Anti-BVBL

Good news!  I just received the following from Delegate Jackson  Miller:

Today, Governor Bob McDonnell announced that he will undo the freeze to the Local Composite Index that former Governor Tim Kaine proposed before he left office.  Prince William County, Manassas City, and Manassas Park City Schools would have suffered greatly had he not made this bold move in support of our schools throughout the Commonwealth.  I applaud Governor McDonnell for his leadership and thank him on behalf of our community. 

Below is the press release from the Governor’s office: 

 

*****UPDATE****  

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS WARNING OF 7 TO 14 INCHES OF SNOW.  4:07 PM 2/8/10

The weather forecast is becoming more ominous for our area.  2 storm systems are converging.  One storm is coming in from the north and the other from the south.  They are predicted to meet over the Atlantic Ocean, right off the coast as 2 low pressure systems.  The end result doesn’t sound good at all. 

Between 5-10 inches of new snow is predicted from this storm.  While not carrying the moisture that Snowmaggedon contained, this storm is predicted to be more meteorologically intense with much higher winds.  According to the Capital Weather Gang at the Washington Post:

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

When will the snow start? Between mid-day and mid-afternoon tomorrow.

When it will end? Probably around late afternoon Wednesday — later north and east.

How much?: Our best bet is 5-10″ in the metro region, but 8-14″ as you head north and east towards Baltimore. South and southwest of the Fairfax County, 3-6″ is most likely.

Could it be more or less? Yes. Double digit totals (10″ or more) remain a possibility throughout the metro region (25% chance). By the same token, if the coastal storm forms too far north, lighter amounts from 1-5″ or so might do it.

How bad will the winds be? By very late Tuesday night and into Wednesday, sustained winds may reach 25-35 mph, with higher gusts. Assuming there is falling snow, this could create blizzard conditions.

This new storm spells trouble and danger,  People will be out of work, kids will be out of school.  People who work hourly will not get paid.  High winds put power lines and trees at further risk.  Roofs will be further stressed.   Municipalities and VDOT will be further strapped with snow removal costs as crews continue their round the clock pushing, digging and scraping.  Power workers will continue to work to get electricity back on.  Some folks will be a week without power when all of this is over.  It is a dangerous time of year to be without electricity.  Even those with gas heat won’t have it because there will be nothing to run the fans.

Let’s hope this prediction is wrong.

On a sad note, Rep. John Murtha has died of complications of gall bladder surgery.  He was 77 years old.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has come under fire from all corners over his mouth flashing…again. This time it is not over your usual F-bombs, but over the use of the word ‘retarded.’

According to the LA Times:

In an unguarded moment, Emanuel had referred to a group of liberal Democrats as “retarded.” When reports of the remark began circulating, the former Chicago congressman — already famous for his foxhole profanity — moved to express his regret and promised to help leaders of the disabled community sensitize the public on the issue.

Actually, there might have been an expletive in front of the word in question.

Sarah Palin, mother of a child with Downs Syndrome, got very indignant and had the following to say:

I would ask the president to show decency in this process by eliminating one member of that inner circle, Mr. Rahm Emanuel, and not allow Rahm’s continued indecent tactics to cloud efforts. Yes, Rahm is known for his caustic, crude references about those with whom he disagrees, but his recent tirade against participants in a strategy session was such a strong slap in many American faces that our president is doing himself a disservice by seeming to condone Rahm’s recent sick and offensive tactic.

The Obama Administration’s Chief of Staff scolded participants, calling them, “F—ing retarded,” according to several participants, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Just as we’d be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the “N-word” or other such inappropriate language, Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities — and the people who love them — is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking.

A patriot in North Andover, Massachusetts, notified me of Rahm’s “retarded” slam. I join this gentleman, who is the father of a beautiful child born with Down Syndrome, in asking why the Special Olympics, National Down Syndrome Society and other groups condemning Rahm’s degrading scolding have been completely ignored by the White House. No comment from his boss, the president?

SNL, always on top of all things political, did the following skit, mocking Emanuel:

 I have to ask, when did ‘retarded’ become a bad word? It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that the word was used without anyone blinking. There were kids in EMR classes (Educable Mentally Retarded). I understand that calling someone ‘retard’ is rude. It always has been. However, saying that the Smiths have a retarded child seems rather harmless to me. Retarded, developmentally delayed, intellectually challenged, all words or phrases which mean that an individual has somewhat diminished intellectual capacity, seem to be words we must tiptoe around. I am not sure what I should say and not say. As long as we are being polite and not cussing and carrying on, why have some of these words become verboten? Who gets to decide what is polite and what isn’t or what is politically correct?

I find it increasingly difficult to keep up with PC. I feel certain I have been unintentionally offensive.

