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Old (like 1999) Archives
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 Archive Contents

Friday 10 DEC 99
  Arlington: County closes eyes to "domestic partner" benefit costs

Wednesday 8 DEC 99
  Arlington: Schools boot poachers, bill families for tuition

Wednesday 10 NOV 99
  Statewide: W. Barry sticks with GOP; Wilkins clinches speakership

Wednesday 3 NOV 99
  Statewide: GOP wins VGA control
  Arlington: GOP goose-egg, Crats crow

Thursday 28 OCT 99
  N. Va.: Eagle Forum and NFIB endorse VGA candidates

Monday 25 OCT 99
  N. Va.: Area VGAers score high on gay-rights survey

Saturday 23 OCT 99
  Statewide: High court tears up voter IDs

Friday 22 OCT 99
  2d Amendment: NRA-PVF endorses 6 in N. Va. for VGA

Wednesday 20 OCT 99
  ACB: Lane joins Democrat members in gun control bid

Tuesday 19 OCT 99
  1st Amendment: McCain campaign restriction scheme shot down in Senate

Monday 18 OCT 99
  Education: UVA will continue racial preferences

Saturday 16 OCT 99
  1st Amendment: McCain pleads for Clinton help on campaign finance restrictions

Friday 15 OCT 99
  N. Va.: Arlington VGA del blows CC survey; Fairfaxers mixed
  Tidewater: Quinn rejected Democrat "Voter ID" scheme

  Archive of even older stories

 NewsPlus

12/10 - Arlington - County closes eyes to "domestic partner" benefit costs

     County officials have chosen to remain ignorant of the actual cost of providing health insurance for "domestic partners" of AC employees, according to a staff report in the Arl. Sun Weekly (12/9). "We purposely don't know, because we purposely don't know how many people fit into that category," said AC spokesman Richard Bridges. "That category" includes persons other than spouses and dependents and likely includes unmarried cohabitants, who became eligible to receive county benefits when the ACB authorized the 1998 county budget.
     The "domestic partners" program was challenged by a group of Arlington taxpayers, who prevailed in their Arl. Circuit Court challenge to the measure. The county appealed, and the case is now before the Va. Supreme Court. Pending the result of the appeal, the county continues to spend an unknown sum to provide benefits to an unknown number of "domestic partners."
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12/8 - Arlington - Schools boot poachers, bill families

