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    <title>News &gt; Columnists for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
    <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/</link>
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        <title>News &gt; Columnists for Richmond Times-Dispatch</title>
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    <description></description>
    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:creator>Richmond Times-Dispatch</dc:creator>
    <dc:rights>Copyright 2009</dc:rights>
    <dc:date>2009-11-20T16:40:17-05:00</dc:date>

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          <title>Lohmann: Va. Tech to honor runner who died too soon</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL20_20091119-222813/306896/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As a runner, Gene Crane was all arms, legs and heart. Tall and lanky, he ran with an ungainly grace, his limbs pumping at all angles. But, man, could he run. I know this because I chased him through woods, across fields and around a track BILL LOHMANN for an entire school year and never caught him. I ran with Gene&#8212;or more, accurately, behind him&#8212;on the cross country and track teams at Hermitage High School in 1973 and 1974. Gene went on to great things at Virginia Tech, setting a record in the steeplechase that, remarkably, stands to this day.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:53 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: Son sees father&#8217;s music come alive again</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL18_20091117-222005/306371/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Charlie Bryan was 8 when he watched his father die. This weekend, his dad&#8217;s music will come alive again. &#8220;It&#8217;s very exciting for all of us in the Bryan family,&#8220; said Bryan, president emeritus of the Virginia HisBILL LOHMANN torical Society. &#8220;He was a brilliant musician. I can&#8217;t help but think of all he would have done and contributed . . . had he lived.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:01:53 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Performance Saturday</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL18G1_20091117-221804/306368/</link>
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          <pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>No column from Williams</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE17_20091116-222006/306154/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Michael Paul Williams is on assignment. His column will resume when he returns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:01:09 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Society must band together to help children achieve</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL16_20091115-221607/305944/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s hardly a revelation that positive role models and mentors are among the most important cogs in the wheel of early-childhood education. Educator Lydia Sigourney summarized the struggle in the 1800s. &#8220;In early childhood you may lay the foundation of poverty or riches, industry or idleness, good or evil, by the habits to which you train your children,&#8220; she wrote. &#8220;Teach them right habits then, and their future life is safe.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:01:12 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Budget boss a top concern</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF15_20091114-210805/305737/</link>
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In late summer, with polls pointing to victory, Bob McDonnell may have realized his No. 2 in the attorney general&#8217;s office, Bill Mims, was out of the running for gubernatorial chief of staff. At the time, Mims, a former legislator who was completing McDonnell&#8217;s term as AG, was being romanced by Hunton and Williams, the white-shoe law firm with which he signed last week as a lobbyist.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:01:32 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Michael Paul Williams: Safety weighed after shooting near Chimborazo center</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE14_20091113-223010/305664/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Are children in the Chimborazo neighborhood more at risk with or without their community center? That&#8217;s a source of debate since the evening of May 13, when 20-year-old Thomas H. Scott Jr. was shot four times in the back and killed on a playground just outside Chimborazo Elementary School. The school at North 31st and East Marshall streets was functioning at the time as a community center run by the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. The center closed after the shooting and has not reopened.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: USS New York&#8217;s commissioning a thrill for vet, 92</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL13_20091112-221805/305428/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As he approached the massive ship with the familiar name, Franklin V. Pond picked up his pace. &#8220;This man was so excited coming onto that pier and going up the ramp, he had my hand in a death grip, and he was pulling me,&#8220; Pond&#8217;s wife, Jean, said with BILL LOHMANN a laugh. Racing up a ramp&#8212;not bad for a man of 92. Pond traveled to New York last weekend for the commissioning of the USS New York, the $1 billion amphibious transport dock ship, a vessel that has drawn considerable attention because its bow was constructed with more than 7 tons of steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Michael Paul Williams: Discussion of Richmond&#8217;s history ironically cut off</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE12_20091111-213203/305147/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The world&#8217;s eyes are going to be turned to Richmond,&#8220; said S. Waite Rawls III. Rawls, president and CEO of the Museum of the Confederacy, made that declaration Tuesday night at The Future of Richmond&#8217;s Past, a community conversation leading up to the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States, which we will commemorate from 2011 to 2015.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Jeff&#8217;s Notes &#45; Nov. 12</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/jeffs_notes_nov_12/305234/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Political columnist Jeff Schapiro says that with a fortified majority in the House of Delegates, Republicans can turn redistricting into a turkey shoot           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:22:27 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: Military moms cook up comfort with sweet treats</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL11_20091110-220405/304908/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Open the door to Fisher House on any Wednesday morning and prepare to have your willpower brought to its knees. The sweet aromas of chocolate, cinnamon and who-knows-what-else grab your senses.