No one has taken a good swipe at Fox News in about a week. Everyone has been too consumed with the weather. So is SNL fair and balanced or has FN been unfairly treated in spoof?

And Now the Fun Begins

Tell us your war stories of how you survived the blizzard of 2010.  What harrowing escapades did you have?  What news do you have?  What people need help?  What places should be avoided?  Closings?  Spill it all here. 

Mystery question:  What blogger is without electricity?

William ‘Bullet Bill’ Dudley (far left, carrying the ball) has often been called the University of Virginia’s greatest football player and the greatest football player to come out of the State of Virginia.  He died Thursday, at the age of 88 in Lynchburg. 

 Dudley grew up in Bluefield, Virginia and played for Graham  High School.  He went to UVA at age 16 on a scholarship and soon became a star (see Times Dispatch).  After UVA, he was drafted in the 1942 NFL draft as first pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers.  WWII interrupted his football career but following the war, he returned to Pittsburgh for 9 NFL seasons.

Bill Dudley went in to the insurance business in Lynchburg.  He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1966.  He also served in the General Assembly for 4 terms and was known as being  outspoken and direct.  Bill Dudley suffered  a stroke at the end of January and died at home February 4, 2010, in the arms of his wife, Libba.  Bradley and Libba celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary in July.

Certainly Bullet Bill Dudley will be remembered at some point during the Super Bowl tomorrow.  He was a native Virginian and one we can all be proud of.  This picture and more information about Dudley can be found in the Richmond Times Dispatch.   

This picture is especially important to me.  Imagine looking at it and seeing Old # 66 along side Bullet Bill Dudley.  # 66 is quarterback Walt Smith, who was my dad.  Old football players never die, they just fade away….

Good Old Song

That Good Old Song of Wahoowa,
We’ll sing it o’er and o’er.
It cheers our heart and warms the blood
To hear them shout and roar.
We come from old Virginia,
Where all is bright and gay.
Let’s all join hands and give a yell
For dear old UVa.

What though the tide of years may roll
And drift us far apart,
For Alma Mater still there’ll be
A place in ev’ry heart.
In college days we’ll sing her praise,
And so, when far away,
In memory we still shall be
At the dear old UVa.    

(tune Auld Lang Syne)

Further reading about Bullet Bill Dudley

Richmond Times Dispatch

Bill Dudley Wikipedia

According to the Associated Press, “A record 2 1/2 feet or more was predicted for Washington. As of early Saturday, 10 inches of snow was reported at the White House, while parts of Maryland and West Virginia were buried under more than 20 inches. Forecasters expected snowfall rates to increase, up to 2 inches per hour through Saturday morning.”

A potentially historic storm is bearing down on us, coming up from the south in a blaze of glory.  Virginia has already had its huge storm, back in December.  Yet here comes another when last weekend’s storm still hasn’t melted. 

Predictions have changed hourly.  Currently the prediction for the Virginia burbs is 20-22 inches of snow by Saturday night.  That is a heap of snow.   The December storm was recorded at 16.4 inches for Washington, DC.  Naturally areas outside the city measured in at deeper amounts.

This storm is expected to hit around noon Friday.  VDOT has already requested that people stay home, starting Friday night.  It is harder to plow when cars are on the road.  This storm will be a real budget buster for VDOT.  Most area schools, especially in Virginia, cancelled classes for tomorrow. 

This will be our snow thread for the week.  Will we have a blizzard?  What will total amounts be?

President Obama pretty much says it all at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. We cannot all be so stuck in our own idealogy or the idealogy of our parties. Sometimes we must step outside our comfort zone.  Sometimes we must agree to disagree without being disagreeable. 

Convention Attendee

View of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel

This political movement  needs a new name. What group of adults says they belong to the Tea Party. What does it stand for? Does anyone remember? From all reports, the Tea Party Convention this week in Nashville isn’t going too well.  Various people have stomped out and there is plenty of bickering. 

Why? The average person can’t afford to go. There are a bunch of Tea Party grassroots organizations. Many of them are squabbling already over the overly priced accommodations and set up in general. The Washington Post describes the following problems:

… [T]he first gathering of a sprawling movement, made up of hundreds of disparate Tea Party groups, has been marred by controversy. Some high-profile speakers and activist groups have canceled their appearances in protest of alleged profiteering by the convention organizers.

Attendees have been charged $549 a ticket (plus hotel and transportation) to gather for three days at the luxurious Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center — an expense that critics say is out of reach for the average grass-roots activist. Some of the proceeds will go to cover former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s reported $100,000 fee to deliver Saturday’s keynote address.

There was also some mention of a $600 per person lobster dinner that one person who sat home described as a typical Republican fundraiser dinner. That sure doesn’t sound like an ‘average Joe’s’ kind of meal.  Sarah Palin is a keynote speaker who has said she will not profit from her honorarium but has yet to say who will receive her speaking fee.

