November 27, 2021 - The Virginia Star

Virginia Department of Corrections Vacancy Rate Has Grown to 27.4 Percent Since Start of Pandemic

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Eric Burk

The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) had a vacancy rate of 27.4 percent, or 1,680 correctional officer vacancies by September 30, 2021, according to a November 15 report from the Public Safety Compensation Work Group. That’s an increase from the average number of vacancies between fiscal years 2018 and 2020, which ranged between 650 and 682 each year.

“There was a dramatic increase since the beginning of the pandemic,” House Appropriations Committee Analyst Michael Jay told the Joint Committee of the House Health, Welfare and Institutions and Public Safety and Senate Judiciary on Tuesday.

“Since then it has gone up about 60 each month and it is now at almost 1,700 vacancies. Some individual facilities have seen higher vacancies, with one correctional facility having turnover of 54 percent in the last calendar year,” Jay said.

Commentary: Losing Confidence in the Pillars of Our Civilization

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Millions of citizens long ago concluded that professional sports, academia, and entertainment were no longer disinterested institutions, but far Left and deliberately hostile to Middle America.

Yet American conservatives still adamantly supported the nation’s traditional investigatory, intelligence, and military agencies—especially when they came under budgetary or cultural attacks.

U.S. Home Sales Continued to Grow in October as Housing Market Remains Hot

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A beige house in a suburban community during the day

Home sales in the U.S. grew in October as buyers continue to enter a hot market, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Existing home sales increased at the fastest pace since January, growing 0.8% in October from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.34 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Monday. October home sales declined 5.8% compared to the figure in October 2020, with the inventory of unsold homes decreasing 12% to 1.25 million on a year-over-year basis.

“Home sales remain resilient, despite low inventory and increasing affordability challenges,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in the report. “Inflationary pressures, such as fast-rising rents and increasing consumer prices, may have some prospective buyers seeking the protection of a fixed, consistent mortgage payment.”

Biden Will Run for Reelection, Critics Point to Economic Concerns

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 The Center Square

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that President Joe Biden will run for reelection in 2024, but critics have been quick to point out economic difficulties during his presidency.

Psaki addressed reporters’ questions about previous reporting that Biden would run for the White House again in 2024, saying, “That’s his intention.” Biden would be 82 years old at the start of his second term.

Anti-Fossil Fuel Activists Support Biden’s Move to Release Oil from Reserves

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Environmentalists voiced support for President Joe Biden’s decision to tap into the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) despite their firm opposition to fossil fuels.

“The Biden admin is taking effective action to protect Americans from oil price gouging. This is what reserves are for — defending our economy against disruption,” Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, a climate hawk and Green New Deal proponent, tweeted Tuesday. “Profiteering can’t go unanswered, especially as Big Oil makes billions and fuels the climate crisis through exports.”

New Records Cast Doubt on Hunter Biden’s Claim He Finally Divested from Chinese Private Equity Firm

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Hunter Biden no longer holds any interest in his personal LLC or the Chinese private equity firm BHR Partners, his attorney told The New York Times on Saturday, but new records obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation cast doubt on the claim.

Hunter Biden, through his company, Skaneateles LLC, obtained a 10% stake in BHR with a $420,000 investment in October 2017. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said as early as February that Hunter Biden was in the process of divesting his ownership stake in the firm, but Chinese business records continue to state as of Wednesday afternoon that Skaneateles remains a 10% owner of BHR.

Rep. Boebert Introduces Legislation to Ban Federal Settlement Payments to Illegal Migrants

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Rep. Lauren Boebert, the fiery House GOP freshman from Colorado, is introducing legislation to prohibit the federal government from making settlement payments to illegal immigrants who have sued because their families were separated at the border.

“In Biden’s America, it is better to be a criminal than a law enforcement officer,” Boebert said this week when she rolled out her new bill. “Over half of Border Patrol agents may be fired because of Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal employees, but illegal aliens get a free pass into our country and could receive a $450,000 check. For contrast, the highest-paid Border Patrol agents make less than half that in yearly salary after 20 years of service.”

Commentary: The Countries with the Cleanest Environments in the World Are Also the Most Economically Free, Research Shows

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

One of the most frequently raised arguments against capitalism is that it is the primary driver of environmental pollution and climate change. But if we compare Yale University’s ranking of countries with the highest environmental performance with the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, a very different correlation emerges.

For more than 20 years, Yale University has been publishing the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and ranking countries according to their environmental health and ecosystem vitality. The EPI uses 32 performance indicators across eleven issue categories:

Biden Administration Reportedly Plans to Restart Trump-Era ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration is set to restart the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy following a court order, according to a Biden administration official.

The policy, which is also known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), started in Dec. 2018 to keep asylum seekers in Mexico while they awaited immigration court proceedings. President Joe Biden revoked the policy soon after taking office.

Catholic University Responds to Claims of ‘Blasphemous’ George Floyd Painting

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C., has responded to several reports of a painting of George Floyd depicted as Jesus that hangs in its law school.

“The painting was put in place last February in a ceremony outside the law school’s Mary Mirror of Justice chapel. The press began covering it this week, leading to criticism on social media and a substantial number of emails and phone calls,” President John Garvey said in an open letter. “Some critics called the image blasphemous because they saw it as deifying or canonizing George Floyd. Some comments that we received were thoughtful and reasonable. Some were offensive and racist. Much of the criticism came from people unconnected to the University.”