           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:01:53 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Find out more and lend a hand</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL11G1_20091110-220405/304909/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
BlueStarRichmond.org. &nbsp; Fisher House: To see a wish list for the house, visit RichmondFisherHouse.org or call (804) 675-6601.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>No Michael Paul Williams column</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE10_20091109-213405/304697/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Michael Paul Williams is out of the office. His column will resume when he returns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>As newspapers struggle, can good reporting find a place on Internet?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL09_20091108-214607/304525/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In the face of online competition and economic instability, newspapers&#8212;including this one&#8212;are hemorrhaging reporters. As we migrate to a plethora of Web portals designed to enable faster and more responsive communication, it&#8217;s easy to forget how much could be lost. In fact, we may lose an essential component of our democracy: public accountability. Without the social transcript provided by investigative reporting in particular, it will be much easier for us to be duped and exploited.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:01:31 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Governing with 2013 in mind</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF08_20091107-221407/304389/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
For a guy who has many reasons to smile&#8212;the presidency of utility giant Dominion, a fat paycheck, such plush perquisites as the rectorship of U.Va., his alma mater&#8212;Tom Farrell often wears a pained expression. But he managed to beam this past Thursday as high-school buddy Bob McDonnell announced that Farrell would help lead the Republican&#8217;s gubernatorial transition.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:01:45 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Hermitage High&#8217;s booster club gets $2,040</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT08_20091107-185604/304318/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Hermitage High School&#8217;s athletic booster club has received $2,040 from Richmond Ford and Ford Motor Co. from a recent Drive One 4 UR School event. By test-driving a car, 102 people raised $20 apiece for the school. During the past two years, Ford has provided more than $1.3 million to high schools that have participated in the program.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:01:26 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Olympian teaches students value of hard work</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE07_20091106-221003/304185/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt of Portsmouth may earn enough gold medals to fill Fort Knox. Those medals won&#8217;t carry more value than the message he imparted to Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary School students about the value of hard work. Despite how we like to think of ourselves, the U.S. work ethic is endangered. Economic insecurity and lingering job losses have delivered a body blow that undermines the American dream. Criminals&#8212;from dope slingers to white-collar schemers&#8212;have further undermined that dream by taking financial shortcuts at other folks&#8217; expense.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:14 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: Richmond Public Library sale draws diehard book people</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL06_20091105-221607/303989/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The scene at the main branch of the Richmond Public Library&#8212;or any library, for that matter&#8212;doesn&#8217;t usually inspire a comparison to the running of the bulls. But the frenzy surrounding the Friends of the Richmond Public Library Book Sale, where more than 30,000 used and donated books go on sale today for as little as 50 cents apiece, apparently motivates some people&#8212;if ever so briefly&#8212;to take leave of their senses.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:12 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Richmond Public Library book sale</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL06G1_20091105-221406/303983/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Friends of the Richmond Public Library Book Sale &nbsp; Where: Main library, 101 E. Franklin St. &nbsp; When: Today, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (members of Friends only; memberships available for $15); public sale, 1-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.; tomorrow, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Monday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. &nbsp; What: Hardbacks $1 and $2, paperbacks 75 cents and less, children&#8217;s books 50 cents, CDs $1, LP records 25 cents, sheet music 25 cents a sheet. Prices not negotiable.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: View of James should be preserved</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE05_20091104-222413/303800/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
From the rear of her Libby Terrace home, Cathy Hayden can see the James River view that named our city, the dock where slaves disembarked and the landing where President Abraham Lincoln came ashore days after Richmond fell to Union forces. &#8220;The people who live here feel like they are guardians of MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS this view,&#8220; Hayden said. To drive that point home, they invited Cynthia I. Newbille to drink in the setting during her campaign for the 7th District seat on the Richmond City Council.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:01:20 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Book captures couple&#8217;s life with Alzheimer&#8217;s</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL04_20091103-221004/303499/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Last time I saw Ed Ackell, we were talking over beers after a round of golf as he prepared to ride off into retirement after a dozen years as presi dent of Virginia Commonwealth University. It was a most pleasant day&#8212;even though I&#8217;m a lousy golfer&#8212;because Ackell had been a tough guy to get to know on the education beat, and spending a few hours with him at his favorite hobby had been an enjoyable revelation.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Who is in charge of Richmond&#8217;s schools?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE03_20091102-211003/303236/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
No one anticipates a fleet of moving vans rolling up again on City Hall at nightfall. Still, the relationship between Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the Richmond School Board has taken a turn for the Wilder. Jones recently unveiled an aggressive school-construc tion plan that calls for an $81 million replacement for Huguenot High School, as well as money for two elementary schools and a middle school.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Health&#45;care reform a painful, necessary step</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL02_20091101-214003/303044/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s no surprise to anyone who has tried to get medical insurance that the costs are just shocking. And for those of us who have insurance, I&#8217;m sure that you have noticed that our premiums have started to become an uncomfortably large part of our budgets. But we&#8217;re lucky&#8212;we have insurance. There are plenty of people out there who have no medical coverage and have lost everything because of medical bills.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:01:16 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Schapiro: Spoils limited for victor in Virginia governor&#8217;s race</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF01_20091031-222407/302935/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday&#8217;s gubernatorial election&#8212;OK, so a lot of people have a pretty good idea who&#8217;s going to win&#8212;one thing is certain: The victor won&#8217;t have squat to spend. Tight money, perhaps the tightest since the Great Depression, combined with a divided JEFF E. SCHAPIRO statehouse could guarantee impasse, at a minimum, on the new governor&#8217;s initiatives.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:01:17 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Michael Paul Williams: No Column</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE31_20091030-222807/302776/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Michael Paul Williams&#8217; column will resume Tuesday.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Kaine family allows for a visitor at the mansion</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL30_20091029-223203/302539/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
