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    <title>News &gt; Columnists for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
    <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/</link>
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        <title>News &gt; Columnists for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
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    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:creator>Richmond Times-Dispatch</dc:creator>
    <dc:rights>Copyright 2009</dc:rights>
    <dc:date>2009-07-09T18:50:48-05:00</dc:date>

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         <item>
          <title>Plan for anonymous jurors is bad idea</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE09_20090708-222404/278901/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
What&#8217;s next? Perhaps jurors will be hidden behind a one-way mirror. Maybe they&#8217;ll hear evidence via closed-circuit television or an online stream and render their verdicts by e-mail. An advisory committee to the Virginia Supreme Court has proposed making jurors anonymous in all criminal jury trials. The jurors would be referred to by numbers instead of names.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: Rest areas brought all kinds of relief</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL08_20090707-223205/278679/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
BILL LOHMANN Local Columnist After returning home some years ago from a seven-week cross-country excursion with my wife and three young children, I was invited by various groups to talk about the trip. On one such occasion after we had exhausted the typical travel chatter of mountains, oceans and deserts, one questioner got down to the nitty-gritty of any road trip:           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:01:43 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Michael Paul Williams&#8217; column: When petitioners are penalized</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE07_20090706-222604/278444/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Just when Gloucester County taxpayers thought it was safe to petition their elected officials without penalty, it turned out the meter was still running. Two law firms recently billed the county an additional $42,146 in legal expenses for their defense of four supervisors whom citizens unsuccessfully tried to remove from office last year.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:01:14 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Let&#8217;s share the dreams we have for the Richmond area</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL06_20090705-222404/278272/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
What&#8217;s your dream for Richmond? If we built a &#8220;Dream Your Richmond&#8221; Web site to share it, would anyone come? I am always interested in what gives a community its fabric and texture. I am intrigued by the variety of flavors and backgrounds of the people I see around me. I love to read the obituaries in the newspaper because even though the obits are records of lives we have lost, they also are reminders of the contributions and zest those who have died gave to their communities.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>GOP now grappling with deficit</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF05_20090704-213002/278096/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
For Virginia Republicans, being out of power quite literally has a cost&#8212;about $150,000. That, insiders say, is the deficit the GOP faces after a May nominating convention that generated fewer bucks than expected, a pullback by deep-pocketed donors and an underwhelming response to a multiple appeals for money. And things were supposed to get better at Republican headquarters on Grace Street after Del. Jeff Frederick of Prince William was run off as chairman for insurance man Pat Mullins of Louisa?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:01:55 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Mike Williams&#8217; column: A riverside Richmond ballpark could work</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE04_20090703-221605/277949/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
This column contains no mea culpa, no &#8220;I was wrong.&#8220; Today, the operative phrase is, &#8220;I told you so.&#8220; If I was mistaken in thinking Shockoe Bottom was a viable and inevitable location for a new baseball stadium, let me now point out that I began advocating a riverfront site for a new ballpark in October 2000. Now comes Reynolds Packaging Group, which owns almost 18 acres of property on the south bank of the James River between the Manchester and Mayo bridges. It&#8217;s pitching this site for a minor-league baseball stadium.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:01:19 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take &#45; Ballpark blues.</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_ballpark_blues/277853/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Mike Williams says that if Richmond is serious about bringing back baseball, a stadium site on the south bank of the James is worth a hard look.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:59:40 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Atop the Carillon, a chance to ring the bells, savor the view</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL03_20090702-223003/277812/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Growing up, Larry Robinson yearned to be an elevator man, just like the guys operating the lifts in the old-style department stores he loved as a child. He fulfilled that dream&#8212;sort of. The other day, he took me on a tour of where he works, and to get there we climbed aboard a 1931 elevator.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:32 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: A museum is better for the bottom</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE02_20090701-223005/277596/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
You are about to read three words you thought you&#8217;d never see in this space: I was wrong. Three months ago, I boosted Shockoe Bottom as the inevitable site of a new Richmond baseball stadium and all but urged Mayor Dwight C. Jones to grab a ceremonial chrome-plated shovel and break some ground, already. As it turns out, the stadium proposal was about to have dirt shoveled on it. It died last week when Highwoods Properties withdrew its $363 million redevelopment plan for Shockoe Bottom.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:01:08 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>U&#45;boat capture &#8216;was a BIG deal,&#8216; man recalls</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL01_20090630-223404/277316/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
BILL LOHMAN Having recently moved to Chicago, former Richmonder Dick Owens thought a visit to the city&#8217;s Museum of Science and Industry would be a fine field trip for his family. Once there, he noticed one of the muse um&#8217;s popular exhibits was the U-505, the German submarine&#8212;or U-boat&#8212;that terrorized the Atlantic in World War II before being captured by the U.S. Navy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Native returns to a town that&#8217;s changed</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL29_20090628-213002/276943/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Coming home after 25 years, sometimes I feel more akin to the newcomer than the native. A drive to downtown Richmond reveals a city much changed. My family is spread all over the region. I was born in a Richmond hospital and grew up in Goochland County. I followed newspaper jobs to Kentucky, Delaware and New York, most recently working as managing editor of Newsday on Long Island.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>The G&#45;man is sniffing at the Capitol</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF28_20090627-215004/276822/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As head of the Virginia Association of Counties, a group that lobbies at the state Capitol for local government, Jim Campbell meets a lot of people. One person he may not have expected to encounter: Jim Melia, a new member of the public-corruption squad of the FBI&#8217;s Richmond office. &#8220;He told me his boss told him to get to know lobbyists and probe a little bit,&#8220; said Campbell, who met with Melia for about an hour June 9, primary day. &#8220;I hope he doesn&#8217;t find anything.