Author
Miyares’ integrity unit is sop to election deniers
The state Attorney General’s Office doth protest too much. Victoria LaCivita, spokeswoman for Attorney General Jason Miyares, says the Virginia NAACP owes the office’s lawyers and other employees “an apology” for reputedly “groundless attacks” about starting a 20-person election integrity unit to root out voting irregularities. She and Miyares shouldn’t hold their breaths. The NAACP […]
Guns, not mental illness, at heart of America’s terror
Researchers and policymakers know the ways to reduce gun violence and needless murders across the country. They include disarming domestic abusers, banning so-called “weapons of war” that allow attackers to keep firing without reloading and requiring background checks for all gun sales. Studies and reporting from The Washington Post, the Center for American Progress and […]
Up in the air, down on the ground and in between: loads of thankfulness
Teachers go to great lengths – and even heights – to provide the best learning environments for their children. Sometimes literally. Let’s praise Rebecca Muir, a Georgetown Primary School third-grade teacher in Chesapeake, for combining education and skydiving to pique her students’ interest. We have YouTube and Facebook to prove this daredevil inspires you to […]
Be bold in overhauling state’s individual income tax system
Virginia’s income tax brackets have always shocked me, especially because of their glaring lack of fairness. When I was a newspaper columnist in South Hampton Roads, I eventually earned in the upper five figures annually. That placed me into the same category as someone who made just over $17,000 a year. We both paid an […]
Prior cowardice doesn’t mean courageousness now
Several Republican officials around the country, including at least two in Virginia, are now saying publicly the party should cut ties with or disavow Donald Trump, the former president and de facto boss of the GOP. Hooray for this “come to Jesus” moment. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Del. Tim Anderson of Virginia Beach assailed […]
Orwellian snitch line shuts down. Will guv end assault on teachers?
It was so punitive. So unnecessary. And so past time for Gov. Glenn Youngkin to shut down his teacher snitch line. His spokeswoman, Macaulay Porter, confirmed to me the euphemistically named “help education email” was deactivated in September, eight months after Youngkin announced its start. The acknowledgment finally came after Axios reported last week that […]
De-emphasizing SATs would be a godsend for students and parents
1080. That’s what I tallied on the SATs more than 40 years ago while attending my college prep high school in Washington, D.C. Surprisingly, I did better on the math portion, getting 600, but I earned just 480 on the English section. My coursework had revealed the exact opposite: I struggled in algebra and calculus, […]
Give up your NFL team, Mr. Snyder
Washington’s NFL franchise – beset by investigations against the owner, complaints of a toxic culture in the front office and constant mediocrity on the field – wrote a bounced check for a 50-50 raffle it sponsored to support its charitable foundation. That’s a perfect metaphor for the Washington Commanders (former name a slur) under the […]
A mother’s grief spurred advocacy against gun violence. Will others listen?
When Candace Blue became part of the club no parent wants to join, she faced a stark choice: Totally shut down following the shooting death of her only child, 25-year-old Namel Prince Augustine. Or transform that mindless violence on a Chesapeake sidewalk in 2018, so that parents and siblings confronting similar circumstances could find support […]
Collaboration, instead of lower standards, is a better fix for teacher shortages
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has adopted a new tack in trying to stem thousands of teacher vacancies across Virginia. He wants to hire more educators for the state’s 1.25 million students in K-12 public schools, and the guv has bet that lowering the bar for licensure will ease the shortfall. He should reassess that wager. Youngkin […]
A survey for Virginia’s proponents of the Big Lie on the 2022 ballot
Eight of the 11 Republican candidates in Virginia running for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives this fall are “election deniers,” The Washington Post reported last week. They are among the nearly 300 GOP nominees nationwide competing for the U.S. House, Senate and major statewide offices who contend Joe Biden didn’t win the presidency […]
Symphony of consolation will counter violence
Novel in its approach, a Hampton Roads-based community group is fighting the spate of gun violence with woodwinds, crescendos – and comfort. This act of musical consolation will occur at an Oct. 18 concert featuring the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, a combined gospel choir and recognition of the family members of people slain in the region. […]