VA Tax Free Weekend for Back to School Shopping

MoonHowler

It’s not too late to save money on those soon-top-be-needed items for kids returning to school. This years Tax Free Weekend seems to be having a better than usual affect on the economy. According to News and Messenger:

It was a win-win situation for both parents getting their children ready to go back to school and retailers to ring in some much-needed sales.

Potomac Mills mall was among retailers across the state that support the Virginia Sales Tax Holiday with extra discounts and special events designed to help parents and students save money while getting ready for school.

The program started on Friday and concludes today.

“The crowds coming to the mall this weekend have been comparable to holiday shopping,” said Caroline Barry Green, marketing director.

During the three-day period, shoppers at the retail stores will be exempt from the 5 percent sales tax on school supplies priced up to $20 per item, and clothes and shoes priced up to $100. Stores also can choose to exempt other items and pay the tax themselves.

The taxation department expects shoppers to save $4 million during the period. The tax-free holiday concludes today, so this is the last chance to save in this difficult economy.

Throughout the mall, merchants were singing a happy tune.

Should Virginia consider having more than one tax free weekend for purchasing school clothing and material? How about those who are on vacation? Are there other large group expenditures that should be considered for a tax free spree? Does this weekend really save the average family that much money or is it the idea of a sale that lures people out? Would it be more helpful to parents and students to have a schools supply tax free weekend over Labor Day Weekend, after school supply lists come out?

The Sniper Still on Death Row

MoonHowler

Insidenova.com    8/7/09

A federal appeals court affirmed D.C.-area sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad’s capital murder conviction and death sentence Friday, rejecting claims that prosecutors withheld critical evidence.

Muhammad was convicted of killing Dean Meyers at Battlefield Sunoco out on Sudley Road near I-66 back in 2002.  Should he escape his Virginia death sentence, he has been sentenced to 6 consecutive life sentences in Maryland for his killing spree in that state. WJZ 13 reports:

Montgomery County’s chief deputy sheriff says the twice-convicted Washington-area sniper was taken immediately from a Maryland courtroom after his sentencing today and sent back to Virginia. Muhammad already has been sentenced to death for a sniper killing in Virginia.

Earlier today, Muhammad was sentenced to six consecutive life terms with no possibility of parole, a sentence Maryland prosecutors described as insurance in case his Virginia death sentence is ever overturned. Read More

VA Rest Stops Slated to Close

MoonHowler

[See update at the end of this thread regarding Frank Wolf]

[See response from Delegate Bob Marshall towards end of thread.  Immediate Action needed!!!]

Map of Va rest stop closures from the Washington Post.

Many of Virginia’s rest stops will close July 21, 2009, to help save the state $9 million . To most Virginians, this move is ill-conceived, dangerous, and just plain stupid. More rest areas are scheduled to close later on in the year.

There are so many reasons why these closures should not be happening. First and foremost is the safety issue. Federal law mandates that truckers log rest time. Where will they rest? You can’t park a semi at McDonalds, or at least not many of them. How many businesses want to be bothered with truckers and every other traveler using their facilities? All travelers need to get off the road periodically. Common sense dictates that we provide a place for them to do so.

Much of Virginia’s revenue comes from tourism. How can you promote tourism if travelers have no where to stop to use rest facilities? What happens to travelers with children? What happens to travelers with pets? No fast food stores have facilities for pets that I am aware of.

 

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Happy July 4th–American, Happy Birthday!

MoonHowler

The United States of America is a proud 233 years old today. In many respects, its hard to believe that we are so old. 233 years is a long time. We have had 44 different presidents. We have fought a Revolution, a Civil War, 2 World Wars, and a bunch of other wars, some large, some small. We are the oldest democracy in the world (although some would debate this ‘fact.’)

Yet we are young–very young as a nation. Antiquity to us is Williamsburg. Antiquity in other parts of the world goes back thousands of years. We only got to the west coast crossing the continent a little more than 200 years ago.

It might not all have happened however, if it weren’t for Jack Jouett of Albemarle County, Virginia. Well now who the hell was Jack Jouett? He was the Virginia Paul Revere. General Tarleton was riding towards Charlottesville to capture Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the Virginia Legislature who were hiding out at Jefferson’s home, Monticello.