     ACS officials last week booted thirteen nonresident students from Arlington schools, and vowed to bill their families for retroactive tuition, according to the A. Journal's Buel (Wed 12/6).  Arl. Treasurer Francis X. O'Leary, known for his dogged pursuit of tax revenues, will "work with other jurisdictions" to collect the payments, said ACS spokesman Lisa Farbstein.
     Tuition rates for "poachers" range from $57.23 per day for kindergarten pupils to $66.09 for secondary school students. Nearly 90 students were removed or withdrew voluntarily from the ACS system when stiffer policies were announced last spring.
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11/10 - Statewide - W. Barry sticks with GOP; Wilkins clinches speakership
     State Sen. Warren Barry (R-37th) announced Tue. Nov. 9 that he will remain a Republican despite the criticism leveled by Gov. Jim Gilmore and N. Va. GOP "trunk-swingers" regarding Barry's $85,000 donation to the campaign of his son, Fairfax County sheriff-elect Stan Barry (D). But, Barry warned, "[Gov. Gilmore] knows I'm not going to be one of his zombies." (White, A. Journal, 11/10.) Sen. Barry and the Gov. appeared together at a Richmond news conference.
      Also in Richmond, Fairfax Del. Jack Rust (R-37th) on Wed. Nov. 10 joined Bedford Del. Lacey Putney (I-17th) as a dropout in the race for the post of HD Speaker. Rust's withdrawal cleared the path for Amherst County Del. Vance Wilkins (R-24th) to become the first GOP Speaker in history. Wilkins, with 29 Dels. already in his pocket for the upcoming vote, said he would hew a more pragmatic course as Speaker than he did in the past, as a Del. in the GOP minority. Rust now is likely to become Majority Leader. (Timberg, W. Post, 11/10)
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11/03 - Statewide - GOP wins VGA control
     For the first time in history, Republicans will control both houses of the Virginia General Assembly when it meets next January. The GOP gained three seats statewide in the House of Delegates for a total of 52, compared with 47 Democrat-held seats.
     In the Senate, the GOP maintained its previous 21-19 advantage, which should be somewhat more solid in 2000 due to the upset defeat of Sen. Jane Woods (R-34th). Woods, a liberal Republican who had threatened to switch parties last session, lost to liberal Democrat Leslie Byrne by 38 votes out of more than 30,000 cast in that race.
     Pro-life, pro-gun independent candidate Virginia Dobey got credit for Woods's downfall. Woods had repeatedly spurned constituent pleas that she oppose partial-birth abortion and gun restrictions in Sen. votes. Dobey drew over 2700 votes, most likely from GOP-leaning voters.
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11/03 - Arlington - GOP goose-egg, Crats crow
     Democrats and an independent School Board candidate held or won every local and statewide office in Arlington County in the general election Tuesday Nov. 3. ACB member Paul Ferguson (D) retained his ACB seat, and challenger Charles Monroe (D) unseated Mike Lane (R), returning the ACB to a five-Democrat board. The anemic Arlington County Republican organization fielded no candidates to oppose Clerk David Bell (D), Comm. Att'y Richard Trodden (D), Comm. Rev. Geraldine Whiting (D), Sheriff Tom Faust (D), or Treas. Frank O'Leary (D).
     Incumbent Sens. Patricia Ticer (D-30th) and Mary M. Whipple (D-31st) coasted to victory against token opposition, and Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd) won a 60-40 victory over challenger Whitney Adams (R). Dels. Jim Almand (D-47th) and Bob Brink (D-48th) won 60%-or-greater victories, and Del. Karen Darner (D-48th) also was unopposed.
     Independent Dave Foster, who distanced himself from his elected position as a GOP county committee member and garnered the endorsement of the Democrat-controlled Arlingtonians for a Better County, squeaked by opponent Sharon Davis (wife of former ACBer Al Eisenberg) to gain a long-sought (by Foster) seat on the ASB.
     County Republican committee chairman Henriette Warfield told the A. Journal's Fordney (11/3) that Arl. Democrats won their sweeping victory "through lies and fear and suppressing the truth" and "they proved they don't care about diversity."
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10/28 - N. Va. - Eagle Forum and NFIB endorse VGA candidates
     The Va. Eagle Forum PAC and the Nat'l Federation of Independent Business have endorsed several N. Va. candidates in the Nov. 2 VGA election.
     VEFPAC, which endorsed pro-family candidates, gave the nod to incumbent Dels. Jay Katzen (R-31st), Dick Black (R-32nd), Michele McQuigg (R-51st), and Roger McClure (R-67th), Sen. Bill Mims (R-33rd), and Sen. candidates Garry Myers (I-33rd) and Virginia Dobey (I-34th). Each of Katzen, Black, and Dobey scored 100% on the VEFPAC questionnaire.