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:01:11 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>5K to carry on late doctor&#8217;s love of running</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL26_20090625-221804/276451/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The stretch of Riverside Drive between Pony Pasture and the Huguenot Bridge is flat, shady and scenic, an irresistible combination for runners. Precisely the sort of route Dr. Peter Still loved. Still, 51, an avid runner, died last July of a heart attack. He was on a morning run. To honor his memory, the Richmond Road Runners Club has established a new race, the Pony Pasture 5K, which will be held July 25&#8212;three days before the first anniversary of Still&#8217;s death. Proceeds from the registration fees will benefit the club&#8217;s scholarship fund.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Introducing himself&#8212;Bill Lohmann&#8217;s first column</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL24_20090623-220804/275875/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Boy, things really are changing quickly in the newspaper business. A year ago, I was minding my own business, writing features for the Flair section and, when I could swing it, going out on the road for stories with photographer Bob Brown. A few months later, my friend Jann Malone retired, and I volunteered to try to fill her oven mitts as the food writer. Can&#8217;t say I fully achieved that, but I didn&#8217;t burn my fingers and, as best I can tell, I didn&#8217;t sicken any readers with misguided cooking advice&#8212;although there was an unfortunate incident involving a spoonbread recipe and a little too much baking powder.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:01:29 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>VIDEO: Bill Lohmann from guest to host</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/video_bill_lohmann_from_guest_to_host/275805/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
New metro columnist Bill Lohmann gets a lesson in video column hosting from &#8220;World of Woody&#8221; columnist Paul Woody           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:31:47 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Times&#45;Dispatch introduces Bill Lohmann as new regular columnist</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GLEN22_20090621-222002/275244/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a fine group of local columnists. All of our columnists have not retired, left the paper or ended up working on television or writing for the local mature American magazine. One reason we&#8217;re proud of our staff members is because they are not only good local columnists, but they are some of the best reporters and writers in the Richmond area.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:01:22 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>IT flap is a chance for McDonnell</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF21_20090620-222606/275112/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia&#8217;s $2.3 billion smooch with Northrop Grumman for computer services is behind schedule and another $6 million in the red. More than a year late and $8.5 million over budget, Motorola Corp. has yet to deliver a $340 million radio system to state police. And what does Bob McDonnell do about all this? He issues a press release criticizing cap and trade.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:01:56 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Ukrop&#8217;s scholarship winners</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT21G_20090620-193604/275041/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Hampton University  Virginia Tech  VCU  U.Va.  VCU  U.Va.  George Mason  VCU  VCU  ECPI  Cosby  JMU  L.C. Bird  VCU  JMU  Virginia Tech  VCU  Virginia Tech  JMU  Varina  ODU  UNC-Charlotte  Virginia Tech            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Notable Gifts: Scholarship awards</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT21_20090620-193604/275040/</link>
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Twenty students from 12 local high schools recently were awarded $1,500 scholarships from the Ukrop&#8217;s Education Foundation. The additions mean 140 students will receive Ukrop&#8217;s scholarships worth a total of $210,000 during the 2009-2010 academic year. Scholarships are renewable for four years or until a bachelor&#8217;s degree is earned, as long as the student maintains an acceptable grade-point average.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>From the newsroom: Check out T&#45;D podcasts</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/NV-VIEW21_20090619-223802/274996/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
You can take it with you. Podcasts allow readers on the go to download our online shows on entertainment, sports, politics, current events, and commentary and view them at any time or place on a laptop, netbook, smart phone, or portable media player. If you&#8217;re saying, &#8220;What&#8217;s a podcast?&#8220; you&#8217;re not alone: The majority of Americans haven&#8217;t heard of podcasting, according to a recent report by Arbitron and Edison Research. But why not join the 22 percent of Americans who do listen to podcasts for fun and information? Read on!           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Henrico schools&#8217; new dress code is overkill</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE20_20090619-222203/274938/</link>
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Asign posted outside a local nightclub lists a ban on plain T-shirts, do-rags and sagging pants and requires collard shirts. It&#8217;s doubtful the establishment is asking its customers to wear green leafy vegetables. But this is just one example of the occasional absurdity surrounding dress-code enforcement. Which brings us to the Henrico County School Board&#8217;s new countywide school dress code.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Liberty case takes new twist</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE18_20090617-220802/274491/</link>
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Politics is a dirty business&#8212;more so, it seems, when it happens at a place like Christian evangelical Liberty University. Negotiations to reinstate the College Democrats club as an official campus organization had devolved into a game of hardball, with school administrators demanding a retraction and apology from club sponsor Maria Childress, a staff member of the university. They blamed her for making statements to the media that helped to heap scorn on the school after it decided to revoke the club&#8217;s recognition&#8212;a move criticized as partisan-driven and inhibiting free speech.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>VITA mess doesn&#8217;t compute</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF14_20090613-213602/273764/</link>
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Giant tax increase for cops, kids and welfare notwithstanding, could Mark Warner&#8217;s legacy as governor be summed up with a four-letter word: VITA? There&#8217;s something rotten in Chesterfield&#8212;at the headquarters of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, created by Warner as a Price Club for the state to buy and maintain computers and software.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:01:58 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Notable Gifts for Sunday, June 14</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT14_20090613-175004/273724/</link>
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When children enter the big red barn at the Children&#8217;s Museum of Richmond on Friday, thanks will go to several donors to the new Little Farm exhibit. Capital grants came from the Robins Foundation ($50,000), the Richard Gwathmey and Caroline T. Gwathmey Memorial Trust ($25,000), the Marietta McNeill Morgan and Samuel Tate Morgan, Jr. Foundation ($25,000), the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation ($20,000), the Barbara J. Thalhimer &amp; William B. Thalhimer, Jr. Family Fund of The Community Foundation ($5,000) and the Ruth Camp Campbell Foundation ($2,000).           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:01:16 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Danville officer was dead wrong to kill dachshund</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE13_20090612-234001/273693/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
