2011.01.14
The week in review: Jan. 14, 2011
1) The General Assembly kicked off its 2011 session.
Mike Sluss rounded up the issues likely to dominate the 6-week “short” session in a story on Sunday. The first day saw Gov. Bob McDonnell’s annual State of the Commonwealth speech, as well as the swearing-in of two new Timesland legislators.
Speaking of new legislators…
2) Republicans Greg Habeeb and Bill Stanley won seats in the House of Delegates and Senate.
Both won big margins in districts that were each considered GOP-friendly. And both were in Richmond the next morning to take office and kick off the session on just a few hours of sleep.
3) The impact of Saturday’s shooting in Tucson rippled into western Virginia.
The shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords led not just to a postponement of votes on Capitol Hill, but to the posting of guards at Roanoke County board meetings.
Numerous officials weighed in on the shooting, and one local state senator announced he’s holding a town hall meeting in person — instead of over the phone — as a result of the shooting too.
One other programming note as we head into the weekend:
Dwayne and I sat down with WVTF host Fred Echols yesterday to talk about the Blue Ridge Caucus. That interview airs today at 5:44 p.m. I suspect it will only offer more evidence as to why I went into newspapers instead of television or radio.
To any new readers who may have found the weblog due to the interview, welcome!
