Why does Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield exclude the treatment of autism in Virginia? It’s a simple question, and a very important one, because autism is increasing in America, and families here have a right to know. There’s one chance in 100 now that your child will have some degree of autism, according to the latest edition of the journal Pediatrics. Like many families have learned, the out-of-pocket costs to treat a child for autism can run more than $50,000 a year—and last for several years. The financial risk for unsuspecting young families is significant, and many have endured hardship in order to provide treatment. (Cancer, diabetes, and AIDS are all less common than autism, but they’re naturally covered.)

Job growth is on everyone’s mind. While many of us know that one the greatest sources of new jobs is entrepreneurial activity—new startups that successfully grow into large-scale corporate employment centers—few know who really generates the entrepreneurial spark. Like most, you probably assume that entrepreneurs are the fearless, “nothing to lose” youth of America—Bill Gates or Steve Jobs in the 1980s, or the Google or Facebook founders more recently—who launch innovative businesses out of backyard garages. According to new research from Diane Stangler and the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation, that’s not the case. In fact, youths between 20 and 34 are the least likely to start new businesses. Over the past decade, year after year, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity was among people from the ages of 55 to 64.

These days, many people and reporters are pointing to baby boomers as the problem. They borrowed too much, precipitating the current economic calamity. And they saved too little, making a future crisis all but inevitable when Uncle Sam strains to fund the retirement of millions of seniors who want to live like King Midas while lasting as long as Methuselah.

For the first time in recent memory, the Henrico County School Board is publicly questioning County Manager Virgil R. Hazelett’s proposed capital budget. The School Board was not consulted before Hazelett announced that planning and construction funds for a variety of projects in schools and other county agencies would be eliminated this year, said Chairman John W. Montgomery Jr. of Varina District.

Business is good these days for Scott Smythe, who runs two berry farms in Caroline County. He opens his fields to Richmonders who pick their own blueberries and strawberries, and delivers fresh produce to farmer’s markets in Northern Virginia. People aren’t content anymore just to gather fruit from his fields like they used to, he says. Today they’re leaving with live bushes so they can pick berries at home. Smythe is now shipping berry bush plantings as far as New England.

The next attack submarine built in Virginia will be named for the state’s just-retired U.S. senator, John W. Warner. The U.S. Navy yesterday said the Virginia-class sub will be built by Northrop Grumman’s Newport News shipyard.

In our crisis-driven society, the attention of most Americans is riveted on the dramas of the day playing out on our plasma screens and newspapers. It’s hard to devote much thought to problems looming 20 years ahead. But if there’s one thing we can predict with certainty, it’s that the inexorable aging of the baby boomer generation will create tremendous pressures for change in our communities.