The Commonwealth of Virginia is home to a myriad of global business interests, including companies like ours that confront the difficult energy and health care issues of our time. We have long been fortunate to have one of the best systems of higher education anywhere in the country, and it is especially vital now, since many of the challenges in today’s knowledge-based economy can only be addressed through advanced education, skill, and research.

Thanks to a local philanthropist, George Mason Elementary School is getting a new playground. Two days after the school’s showplace piece of recreational equipment was destroyed by fire, longtime Richmond resident W.E. Singleton said he would cover the entire cost of replacing it. The project will cost about $70,000, school officials said.

Richmond rallied. When they learned of the burned playground at George Mason Elementary School, citizens began to ask how they could help. Every offer came from the heart. And how does the community thank W.E. Singleton? The local philanthropist called the Richmond schools with a pledge to cover the entire cost (about $70,000) of repairing the playground. He made the gift in honor of his mother, “Mrs. Recreation,“ who spent her career with the city’s department of parks and recreation.

Values eroding, Thomas says ‘Little emphasis’ on sacrifice, self-denial, justice says at W&L Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told a crowd at Washington and Lee University yesterday that today’s Americans seem little disposed to sacrifice during hard times—even if the government asked them to do it. “These days, there seems to be little emphasis on responsibility, sacrifice and self-denial,“ Thomas told about 300 people gathered in the Lee Chapel on campus.

Ex-Southside delegate wants to serve in legislature again Halifax Democrat, now retired, seeks to replace GOP’s Hogan W.W. “Ted” Bennett Jr. wants to return to the state Capitol. The former Democratic delegate from Halifax County in Southside is seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Del. Clarke N. Hogan, R-Halifax, who recently announced he would not seek re-election to focus on his business.

She loved being around children. Driving for the Hanover County school system, Mary Elizabeth Tilton Adams transported busloads of them for 46 years. During the 1940s, she was the first female school bus driver hired by the Hanover schools, according to granddaughter Kimberly Stanley of Ashland. Mrs. Adams learned how to drive a school bus from her husband, Wilbert D. Adams Sr., who worked for the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation.

The cost of attending the University of Richmond could exceed $50,000 next year, according to UR’s student newspaper, The Collegian. UR students this year pay undergraduate tuition of $38,850, which with $8,200 for room, board and fees brings the total to $47,050. The Collegian quotes UR President Edward Ayers as saying a “modest” increase may be necessary.