VPAP Whipple Report Friday, October 21, 2011
Compiled by David M. Poole
ELECTIONS
By ANITA KUMAR
Washington Post
Ever since we reported Tuesday that Sen. Toddy Puller was one of several Democratic legislators declining to commit to President Obama's re-election campaign, she said her phone has been ringing off the hook. Puller (Fairfax), one of the first senators to come out for Obama in 2008, wants everyone to know she does support Obama.
By BILL MCKELWAY
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Henrico County's political allegiances are muddled enough that independent candidate Bill Janis is calling himself a Republican in campaign literature mailed out this week to voters. Janis is giving up his long-held Republican Party label to run as an independent for commonwealth's attorney after the actual Republican candidate, Matthew P. Geary, lost the support of the county party leadership and a number of high-profile statewide figures, including the attorney general and the lieutenant governor.
By JULIAN WALKER
Virginian-Pilot
Fundraising in Virginia's legislative races is down this year, but Republicans' bank accounts appear better stocked than those of their Democratic counterparts. Key Republican political committees ended September with an advantage of more than 2-to-1 over similar Democratic committees in available cash - $4.6 million to $2.1 million, according to an analysis of political giving by the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in state politics.
By JIM NOLAN
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Twenty-third Senatorial District Democratic candidate Robert Short showed up for the League of Women Voters candidate debate Wednesday night at Lynchburg College. His well-funded Republican opponent did not.
By ANITA KUMAR
Washington Post
A political organization affiliated with the conservative group Citizens United announced Thursday it has showered legislative candidates in Virginia with another $23,500.
By JIM NOLAN
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Virginia's highest profile politicians are breaking bread to raise bucks for the hotly contested race for the 22d Senatorial District. On Thursday morning, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell was in Lynchburg at a fundraising breakfast for GOP candidate Tom Garrett, the Louisa County Commonwealth's Attorney. The price was $35 per person at the Oakwood Country Club, but for $500, you could be a "Host" of the event and receive eight tickets. That's a lot of eggs.
By JULIAN WALKER
Virginian-Pilot
As of Thursday morning, local Republicans were expecting a leading anti-tax crusader to visit South Hampton Roads next week to campaign for state Senate candidate Ben Loyola. By Thursday evening, the event had fallen through.
By BEN PERSHING
Washington Post
Another day - another squabble in the Virginia Senate race over jobs plans. For weeks, ex-senator George Allen's (R) campaign has been criticizing former governor Timothy M. Kaine (D) over President Obama's $447 billion jobs package, dubbing the proposal "Stimulus 2.0" and suggesting it won't help revive the economy. This attack was only the latest on the jobs front between the two men, the likely nominees in the contest to succeed retiring Sen. James Webb (D).
By WESLEY P. HESTER
Richmond Times-Dispatch
There's a debate about debates going on among a handful of U.S. Senate hopefuls. Tonight, the Shenandoah Valley Tea Party is hosting a U.S. Senate Debate. Of the 10 declared candidates, four Republicans plan to attend: Tim Donner, E.W. Jackson, David McCormick and James Kevin Chisholm. Jamie Radtke, a former Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation chairwoman from Chesterfield County, was originally planning to participate, but backed out when she learned that GOP front-runner George Allen would not participate.
By ANITA KUMAR
Washington Post
Presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry have both asked Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, for his endorsement in the GOP primary.
STATE GOVERNMENT
By MICHAEL MARTZ
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Virginia and its local governments face a big increase in contributions to pensions for state employees and teachers in the next two years, but the retirement system is providing a small cushion to ease the pain. The Virginia Retirement System certified rates for state employee and teacher plans on Thursday that would require government employers to contribute more than double the percentage of payroll that they currently pay to pensions.
By JULIAN WALKER
Virginian-Pilot
Ahead of the upcoming legislative session, the state teachers' lobby is pushing for adequate funding of the state pension program instead of a shift to a defined contribution plan for public workers as the best way to strengthen the system. Officials with the Virginia Education Association made that case Thursday ahead of a meeting when state retirement system trustees were to set the level for proper funding of the pension, a level they say hasn't often been met.
By LAURA VOZZELLA
Washington Post
Following the release of lions, tigers and other dangerous animals from a private collection in Ohio, an animal-rights group is asking Virginia to strengthen what it says are some of the nation's weakest laws on exotic pets. Humane Society of the United States has asked Gov. Robert F. McDonnell to direct the Virginia Department of Natural Resources to tighten regulations on the sale and possession of dangerous wild animals.