What has happened to the grassroots, ‘tired of high taxes’, just your every day average person who showed up at town hall meetings to shout his or her outrage at the ’system?’  The Post article indicates that those in attendance at the initial Tea Party Convention in Nashville are not your ordinary people being taxed to death.  The people attending the Convention are staying in  opulent accommodations, eating fancy meals, and living high on the hog.  The little man probably can’t afford the plane ticket much less the accouterments that go with that plane ticket.

Read more…

Dr. Steven Walts has proposed massive cuts in the School Board budget to make up a shortfall of nearly $80 million dollars.  Projects and building will also be delayed as will certain school bus routes.  After school programs will also see the budget hatchet.  700 jobs could also be cut. 

According to the Manassas News and Messenger, additional cuts considered are:

Walts is also proposing increasing parking fees for high school students, charging athletic participation fees at the middle and high school level and reducing Central office budgets by 10 percent. The elimination of bus routes means that all students being bussed to specialty schools out of their district would be eliminated. However, bus routes for Thomas Jefferson School for Science & Technology and both Pennington and Porter Traditional Schools would remain.
The net effect of the bus issue, according to budget presenter David Cline, would be to transition those 32 buses to handle the surge in the regular student population, which is expected to reach more than 78,000 students by next fall.

The budget cuts are going to run deep.   Bus services for specialty programs will be cut.  Parents would have to provide transportation.  Parking fees will increase.  Central office will get a 10% cut.  Class sizes will increase.  Retirement will be encouraged.

Finally the N & M has hinted at the freeze on re-calculating  the Local Composite Index issue  submitted  by former Governor Kaine and apparently getting ready to get the nod by current Governor McDonnell.  They have taken no position to day on NoVA schools being short-changed by millions.  The county and both cities stand to lose millions of state dollars because the formula is not being re-calculated  as it should be. 

The budget takes into account an expected $20 million shortfall due to the proposed freezing of the composite index by former governor Tim Kaine. The index is a formula that determines the ability of localities to pay for education, and grants state funding based on that determination.
Prince William’s index dropped more than 4 percentage points, thanks in part to a huge decrease in property values and consequently, potentially less money for both the county and the schools. Approximately 57 percent of the general fund revenue from the county goes to the schools.

People who value education should be swamping the governor’s office with letters, calls and emails advising him to recalculate the formula to ensure the Northern Virginia schools do not get shortchanged as they surely will if things remain the same. 

The Washington Post makes no bones about the LCI causing a quarter of the problem:

Officials attributed a quarter of the school system’s projected $80 million shortfall to a proposed freeze in the adjustment of a state funding formula that is intended to compensate school systems for enrollment growth and declining tax revenue. School Board members urged parents to contact their elected officials.

“The entire General Assembly needs to hear that this is not fair,” said board member Don Richardson (Gainesville).

In an unrelated topic, the PWC School Board has appointed Lisa Bell to serve as the Neabsco School Board member until a special election is held November, 2010.

Prince William County is reeling from a double homocide where a Bulargian mother and her 8 year old son were brutally stabbed to death in Dale City.  The mother, Slavka  Naydenova , had been married to Lester Wilson  and had an 8 year old son, Paul Wilson.  Police are being very close-mouthed about motive and details of the case.  Some rather disturbing facts have emerged.  Naydenova’s brother had been murdered, execution style,  in 2003. 

According to Manassas News and Messenger:

Naydenova’s family ties don’t appear to have anything to do with her death, Ebert said. In fact, little is known about her, except that she and her first husband — Lester Wilson — bought the house on Hanover Court on Nov. 3, 2000.

Ebert said Naydenova met her current husband in Bulgaria in March 2003, at the funeral for her brother, Iliya Pavlov. Her husband, now a janitor, worked as one of Pavlov’s bodyguards.

Pavlov was Bulgaria’s wealthiest businessman and was alleged to be the head of the country’s mafia. A year before his death, he was named one of 25 billionaires in Central and Eastern Europe, according to the Sofia News Agency in Bulgaria.

He was shot to death in his office in March 2003.

On Wednesday, Pavel Naydenov — father of the Bulgarian tycoon and the slain Dale City woman — was quoted telling the Sofia News Agency that he thought his daughter’s death may have been a mafia hit.

“She could have had problems with making payments to banks, but banks hardly ever kill people over default loans,” said Naydenova’s father.

A suspect has been arrested.  A Russian woman named Natalia Wilson who just happens to be married to Lester  Wilson, father of deceased little Paul Wilson,  currently.  The couple has been married about a year.  Natalia has been described as a Russian ‘mail order’ bride.    Again, no motive given.  There have been suggestions of jealously, money, and other things causing friction when families divorce and remarry.  To date, all motives have been speculative.  It is very difficult to sort facts.  Facts seem to vary a great deal between the Washington Post, Manassas News & Messenger, and the Sofia Newspaper, Novinite. 