&#8220;Must love dogs&#8221; clearly isn&#8217;t a requirement to be a Danville police officer. A miniature dachshund charged at officer Murrill McLean after McLean attempted to serve a summons to a nearby resident. His cry of &#8220;Get!&#8220; didn&#8217;t stop the dog, so he drew his pistol and responded with deadly force. An 11-year-old, 12-pound dog with the clearly ironic name of &#8220;Killer&#8221; died Monday night as a result. He wasn&#8217;t the first dog killed by Danville police.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:01:28 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take &#45; Danville and dogs.</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_danville_and_dogs/273577/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Mike Williams says Danville police need to stop trying to rationalize a habit of shooting animals.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:57:34 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Carr a quiet force in politics</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE11_20090610-222205/273156/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Betsy Carr might be described as the accidental politician. She likely wouldn&#8217;t have landed on the Richmond School Board if then-5th District representative Stephen B. Johnson hadn&#8217;t been caught at Richmond International Airport with three marijuana joints in his luggage. Carr was selected to fill Johnson&#8217;s term after his resignation in March 2006, and won election outright the following November. Two years later, she trounced opponent Otis Mallory.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Picking top aide is problem for Jones</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE09_20090608-223202/272744/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
With his trial balloon for a top city post taking some hits and losing altitude, where does Mayor Dwight C. Jones go from here? His officially unacknowledged candidate for chief administrative officer, Byron C. Marshall, leads an agency whose performance is being audited. That review of the Austin Revitalization Authority could delay Jones&#8217; timetable for picking a CAO.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:01:48 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>SCHAPIRO: A broken formula in GOP ticket?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF07_20090606-221603/272363/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In his &#8220;Brady Bunch&#8221; ad, Bob McDonnell, sitting on the front stoop of his house in the Henrico suburbs, is typecast. The message&#8212;as the Republican gubernatorial nominee and unflappable pater familias of a vast, bubbly clan is, among other things, fleeced for car keys by his twin sons&#8212;is that McDonnell is the friendly, sort of dull everyguy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:01:54 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF07_20090606-221603/272363/#When:04:01:54Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: No peace without dialogue</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE06_20090605-222806/272212/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Sign-toting protesters marched in circles, sporadically chanting &#8220;No justice, no peace!&#8220; as state troopers and sheriff&#8217;s deputies blocked the entrance to the Powhatan County courthouse. On an overcast morning Thursday, two defendants were being sentenced in the shooting death of Tahliek Taliaferro and the nonfatal wounding of Courtney Jones. Family, friends and the prosecution had called Taliaferro&#8217;s death a murder. A jury of 11 whites and one black decided otherwise.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:00:59 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE06_20090605-222806/272212/#When:04:00:59Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take &#45; Struggle for justice</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_struggle_for_justice/272252/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Mike Williams says the events in Powhatan this week show that progress has been made on civil rights, but the staus quo is far from perfect.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:55:37 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_struggle_for_justice/272252/#When:02:55:37Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: State must stop fighting privacy activist</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE04_20090603-223005/271753/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Stop the fight. The commonwealth of Virginia should end this foolishness and concede the point to Hanover County activist B.J. Ostergren. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Ostergren may resume posting the Social Security numbers of Virginia legislators, court clerks and other officials on her Web site, as part of her protest that government sites make such numbers publicly available.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE04_20090603-223005/271753/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Powhatan needs more from leaders</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE02_20090601-221432/271295/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Twenty-seven days after the shooting death of Tahliek Taliaferro, the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a proclamation commending the community for its response. The proclamation said the community had made efforts to hold together, &#8220;and our young people have shown us the way forward toward healing during this horrific time.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:01:17 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE02_20090601-221432/271295/#When:04:01:17Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Health foundation hands out $744,000</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT31_20090530-172106/270896/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Richmond Memorial Health Foundation recently awarded grants totaling $744,000 to nine organizations focused on women and children&#8217;s health; aging and Alzheimer&#8217;s disease; and nursing and health education. The foundation&#8217;s total grants this fiscal year topped $2,046,000 despite the economy, said Jeffery S. Cribbs, RMHF president. &#8220;Our investment pool has experienced some declines over the last year, as [has] everyone&#8217;s,&#8220; he said. &#8220;Our board felt that now is not the time to curtail our gift commitment to the nonprofit community. For this year, it&#8217;s probably greater than the most recent past.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2009 00:01:58 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT31_20090530-172106/270896/#When:04:01:58Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Schapiro: Moran on fringe of Dems race</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF31_20090530-214012/270923/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
And then there were two? Three names for governor appear on the Democratic primary ballot: Creigh Deeds, Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran. Beyond the curiosity of polls that show Deeds gaining on early front-runner McAuliffe, why does it seem, with nine days to go, that only they stand out? This is not to suggest that Moran is dead in the water. Nothing would please him more than serving doubters steaming helpings of crow.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2009 00:01:07 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF31_20090530-214012/270923/#When:04:01:07Z</guid>
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          <title>Williams: High&#45;speed rail, not baseball, is region&#8217;s real ticket</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE30_20090529-222258/270774/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