By BILL SIZEMORE
Virginian-Pilot
The Humane Society of the United States wants Gov. Bob McDonnell to toughen Virginia's regulation of the sale and possession of dangerous wild animals in the wake of a big-game scare in Ohio this week.
CONGRESS
By WESLEY P. HESTER
Richmond Times-Dispatch
After a three-year effort, the U.S. Senate Wednesday shot down landmark criminal justice reform legislation sponsored by outgoing Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va. The National Criminal Justice Commission Act would have created a bipartisan commission to conduct a sweeping 18-month review of the nation's justice system and offer recommendations to overhaul it.
By OLYMPIA MEOLA
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The day after President Barack Obama swept through Virginia rallying audiences to support part of his jobs plan that would funnel money to hire teachers and first responders, House Majority Leader Eric I. Cantor cemented his opposition, branding that component another stimulus.
By WESLEY P. HESTER
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., is asking for an explanation from Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate on the recent denial of federal disaster aid for the residents of Louisa County, which was shaken by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in August.
ECONOMY/BUSINESS
By PETER FROST
Daily Press
The Virginia Port Authority plans to cut 45 of its 71 sworn police officers by next June and replace them with contract security guards in an effort to save money, the state agency confirmed Thursday. The cuts will be accomplished through a combination of early retirement offers and layoffs and are expected save the port authority between $1 million and $2 million per year, said Joe Harris, a spokesman.
By RUSTY DENNEN
Free Lance-Star
The question of when North Anna Power Station's two nuclear reactors can restart in the wake of the Aug. 23 earthquake is before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission today. And in a related matter, the NRC decided yesterday that seven short-term safety recommendations by its post-Fukushima task force will be implemented immediately.
By CAROL MORELLO AND LUZ LAZO
Virginian-Pilot
The Washington region had the lowest poverty rate of any major metropolitan area in the country during the past two years, even though poverty is up significantly and continues to rise. About 8.4?percent of the region's residents lived in poverty in 2010, compared with 6.8?percent before the recession began in 2007.
VIRGINIA OTHER
By DENA POTTER
Roanoke Times
The U.S. Department of Education has scheduled a December hearing to take up Virginia Tech's appeal of fines it received for failing to notify campus sooner during a 2007 shooting rampage in which a student killed 32 students and faculty.
By STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Richmond Times-Dispatch
President Barack Obama's domestic policy adviser, Richmond native Melody Barnes, will leave the administration at the end of the year. Barnes, 47, said in a statement Thursday that she plans to spend time with her family before exploring work in the private sector.
LOCAL
By AMY FLOWERS UMBLE
Free Lance-Star
The question of when North Anna Power Station's two nuclear reactors can restart in the wake of the Aug. 23 earthquake is before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission today. And in a related matter, the NRC decided yesterday that seven short-term safety recommendations by its post-Fukushima task force will be implemented immediately.
By JOSH WHITE
Washington Post
The Bristow parents who put drywall across a bedroom door to barricade their three young girls inside entered guilty pleas Thursday to three counts of child abuse, accepting responsibility while attributing the episode to out-of-control prescription drug abuse.
By TED STRONG
Danville Register & Bee
After a permit allowing Occupy Charlottesville to take over Lee Park zipped through City Hall in less than a day, the Jefferson Area Tea Party will be holding a free speech rally in McGuffey Park today, and one Tea Party organizer is raising questions about favoritism from the Charlottesville City Council, though the city manager said time constraints, not sentiment, speeded up the permitting process.
By JEREMY SLAYTON
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Republican candidates for the Hanover County Board of Supervisors have raised the most money in every contested race but one. Elton Wade, the Republican incumbent in the Cold Harbor District, trails independent challenger Carol S. Cash by less than $240.
By MARJON ROSTAMI
Virginian-Pilot
City employees can expect their salaries to remain stagnant for at least the next three years, and possibly longer, according to early budget forecasts presented at a City Council planning meeting Wednesday. Deputy City Manager Betty Jean Meyer said Thursday that the city does not have the resources for pay increases, based on its revenue assumptions and the expenses it expects to face in the coming years.
By MATT CHITTUM
Roanoke Times
The executive director of the Vinton Chamber of Commerce was arrested this month for welfare fraud. Angela Chewning Lewis was indicted Oct. 7 and arrested Oct. 14, according to online court records. The records list her offense date as Nov. 8, 2010.