Jack Jouett was sleeping (on the lawn no less) at Cuckoo Tavern in Louisa when he spotted Tarleton and his calvalry. Jouett knew where the legislature was and rode off toward Monticello to warn Virginia’s leaders of the approaching British. Had they been captured, they probably all would have been hanged as traitors.

Jouett made the 40 mile ride and all but a few of the legislators escaped. He rode the back trails and through the woods, guided by the light of the full moon. Tarleton took the road. Much myth has grown up around this hometown boy.

 

 

 

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Underdog, Creigh Deeds wins VA primary!

Elena

Breaking news from the Washington Post, Creigh Deeds pulls it through at the very end.
I have to admit, I love the underdog! I believe Creigh Deeds has a real chance to win against McDonnel.

Running with the least money and fewest ties to vote-rich Northern Virginia, State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds has won the three-way Democratic primary for governor, paving the way for a rematch with Republican Bob McDonnell in the fall.

“Three weeks ago, this was a two-man race between McAuliffe and Moran,” said Quentin Kidd, a political science professor at Christopher Newport University. “Deeds was going to win the rural vote and that’s it. People are going to be talking about how he pulled this off for weeks and months.”

Deeds, a 17-year veteran of the General Assembly, lost by a mere 323 votes to McDonnell in the 2005 election for attorney general. His victory today presents Republicans with a different challenge than they were expecting: a moderate with strong ties to rural voters and a political apparatus throughout the state.

Va. Tech Massacre Haunts Professor Roy

MoonHowler

Lucinda Roy, the English professor who tutored the killer of 32 VA Tech students and faculty members, is still haunted by not only the day of the massacre but by the events that lead up to the tragic day filled our nation with horror. Dr. Roy tutored Seung Hui Cho privately after he was removed from his poetry class. He has been removed because he frightened the other students and another professor with his writing.

Dr. Roy was so troubled by Cho’s writing that she urged him to seek counseling and wrote numerous emailed to officials on campus alerting them to his behavior and asking for help.

According to the Washington Post:

She goes through it all in painstaking detail in what she calls a memoir-critique, “No Right to Remain Silent.” It’s a book she began writing just months after the massacre in an effort not only to understand what had happened, but also to take the Virginia Tech administration to task for failing to communicate openly about it and to sound a warning to other schools that unless they begin to take troubled students seriously and find ways to intervene earlier, a Virginia Tech most assuredly can and will happen again.

In the video, she talks about her own feelings of guilt for not being able to somehow intervene in time to have prevented this horrible tragedy.

Not to belabor the tragedy at Tech, but there are some serious issues in this state with how we deal with mental illness. Why did Tech ignore the warnings of Dr. Roy? Why did Fairfax County Schools not warn officials at Tech about these troubled students? Why was Cho not required to go to counseling? Where do our privacy rights end when someone potentially could simply go off the deep end and kill many people or themselves? This discussion was begun on another thread.

I think we have several ideas on a collision course. Have we changed our gun purchasing laws? Has Tech changed its rules as they pertain to student counseling? Has federal or state law changed laws about privacy? Has the VA General Assembly addressed any of these issues?

Professor Roy’s story is extremely haunting and frightening.

Meet Creigh Deeds

MoonHowler

I have had several folks on me about endorsing Terry McAuliffe. Actually, I haven’t. I don’t even have an opinion on the 3 gubernatorial candidates. I want to apologize for appearing to have a favorite. I believe I was bowled over by McAuliffe’s announcement and I do know that in politics, money talks. If fund raising is going to win Virginia, it seems that McAuliffe has an edge.

So, to dispel all rumors, here is our final Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, Creigh Deeds. PWC, Alanna is going to do a blurb on McDonnell. Gently remind us if you don’t see something in the near future.

Senator Deeds is from Bath County but is currently serving as the Senator from Charlottesville. That gives him an edge with me. The text will be from his website:

Meet Senator Deeds

Senator Deeds has spent the last two decades serving constituents from all walks of life–from his start as Bath County prosecutor to his current position as a State Senator representing the City of Charlottesville and a district that stretches to the West Virginia border. Whether he was working to clean up one of Virginia’s largest Superfund sites, fighting for economic development, or writing some of the toughest legislation to keep our families safe and secure, Deeds has built his career as a consensus builder who delivers results.