While baseball boosters gathered this week at Can Can in cosmopolitan Carytown, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones huddled with officials from the surrounding counties on the second floor of a Ukrop&#8217;s on Midlothian Turnpike. Foremost on the mayor&#8217;s mind Thursday evening was not off-speed pitches from would-be ball-club owners and ballpark developers, but the extension of high-speed rail to the area. Yes, it&#8217;s exciting to have the sons of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan consider Richmond for their fledgling baseball empire. But down the road, high-speed passenger rail figures to accelerate Richmond&#8217;s economy more than a ballpark would.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2009 00:01:03 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE30_20090529-222258/270774/#When:04:01:03Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take &#45; More pressing needs than baseball</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_more_pressing_needs_than_baseball/270747/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones skipped a baseball meeting this week to attend a meeting on high-speed rail. Columnist Mike Williams says that&#8217;s the right call.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2009 22:13:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_more_pressing_needs_than_baseball/270747/#When:02:13:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Laboring through a diversion</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF24_20090523-221424/269636/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s an oldie but maybe no longer a goodie. Virginia&#8217;s 62-year-old prohibition against union membership as a condition for a job&#8212;the so-called right-to-work law&#8212;is popping up in the preliminaries of the 2009 campaign. As an issue, it&#8217;s largely manufactured, the handiwork of Republicans trying to get back in the good graces of checkwriting businesspeople and business organizations trying to remain relevant.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF24_20090523-221424/269636/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Williams: Liberty University shows its true colors</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE23_20090522-221105/269436/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Brian Diaz was living a dream. He&#8217;d started a Democrats&#8217; Club at Liberty University, where Democrats barely outnumber atheists. He&#8217;d pulled this off at a school that canceled classes on Election Day and conducted a vigorous voter-registration effort, all documented in a National Public Radio piece in October titled &#8220;Can Falwell&#8217;s University Tip Virginia to McCain?&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2009 00:01:19 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE23_20090522-221105/269436/#When:04:01:19Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take &#45; Give me Liberty ...</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_give_me_liberty_1/269467/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Mike Williams thinks Liberty University isn&#8217;t exactly living up to its name by disbanding the student Democrats Club.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 20:41:52 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_give_me_liberty_1/269467/#When:00:41:52Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: Road rules apply to everyone, even police</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE21_20090520-222106/268978/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
LaToya Carter says she never saw what hit her. She had dropped a friend off early Friday morning and was turning left off Swanson Road to head eastbound on Hull Street Road. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t see him at all,&#8220; she said of Richmond police officer Mark Levy&#8217;s Ford Crown Victoria. &#8220;As I was making a turn, I noticed something smacked my car . . . and his car went flying into the bricks.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE21_20090520-222106/268978/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Build it, and will they come?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE19_20090518-214908/268508/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s time to end this long, drawn-out debate over the best site for a new baseball stadium in Richmond. The Shockoe Bottom location represents the only real momentum we have toward a ballpark. Highwoods Proper ties, which has proposed the Shockoe Center development, appears to be the big-league player in the batter&#8217;s box. Mayor Dwight C. Jones is correct in saying there is no consensus on the ballpark. But if we wait to build consensus, we&#8217;ll never build a ballpark. People are entrenched in their points of view.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2009 00:01:06 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE19_20090518-214908/268508/#When:04:01:06Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>McDonnell veers right off center</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF17_20090516-214814/268212/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
For Bob McDonnell, Republican candidate for governor, this is a Sunday of sacrilege. His alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, today is awarding an honorary degree to President Barack Obama. That a great Catholic university would do so, given Obama&#8217;s support of abortion rights, is an affront to the faith&#8217;s social teachings, McDonnell says.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2009 00:01:25 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF17_20090516-214814/268212/#When:04:01:25Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Old recreation facilities are no source of happiness in Sandston</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE16_20090515-223237/268095/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The USO hall just off Williamsburg Road was conveyed to Henrico County at the end of World War II with the understanding that it would house a recreation center for Sandston residents. A 50-cent assessment was tacked on to each Sandston resident&#8217;s water bill to purchase and maintain the center. Six decades later, the assessment is still in place, and the Sandston Memorial Recreation Center holds numerous community events on its shiny maple floors. But the recreational facilities outdoors leave much to be desired, leaving some Sandston residents feeling like second-class citizens.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2009 00:01:03 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE16_20090515-223237/268095/#When:04:01:03Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take2/267976/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As affluent as Henrico County is, eastern Henrico residents in Sandston get the short end of the stick.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 21:00:15 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take2/267976/#When:01:00:15Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>&#8220;Sexting&#8221; seen as a cultural issue, says psychologist</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE14_20090513-222632/267652/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Ihave this theory about humanity&#8217;s demise at the hands of technology. The end doesn&#8217;t come with a Terminator time-traveling to assassinate the leader of the human resistance. Why would machines need to purge humanity? We&#8217;re doing a fine job of that ourselves. We surf the Internet instead of interacting. We text instead of phoning. We chat online rather than talking face to face.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE14_20090513-222632/267652/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Jeff E. Schapiro column: Elevating a consumer watchdog</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF10_20090509-221009/266843/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Hours before lawmakers returned to the state Capitol for their spring session, Dick Saslaw welcomed deep-pocketed visitors: the head of giant payday lender Advance America, the company&#8217;s chief lobbyist and its fixer in Richmond. The trio told the Senate Democratic boss that the company had found a legal way to&#8212;and would&#8212;bypass profit-cutting restrictions Saslaw won last winter, perhaps as penance for his status as an industry defender and major beneficiary of its campaign cash.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 10 May 2009 00:01:52 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Finally, an anti&#45;poverty effort in Va.</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE09_20090508-223108/266705/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