She can&#8217;t explain the light that burned brightly without electricity or the overturned salt dishes on the dining room table, so Anne Holton puts it this way: &#8220;I think, well, it&#8217;s an old house,&#8220; Holton said in an interview yesterday. &#8220;There&#8217;s room for her and us.&#8220; &#8220;Us&#8221; would be Holton, husband, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and their children. &#8220;Her&#8221; would be the ghost of the Executive Mansion in Richmond.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:46 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Transgender homecoming queen embraced at W&amp;M</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE291_20091028-235409/302314/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
&#8220;A friend asked to nominate me and we really just wanted to see if I&#8217;d be put on the ballot or not,&#8220; Vasold recalled. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t hear anything about the nomination,&#8220; said the third-year student, who is homecoming queen for the Class of 2011. &#8220;And when the link went out for us to vote, I clicked on it and there my name was. It was no issue as far as I know.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>At W&amp;M, transgender homecoming queen is &#8216;no issue&#8217;</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE29_20091028-221803/302244/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
&#8220;A friend asked to nominate me and we really just wanted to see if I&#8217;d be put on the ballot or not,&#8220; Vasold recalled. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t hear anything about the nomination,&#8220; said the third-year student, who is homecoming queen for the Class of 2011. &#8220;And when the link went out for us to vote, I clicked on it and there my name was. It was no issue as far as I know.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: Boydton&#8217;s bouncing back</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL28_20091027-215604/301971/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
BOYDTON In 1977, U.S. News &amp; World Report declared Boydton &#8220;a small town that refuses to die.&#8220; Despite some tough times in the ensuing years, Boydton is still not dead, although it is kind of quiet. If you stop and listen, however, you can hear the town&#8217;s heartbeat&#8212;the rhythmic hammering coming from the historic courthouse.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:20 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL28_20091027-215604/301971/#When:05:01:20Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: Malls&#8217; remnants hold lessons on growth</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE27_20091026-222404/301813/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Few sights are sadder, or less attractive, than the decaying remains of a dead shopping center. Malls don&#8217;t leave a good-looking corpse. While handsome architecture, prime location or nostalgia helped facilitate the rebirth and reuse of the former Thalhimers, Miller &amp; Rhoads and Berry-Burk department stores, the sites of two former shopping malls at Richmond gateways languish.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:01:24 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE27_20091026-222404/301813/#When:05:01:24Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>When you disagree, try silence for civility&#8217;s sake</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL26_20091025-214204/301574/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
My mother had a saying, common to her generation, that she taught me: &#8220;If you can&#8217;t think of anything nice to say, then don&#8217;t say anything at all.&#8220; She pulled me up short more than once, leaning near to whisper this in my ear. It can be great fun, can&#8217;t it, being snide, sarcastic and negative? But such behavior creates unnecessary conflict and doesn&#8217;t contribute to civility in general.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:01:53 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL26_20091025-214204/301574/#When:05:01:53Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Lobbying, elections a potent mix</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF25_20091024-221406/301492/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Chris Jankowski has a hobby that helps his day job. The long-limbed, bespectacled lobbyist, in effect, runs campaigns for Republicans, supplying them with money and polling, advertising and mail consultants. Jankowski&#8217;s role: informal, but fully engaged. Republicans win targeted elections in the fall. Jankowski wins targeted legislation in the winter. So he hopes.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:01:48 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF25_20091024-221406/301492/#When:05:01:48Z</guid>
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          <title>Williams: Obama could help Va. tribes seeking U.S. recognition</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE24_20091023-223008/301338/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Federal recognition for six Virginia Indian tribes is tantalizingly closer to reality than ever. Two bills that have passed the House were approved Thursday by the U.S. Senate&#8217;s Indian Affairs Committee and sent to the full Senate, where Virginians Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner support them. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine also backs the effort and enjoys a close relationship with President Barack Obama.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:01:09 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE24_20091023-223008/301338/#When:05:01:09Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>No Lohmann column</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL23_20091022-223007/301142/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Bill Lohmann is out of the office. His column will resume when he returns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL23_20091022-223007/301142/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: Richmond is appropriate place for slavery museum</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE22_20091021-222007/300878/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Richmond, which has stopped running and hiding from a fundamental facet of its history, is poised to give birth to a slavery museum that never should have been shopped elsewhere. The Richmond Slave Trail Commission unveiled plans Monday for a slave heritage site in Shockoe Bottom that would include a slavery museum. It&#8217;s hard not to examine what has been proposed by the commission, led by Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond, and not sense that we&#8217;re at the portal of something transformative.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE22_20091021-222007/300878/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Lohmann: Marines provide flags to Virginia War Memorial</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL21_20091020-222205/300606/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When you visit the Virginia War Memorial, you can count on being moved by the thousands of names etched on the glass and marble walls. You also can count on seeing flags representing the various branches of the military flying conspicuously&#8212;24 hours a day, seven days a week&#8212;outside the memorial on Belvidere Street just before the Lee Bridge.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:01:04 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL21_20091020-222205/300606/#When:05:01:04Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Have we entered a period of passive resegregation?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL19_20091018-221207/300163/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Is the American educational system becoming increasingly segregated by passive social forces? A recent conference in Richmond about Massive Resistance brought this question to mind as it explored a time in Virginia history when many public schools were closed in reaction to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that ended legal segregation.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL19_20091018-221207/300163/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Election&#8217;s big story: the Senate?