     NFIB gave a thumbs up to Dels. Jeannemarie Devolites (R-35th), Jay O'Brien (R-40th), Michele McQuigg (R-51st), and Roger McClure (R-67th), and to Del. hopefuls Tom Bolvin (R-43rd) and Scott Klein (R-44th). Sens. Charles Colgan, (D-29th), Jane Woods (R-34th), and Dick Saslaw (D-35th) also garnered NFIB kudos. (Releases 10/20-10/29)
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10/25 - N. Va. - Area VGAers score high on gay-rights survey
     The organization Virginians for Justice, which promotes the political agenda of the gay-rights movement, has given several N. Va.. Dels., Sens., and candidates high marks on its Candidate Score Cards, including a whopping 100% for Sen. Patsy Ticer (D-30th) and a close 98% for Sen. Mary M. Whipple (D-31st). According to VJ, its Score Card measures a candidate's support for "equal rights and equal justice for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Virginians" and those with the AIDS virus.
   Other incumbents with high marks were Dels. Jim Dillard (R-41st) with 73%, Marian Van Landingham (D-45th) with 91%, Jim Almand (D-47th) with 87%, Bob Brink (D-48th) with 95%, and Karen Darner (D-49th) with 96%. Sen. candidate Leslie Byrne (D-34th) scored 92%. (VJ website 10/25)
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10/23 - Statewide - High court tears up voter IDs
     The Va. Supreme Court "handed [Democrats] a victory" Friday Oct. 22 by killing a voter identification pilot project in 10 cities and counties, reports the R-TD's Whitley (10/23). The 5-1 decision, upholding an injunction issued by Richmond Circuit Court Judge Melvin R. Hughes, Jr., effectively quashed the program for the upcoming Nov. 2 election.
     Four localities scheduled to participate, including Fairfax County, have "close races that could help tip the balance" in Richmond. Tim Murtaugh, state GOP spokesman, said "Chalk one up for voter fraud. Democrats can go ahead and put up their yard signs in every graveyard of the Commonwealth, because dead people will be free to vote."
     Whitley writes that if the GOP wins control of the VGA, it will "push for a statewide voter ID program" that would eliminate the intra-district voting differences that the courts objected to in the pilot program.
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10/22 - 2d Amendment - NRA-PVF endorses 6 in N. Va. for VGA
     The NRA's Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) has endorsed six N. Va. VGA candidates, and given a passing grade to one more. Dels. Dick Black (R-32nd) and Joe May (R-33rd), and Sens. Bill Mims (R-33rd) and Warren Barry (R-37th) all received high marks from NRA-PVF for having solid voting records on 2nd Amendment issues. In addition, Sen. hopeful Whitney Adams (R-32nd), received a rating of "B-minus" from the group, but did not receive an endorsement.
   Hall of Shame features Arl. delegation
     Several N. Va. candidates received grades of "F," signifying "seriously anti-gun candidates who always oppose gun owners' rights, actively lead anti-gun legislative efforts, and/or sponsor anti-gun legislation." The cellar-dwellers included Sens. Patsy Ticer (D-30th), Mary M. Whipple, and  (D-31st), Janet Howell (D-32nd), and candidate Leslie Byrne (D-34th). Among sitting Dels., Kenneth Plum (D-36th), Bob Hull (D-38th), Gladys Keating (D-43rd), Marian Van Landingham (D-45th), Brian Moran (D-46th), Jim Almand (D-47th), Robert Brink (D-48th) and Karen Darner (D-49th) received grades of "F." (Release, 10/20)
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10/20 - ACB - Lane joins with Crats in gun control bid
     The sole GOP member of the Arlington County Board joined with its Democrat majority on Saturday Oct. 16 to urge the General Assembly to permit localities to enact additional "gun control" ordinances. According to the Arl. Sun-Weekly's McCaffrey (10/21), ACB member Mike Lane (R) voted to urge the GA to ease its current prohibition on local firearms ordinances. Left-wing legislators in the Fairfax delegation, led by retiring Sen. Joe Gartlan (D-36th), have tried without success to gain powers to ban Virginians with concealed-carry permits from carrying their guns into county-owned and -leased facilities.
     Lane complained on Saturday that ACBer Chris Zimmerman "mischaracterized" Va.'s gun laws, according to the story. Lane in past months had appeared to be distancing himself from the anti-gun efforts of the ACB's four Democrat members.
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10/19 - First Amendment - McCain campaign restriction scheme shot down in Senate
     Presidential hopeful John McCain (R-Ariz.) was stung today by the Senate's rejection of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance regulation bill. McCain, who has made the issue the centerpiece of his long-shot presidential campaign, promised to keep pushing for a ban on party-building and GOTV contributions from individuals, labor groups, and businesses.