George Allen pushed no parole; Jim Gilmore, no car tax. Mark Warner&#8217;s bipartisan appeal paved the way for later Democratic Party success. Tim Kaine has spent the past 3&#189; years struggling to carve out his defining legacy as governor. But with the creation this week of a task force to reduce poverty in Virginia, he may be on to something.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 00:01:07 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE09_20090508-223108/266705/#When:04:01:07Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take1/266591/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Invisible Virginians. Columnist Mike Williams says with one of ten people in the state living below the poverty line, it&#8217;s high time for the governor to call for a task force.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 20:27:37 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Fear keeps Falun Gong group offstage at celebration</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE07_20090506-222415/266229/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Falun Gong practitioners performed a group dance on the grassy median during the Monument Avenue 10k. And in December, they participated in the Ukrop&#8217;s Christmas Parade. But when they sought the opportu nity to do their exercises onstage at this Saturday&#8217;s Asian-American Celebration at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, they were denied by organizers of the Chinese-community performances.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE07_20090506-222415/266229/#When:04:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Williams: Chesterfield shooting shows need for protocol on mentally ill</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE05_20090504-232803/265806/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Too often in Virginia, the criminal-justice system and mental-health professionals seem to occupy two ships passing in the night. This can have tragic consequences, as we saw on April 16, 2007, when a mentally ill Seung-Hui Cho shot 32 people to death at Virginia Tech. On other occasions, the lack of seamless coordination and proper training can imperil both lawenforcement professionals and the person in the throes of a mental-health crisis.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2009 00:01:19 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Democrats&#8217; luck may be running out</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF03_20090502-221411/265428/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Taxes are climbing in recession-wracked Northern Virginia, bulwark of the Democratic ascendancy. A smooth-talking Democratic governor whose part-time assignment as Barack Obama&#8217;s partisan hitman is yanked back to his day job by the swine-flu scare. The Democratic primary is becoming a sandbox quarrel. Voters tune out or&#8212;to get their fix of sweaty, noisy post-adolescent males&#8212;turn the dial to the basketball playoffs.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2009 00:01:55 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Cancer walk nets $90,000 to help kids with cancer</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT03_20090502-181414/265344/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Among the 59 families in Hanover County&#8217;s Royal Glen neighborhood, 13 had kindergartners starting school this year. When one of those 13, Reese Klauer, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in January, the community galvanized around her. Neighbors built a wheelchair ramp for her house, because surgery to remove the tumor left her temporarily unable to walk.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2009 00:01:15 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Amid a wave of violence, Highland Springs seems lost</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE02_20090501-222104/265235/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Heart-shaped balloons, stuffed animals and candles surround the portrait of a pregnant teen who died after being shot Monday at a Highland Springs apartment complex. A note at this curbside shrine urges Wazira Harris to rest in peace and says she&#8217;s in a much better place. &#8220;Didn&#8217;t really know you but saddened by the lost.&#8220; &#8220;Loss&#8221; is likely what the author meant, but &#8220;lost&#8221; is apt. The lost ones perpetrating this mayhem are indeed the source of sadness. And &#8220;lost&#8221; describes Highland Springs, a community engulfed in a wave of violence at odds with its small-town ambience. Harris, who was a senior at Highland Springs High School, is among a half-dozen people slain in the area over the past two years.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 02 May 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Michael Paul Williams: Terrorism report offends all</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE30_20090429-220009/264752/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Richmond metropolitan area&#8217;s historically black colleges&#8212;Virginia Union University and Virginia State University&#8212;form a &#8220;radicalization node.&#8220; Similarly, the presence of historically black Norfolk State University and Hampton University and evangelical Regent University increase the terrorist threat in Hampton Roads. These assertions are among the findings of a report published last month by the Virginia Fusion Center, a 10-person unit of the Virginia State Police and the state Department of Emergency Management that was created to improve the sharing of anti-terrorism intelligence.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:01:33 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE30_20090429-220009/264752/#When:04:01:33Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Jeff&#8217;s Notes</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/jeffs_notes1/264715/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Dueling Democrats. Political columnist Jeff Schapiro says the three candidates for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination are making noise but not gaining traction.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:12:28 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/jeffs_notes1/264715/#When:00:12:28Z</guid>
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          <title>Michael Paul Williams: Campus shooting alerts should be prompt</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE28_20090427-221020/264295/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Violence on a college campus can be difficult to gauge, as we learned from the Virginia Tech massacre. But one aspect is within a university&#8217;s control: the swiftness with which it alerts students after a shooting. During the wee hours Sunday morning, a former Hampton Uni versity student walked onto the campus and wounded a dormitory night monitor and a pizza delivery person before turning the weapon on himself. But the university waited nearly two hours before sending out a campuswide alert.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:01:19 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE28_20090427-221020/264295/#When:04:01:19Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>McDonnell&#8217;s cash woes? Oy vey!</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF26_20090425-214617/263926/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Republican convention in Richmond next month is supposed to be former Attorney General Bob McDonnell&#8217;s bar mitzvah&#8212;some food, a bit to drink, lotsa flash. But for McDonnell, entering the political equivalent of manhood as his party&#8217;s nominee for governor is a surprisingly low-dollar affair. Like those schlocky floral centerpieces that end up in Mrs. What&#8217;s-her-stein&#8217;s living room the morning after the big party, McDonnell&#8217;s fundraising appears to be wilting.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:01:55 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF26_20090425-214617/263926/#When:04:01:55Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: Optimism reigns at 17th Street Farmers&#8217; Market</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE25_20090424-220816/263730/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Rosa Fleming and Evelyn Luceal Allen have been part of the 17th Farmers&#8217; Market for generations. Their father, Thomas Emanuel Carter Sr., brought them to the market as youngsters to sell fruits and vegetables from the back of his truck. For Fleming, that was more than 50 years ago; for Allen, more than 65. The sisters from Mechanicsville are as equipped as anyone to forecast the fortunes of the market, whose annual grand opening is today.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:01:41 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE25_20090424-220816/263730/#When:04:01:41Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take &#45; 17th Street Market</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_17th_street_market/263683/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Mike Williams says shopping at the 17th Street Farmers&#8217; Market is good for your health, the economy and historic preservation.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:59:16 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: McDonnell should&#8217;ve held his tongue on Notre Dame, Obama</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE23_20090422-222907/263055/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
