BLACK VELVET BRUCE LI

McDonnell Reverses Kaine School Funding Grab

Greg L — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:04:12 +0000

Delegate Jackson Miller was clearly happy to announce that Governor McDonnell undid the freeze in the LCI funding formula today, ensuring that schools in Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park won’t get unfairly punished in the next biennial budget. Although this doesn’t make budget discussions any easier this year as the decision increases costs for the Commonwealth, at least this undoes Kaine’s attempt to short-change Northern Virginia school districts. (more…)

Snowpocalypse: The Aftermath

Greg L — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:06:29 +0000

And now the ‘dig out’ and recovery begins. The roof of the ice skating center in Dale City collapsed from the weight of the snow, as did the roof of a hangar at Manassas Airport. About 4,000 homes in Prince William County lost power at some point during the storm, and temperatures this morning were in the teens.

Stay safe today, and stay warm.

The NAACP Sells Out

Greg L — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:53:12 +0000

One of the organizations I’ve always held respect for has been the NAACP. Not that I always agreed with them, sometimes I’ve disagreed with them rather strongly, but given their history and record of accomplishment they’d always get a pass from me. They could be forgiven what I perceived as occasional mistakes or misunderstandings. In the end they’d get it right, and all would be fine, I believed. That attitude in me is now forever gone as the great traditions and hard-fought wins of the NAACP were thrown away this week so it could become a member organization of the DNC. W. E. B. Du Bois must be spinning in his grave. (more…)

When Ya Gotta Go…

Greg L — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:11:47 +0000

Too funny.

Note: Video link is fixed

“Snowpocalypse” Open Thread

Greg L — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:57:58 +0000

And the show just keeps on coming. Surprisingly, as far as I can tell, the roads aren’t in too bad a shape, considering what’s happening out there.

Now if we can just keep those who don’t know what they’re doing off the roads until the snow stops and the roads are fully cleared, we should be all right.

Feel free to email your photos, and I’ll put them in this post.

UPDATE: Reader-submitted photos below the fold… (more…)

A Wolf Looking Out For The Folks

Greg L — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:22:39 +0000

Guest Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

In children’s literature, the wolf is portrayed as the ruffian, the evil-doer. He went after grandmother in Little Red Riding Hood, he huffed and puffed in The Three Little Pigs, and of course there’s Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.

Back in the adult world, I say three cheers for the wolf – Frank Wolf, that is. The Virginia Congressman (R-10th) sponsored legislation this week, that in reality, had the president and the Justice Department had any common sense, would never have been necessary in the first place. (more…)

Snow Postpones Frank Wolf Campaign Kickoff

Greg L — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:02:14 +0000

And there’s another early fallout from the snowstorm predicted for this weekend…

If you were planning to attend Frank Wolf’s campaign kickoff on Friday, it has been postponed until February 19th. That’ll leave you some additional time to panic this weekend as you search out where to stock up on milk, toilet paper, and Cheez-its.

Lisa Bell Appointed To PWC School Board

Greg L — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:07:49 +0000

Lisa Bell was appointed unanimously to represent the Neabsco District on the Prince William County School Board this evening. Congrats to Lisa and the residents of the Neabsco District who have someone fully capable of carrying forward the kind of representation that Julie Lucas was able to provide them for so many years.

The District will have a special election in November 2010 to allow voters to confirm the School Board’s choice, which should prove interesting fodder for local bloggers and political junkies as elections in the Neabsco District always seem to bring out some rather interesting candidates, to say the least.

Jay O’Brien Readies A Rematch

Greg L — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:58:19 +0000

Seeing how Senator George Barker has been voting lately (see here and here), it’s a great comfort to learn that Jay O’Brien is gearing up a campaign to take back the 39th District. Barker defeated Jay O’Brien in 2007 by less than 800 votes at a time when the Republican nominee in the 51st District which largely overlaps the 39th Senate District was Faisal Gill. Now with Rich Anderson holding the 51st House District, the shine definitely coming off “hope and change”, an insurgent Tea Party movement, and Barker’s less than stellar record Jay O’Brien is in great shape to win back this seat in 2011. (more…)

Aborted Fetuses In Some Cosmetics: TRUE

Greg L — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:10:05 +0000

Do cosmetics companies use fetal tissue obtained from abortions to help make those wrinkles go away and give your skin that healthy, youthful glow? In at least one case, the answer is an unqualified “yes.” One Swiss company has openly disclosed on their website that a key ingredient in their leading cosmetic product uses aborted fetal tissue, setting off a firestorm within the pro-life community of calls for boycotts of cosmetics companies that use aborted fetal cells in their products.