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF18_20091017-220406/300038/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Forget about the governor&#8217;s election and down-ticket races. The battle for the House? Practically a nonevent. The real action may be in the Virginia Senate, even though it&#8217;s not up until 2011. Should Republicans sweep statewide, Ken Cuccinelli, as the next attorney general, would have to quit his Senate seat in heavily Democratic Fairfax. That should be a pickup for the D&#8217;s, expanding their caucus to 22 of 40 seats and giving Majority Leader Dick Saslaw some breathing room. Or would it?           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:01:55 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF18_20091017-220406/300038/#When:05:01:55Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>No Lohmann column</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL16_20091015-222406/299647/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Bill Lohmann is out of the office. His column will resume when he returns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL16_20091015-222406/299647/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Out of the office</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE15_20091014-220806/299417/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Michael Paul Williams is out of the office. His column will resume when he returns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE15_20091014-220806/299417/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Lohmann: Uganda native collects shoes for homeland</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL14_20091013-213806/299185/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Juma Semakula mows lawns for a living, but he cuts no corners when it comes to dreaming big. How big? He&#8217;s attempting to collect thousands of pairs of used shoes, enough to fill a cargo container that he can ship to his native country, Uganda, where in rural areas shoes are an unfamiliar luxury. You know how many shoes you can fit into a container that&#8217;s 40 feet long and 8 feet tall? Semakula has done the math: about 30,000 pairs.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:01:27 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL14_20091013-213806/299185/#When:05:01:27Z</guid>
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          <title>Williams: For baseball team&#8217;s mascot, look to the river</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE13_20091012-221405/299007/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Now that we&#8217;re naming names, which of the six options should be chosen as the moniker for our new baseball team? First, let&#8217;s silence talk about the Richmond Hush Puppies. What would the mascot be? A fried cornmeal ball? A suede shoe? Hush Puppies&#8217; trade mark basset hound? I like the new owners&#8217; desire to follow the minor league trend toward quirky names. But that name should connect with our hometown.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:05:13 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE13_20091012-221405/299007/#When:05:05:13Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Packing up and cleaning out provides life lessons</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL12_20091011-215403/298813/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Building a house is a humbling task. Our dream started two years ago. Two meetings with the Board of Zoning Appeals, five architect design sessions, 12 hours picking out paint at the Mechanicsville Lowe&#8217;s, countless unnamed duties and hours of lost sleep have come down to just a few items left on the checklist. We are almost there.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL12_20091011-215403/298813/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Schapiro: Tax bill creeps up on IT firm</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF11_20091010-202202/298682/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As if the state&#8217;s snakebit computer contractor, Northrop Grumman, hasn&#8217;t enough to answer for. Add to complaints about rotten service, rising costs and delays in refitting IT systems, this headache: unpaid local taxes, perhaps $15 million. But before you pop Northrop Grumman for another mess, know that the company and tax collectors apparently are working harmoniously to settle this matter, trying to determine what&#8217;s been paid, what hasn&#8217;t, what&#8217;s subject to interest and penalties.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:01:08 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF11_20091010-202202/298682/#When:05:01:08Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Reusable shopping bags net $40,000 for food banks</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT11_20091010-172604/298658/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
A nickel at a time adds up to real money if enough people get involved&#8212;more than $40,000 for local food banks from Ukrop&#8217;s customers and Supervalu. By using 400,571 of their own bags at Ukrop&#8217;s stores during the summer months and donating their nickel discount to food banks, customers created a total bag credit donation of $20,028. Supervalu matched the first $20,000 in donations.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:01:04 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT11_20091010-172604/298658/#When:05:01:04Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: Vandals don&#8217;t speak for us all</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE101_20091009-232601/298615/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Not all the vestiges of hate had been scrubbed away in Forest Hill Park. Uphill from where workers removed silt from the park&#8217;s lake, a crude swastika had been drawn in the center of a pathway. Nearby, a message that mixed anti-black and anti Arab racism was scribbled on a boulder. Last Saturday night, the vandals sprayed their messages&#8212;some vile, at least one incomprehensible&#8212;on backhoes and other construction equipment. One message still visible earlier this week had something to do with soap. I guess you have to speak the demented language of these folks to get the meaning.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:01:38 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE101_20091009-232601/298615/#When:05:01:38Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Lohmann: Volunteers crucial to Folk Festival</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL09_20091008-220809/298312/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When I tracked down Bill Rice yesterday, he was grabbing a roll of duct tape from a van and hustling into William Fox Elementary School. &#8220;Grunt work!&#8220; he said with a smile. Rice, taking a day of vacation from his real job, was hauling audio speakers, connecting microphone wires and doing pretty much whatever needed doing to help a group of Russian throat-singers here for the Richmond Folk Festival. The band got its weekend started early by performing at a couple of elementary schools.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:01:21 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL09_20091008-220809/298312/#When:05:01:21Z</guid>
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          <title>Williams: Did broken law lead to fatal GRTC accident?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE08_20091007-223006/298129/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Even if everyone had done the right thing, Loucendia Reed Lambert still might have been hit and killed by a GRTC bus. But people failed to act properly in several instances, which makes Lambert&#8217;s death all the more painful. Bus driver Teresa L. Jones did not follow GRTC policy by reporting to her employer that she had been charged with reckless driving and a seat-belt violation while driving in a private car in May.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:01:50 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE08_20091007-223006/298129/#When:05:01:50Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Bill Lohmann: Special Olympics fundraisers to rappel down Richmond building</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL07_20091006-221206/297863/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
I am standing on the roof of SunTrust Center, about 15 feet from the edge and 25 stories above the very hard pavement below, when I suddenly remember something: I&#8217;m afraid of heights. Bad timing. I&#8217;m interviewing Rick Jeffrey, president of Special Olympics Virginia, the organization sponsoring River City Rappel, a fundraiser during which participants can rappel down the side of SunTrust Center this Saturday if they raise at least $1,500 for the group. Jeffrey will be one of them.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:01:28 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL07_20091006-221206/297863/#When:05:01:28Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Details on River City Rappel</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL07G1_20091006-221206/297864/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