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Brian Moran heads back to NOVA armed with endorsements

MoonHowler

A friend emailed me and asked me about my supposed political affection for Terry McAuliffe after the weekend post here. I had to explain that I had none, no more than I had to Moran or Deeds. McAuliffe just came on the scene with a sonic boom. Today I received some literature on Brian Moran that is full of his endorsements. He touts his Northern Virginia roots. I will attempt to post material from all three major candidates for Governor of Virginia as more material becomes available.

More on Brian Moran from the Sungazette 1/8/09


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VA Budget Woes Increase Financial Anxiety in PWC

MoonHowler

Yesterday Governor Tim Kaine and his financial advisors discussed a nearly $2.8 Billion dollar deficit for the state. He will present his budget revisions to the General Assembly December 17. The news is going to be grim. Yesterday Gov. Kaine met with Barack Obama in to discuss the economy. The FY 2010 budget begins July 1.

The pain, however, is not being evenly felt. Arlington has a huge commercial tax base which will help keep it from total hard times. The huge decrease in home values in Prince William County has eviscerated county finances. PWC lacks the extensive commercial tax base that Arlington enjoys.

Less money will go to Richmond and in turn, that means less money for localities. Arlington County officials are considering an increase in 1.7 cents for next year, although that wouldn’t totally fix their budget deficit.

The PW BOCS is still playing around with the tax rate. At last glance it appears that $1.13.[correction from $1.16 to $1.13] was being considered. Currently the tax rate is at $.97. Even with the increase in rate, most residents will find their tax bill less because of the substantial drop in property value. The average home value in PWC has dropped about 30%. PWC has the most foreclosures in the state of Virginia.

The PWC BOCS is looking at a variety of ways to help keep the wolf away from the door, including enacting cigarette, admissions and meals taxes. Chairman Corey Stewart was quoted as saying “We ought to focus our guns on core issues and not get sidetracked by other things.”

According to an article in the Washington Post:

Prince William, which has the highest number of foreclosures in the state, wants additional authority to place liens on vacant property to help recover the cost of cleaning graffiti. It also wants to extend liability protection to neighboring property owners who mow grass or remove trash and debris from vacant properties.

What else does Stewart have in mind? Obviously his Immigration Resolution didn’t bring in the savings we were promised. Of course, no one believed that one. That was just a way to fool people and even at that, only a few bought in to that blarny.

The school system will be slammed by these cuts. Already there is talk of no cost of living increase for employees and larger sized classes. There is also talk of delaying capital improvements which would include delaying the building of a new, much needed high school.

Are there solutions to lessen the problems facing PWC? Would people be content having the 2010 tax rate even higher to maintain services? Would a higher tax rate drive out businesses?

Having the most foreclosures in the state of Virginia is sure a distinction I could do without.

Virginia is Still for Lovers: Live Passionately

MoonHowler

The original Virginia is for Lovers slogan was first used in 1969. At the time, many people thought the slogan a little too racy until Governor Linwood Holton saw the reaction of his three daughters. They were so enthusiastic that he became the slogan’s biggest emissary.

40 years ago, Virginia’s tourism industry was less than 3 billion dollars a year. Today it is a thriving $18.7 billion dollar business that employs over 210,000 people per year. So much for our racy little slogan. Now every place is for lovers.

Governor Tim Kaine also thinks the slogan is great. He appeared with his father in law, former Governor Holton to trumpet the success of the 40-year old slogan:

“Virginia is for Lovers” also appeals to Kaine.
“It’s one of the most recognized tourism slogans in the world, or slogans of any kind in the world,“ Kaine said. “It’s got enormous brand equity and marketing power.“
He added: “It’s given us a marketing identity that is fun, that is current. As current today as it was in 1969 when it started, although in 1969 it raised some eyebrows.“

Live Passionately will be added to the existing slogan. I guess this is an official state order 😉

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