Category: Perspectives

Housing in our community is booming right now, just like it was right before the Great Recession. In fact, the December report just came out and showed that values were up 10.4% nationally. Is this cause for alarm? Not necessarily. As of now, there does not appear to be a glut of low-quality loans infecting the marketplace, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be wary.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline continues to make headlines–about water permits, opponent activities, litigation, public opinion surveys, and operations. Efforts are underway to “stitch Virginia, Maryland and DC closer together” through a vision of an expanded train network. The economic development organization, GO Virginia, has awarded funding to create jobs in the Tidewater area to address seal level rise. A Virginia representative submitted proposed federal legislation to ban offshore drilling

Appalachian Power wants the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to approve a rate increase to cover costs of “environmental improvements” at coal power plants. It also wants SCC approval of transmission line upgrades for five counties. The SCC did approve a service fee of $1.80/month. Dominion Energy wants the SCC to approve raising rates to pay for solar projects. The 2021 General Assembly session happening now will consider numerous energy and environmental bills. Some relate to utility reform.

In 1637, a unique economic event occurred that disrupted financial markets. It wasn’t a famine or plague as you might suspect. No, it was a far more devious culprit, human greed. It started with a tulip of all things, and it created one of the largest economic bubbles the world has seen.

I’m spending several weeks during the pandemic living with my mother. We may never again have such an extended time to be together when neither of us have people to see or anything much to do—and while my mother’s memory is sharp.