When: Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., SunTrust Center, 10th and East Main streets. Participants will be going down the Cary Street side of the building. The best vantage point will be James City Plaza. &nbsp; Details: To see who else is going over the edge and make a donation, or just find out more, visit  http://www.overtheedgeva.com.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL07G1_20091006-221206/297864/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Ex&#45;offenders need help in making transition back into society</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL05_20091004-220606/297449/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Life affords many opportunities for multiple choices. Unfortunately, living life is an arduous task if the choices that you make lead to a life of incarceration. What comes next? The majority of offenders experience difficulty in terms of transitioning back into society. I recently attended a ceremony where an organization that&#8217;s focused on offender re-entry received a monetary award.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:01:44 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL05_20091004-220606/297449/#When:05:01:44Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Schapiro: Business gives Virginia the business</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF04_20091003-223408/297393/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
In the 1970s, a common sight across the state was a bumper sticker that read, &#8220;Welcome to Virginia: Owned and Operated by Vepco.&#8220; Thirty years later, Vepco&#8212;the Virginia Electric and Power Company&#8212;has a new name: Dominion Virginia Power. One JEFF E. SCHAPIRO thing hasn&#8217;t changed: The utility, along with other big businesses, uses fat contributions and aggressive schmoozing to manipulate state government as if it were a corporate subsidiary.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:01:07 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF04_20091003-223408/297393/#When:05:01:07Z</guid>
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          <title>Williams: Virginia must find its heart in health&#45;care debate</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE03_20091002-222407/297107/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The candidates in Virginia&#8217;s gubernatorial race keep talking about investing in education and transportation. How about investing in the health and well-being of the state&#8217;s most vulnerable residents? Virginia ranks 48th nationally in per-capita Medicaid expenditures. Our eligibility standards are among the most stringent in the nation, providing coverage to parents whose incomes after deductions are at 30 percent or lower of the federal poverty standard&#8212;less than $6,000 per year for a family of three. The national Medicaid eligibility limit is 65 percent of the poverty level.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE03_20091002-222407/297107/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Va. Rehabilitative Services honorees</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL02G1_20091001-215602/296879/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services, at its annual Disability Employment Champions Award today, is honoring seven employers for outstanding practices in hiring, accommodating and supporting workers with disabilities. Two DRS clients are being honored for their achievements.  The luncheon kicks off a series of statewide events that are part of October Disability Employment Awareness Month.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:01:42 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL02G1_20091001-215602/296879/#When:05:01:42Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>After car crash, paraplegic woman &#8216;kept doing things&#8217;</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL02_20091001-221409/296915/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Considering Kelly Narowski&#8217;s experience in the restaurant business, balancing a tray of wine glasses without spilling a drop shouldn&#8217;t be a big deal&#8212;except that she has to balance the tray on her lap as she propels her wheelchair across the restaurant to a table of customers she&#8217;s serving. Narowski is paralyzed from the chest down.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:01:30 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL02_20091001-221409/296915/#When:05:01:30Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: Obama protest banner is a bad joke</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE01_20090930-222009/296641/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Jokers don&#8217;t get any wilder than the one draped on the wall of a Shockoe Bottom strip club. A banner of President Barack Obama as The Joker hangs across Main Street from the Slave Trade Reconciliation Triangle, where human figures lock in a melting embrace. Reconciliation is not what MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS comes to mind when you see Obama&#8217;s powder-white face grotesquely smeared with lipstick.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE01_20090930-222009/296641/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Bill Lohmann column</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL30_20090929-220808/296360/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Bill Lohmann is out of the office. His column will resume Friday.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL30_20090929-220808/296360/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Michael Paul Williams&#8217; column will resume Thursday</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE2999_20090928-215603/296111/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Michael Paul Williams&#8217; column will resume Thursday.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE2999_20090928-215603/296111/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Guest columnist Tyler Millner: a checklist for statesmanship</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL28_20090927-221207/295915/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Acommunity provides a range of opportunities&#8212;a place to live, marry and raise a family, to have fun, to be creative and to make life more meaningful for others. Despite the challenges, tensions and seemingly unbridgeable divide among political camps, community is desirable. These opportunities for community connections are often challenging in our technology-driven society. Also, it is a fact: Communities are more diverse in terms of race, economics, politics and faith.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:01:26 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL28_20090927-221207/295915/#When:05:01:26Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Jeff Schapiro:</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF27_20090926-210604/295754/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Jeff E. Schapiro is out of the office. His column will resume next weekend.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF27_20090926-210604/295754/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Williams: Deeds dropped ball with Wilder</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE26_20090925-221609/295580/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
For R. Creigh Deeds, the latest setback in his campaign for governor wasn&#8217;t so much a plot twist as a rerun. Four years ago in his bid for attorney general, Deeds failed to receive an endorsement from fellow Democrat L. Douglas Wilder. He eventually lost to Republican Bob McDonnell by a mere 360 votes. Now comes Act II of Deeds-McDonnell, and you&#8217;d think Deeds would have spent the past four years rehabbing his relationship with Wilder. But Thursday, Wilder again declined to back him.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE26_20090925-221609/295580/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Where is the bailout for people who need housing?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE24_20090923-213609/295078/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The public housing resident received a letter in May saying she&#8217;d been picked to receive a rent-subsidy voucher. She&#8217;d been on the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority&#8217;s voucher waiting list since at least 2000 and was living with her mom. &#8220;I was glad to receive it so I could have my own place, finally,&#8220; said the woman, who did not want her name published for fear of retaliation.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>BILL LOHMANN&#8217;S COLUMN: Listen up: Harvey Hudson honored</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL23_20090922-214605/294802/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Appropriately, I heard radio legend Harvey Hudson before I saw him. He was whistling, cheerfully, as I walked into the lobby of the building where he lives. Then came the voice. Even if you didn&#8217;t know Hudson, as soon as he opened his mouth you&#8217;d know he was a radio guy (and TV, too). Hudson turned 88 on Monday. He doesn&#8217;t see so well anymore, but he looks good&#8212;dapper as always in a dark suit, striped shirt and bright orange necktie with matching pocket square. And he sounds great.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:01:40 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Rethinking online relationships after Farmville deaths</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE22_20090921-221606/294572/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