One of the cardinal rules of politics is that some questions are best left unanswered. But when a Washington radio-show host dangled a red-meat question before Bob McDonnell, Virginia&#8217;s presumptive Republican nominee for governor couldn&#8217;t resist. McDonnell was asked whether Notre Dame should give an honorary degree to its commencement speaker, President Barack Obama, given his being for abortion rights.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Richmond area could have built the Braves a ballpark</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE21_20090420-230404/261107/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
You mean we couldn&#8217;t have done this in Short Pump or Midlothian? That question came to mind when I read Sunday&#8217;s story on the Gwinnett Braves&#8217; new stadium in Lawrenceville, Ga. From what I&#8217;ve seen of Dean Hoffmeyer&#8217;s photos and video on The Times-Dispatch&#8217;s Web site, Gwinnett Stadium looks like a pleasant place to watch a a ballgame. The cheap &#8220;seats&#8221; on an outfield berm and an encircling ballpark concourse are the most distinctive features at a park whose exterior breaks no architectural ground. Times-Dispatch reporter Will Jones&#8212;who caught the last game at The Diamond and the first at Gwinnett&#8212;says there doesn&#8217;t appear to be a bad seat in the house.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:01:49 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Warner, Webb take different approaches</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF19_20090418-221701/259790/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
While Mark Warner hides out on card-check, Jim Webb plunges into prison reform. These issues, conventional wisdom has it, are career killers. One Democrat shudders. The other says big deal. This tale of two senators spotlights their different temperaments and very different approaches to politics. On card-check&#8212;the new bloody shirt of business and labor&#8212;Warner is learning the hard way that being a &#8220;radical centrist&#8221; means you&#8217;re a target for people on both sides of a tough issue.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Retailer is giving up the ghost</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE18_20090417-221304/259279/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Freeman&#8217;s Men Shop was a lonely outpost in a downtown retail wilderness, holding out for rescue. Construction on the old Miller &amp; Rhoads department store building and Richmond CenterStage had made the 500 block of East Grace Street a dusty urban ghost town. To enter Freeman&#8217;s, customers had to navigate around an iron railing, an obliterated sidewalk and a yawning hole in the street.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:01:37 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take &#45; We all need to support local businesses.</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_we_all_need_to_support_local_businesses/259030/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Retail R.I.P. Columnist Mike Williams says we all need to support local businesses. Too many neighborhood shops are closing.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:35:40 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Columbine, Tech and Virginia&#8217;s lax gun laws</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE16_20090415-231609/257568/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The survivors of two schools linked by violence 1,500 miles and eight years apart will join hands in commemoration and activism. Lori Haas, whose daughter survived the Virginia Tech massacre two years ago today, is in Blacksburg to attend the second-anniversary commemoration of the shoot ings and take part in a student &#8220;lie-in&#8221; to protest Virginia&#8217;s lax gun laws.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:01:16 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Eggleston collapse a sign of Jackson Ward&#8217;s problems</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE14_20090413-221353/255676/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
All that remained of the old Eggleston Hotel yesterday was a pile of bricks and splintered wood. As a backhoe scooped up this debris of Jackson Ward history to be hauled away, Charles &#8220;Dump Truck&#8221; Shelton stood and watched. He worked as a cook in the old building before moving across the street to work at another Eggleston family business, Croaker&#8217;s Spot.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:01:49 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Lawmakers on the hunt for jobs, too</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF12_20090411-222008/254510/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The late A.L. Philpott, a House speaker of the old school&#8212;taciturn, crafty, attentive of detail&#8212;is reported to have said it is the prerogative of every lawyer-legislator to seek a judgeship. Del. Kenny Melvin of Portsmouth might seem an unlikely prospect to put Philpott&#8217;s words into action, having made it to the House by toppling a Philpott confrere, Cleaves Manning, in a Democratic primary.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:00:59 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Michael Paul Williams: Va. GOP is no friend of the unemployed</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE11_20090410-221708/253962/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
During these hard times, Virginia&#8217;s GOP lawmakers should strike a blow for the little guy. Instead, they struck the little guy with a blow. In rejecting $125.5 million in federal stimulus money to expand unemployment benefits, Republican legislators&#8212;aided by one Democrat&#8212;left at least one unemployed Virginian disgusted. &#8220;They must be crazy,&#8220; Rodney Payne said as he walked out of the Virginia Employment Commission office in Mechanicsville. &#8220;Have them laid off for a while and not have a job.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:01:06 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Lottery aid a ticket to success?</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE09_20090408-220702/252290/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As he clutched a fistful of lottery tickets at a Fas Mart in Hanover County, Aubrey Funn was hardly the image of an industry in recession. Funn estimated that he spends $45 a week on the Virginia Lottery, mostly playing Pick 3 and Pick 4. &#8220;Yeah, it&#8217;s affecting me,&#8216;cause I ain&#8217;t winning nothing,&#8220; he said when asked about the economy. &#8220;Just throwing my money away, that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m doing.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>And the Muzzle goes to . . .</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE07_20090406-222608/250477/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Forty Gloucester County residents who sought to remove four Board of Supervisors members from office weren&#8217;t impressed at a judge&#8217;s order to pay the bulk of the supervisors&#8217; legal fees.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:01:12 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Community Foundation announces $800,000 in grants</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT05_20090404-180407/249061/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
A dating auction raised more than $5,000 for the Central Virginia Foodbank. Members of 30s/40s Richmond Singles raised the money. A social group, which regularly volunteers at the Foodbank, auctioned dates with six men and six women at the Capital Ale House in Midlothian during its largest fundraiser last month. The Foodbank can buy one pound of food with every 17 cents, said Tam Evans, the group&#8217;s volunteer coordinator for the community. With the proceeds &#8220;we can buy 49,000 pounds of food. That&#8217;s just mind-boggling that so many children won&#8217;t have to go bed hungry.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:01:54 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>The politics of mining uranium</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF05_20090404-220007/249158/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As a former commander of Norfolk Naval Base and a nuclear weapons officer who worked on Russian atomic secrets at the National Security Council, Joe Bouchard knows something about uranium. As a Ph.D. and Democratic delegate from Virginia Beach who works on environmental and scientific issues on two important House committees, Bouchard also knows something about the politics of uranium.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:01:51 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Mike Williams: Let Velvet&#8217;s anti&#45;stadium sign stay</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE04_20090403-222648/248682/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