By COURTNEY CUTRIGHT
Roanoke Times
A disoriented squirrel hunter caused a stir at a Roanoke County elementary school Thursday morning. Penn Forest Elementary School on Merriman Road was placed on lockdown for more than an hour after a parent reported seeing a man with a gun strapped to his back riding a bicycle near Crescent Heights Grocery & Tire on Starkey Road, Principal Linda Wright said. "It was right as children were arriving at school," she said.
By ALLIE ROBINSON
Virginian-Pilot
Drug-abusers who authorities say wouldn't be criminals except for their addictions might get another shot at a drug-free life by participating in a new intensive drug court treatment program in Washington County, Va. The program was announced Thursday, when the United Way of Russell and Washington Counties contributed $10,000 toward start-up costs. This money is in addition to $10,000 from the Washington County Board of Supervisors, and a total of $20,000 worth of drug seizure money from the county Commonwealth's Attorney's Office and Washington County Sheriff's Office.
EDITORIALS
Culpeper Star Exponent Editorial
Did Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia Wright violate state conflict-of-interests laws by going to education conferences? You can make a case that she did - a grossly overstated case. Wright has attended meetings sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers that were underwritten, in part, by the Pearson Foundation.
Virginian-Pilot Editorial
Virginia and Maryland are taking different approaches to restoring the Chesapeake Bay's oysters, which have been devastated by disease, habitat destruction and pollution. Virginia has built oyster beds, closed them to watermen for a few years, opened them to harvest for a few weeks, then closed them again. The commonwealth believes strongly enough in the approach that it was almost willing this year to reject millions of dollars from the federal government rather than create what marine scientists refer to as "sanctuaries" - oyster restoration sites where fishing is prohibited.
Washington Post Editorial
REPUBLICANS HOLD a 59-seat majority in Virginia's House of Delegates. Now, owing partly to their control of a baldly partisan redistricting process, swing districts across the state have been transformed into safe ones for the GOP. If the result is to further entrench increasingly hard-line, anti-tax, socially conservative Republicans in the legislature's lower house, many Northern Virginians are likely to be unhappy.
Daily Progress Editorial
There's much to question in the case of the 53-year-old ex-teacher who was arrested in a full-out SWAT operation after a couple of marijuana plants were spotted in his backyard. Philip Cobbs was convicted in Albemarle County General District Court this week for simple possession of marijuana. His sentence was 10 days in jail, suspended, and loss of his driver's license for six months. Mr. Cobbs and his attorney will appeal. He says the plants were not his, and that he never even knew they were there. Police noted that they were staked and obviously tended, and were found less than 100 yards from his back door. The court agreed that Mr. Cobbs owned the pot plants.
Roanoke Times Editorial
No small measure of irony attends the Giles County School Board's latest legal maneuver in the battle over displaying the Ten Commandments in a county school. Rather than defend its action, the board claims to have taken none: the Pontius Pilate defense.
News Virginian Editorial
That Appalachian Trail through-hikers are a part of the community in Waynesboro is not news. These travelers and short-term residents have been with us for a long time, and businesses such as Graham's Shoe Service ["Hikers welcome," July 13] have found success in catering to them. That's why the city is on the right track in seeking official designation as an "Appalachian Trail Community."
Danville Register & Bee Editorial
It's been four years since Robert Hurt ran for - and won - the Virginia Senate seat previously held by Charles Hawkins. Hurt was elected with nearly 76 percent of the vote over an underfunded political newcomer in a low-key, cordial contest.
OP-ED
By KERRY DOUGHERTY
Virginian-Pilot
Any time you compare the private sector with the public sector, you're asking for trouble. Luckily, I like trouble. Besides, we who work for private enterprises foot most of the bills for our bureaucratic brethren. We have a right to raise questions - and eyebrows - when generous government policies squander our tax dollars.
By DONALD LUZZATTO
Virginian-Pilot
In the spring of 2009, Jeff Musselman found himself in Washington, D.C., at one of the earliest tea party rallies. He and thousands of others were protesting the nation's busted political system. This morning, you can probably find the rangy Old Dominion University student in Commercial Park, occupying Norfolk and doing the same.
By A. BARTON HINKLE
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Politics is the systematic organization of hatreds, said Henry Adams, whose statement is true but incomplete. Sometimes it's not all that systematic. Take the contest currently under way in Virginia's 32nd Senate District. Patrick Forrest is running against incumbent Janet Howell. Forrest is a Republican, which everyone knows. He is also gay. Not everyone knows that, but some Democrats in Northern Virginia - including Howell, Forrest says - are trying to educate them.
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