&#8220;I&#8217;m thinking this guy could be a big creep,&#8220; said Pappas, who uses MySpace and Facebook. That didn&#8217;t turn out to be the case, and they dated for a year. But Pappas, like many Longwood students interviewed yesterday, is rethinking her relationship with the Internet in the aftermath of a quadruple slaying in the home of a Longwood professor that has been tied to a MySpace relationship between the suspect and the professor&#8217;s daughter.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:01:27 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Bad behavior in Congress sets poor example for young people</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL21_20090920-222406/294378/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Recently, we have seen several examples of very public and profound negative behavior. Just in the past two weeks, people in the sports, entertainment and political arenas have demonstrated some bad choices in their actions. As a teacher and a parent, I have some concerns about the implications of these behaviors on young people. On the first day in my college classroom, I instructed my students on the importance of avoiding unacceptable behaviors in class&#8212;such as sleeping, eating, using a cell phone or BlackBerry, speaking out of turn and being disruptive. These are fundamental principles of behavior that enable a positive learning environment for all.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:01:44 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Kaine may get 1 more court pick</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF20_20090919-204604/294154/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
With four months left in his term, Gov. Tim Kaine is not quite toast. His legacy will include big bursts of partisanship; bigger holes in the budget. Another tile in the Kaine mosaic: the large number of appointments he&#8217;s made to top courts&#8212;two each to the Virginia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, one to the State Corporation Commission.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:01:52 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: After controversy, Hamilton should resign from legislature</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE19_20090918-221210/293975/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s clear that Del. Phil Hamilton badly wanted a job at Old Dominion University. Less clear is whether he actually performed it. The Newport News Republican sent or replied to 11 e-mails discussing possible employment at the then-proposed Center for Teaching Quality and Educational Leadership. Problem is, Hamilton sent these e-mails before, during and after a 2007 General Assembly session in which he secured $500,000 in startup funding for the center.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>2 boys share unwanted kinship in cancer fight</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL18_20090917-223206/293781/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Carter Colan has a sick child, great health insurance and almost $700,000 in medical bills. Something&#8217;s not quite right with this picture. As her 5-year-old son, Kieran Hathaway, battles a rare form of childhood cancer, they&#8217;ve had to rely, in part, on friends and neighbors who generously hold yard sales and other grass-roots fundraisers. A few dollars here and there are more critical than you might imagine.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:01:07 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Communities must share outrage over robberies</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE17_20090916-222007/293430/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Chinese-food deliveryman zipped out of Oak Hill Plaza on Tuesday night carrying two orders from Hunan Gourmet on Mechanicsville Turnpike. Heading east, his first stop was Bolling Court in eastern Henrico County. He sprinted to the door step of a town house, where he handed the waiting customer chicken wings, shrimp-fried rice, rib tips, french fries and a shrimp egg roll.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: Friendship goes a long way, gets lunch</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL16_20090915-215807/293180/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
TANGIER When members of the Secret Seven go out to lunch, they really go out. Well, not always. But they sure did yesterday. The weekly lunch bunch of old friends and community leaders from around Richmond typically dines at restaurants close to home, but they decided to do something a little out of the ordinary. OK, a lot out of the ordinary.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:01:13 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS COLUMN: Let books for inmates continue</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE15_20090914-220406/292938/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The Quest Institute of Charlottesville has distributed more than a million books to 11,000 inmates during the 20-year history of its Books Behind Bars program. The Virginia Department of Corrections should be giving the nonprofit program&#8217;s founder a medal. Instead, it kicked Kay Allison and her program out of the prison system. &#8220;Quest Bookshop is no longer [an] approved vendor . . . allowed to send books directly to inmates,&#8220; said Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor, adding that the decision was reached after contraband was discovered in some books. The corrections department said it wants people to donate books to prison libraries, but inmates have limited access to those books.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:01:49 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Wasteful independent&#45;city structure doesn&#8217;t serve Va. well</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL14_20090913-215002/292635/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Igrew up in the city and county of Honolulu in Hawaii. We moved there from Chicago in 1954, several years before Hawaii achieved statehood. I was a keiki (little kid) so I certainly wasn&#8217;t thinking about the structure of my local government and how it affected my day-to-day life. After college, I followed a career path that took me to Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Delaware and then on to the great commonwealth of Virginia. Yes, it was my choice. I actually pursued a job here to enable the relocation.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>McDonnell flap affects other races</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF13_20090912-214606/292492/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s popping up in Northern Virginia. In suburban Richmond, too, it&#8217;s become a talking point. Bob McDonnell&#8217;s moldy graduate-school thesis and its less-than-politically correct observations on premarital sex, gays, birth control and working women are seeping into races for the Republican-run House, usually low-turnout, friends-and-neighbors affairs in which party affiliation often means little.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:01:35 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: CenterStage must spark growth to be called success</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE12_20090911-220209/292320/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Hope, once again, abounds on Sixth Street. Richmond CenterStage, whose grand opening is tonight, rises above the ashes of the demolished Sixth Street Marketplace, hailed 24 years ago as downtown&#8217;s savior. &#8220;Today Richmond has the exhilaration of watching a dream turn into a reality,&#8220; then-Richmond Renaissance Chairman T. Justin Moore Jr. said in 1985, before &#8220;Sixth Street&#8221; became a code phrase for coffer-consuming civic projects.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:01:45 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Bill Lohmann column</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL11_20090910-220010/292061/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Bill Lohmann is out of the office. His column will resume when he returns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>The politics of the state budget.</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/jeff_schapiro_says_gov._tim_kaines_plans_for_painful_spending_cuts_will_ech/291798/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Jeff Schapiro says Gov. Tim Kaine&#8217;s plans for painful spending cuts will echo in the campaign to choose his succesor.            ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:01:16 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/jeff_schapiro_says_gov._tim_kaines_plans_for_painful_spending_cuts_will_ech/291798/#When:05:01:16Z</guid>