An establishment that bills itself as home to &#8220;Richmond&#8217;s hottest adult entertainment&#8221; is in the hot seat for a banner that is political, not prurient. The yellow sign with black letters stretches two stories high on the fa&#231;ade of Velvet (formerly Club Velvet). What it lacks in punctuation, it makes up for in clarity.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:01:30 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take/248613/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Strip club owners have rights, too. Columnist Mike Williams thinks Sam Moore should be able to keep a big sign opposing a ballpark in Shockoe Bottom.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:32:59 EDT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take/248613/#When:01:32:59Z</guid>
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          <title>Tucker High dissed for bad reasons</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE22_20090402-002403/246979/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Since the Supreme Court long ago settled the constitutionality of race-based school segregation, perhaps it should turn its attention to economic apartheid in education. The starkest examples of this economic divide can be found between the city and suburban schools. But even within the suburban jurisdictions, in school systems that are deemed sound, the chasms exist, pitting the old suburbs against the new.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>TIME CAPSULES: Film&#8217;s interpretation of Glasgow novel varied from book</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/CAPS01_20090331-221209/245658/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Movie version of Glasgow novel varied from book News that Richmond novelist Ellen Glasgow had &#8220;gone Hollywood&#8221; raised eyebrows in 1935. Glasgow&#8217;s &#8220;Vein of Iron,&#8220; the 62-year-old writer&#8217;s 18th novel in a distinguished career spanning four decades, had become a best-seller that year.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:01:54 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Paranoia and guns are a volatile, toxic mixture</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE31_20090330-223316/244777/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Ajury ruled Tahliek Taliaferro&#8217;s slaying accidental. Protesters are calling it premeditated murder. What&#8217;s undeniable is that a night of bad blood and bad judgment would have resulted in little more than a fistfight without the weapons at Ethan Parrish&#8217;s disposal. A gun in the wrong hands at the wrong time has a way of turning a quarrel into a tragedy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:01:01 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>McAuliffe has added excitement to primary season</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF29_20090328-222905/243510/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Having departed the Black Forest of academe for the back streets of the Internet, pundit Bob Holsworth recently took a shot on his blog, virginia tomorrow.com, at Terry McAuliffe. Noting McAuliffe&#8217;s payroll is nearing 100, Holsworth labeled the Democratic gubernatorial prospect a one-man economic-stimulus plan. Commenting on Holsworth&#8217;s musings, irrepressible former Del. Barnie Day of Patrick County, typed: &#8220;McAuliffe win in June = McDonnell win in November.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Cameron, Komen grants announced</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT29_20090328-192207/243350/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Cameron Foundation awarded grants totaling more than $1.2 million last month to 18 nonprofit organizations serving the Tri-Cities area. &#8220;The foundation makes other capacity-building investments in the local nonprofit sector in addition to grants such as these,&#8220; foundation president Handy L. Lindsey Jr. said. &#8220;In order to continue serving the community in today&#8217;s environment, it is all the more critical that nonprofit organizations fully utilize the resources that are available, and we are mindful of our role as facilitators in this work,&#8220; he said.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>In Chesterfield, dance ban has all the wrong moves</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE26_20090325-221509/241086/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Acouple of Chesterfield County restaurants could use a guy like Ren McCormack. McCormack, for those of you trying to forget the 1980s, was the teen portrayed by Kevin Bacon in the film &#8220;Footloose.&#8220; He managed to sway the town government, the law and an overzealous preacher and got the rural farming community of Bomont to lift its ban on dancing.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:01:07 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Taliaferro verdict isn&#8217;t justice</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE24_20090323-223024/239162/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The law works in mysterious ways. Tahliek Taliaferro and his buddies were hanging out near a Powhatan County ice-cream stand last June when a long-standing feud with fellow teenager Joey Parrish led to his death that night.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:01:42 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Infighting expert cites risk to GOP</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF22_20090321-222301/237896/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
A state Republican chairman with firm beliefs runs afoul of party potentates. Disagreements rooted in personality, policy and pettiness erupt in full view. Next there is a coup attempt. Jeff Frederick? Nope. Pat McSweeney, who thwarted Gov. George Allen in a front-page struggle 15 years ago for control of the GOP apparatus. Allen attempted to orchestrate an ouster vote by the party&#8217;s governing body, the central committee.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:01:31 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Henrico officials take the gloves off</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE21_20090320-221607/237347/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The gloves come off in Henrico Henrico County is accustomed to flush times, not tough times. Henrico, for as long as anyone can remember, has been synonymous with excellent schools, well-managed government and satisfied residents, give or take occasional grumbling from its eastern precincts. As county governments go, Henrico has been the proverbial well-oiled machine.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Richmond baseball planners need to pick a site in Richmond and stick with it</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE19_20090318-223021/235392/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Studies stick stadium plan in rain delay If they ever build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom, I&#8217;ll hawk popcorn on Opening Day. Of course, at this rate, I&#8217;ll need a walker and a hearing aid. Not to mention dentures, should I want to chow down on some kernels. Take the latest example of ballpark paralysis by analysis: Mayor Dwight C. Jones&#8217; decision to pay three firms $100,000 to analyze the proposed $363 million Shockoe Center development, including a new ballpark.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Nude dancer drew Richmond fans to see fans and bubbles</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/CAPS18_20090317-222418/234292/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In 1933, the Chicago World&#8217;s Fair celebrated &#8220;A Century of Progress&#8221; at the same time the Great Depression blanketed the country with despair. Through the fair&#8217;s gates rode a nude Lady Godiva astride a rented white horse. The bold young woman was 29-year-old Sally Rand, an unemployed actress and aspiring dancer desperate for work.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:00:59 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Extra jobs require extra care</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE17_20090316-221504/233317/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Extra jobs require extra care Just call Thomas J. Swartzwelder the jack of all trades in King and Queen County. There&#8217;s not much outside the realm of law enforcement that Swartzwelder doesn&#8217;t have a hand in.