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Before changing abortion laws, improve state’s child support system
It’s astounding the steps and resources the government must expend to force noncustodial parents — almost always fathers – to do right by their children. I saw that up close when I rode along with sheriff’s deputies and police officers hunting down scofflaws. The debtors were frequently tens of thousands of dollars behind in payments. […]
Late attorney’s pardon work revealed sentencing madness
John Coggeshall could’ve easily been called “the anti-Sisyphus.” The late Norfolk defense attorney handled the pardon applications for several state prisoners, and the self-taught jurist won them freedom after years — even decades — behind bars. Defendants and prisoners sought him out after other lawyers rejected their cases. Coggeshall represented people who faced insanely long […]
Mixed signals on plastic bags, recycling indicate we should do better by our habitat
Two recent news stories show that for every small step forward Virginians take to protect the environment, we often take one backward. The net gain is negligible. Since this is the only planet we occupy, we should do better. Future generations will curse us for our sorry stewardship of the air, water and soil. First […]
If the Senate deal might stem killings, it’s worth doing
Will pending congressional legislation measurably reduce the number of firearm slayings and injuries that plague our country? That metric, more than anything else, should guide how we assess the U.S. Senate’s bipartisan framework on gun control – and to a lesser extent, the competing bill that already passed the House of Representatives. Gun-control supporters say […]
We’re overrun with Canada geese – and their waste
When The Boss and I stroll around our Hampton Roads neighborhood, we play a game that’s impossible to avoid. I call it “Dodge the Goose Crap.” Except we use a spicier moniker for “crap.” The droppings – and the Canada geese that generate them so prolifically – overwhelm roads. Unsanitary and unsightly, the fecal strips […]
We’re closer to pre-pandemic normalcy, but I’m still masking up
Walk into most stores, gather at sit-down restaurants, or chat with fellow Virginians, and the signs are as clear as the faces you can now see: We are so over the pandemic – even though it’s killed more than 20,400 people and infected nearly 1.8 million in the commonwealth. These new, close-contact meetings make me […]
Amid Texas tragedy, an unsurprising, red herring-laden speech from Winsome Earle-Sears
No one is shocked that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears refused to say new gun restrictions are needed in the wake of the mass slaying at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last week. After all, she posed with a military-style rifle in campaign mailers while running for office in 2021. For staunch believers in gun […]
Remembrance and a warning from Hyannis
Past the oft-imminent tears threatening my face at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum … Past the solemness and respect owed to a family that lost three men in service to America – in a wartime explosion and two assassinations that altered U.S. history … And past the images of JFK, toting around a gaggle […]
Restoring rights a good gubernatorial move, but automatic restoration would be better
Former felons in Virginia, if they want to become better citizens, should be heartened. Gov. Glenn Youngkin just announced he’s restored civil rights, including voting, to nearly 3,500 people since he took office in January. The move continues a less-cumbersome process initiated by his predecessors, both Democratic and Republican. “I thought it was amazing in […]
Liberty needs to overhaul its approach on sexual assault
Blaming the victims of sexual assault, rather than vigorously investigating men who are rape suspects. Dissuading women from filing criminal reports. Threatening academic and monetary sanctions against women for trumped-up violations of the moral code of conduct. With such accusations being leveled repeatedly against officials at Liberty University – the private institution in Lynchburg known […]
Youngkin and Miyares’ appeal of mask ruling is a harsh publicity stunt
Who will benefit from the appeal of a federal court ruling – sought by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares and other administration officials – that would challenge whether 12 students with serious health problems can legally ask classmates and teachers to continue to wear masks? Certainly not the overwhelmingly majority of public school […]
Just deserts for Alex Jones
Why should anyone believe Alex Jones ever tells the truth? He’s an execrable conspiracy theorist, huckster of dietary supplements and vile tormenter of parents who lost children in the Sandy Hook massacre. Jones’ Infowars site filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy recently in Texas, delaying civil litigation while his business reorganizes its finances. He claimed Infowars, […]