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          <title>Williams: Brown should be sentenced to appropriate community service</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE10_20090909-215605/291774/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Becky Lee, chief program officer at the YWCA of Richmond, recalled her reaction upon learning that entertainer Chris Brown&#8217;s punishment for assaulting his girlfriend would be removing trash and graffiti in Richmond. &#8220;I was undone,&#8220; she said. &#8220;The truth is, I sort of rolled my eyes. It just was hard to see the relevance. There wasn&#8217;t any.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:01:06 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: &#8216;Normal&#8217; isn&#8217;t boring for VUU freshman</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL09_20090908-215802/291506/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Deandria Spears turns 18 today, and it&#8217;s a happy birthday. She&#8217;s right where she hoped she might be at this age&#8212;starting college, surrounded by friends, looking ahead to a boundless future. Yet there&#8217;s no way she could have envisioned this day a few years ago when she was a 14-year-old runaway, moving from friend&#8217;s home to friend&#8217;s home, never quite knowing what the next day would bring or, sometimes, where her next meal would come from.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Few scars remain from Greekfest unrest</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE08_20090907-215406/291290/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
But on the 20th anniversary of a Labor Day weekend of notorious unrest here in Virginia Beach, the oceanfront of this resort city could hardly have been more placid. Time seems to have salved the wounds of Greekfest, a festive gathering of black sorority and fraternity members that erupted into violence, looting, arrests and damage totaling about $1.4 million in 1989.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:01:37 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Guest columnist: School reunions proved refreshing, enlightening</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL07_20090906-215802/291165/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
The script usually opens with the basics: &#8220;Great to see you! How are you? Where are you? Are you married? Kids? Job?&#8220; The answers, naturally, vary with the respondent. But they are the opening for many a class reunion conversation. This summer was a &#8220;two-fer&#8221; for me on the reunion front. I had my 20th college reunion and my 24th high school reunion. For the latter, my class piggybacked on the 25th reunion of the class before it.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:01:06 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Jeff E. Schapiro column</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF06_20090905-203003/290943/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Though school bells are no longer ringing for Republican Del. Phil Hamilton of Newport News, they are for other legislators who have a big say in spending your money. Tommy Norment, Fred Quayle and William Wampler, all members of Senate Finance Committee, do as Hamilton, vice-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, did, until the discovery of a smoking-gun e-mail: toil in the groves of taxpayer-supported academe.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Boaz &amp; Ruth gets $15,000 grant for safety, development programs</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/GIFT06_20090905-191408/290910/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
It has been a good summer for Boaz &amp; Ruth, sponsor of a number of programs that are rebuilding part of Highland Park while rebuilding the lives of former prisoners. On June 30, founder Martha Rollins was invited to the White House to meet President Barack Obama and talk about her vision of a national service program called Restore Corps.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: Let the children hear Obama</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE05_20090904-215606/290802/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
What? Parents are protesting an American president&#8217;s message that their children study hard and stay in school? Some school systems, cowed by grumbling parents or perhaps politically simpatico, are refusing to broadcast President Barack Obama&#8217;s back-to-school address? A pro-education message by our president is being suppressed by educators. Goals that should be universally embraced are being treated as if they emerged from &#8220;The Manchurian Candidate.&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:01:18 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Lohmann: Godwin janitor called &#8216;best person in the world&#8217;</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL04_20090903-220006/290569/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
On the first day he walked into Henrico County&#8217;s Mills Godwin High School as a ninth-grader, Jordan Kocen met everyone he expected he would and at least one person he didn&#8217;t. &#8220;I see this guy standing in the hall, a janitor, and he asked me for my name,&#8220; recalled Kocen, now a senior, still somewhat surprised by the request. &#8220;Ever since then, whenever I see him&#8212;on the football field, at basketball, at lunch&#8212;he always says, &#8216;What&#8217;s up, Jordan?&#8216;&#8220;           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:01:35 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: McDonnell still hostile to gays</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE03_20090902-220004/290312/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
&#8220;Man&#8217;s basic nature is inclined towards evil, and when the exercise of liberty takes the shape of pornography, drug abuse, or homosexuality, the government must restrain, punish, and deter.&#8220; With that sentence in his 1989 Regent University law school thesis, Bob McDonnell laid bare his distaste for gays and lesbians. Yes, people can change their views over time, as McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor, has argued since his thesis became public in a Washington Post story Sunday. But his record as an elected official does not suggest he has experienced an epiphany regarding his views of gays and lesbians.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Bill Lohmann: Good times on the Appalachian Trail</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL02_20090901-215604/289855/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Ihiked the Appalachian Trail on vacation. Honest. Unlike the unfortunate governor of South Carolina, I have the photos and blisters to prove it. As for the trail itself, we didn&#8217;t exactly hike the whole thing. After all, it runs for more than 2,000 miles, from Maine to Georgia, and we had only a couple of days. However, we did cover almost 20 miles on the AT on two hikes in Grayson County, some of it scrambling over rocks, some of it a pleasant walk in the woods.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:01:28 EST</pubDate>
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         <item>
          <title>Panhandler ban should be rejected</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE01_20090831-220008/289650/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Roadside fruit and vegetable stands stocked with plump, juicy tomatoes? Check. Cornfields, horse farms and rural vistas? Check. Panhandlers standing in medians? Not exactly what comes to mind when you think of Han over County. &#8220;I&#8217;ve lived out here all my life, and I&#8217;ve never seen anything like that,&#8220; said Scott Miller, who operates Computer M.D. with his wife, Becky, near the intersection of Atlee Road and Mechanicsville Turnpike.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:01:55 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE01_20090831-220008/289650/#When:05:01:55Z</guid>
