Richmonders lament the announcement that Lakeside Appliance is closing its stores. News of job losses and shuttered businesses always dismays, but the closing of a hometown institution resembles a death in the family. Regarding Lakeside Appliance, Central Virginia trusted the name—in large part because the name commanded trust.

The Wakefield Ruritan Club’s 61st annual Shad Planking proves that the way to a Virginian’s vote is not through his stomach. In an annual rite, hundreds of politicos and aspiring public servants converged on the piney woods of Sussex County yesterday to munch on oily, bony, salty fish and to poke fun at one another at the unofficial kickoff of the primary season.

It’s again time for smoked shad with a side order of politics.