Despite the curious ups and downs of the stock market these days, it seems increasingly clear that in the Commonwealth, those who say we’re all in for a slow and painful recovery may be on to something.

Let’s say you have this concept for a new airline. It’s completely different from other airlines; so different that you are not sure if the public will react favorably.

The news that the Fort Hood shooter was a graduate of Virginia Tech brought home the story of mass murder and opened the old wounds of the 2007 campus massacre that left 32 dead.

When President Richard Nixon left the White House for his historic trip to China, he addressed about 1,500 cheering school children and thousands of administration officials and federal workers who thronged the South Lawn.

Many of you read in the News & Messenger this week that northern Virginia could receive $300,000 funding for the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force.

Imagine you’re an assistant football coach who finds himself taking leadership of a team in the middle of an uninspiring season.

It’s kind of funny how opinions change as you get older. I remember being an activist in my college days, eager to stand up for what I believed was right and wanting to change all that was unfair in the world.

Generally, as most of us get older, we have a very good idea of what our likes and dislikes are.

The cost of our political classes’ obsession with multiculturalism and Political Correctness is not just sanctimonious news conferences and racial special interest groups.

One winter morning a couple of years ago, I was shoveling snow that had fallen overnight when someone said, “I could do that for you.”

Now that Virginia’s statewide elections are over, people will begin to ask the question, has Virginia returned to its red state roots? Red is, of course, referring to the color representing Republican control on Election Day maps.

Last Tuesday, I, like many other Virginians, went to the polls and cast my vote.

Just as it has done for the past eight Thanksgivings, your local paper wants to give you a Thanksgiving Day edition loaded with good news — news about people who have made a difference in the lives of others.

I used to be a huge sports fan. Growing up as I did, there wasn’t much choice.

After our parents had rejected our claim that we were no better than indentured servants forced to perform odious chores like making our beds and picking up our clothes, my brother and I resolved to run away; this time for certain.

Pardon me while I gloat.

Election Day has come and gone. This means I can come home from work and live in peace.

Today is Election Day, so if you are reading this before the polls close, and you haven’t voted yet, please put down the paper, get in your car and go vote for the Republicans of your choice.

Tomorrow is the one day every year that all of us get a say in things. Yes, Virginia, it’s Election Day.

In the year since her husband was elected president, Michelle Obama has become a surprise hit. 

The Walt Disney Co. is offering parents who bought Baby Einstein videos for their youngsters a refund because, as it turns out, moms and dads can’t park Junior’s high chair in front of the flat screen and return an hour later to find him piecing together the great American novel from leftover alphabet soup.

When I was in fourth grade, I learned something that I thought would change my life. As things turned out, it didn’t, but I thought that it might for a while.

Sometimes I have my doubts regarding the Prince William County School System’s effectiveness when it comes to the dissemination of knowledge, but I can assure you the classroom is unsurpassed when it comes to the spread of disease.

A friend was going off on one of his semi-annual raves about the modern world and the scourge of new technology, and he coupled it with a pet peeve that most of us in Prince William can agree with — those endless, mindless recorded messages from local political candidates that will continue in earnest until election day Tuesday.

This paper’s 13th district race endorsement got me thinking about what makes a person a “good delegate.”

One of the most frustrating things about commuting these days are violators. That being people who get on the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes without have the three drivers required.

Deeds, McDonnell, Anderson, Nichols, Marshall, Bell, Torian, Lopez . . . ENOUGH!

Catherine Howard was 29 and an independent, documentary filmmaker in San Francisco when she found a health insurance policy she thought perfect for a healthy, young person.

Elections are interesting monsters. 

Like many other people, I am a part of an e-mail group and receive regular messages. Because I am about as sharp as, say, an eight-year-old on the computer, I’m careful to reply only to the sender.