The more about the father of the deceased woman is quoted in Novinite:

Pavel Naydenov, father and grandfather of murdered Bulgarian Slavka Naydenova, sister of killed Bulgarian tycoon Iliya Pavlov, and her son, 8-year-old Paul Wilson has spoken of his grief.

Naydenov told local journalists that he had failed to do the main duty of a father – to protect his own children. He also added that no one should link the murder of his daughter in the US in a personal fight on Monday with the assassination of his son in Sofia in 2003 and that Darina Pavlova – the wife of Iliya – was also not linked in any way.

Pavel added that Slavka will be buried alongside her mother in the Bulgarian village Mirovyane, near Sofia.

It makes one wonder why this Bulgarian tycoon didn’t help his daughter with the finances he mentions. 

Much has been said on this blog about how the crime in Prince William County has become increasingly urban.  Now we have to add international to our list of descriptors.  Police have been working with the Russian FBI and with Bulgarian interpreters to solve this case.  This is not the time to cut back on cop money.  Make the financial slashes some place else.

Further Reading:

Sofia News

Washington Post

House of Delegates Chamber

The Washington Post reports that some folks are in a heap of trouble over last week’s Republican response following the State of the Union Address.  GOP House Speaker William Howell allowed Governor McDonnell to give the GOP response from the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates.  However, Rule 82 forbids the chamber to be used for anything other than House business unless a full vote appoves other use.  Speaker Howell did not get the approval of the full house.

According to the Washington Post:

Richard Cranwell, a House member for 30 years and now chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, said Howell (R-Stafford) should apologize to the people of Virginia.

“It didn’t sit right with me,” Cranwell said. “That chamber is for the conduct of the people’s business. What Bob McDonnell did there was not part of the people’s business.”

Rule 82 reads: “The Hall of the House of Delegates shall be used for no other purpose than the sessions of the House and for meetings of the committees and members of the legislature on public affairs except by vote of the House or the Rules Committee or with the approval of the Speaker when the House is not in session.”

Howell said he had the authority to allow McDonnell to use the chamber because the speech took place after 10 p.m. when the House had already adjourned for the day.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Howell said. “The guy’s the governor of the state.”

The governor was cheered on by family, friends, supporters and employees. Several Virginia lawmakers said they were concerned that it appeared the Delegate Assembly was cheering on the newly inaugurated governor.

This flap is  a little petty isn’t it? Who would have said no? This is just partisan bickering. Time to grow up. On the other hand, if the Rule 82 were in question, then McDonnell could have held the rebuttal in the Governor’s Mansion. The time to voice an objection was before the rebuttal, not after.

Part 1 of Jon Stewart Entering the No Spin Zone

 Part 2 from Wednesday Night.  More tonight:

Part 3 Thursday Jon Stewart continues on the No-Spin Zone.

This week, our favorite, Jon Stewart will venture into the lion’s den to sit down with Fox favorite Bill O’Reilly. The actual date has not yet been announced.

According to NBC News:

Stewart’s appearance, his second on the Fox News program, will be spread over Wednesday and Thursday’s episodes of “The O’Reilly Factor.” His last appearance on the program was in September 2004.

The faux-host has made his livelihood from poking fun at talking heads like O’Reilly, whose show promises viewers it is a forum for unbiased, “no-spin” journalism

.

So the faux host will visit Faux News for a spin (which stops there). Nuff said. It ought to be entertainment at its best. O’Reilly can be somewhat of a dark comedian himself. Who will win this one? I actually think they like each other and respect each other’s work.  I expect the 2 going toe to toe will give O’Reilly a bounce with all the Stewart fans flipping on over to see Stewart in the Lion’s Den.

 11 pm:  It seems a little premature but Channel 9 has announced that PWC Schools will be closed Wednesday Code Red which means only essential personnel is to report to work. It is probably the parking lots which are still fairly crummy in spots from last week end’s storm.

Other jurisdictions please report in. Should schools err on the side of caution? This morning kids were walking on Dale Blvd because sidewalks had not been plowed. Dale Blvd. is a major thoroughfare. How about school parking lots? Snow seems to be pushed around into big piles that don’t thaw until spring. One school lot was covered with black ice on Monday and a wall of snow surrounded the handicap spots.

School closings just aren’t about roads and buses. They are also about sidewalks and campus parking lots.

Is there any truth to the rumor that we are getting 18 inches of snow this weekend?

Did the Farmer’s Almanac predict this much snow?

Verification on  PWCS website:  www.pwcs.edu