And you thought this was all just urban legend, right? So did I. (more…)

Sanctuary For Illegal Aliens Passes Virginia Senate 40-0

Greg L — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:50:31 +0000

SB 462, Senator Janet Howell’s bill that would prevent law enforcement officers from questioning the immigration status of persons deemed to be a crime victim breezed through the Senate on a 40-0 vote today in another case of political correctness run amok. This bill would establish an unprecedented restriction on police officers doing their job that has never been extended in any other circumstance. Because we’re taking about illegal aliens, who have of late become a special protected minority in this country, they’re going to get special treatment. (more…)

George Barker: Screw The 10th Amendment

Greg L — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:21:33 +0000

Our esteemed Senator George Barker, representing the 39th Senate District which covers part of Prince William County, voted against the bi-partisan majority that passed SB 283 through the Senate today in another stunning example of a liberal politician wrapping themselves in the thin camouflage of “moderate” garb. Barker must think it’s a great idea to require Virginians to enter into contracts with private companies under threat of jail time, because that’s exactly the way he voted. I’m sure that will simply overjoy many of his constituents. (more…)

Eric Cantor: Balancing Good And Evil

Greg L — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:58:02 +0000

Representative Eric Cantor is sending out the usual appeals for campaign contributions, prompting a few folks to poke around to determine whether he’s truly worthy of their support rather than the numerous other candidates and organizations that are begging for their hard-earned dollars. When they come across statements like this one, nothing is going to make them slam their wallet closed any faster. (more…)

Chief Skinner To Retire

Greg L — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:09:35 +0000

The Manassas News & Messenger is reporting that Manassas City Police Chief Skinner will retire on May 1, 2010. That’s terribly unfortunate news, as Chief Skinner has done a tremendous job as the second-longest serving Police Chief in Manassas’ history and earned widespread respect for his dedication and competence. This is one man who will sorely be missed. (more…)

Kaine’s Parting Gift To Gays Denied

Greg L — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:42:23 +0000

The final effort by the Kaine Administration to enact special, taxpayer-subsidized protections for “domestic partners” is now dead. Ken Cuccinelli reports in the latest issue of “The Cuccinelli Compass” that this below-the-radar effort by DNC Chairman and part-time Governor Kaine to extend employee health benefits to the homosexual partners of state employees has been pulled on the advise of the Attorney General. If you ever need an example of whether blogs can make a difference in our political system, here’s another one as the story broke here. (more…)

Redistricting The 50th

Greg L — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:13:27 +0000

While many eyes are on the current 13th House District represented by Bob Marshall that will split into two districts in 2011, another district in Prince William County will undergo significant changes due to redistricting and that will be the 50th District, currently represented by Delegate Jackson Miller. Currently the 50th has a little under 38,000 registered voters, roughly 12,000 under the average number of voters in a House District, meaning it has to grow pretty substantially in order to provide proportional representation. Surrounding the 50th District are some precincts Delegate Miller might not particularly want to have added to his district and some he might welcome, but the most likely outcome will probably be to Delegate Miller’s strong advantage. (more…)

Redistricting Prince William County

Greg L — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:56:26 +0000

Next year when Supervisors and members of the School Board in Prince William County face re-election, they’ll do so in magisterial districts that have been dramatically re-drawn based on U.S. Census figures that will be available later this year. In the past ten years there have been pretty dramatic shifts in population as the county not only has grown tremendously, but that population growth has been anything but even. The implications for the 2011 elections are substantial, providing opportunities and challenges for elected officials and those who might seek to challenge them alike. (more…)

Peacor Will Get The Nod

Greg L — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:53:29 +0000

UPDATE: Peacor does get selected as CXO.

From what I’m hearing, the next Chief Executive Officer of Prince William County is going to be Melissa Peacor. That might be a terrible choice, and it might be a pretty good one. While Peacor was certainly a central figure in Craig Gerhart’s inner cabal that made such a mess of things over the past few years and bears some degree of responsibility for what has happened, she apparently recognizes the problems and is determined to work with the Board of Supervisors to fix them. With so little information available, it’s really hard to separate her as a prominent figure in past scandalous problems from what she supposedly is committed to doing in the future, making a lot of us who aren’t privy to the selection process rather surprised that after a nation-wide search for a CXO the best person we came up with was Gerhart’s second in command. (more…)

SOTU Open Thread

Greg L — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:00:23 +0000

Great response by Governor McDonnell tonight, and I appreciated the (unintentional) laugh lines of the President in the SOTU speech tonight. Your thoughts?

George Barker: I Luv Dem Undocumented Voters

Greg L — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:13:13 +0000

Given the opportunity to decide on whether voters should have to show identification at the polls, Senator George Barker voted today to kill SB 134 which would have established such a requirement. Current law is such that if someone shows up to the polls without any identification, they can sign a piece of paper where they claim to be who they purport to be, and their vote gets counted. No checks. No verification at all. I say I’m Richard Nixon, and there’s a Richard Nixon in the precinct book, I get to be Richard Nixon for a day, and George Barker apparently thinks this is a fine idea. (more…)