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:01:46 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>No Jeff E. Schapiro column this week</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF15_20090314-222823/231949/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Away this week Jeff E. Schapiro&#8217;s column on Virginia government and politics will resume next week.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:01:15 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Va. Indian tribes deserve federal recognition</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE12_20090311-220005/229409/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Virginia&#8217;s Indians have earned the right to be cynical. Two years ago, six state tribes landed at the doorstep of federal recognition, only to have the mat snatched from underfoot. The bill stalled in the Senate after the conclusion of the feel-good Jamestown 2007 commemorative. Once the threat of Indian protest of the events passed, it seemed as if the politicians lost interest.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:01:07 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Stay off Belle Isle, even after bridge repairs</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE10_20090309-220628/227325/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Aaron Fox had cranked his bicycle up the Buttermilk Trail along the south bank of the James River, crossed the Boulevard Bridge and pedaled down the North Trail. But at the footbridge to Belle Isle, he had to detour. A Department of Public Works employee shooed Fox and others away from the pedestrian bridge, where workers are installing a canopy.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:01:32 EDT</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Next case: Judging Chief Justice Hassell</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF08_20090307-215835/224468/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Crowded into a windowless conference room at the John Marshall Courts Building, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Leroy Hassell and the eight judges of the Richmond Circuit Court quarreled over a proposal to scrap a Holy City tradition: separate civil and criminal judgeships. Hassell, intent on leveling the workload of the busy court, wanted the practice dropped immediately. Most of the judges favored a phase-in.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:01:54 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Richmonder accepts consequences of School of the Americas protest</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE07_20090306-222824/224005/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Al Simmons walked through the gate of Fort Benning, Ga., with five other peace activists. Within seconds, 18 military police surrounded them. &#8220;They cuffed us so fast they forgot to search us,&#8220; Simmons, 64, recalled Thursday in his Byrd Park-area home. Simmons and the other activ ists were calling for the closure of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, better known by its former name, the School of the Americas.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:01:27 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Mike&#8217;s Take &#45; March 6</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/mikes_take_-_march_6/223639/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
After spending much of his life teaching 5-year-olds how to move toward nonviolent problem solving, Al Simmons is going to federal prison for an act of conscience. Mike says, we should remember the lessons we teach our children.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:36:05 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Fulton&#8217;s modest request to preserve a piece of the past</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE05_20090304-221819/222065/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The oldest house in Fulton, once described as the birthplace of Richmond, was built in 1965. The brick rancher belongs to Earl Robinson, whose father built it a few years before Fulton was demolished with a breathtaking lack of discrimination, leaving scant clues of what had previously existed. The valley between Rockett&#8217;s Landing and Fulton Hill became a community without a discernable past.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Old Dominion Barn Dance broadcast wedding in 1949</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/CAPS04_20090303-212011/220924/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Old Dominion Barn Dance broadcast wedding in 1949 In 1952, country music legend Hank Williams married Billie Jones on the stage of the Louisiana Hayride show. Three years before that, Richmond had its own country-style stage wedding. On Saturday, March 19, 1949, musician Ruey &#8220;Curley&#8221; Collins married 18-year-old Chesterfield County resident Kathleen &#8220;Kaki&#8221; Williams onstage at the Mosque, now Richmond&#8217;s Landmark Theater, during a live broadcast of the Old Dominion Barn Dance.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:01:02 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Slow down or stay home when snow blows through</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE03_20090302-210528/219997/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Aformer colleague from up North once wrote about one difference between our state and Wisconsin. In Virginia, he said, &#8220;when it snows, people just get surly and run into one another with their cars.&#8220; I don&#8217;t know how surly folks were Sunday evening and yesterday morning. But there was a whole lot of running into one another with cars during the biggest snowstorm in these parts in seven years.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:01:33 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Quirky tidbits at Virginia&#8217;s Capitol</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF01_20090228-221719/218659/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Fillets in one barrel, fish heads in another: Un-Christian soldier: An unidentified caller to Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw&#8217;s office warned that he will be punished at the polls&#8212;and in purgatory&#8212;for opposing a Republican proposal allowing state police chaplains to invoke Jesus Christ and offer secular prayers at public events.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:01:51 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: No baseball stadium near Shockoe slave jail</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE28_20090227-223126/218089/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Now that we&#8217;re shoveling dirt over the slavery museum in Fredericksburg, let&#8217;s bury the notion of a baseball stadium near the Richmond site of a slave jail known as The Devil&#8217;s Half-Acre. The apparent demise of the U.S. Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg&#8212;which is more than $24,000 in ar rears in real estate taxes and whose founder and chairman, L. Douglas Wilder, has gone incommunicado&#8212;offers an opportunity to make things right.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:01:00 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>New Urbanism proposal in Hanover raises old issues</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE26_20090225-222102/216104/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
One of the defining principles of new urbanism is that its design should celebrate local history. Providence Creek, a proposed 64-acre development off state Route 54 just east of Interstate 95, would cut off access to a historic Hanover County community. The development would result in the closing of nearby Providence Church Road at state Route 54&#8212;a move that would seal off direct access to Providence Baptist Church.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:01:33 EDT</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Advice for the new VCU president</title>
          <link>http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE24_20090223-222412/213946/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Dear Michael Rao: Congratulations on your new job as president of Virginia Commonwealth University. You&#8217;re coming from Central Michigan University, whose 28,000 students outnumber the population of its hometown, Mount Pleasant, Mich. CMU&#8217;s campus, described as &#8220;parklike,&#8220; sounds like the leafy antithesis of concrete-and-brick VCU.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:01:07 EDT</pubDate>
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