Saturday, May 25, 2013
Virginia's hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday begins Saturday.
Virginia is offering a sales-tax holiday on certain goods that can be used during natural disasters such as hurricanes. Virginia’s hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday runs Saturday, May 25 through Friday, May 31. The holiday exempts 22 categories of smaller items, including batteries, flashlights, bottled water, tarps, duct tape, cell-phone chargers, smoke detectors, and first aid kits. As long as each item costs $60 or less, it is exempt from sales and use tax. Portable generators and inverters priced at $1,000 or less are also exempt during the holiday. For a full list of tax-exempt products, answers to frequently asked questions, and guidelines for consumers and retailers, visit www.tax.virginia.gov. More on the 2013 hurricane …
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Automatic Wireless Emergency Alerts system, set to launch June 1, can automatically target cell phones in the geographical area of an emergency.
Fairfax County is now part of a new system that automatically sends text messages to area phone users during the most dire of emergencies. In the event of an emergency, the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system will be used to send out messages of 90 characters to mobile phone users in the vicinity of the event. The text alerts will be accompanied by a loud sound similar to the beeping tone of an emergency broadcast on a television, said Sulayman Brown, manager of Fairfax County’s emergency operations center. “Let’s say we have a hazardous material incident in Western Fairfax and we want to let people know to shelter in place,” Brown said. “We can go into it and have it send the alerts to phones in certain zip codes that might be affected…
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Democratic leaders and gay advocates are slamming the Virginia Republican Party's ticket — Ken Cuccinelli for governor and E.W. Jackson for lieutenant governor. Do you agree with them?
Democratic Party Chair of Virginia Charniele Herring, state Sen. Adam Ebbin and gay-rights advocate James Parrish held a teleconference Tuesday afternoon lambasting the “dangerous and hateful attacks on gay and lesbian Virginians that Republican candidates Ken Cuccinelli and E.W. Jackson have made a centerpiece of their careers.” Herring asked why an employer would want to bring business to the commonwealth when gubernatorial candidate Cuccinelli and lieutenant governor candidate Jackson “demonize” gay employees. “It’s damaging to our commonwealth’s reputation as an inclusive place to live,” she said. Jackson has labeled gay people perverted and “frankly very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally,” according to the …
Moving the FBI headquarters from downtown D.C. to Fairfax County is a possibility, as the County has offered its optimal site, the Springfield warehouse, for consideration by the General Services Administration.
Based on earlier reports and comments by those involved, indications pointed to a summer Request for Proposal (RFP) date for the General Services Administration (GSA) for the new FBI headquarters. However, that decision is entirely up to the GSA, according to the Office of Supervisor Jeff McKay. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has offered the Springfield warehouse for consideration for the new FBI headquarters location. Governor Bob McDonnell also recently endorsed Springfield for the new headquarters. In late 2011, the Government Accountability Office determined that the current FBI headquarters was in need of so many repairs that the government's best option was to move the bureau into a new building, according to the Washington …
Monday, May 20, 2013
Chesapeake pastor and attorney E.W. Jackson is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia.
Pastor and attorney E.W. Jackson won the Republican nomination to run for lieutenant governor of Virginia over the weekend, and a Youtube video he made last year with strong words against Planned Parenthood is getting attention. Jackson, an African-American minister, lawyer and author from Chesapeake, posted the “message to black Christians” in September 2012, chiding African-Americans for their “slavish devotion” to the Democratic Party and saying that Planned Parenthood had been more lethal to black citizens than the Ku Klux Klan. "The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so-called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has killed unborn black babies by the tens of millions,” Jackson said in the video…
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Did you take any photos at the Convention? Add them to this gallery!
Virginia Republican Party delegates officially nominated Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as their candidate for Governor at its state convention Saturday in Richmond. E.W. Jackson was nominated as Lt. Governor and Sen. Mark Obenshain as Attorney General. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! The convention was held at the Richmond Coliseum on Friday, May 17 and Sat. May 18, and was attended by thousands. Read: VA GOP Nominates Ken Cuccinelli for Governor's Race Read: E.W. Jackson Wins GOP Lieutenant Governor Nomination
Did false endorsements passed around convention floor tip the scales for Jackson in the final hour?
Chesapeake minister and attorney E.W. Jackson won the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor late in the night Saturday after a long afternoon of voting to narrow the field from seven candidates. Jackson joins gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli and attorney general contender Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, as the top Republicans in the upcoming election. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, businessman Pete Snyder withdrew from the race for lieutenant governor late Saturday. At least one blog, bearingdrift.com, notes E.W.Jackson won the final vote with 58 percent. Endorsement Errors Jackson had led the voting throughout the day. He just narrowly fell short in the third vote of the 50 percent he needed to clinch the …
Attorney general gets the nomination for governor.
Virginia Republican Party delegates officially nominated Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to run for governor at its state convention Saturday in Richmond. See: VA GOP Nominates Ken Cuccinelli for Governor's Race The full text of Cuccinelli’s speech runs below: I think you now have a better sense of why I’m one of the luckiest guys in Virginia. I want to thank my wife, Teiro - who is such a great advocate for me and our shared principles - and my children who have stood by me every step of the way. I also want to thank my mother and father for being here today and providing great examples for me over the years. Wherever you are from in Virginia, Teiro and I are thankful you are here and we are humbled by your support. With today being …
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Cuccinelli formally received the nomination Saturday at the Virginia Republican Convention.
Virginia Republican Party delegates officially nominated Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to run for governor at its state convention Saturday in Richmond. Cuccinelli, 44, essentially locked down the Republican nomination in November 2012, when outgoing Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling announced he wouldn’t be seeking the nomination. Bolling cited party officials’ vote to change the nominating method from a primary election to a convention as the main reason for withdrawing his hat. "I see a Commonwealth where our people once again lead in liberty and opportunity," Cuccinelli said in his address. "Where striving to achieve is respected, even when we fall short, and it’s celebrated when we succeed. I see a Commonwealth where we restrain our debt so we …
Ken Cuccinelli is expected to accept the gubernatorial nomination Saturday at the Virginia Republican Convention in Richmond.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is expected to formally accept the Republican nomination for Governor on Saturday morning, delivering a speech at the Virginia GOP's convention. More than 13,000 delegates are registered for the event. As the Republican candidate, Cuccinelli will face off against Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the Nov. 5 general election. The address is scheduled to begin around 10:45 a.m. Saturday. You can stream it live in the video above.
OT insider
5:39 pm on Saturday, May 25, 2013
The more you read about this, the more disturbing it becomes...this is the most extreme ticket we have seen in decades. So sad that moderates have been tossed out of the Republican party in Virginia and that only social conservatives are allowed in. I would have voted for Bill Bolling but I will instead be actively supporting all of the Democrats (whoever they are). I'm not at all sure they will … more ›