1 LIBRARY FINES NO MORE Fairfax County has joined neighbors Alexandria City and Loudoun and Prince William counties in eliminating fines for overdue books and other materials. Experiences in the other jurisdictions has shown a marked increase in the return… Read More ›
Local
Colonial Chocolate and Slavery
As the nation struggles with repeated assaults from waves of viruses, pressure to resume some type of normalcy increases, particularly as the holiday season approaches. At the same time, reminders of our cultural heritage persist in competing for attention. Published… Read More ›
Around the Novahood
OUTFOXING THE CRITTERS Many traditions represent nostalgic calls to remember cherished moments or events of the past. Some traditions, however, are prized by the few and evoke sentiments of a type of noblesse oblige of past class structure. Out of… Read More ›
War on Children, Chapter 3
Editors’ Note: This is Chapter 3 of a six-chapter expose by ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit “newsroom” that produces investigative journalism “with moral force.” The treatment of children in Tennessee reported here, of whatever race, by local officials, is almost unimaginable…. Read More ›
No Honor, No Decency
It is something of a general maxim that political leaders rely upon the short term memory of the public to continue in their roles, even after exposure of horrendous behavior. Faith, however, in the collective sensibility of that Great Unwashed… Read More ›
Proudly Hoi Polloi
1 Sometime in 2029, Virginia will again face the task of drawing political boundaries. The current Virginia Redistricting Commission (VRC) lies mortally wounded on the legislative books and, if memory serves decision-makers, it will remain in the legal sanitarium for… Read More ›
Beyond Our Border
WASHINGTON The Evergreen State has once again been named the best state in the country in which to live by US News, thanks in large part to its burgeoning tech sector, economy (the fastest growing in the country), low carbon… Read More ›
State Treatment of Black–and Other–Children
Editors’ Note: This is Chapter 1 of a six-chapter expose by ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit “newsroom” that produces investigative journalism “with moral force.” The treatment of children in Tennessee reported in this article–of whatever race–by state officials is almost unimaginable…. Read More ›
Aborting Democratic Elections
There is a corollary to the adage about power and corruption. Election victories cause visions of power to infect reason. Virginia’s newly elected attorney general, Jason Miyares, announced that he would seek legislation from the General Assembly authorizing his office… Read More ›
Outside the Novahood
1 ARMADILLOS ARRIVING IN SW VA Desert creatures? Not anymore. The armadillo (Spanish for “little armored one”) is good at moving–swimming, hitching rides on trains and in trucks, and sometimes just on foot. In the past 150 years they have… Read More ›