commonwealth clips
Direct Clips Connection: (804) 748-8230
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BUDGET BUSTER:
Starting fall of 2005, the Auditor
of Public Accounts’ website
gives access to the state budget and state spending. In addition to posting ten years worth of
figures, the website features spending trends to follow the
financial paper trail. Statistical trends are also included,
like enrollment in schools, the population in prisons, and
levels of income. This is a hidden resource gem and eliminates
much of the previous budget mystery. For more information click onto www.apa.virginia.gov.
DUMP AND DUMPER: If you have a landfill located in your locality, the
Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality has started
posting landfill information on their website. The data
identifies old or abandoned landfills as well as some that are legal.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, “The agency should have been raising
alerts years ago. It as shamed into action following the
Pilot’s reports about Chesapeake subdivisions built on or near former
dumps.” The DEQ also announced some online projects that make
information about permits and regulations more public friendly.
For more information log onto
www.deq.state.va.us.
ET: The Newport News School System has been saluted as one of the best school systems in
the country for its use of educational technology. They are
connecting schools with fiber optic cable, allowing the cable
to become
its own Internet and telephone services provider. Nearly all classrooms have links to a video network that gives teachers resources and information to make specific video and cable programming for their classes. For more information contact the school
superintendent’s office at (757) 591-4545.
its own Internet and telephone services provider. Nearly all classrooms have links to a video network that gives teachers resources and information to make specific video and cable programming for their classes. For more information contact the school
superintendent’s office at (757) 591-4545.
JOHN SMITH WAS HERE: The Department of
Conservation and Recreation is
administering a new James River
Trail named for the famed early
explorer John Smith. The Captain John Smith River Trail is a boating and driving trail along the James
that follows Smith’s adventures along Virginia’s
coastlines from 1607 to 1609. This was created in preparation
for the state’s celebration of the 400th Anniversary of
the Founding of Jamestown in 2007. The trail is accessible by water or land, and
is similar to the state’s other Civil War Trails. It
includes 40 points of interest including
the Valentine Richmond History Center, Henricus Historical
Park, Flowerdew Hundred Plantation, Smith’s Fort
Plantation, Chippokes Plantation State Park, Mariners’
Museum, Virginia Living Museum, Watermen’s Museum,
Historic Jamestowne, Jamestown Settlement, Westover Plantation,
Shirley Plantation, and others. For more information contact
Nathan Lott at DCR or www.JohnSmithTrail.org.
LIGHTS, CAMERAS, PUBLIC ACTION: Two decades after Virginia
Beach and Chesapeake started
televising their council meetings, Norfolk
City Council is considering
entering show business. Suffolk began airing in 1987, Portsmouth in 1990, and Hampton, Newport News, and Williamsburg are all on air. Others statewide include Alexandria, Charlottesville, Arlington and
Fairfax Counties, Richmond, and Roanoke.
NICETIES NOT NECESSITIES: The Virginia
Public Access Project, a
nonpartisan group, has put online their list of meals, gifts,
trips, and other items that General
Assembly members reported receiving
in 2004. This was pulled from information in the legislators’ Statement of Economic
Interests. The VPAP has an eight page
list of all the companies that provided gifts and trips, who
were the top givers, and “gifts by type” are there
for each legislator by logging onto www.vpap.org.
POLITICAL ACCESS: the Virginia Public
Access Project (VPAP) is a
nonprofit nonpartisan group that uses computer technology to
educate about the role of money in today’s political
process. The VPAP website offers invaluable information, facts, and
figures that detail every key political race in the Commonwealth. Many news
and research organizations must use this website and data because
they use it in their reports and coverage. Now everyone can
access it by going online at www.vpap.org.
PRESIDENTIAL POTENTIAL: If the 2008 election for President were held today,
our most recent Governor Mark R.
Warner would defeat US Senator and former Governor George F. Allen by a margin of 49 percent to 32 percent,
according to the Center for
Politics. In this survey, conducted
by the Center in January, Warner beat Allen in every demographic group except Republicans. The
wording for this poll was “In the 2008 presidential race,
if George Allen gets the Republican nomination and Mark Warner gets the
Democratic nomination, for which Virginian would you vote?”
For more information contact Matt
Smyth at (434) 243-8466 or smyth@virginia.edu.
TAXING INFO:
Tax Rates 2005 is currently available from the Cooper Center for Public Service. The annual tax tome is $35 plus 5% tax and
shipping and handling. For more
information email cps-pubs.virginia.edu. 