Two Petersburg elementary schools will receive federal stimulus money for school renovation and expansion projects, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced yesterday. Robert E. Lee Elementary School will receive $6.4 million and Walnut Hill Elementary School will receive $5.8 million in no-interest construction bonds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Kaine announced a total of $71.6 million in bonds for eight projects throughout Virginia.

WASHINGTON Surging imports of tires from China are decimating U.S. jobs and production. Chinese tire imports have more than tripled in the past four years, including more than 46 million tires in 2008 alone. More than 5,100 tire in dustry jobs have disappeared since 2004, and another 3,000 cuts have already been announced for this year. It doesn’t have to be this way, and President Obama has the tools to fix this problem.

Actor Robert Duvall, who is related to Robert E. Lee and portrayed the Confederate general in the movie “Gods and Generals,“ has some credentials when it comes to the Civil War. Duvall, 78, drew upon those connections yesterday to make the case against a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter within a mile of the Wilderness Battlefield—where Lee and his Union counterpart, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, first fought in a battle 145 years ago today that historians said hastened the South’s fall.

What would you do if you had an extra hour in each day? Today’s fast-paced lifestyle doesn’t often let us think about having extra time. We are too busy, have too much to do, or have some place to be.