     It was the third time in less than two years that backers of campaign restrictions failed to break a filibuster led by Kentucky GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell. "The essence of this legislation remains the same - to restrict and stifle political speech," said Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), another opponent of the McCain measure.
     A defiant McCain renewed an earlier threat to try and attach campaign restrictions as amendments to other Senate legislation. He blamed both Democrats and Republicans for his bill's defeat, saying "we have not been treated fairly in this process by either side," a charge dismissed by a spokesman for Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.). (AP 10/19)
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10/18 - Education - UVA will continue racial preferences
     The University of Virginia's Board of Visitors voted unanimously Saturday Oct. 16 to support the state university's admissions policy, which takes the race of each applicant into account in deciding whether or not to admit him.
     "The system works," said UVA rector John Ackerly, quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (10/17, Santos). Presumably referring to expected legal challenges, Ackerly continued, "We are prepared to defend it."
    UVA's president, Ivy League import John Casteen, recently directed UVA's admissions staff to drop a point-scoring system explicitly designed to give an advantage to selected racial and ethnic groups, but refused to institute a color-blind admissions policy. UVA has already announced the hiring of two targeted recruiters who will "scour the country for top minority candidates."
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10/16 - First Amendment - McCain pleads for Clinton help on campaign finance restrictions
     GOP presidential hopeful John McCain asked Bill Clinton in a letter Thursday Oct. 14 for his "immediate assistance" in discouraging Senate Democrats from offering "poison pill" amendments or substitutes as the Senate debates and votes on the McCain-Feingold campaign restrictions bill. (Espo, AP 10/15). The letter apparently was being written even as Clinton, in a West Wing press conference, snarled defiance at the Senate for rejecting an arms-control treaty that Clinton had signed in 1995.
     McCain's plea proved unavailing, however, as the Senate set procedural votes Tuesday on substituting the broader, House-passed "Shays-Meehan" campaign restrictions for those backed by McCain - and then on the McCain-Feingold bill itself. McCain's bill is somewhat narrower in that it no longer would seek to restrict issue advertising by independent groups. That provision, contained in the Shays-Meehan bill, is widely thought to be unconstitutional, and its inclusion likely would insure the measure's defeat in the Senate.
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10/15 - N. Va. - Arlington VGA del blows CC survey; Fairfaxers mixed
     The Va. Christian Coalition has released its 1999 Va. Gen. Assembly Scorecard, and every member of the Arlington delegation except two got a grade of zero percent. The only exceptions were Sens. Mary M. Whipple (D-31st), and Janet Howell (D-32nd), who each received 7% grades. Arlington Dels. Jim Almand (D-47th), Bob Brink (D-48th), and Karen Darner (D-49th) and Sen. Patsy Ticer (D-30th) chalked up incorrect votes on such issues as car tax repeal (VCC favored it), informed consent for abortion (VCC favored), banning partial-birth abortions (VCC favored), casino gambling (VCC opposed), and assisted suicide (VCC opposed). Whipple's one correct vote, according to VCC, was in favor of expanding the list of accrediting agencies for nursery schools; Howell voted to repeal the car tax.
   Fairfaxers less extreme
      Howell and Ticer, whose districts descend into Fairfax and Alexandria, were the lowest Sen. scorers there as well. Goose-eggs went to Dels. Kenneth Plum (D-36th), James Scott (D-53rd), and Marian van Landingham (D-45th). High scores for the region went to Dels. Roger McClure (R-67th) with 92% and Joe May (R-33rd) with 85%, and Sen. Bill Mims (R-33rd) with 83%.

  Senate results (GOP in bold, Democrats in roman)

   Delegate results (GOP in bold, Democrats in roman)

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10/15 - Tidewater - Quinn rejected Democrat "Voter ID" scheme
     The Va. Democratic Party's lawsuit to block Va.'s voter identification pilot project complains that State Board of Elections Secretary Cameron Quinn rejected a Virginia Beach Democratic Committee proposal to issue its own "ID cards" for use on Election Day by Democrat voters and others who might obtain them. In a letter to Democrat officials, Quinn pointed out that the bogus IDs could facilitate fraud at the polls. However, Democrats argue that the rejection was a partisan move. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Melvin Hughes heard arguments in the case on Thursday Oct. 14, and now has the matter under advisement. A decision is expected the week of Oct. 18. (AP 10/15.)
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