellow Republican was in 1980. But Vern McKinley of Ashburn believes that Wolf, the longest serving of Virginia's 11 members of the House, has strayed from being a Reagan Republican.
11. NO REGRETS ABOUT HIS MOVE FROM PRIVATE SECTOR TO PUBLIC SERVICE
By Peter Frost
Daily PressThen the managing director of an ascendant information technology firm in Washington, The Advisory Board Company, Chopra was just entering the prime earning years of his life. But the pull of public service tempted him, even if it meant taking a severe pay cut and subjecting himself to increased public scrutiny in an often-thankless job. After much deliberation with his wife, Rohini, Chopra decided to take a chance. That December, he agreed to join the Cabinet of Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. As Technology Secretary, Chopra oversees more than 1,000 employees in the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, the state's centralized information technology organization; and Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, a 23-year-old agency that helps entrepreneurs and tech companies incubate new technologies.
12. A GAS-TAX RELIEF HOLIDAY COULD DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD
The primary criticism is that over three months, the state could lose millions in federal transportation money.
By Hugh Lessig
Daily PressWith gas prices soaring and vacation season fast approaching, the idea of a summer gas-tax holiday has gained momentum on the national political stage. That's not true in all corners of Virginia, where it doesn't take a spike in fuel prices for people to fret about the economics of transportation. State lawmakers are expected to meet next month in a special session devoted to highway and transit financing. Legislators will try to agree on a revenue plan for congested Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, something that has eluded them for years. They are also likely to debate the long-term solvency of the road maintenance fund. Given these problems, the last thing that Virginia needs is the prospect of losing federal tax money, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said.
13. UVA-WISE RULES OUT CAGE FIGHTS AFTER SEVERAL INJURED
AP
Wise, VA - Mixed martial arts events are out at the University of Virginia-Wise after several people were injured recently in a cage fight. One person was sent to a hospital, but no one was seriously injured in the April 5 amateur event that drew a crowd of 600 to the Fred B. Greear Gymnasium. "We will not host another mixed martial arts event _ or cage fight _ on campus," university spokesman Roger Hagy said Tuesday. He declined to elaborate. The fight was organized by The Arena, a Wise-based fight promoter, and the university's athletic booster club. It garnered $3,000 for the college's general athletic fund.
14. LICENSES
Richmond Times Dispatch Editorial
Virginia's Crime Commission will study the issue of private sales at gun shows -- but already has made clear it will not issue any legislative recommendations as a result of its findings. That has upset some of the usual suspects in the gun-control wars, including those who favor closing an ostensible loophole. What good, they ask, is a study without recommendations? The question assumes the study would reach the same conclusions they already have. But what good is a study whose outcome is known in advance? An unbiased study very well might refute arguments in favor of tighter restrictions.
15. POISONING ROVER
Richmond Times Dispatch Editorial
The Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to rehear part of a case about a subject far from everybody's heart: e-mail spam. In February a divided court upheld the conviction of a notorious spammer, Jeremy Jaynes, under Virginia's anti-spam law. That law prohibits sending unsolicited, bulk e-mails beyond a certain threshhold. Although the court ruled the law was applied to Jaynes in a constitutional manner, it will examine whether it is unconstitutional in general.
16. QUIET PROGRESS
Richmond Times Dispatch Editorial
While the nation bickers over high gasoline prices, the latest gaffe by a candidate, and other ephemera, scientific progress marches forward, largely unheralded. The results will last long after today's headlines have become ancient history. One of the most promising developments: New ways to store solar energy. Among the various renewable resources, only solar energy could provide a realistic large-scale alternative to contemporary power sources: As much energy hits the Earth every hour as humanity consumes in a year. But capturing and storing that energy has presented a huge technological problem.
17. PHOSPHATES AND THE BAY
Why cut a big corporation a break?
Washington Post EditorialWITH GOOD cause, Maryland and a growing number of other states have set deadlines for Proctor & Gamble and other manufacturers of automatic dishwasher detergents to rid their products of phosphates. But the soap industry, backed by its insider lobbyists in Annapolis, succeeded recently in persuading Maryland lawmakers to pass legislation that would extend the state's deadline by six months. Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) should veto the bill.
18. AT THE POTTERY
What's next for the original Williamsburg bargain mecca?
Daily Press Editorial
Back in 1938, when Jimmy Maloney decided to put up a roadside stand in the Route 60 sticks to sell the extra and "imperfect" products from his pottery kiln, he determined what Lightfoot, Va., would be known for, far and wide: bargains. We all know how that turned out.
19. SOBERING FORECAST ON STORM EVACUATIONS
Virginian Pilot EditorialGet out. Fast.
When the next killer hurricane comes to Hampton Roads, starting quickly will provide the best chance for escape. Perhaps the only one. With the highways what they are - a collection of bottlenecks and insufficiencies - there's simply not enough capacity to get folks who need to evacuate out of here when a hurricane approaches. Isabel was a relatively minor hurricane when it arrived along our coast in 2003. Few residents left. Still, the damage shut down the region for more than a week. People died. Now imagine what happens if the next one is considerably worse.
20. ROANOKE'S BUDGET PINCHES ALL
Roanoke firefighters are alarmed by proposed budget cuts. They need to give up something.
Roanoke Times Editorial
Roanoke firefighters raise a legitimate point in opposition to the city's proposed budget: They need four firefighters to run the versatile fire truck called a quint. Council last year promised that level of staffing, but the proposed budget would strip the trucks to three firefighters. That, they claim, is not enough personnel to fight fires on arrival (as two are required to enter burning structures while two stay outside). Firefighters, the public and the department's coveted accreditation would all stand at risk.
21. AMTRAK NEEDS SUPPORT
Staunton News Leader Editorial
It's been a week of high politics and energy in Virginia cities and towns. News of the economy and our currents wars depress as well as enlighten us. It's time to spend some leisure time, and Amtrak has the perfect plan. On May 10, Amtrak hopes to fill its train seats during a special event known as National Train Day. There will be performances in the stations, like Sara Bareilles singing her songs in Washington's Union Station and the Harlem Globetrotters dribbling, spinning and shooting the ball in New York City's Penn Station.
22. PARENTS CONCERNED ABOUT PROPOSED HOTEL'S PROXIMITY TO SCHOOL
By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 5, 2008; B05Parents from a Roman Catholic school in Falls Church are trying to derail a proposal to build a six-story hotel across the street, saying it would become a magnet for crime and sexual predators. Their concerns are complicating the approval process for what many local officials consider to be a desirable commercial development in the small suburb tucked between Arlington and Fairfax counties, which has aggressively sought to attract new sources of tax revenue in recent years.
23. FISCAL PRESSURES LEAD SOME STATES TO FREE INMATES EARLY
By Keith B. Richburg and Ashley Surdin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 5, 2008; A01NEW YORK -- Reversing decades of tough-on-crime policies, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for some drug offenders, many cash-strapped states are embracing a view once dismissed as dangerously naive: It costs far less to let some felons go free than to keep them locked up. It is a theory that has long been pushed by criminal justice advocates and liberal politicians -- that some felons, particularly those convicted of minor drug offenses, would be better served by treatment, parole or early release for good behavior. But the states' conversion to that view has less to do with a change of heart on crime than with stark fiscal realities. At a time of shrinking resources, prisons are eating up an increasing share of many state budgets.