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         <item>
          <title>Find happiness, fulfillment by pursuing your passion</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL31_20090830-215009/289447/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
People are often surprised that I have a passion for cleaning. Long ago, I realized that I loved to clean. Cleaning produced a pristine environment and a tranquil and serene surrounding that created feelings of comfort and reminders of home, no matter the physical location. Developing this love of cleaning and taking pride in executing the tasks birthed a successful and profitable business. It almost seems like it happened with little effort, which is typical when one follows her passion.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:01:58 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>An uneasy wind&#45;down for Kaine</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF30_20090829-215606/289332/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Tim Kaine is losing the mojo he may have never had. His four-year term as governor is winding down. So, too, are the chances of the fellow Democrat who hopes to succeed him&#8212;at least, this is the whispered worry of the rank and file. As Jerry Baliles, Doug Wilder and Jim Gilmore learned in the closing, controversy-marred months of their administrations in 1989, 1993 and 2001, respectively, Kaine is discovering that a soon-to-be-out-work politician is as useful as last year&#8217;s bird&#8217;s nest.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:01:31 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Michael Paul Williams: Sad case of a dog&#8217;s death presented test of leadership</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE29_20090828-220405/289141/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As dog killer Michael Vick resumed his pigskin career amid cheers this week, the animal-welfare advocate who stridently opposed his return is under siege. Irony abounds in the heat-related death of a dog belonging to Robin Starr, the CEO of the Richmond SPCA. Her deaf and blind cocker spaniel/poodle mix, Louie, died Aug. 19 after being left in Starr&#8217;s Volvo for four hours. Ed Starr said he put the dog in his wife&#8217;s car before she drove to work but forgot to tell her.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Out of the office</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL28_20090827-215206/288860/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Bill Lohmann is out of the office. His column will resume when he returns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Williams: ODU shares blame with lawmaker</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE27_20090826-215003/288575/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Now it&#8217;s Old Dominion University&#8217;s turn to weather a scandal. When critics questioned the legitimacy of the degree that Virginia Commonwealth University awarded to then-Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe, the Richmond university found itself standing waist deep in muck as Monroe left to take the reins of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., police force.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:01:13 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Out of the office</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL26_20090825-214604/288273/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Columnist Bill Lohmann is out of the office. His column will resume when he returns.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL26_20090825-214604/288273/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS: Can Richmond renew romance with baseball?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE25_20090824-214807/288090/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Sometimes, a jilted lover needs a one-night stand. So a group of us left baseball-dry Richmond one evening in July and headed to Petersburg. From our vantage point in a beer garden&#8212;no brew allowed in the bleachers&#8212;we watched the home-team Generals come from behind to beat the Edenton, N.C., Steamers at the Petersburg Sports Complex.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:01:57 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE25_20090824-214807/288090/#When:05:01:57Z</guid>
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          <title>Family outings an enjoyable part of Richmond summers</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/COLL24_20090823-220002/287975/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
With only two weeks before most schools start, the whines of &#8220;I&#8217;m bored&#8221; and &#8220;What can we do today?&#8220; are echoing across the state. Many of my friends are counting the days until their backpack-carrying children return to school, resuming a more regular&#8212;if not hectic&#8212;pace. I&#8217;m not one of them. This fall, my oldest child will enter kindergarten, and while I&#8217;m looking forward to the new adventures that come with this milestone, I&#8217;m not ready for summer to end.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:01:41 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Deeds&#8217; goal: Defining McDonnell</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/JEFF23_20090822-215404/287808/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Creigh Deeds makes George W. Bush sound like Barack Obama. In a speech Friday streamed on his Web site, Deeds, the Democratic nominee for governor, sought to reboot his struggling candidacy and recast Republican Bob McDonnell as he really is: a very conservative guy on taxes, social issues and equal rights, who&#8212;because of his Ron Burgundy-TV anchorman style&#8212;doesn&#8217;t come across that way.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:01:45 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS: Low prices accompany a new Walmart, but at what cost?</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE22_20090821-215007/287612/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Rural America may be an ideal spot to raise children, but it&#8217;s increasingly no place for mom and pop. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wants to plant its giant footprint in eastern Powhatan County. And family-owned Powhatan Pharmacy &amp; Gifts lies right in its path. In this case, mom and pop are Carol and Jim Gregg, who have run the pharmacy for 35 years. &#8220;We were here when you didn&#8217;t have any stoplights,&#8220; Jim Gregg recalled yesterday.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:01:25 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>A date, a flood and a gecko named Gaston</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL21_20090820-220007/287402/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As first dates go, it was a little on the extreme side, seeing as how they almost died and all. Then again, it wasn&#8217;t really a date. Justin Walker was simply giving his classmate Jessica Hammer a ride on a very rainy afternoon. A couple of ill-advised turns later, they found themselves in Shockoe Bottom, generally a fine place to be except on this day&#8212;Aug. 30, 2004.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/BILL21_20090820-220007/287402/#When:05:01:00Z</guid>
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          <title>Just let Richmond be itself</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/MIKE20_20090819-220003/287176/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
As the Shockoe game plan for downtown Richmond switched from bats and balls to scalpels and sutures, Carey and Cookie Padgett pitched bird-watching as a boon for the Bottom. On Tuesday evening, the West End couple visited 17th Street in search of purple martins, which return each summer to swoop and swirl around the Bottom&#8217;s Bradford pear trees.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST</pubDate>
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          <title>Jeff&#8217;s Notes &#45; Aug. 20th</title>
          <link>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/jeffs_notes_-_aug._20th/287179/</link>
          <description><![CDATA[
Referendum on Warner. Columnist Jeff Schapiro says Mark Warner isn&#8217;t running for anything, but his legacy on VITA may swing votes in the gubernatorial election.           ]]></description>
          <pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:19:47 EST</pubDate>
<guid>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/columnists_news/article/jeffs_notes_-_aug._20th/287179/#When:03:19:47Z</guid>
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