In The News

PETERSBURG - The city is seeking help from U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va, to realize the dream to develop a harbor right on the edge of downtown, which would bolster economic development and tourism. But the endeavour requires the dredging of an unnavigable section of the Appomattox River, a long delayed project with a $15 million price tag. Kaine met with city officials Thursday to review the work that remains and the city's plans for the area. But mainly he came with a promise to advocate for fede...Continue Reading

Local service members candidly shared their personal experiences, both good and bad, with seeking medical treatment through the belabored U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs during an insightful discussion Wednesday morning with U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, at the Culpeper VFW Post 2524. The former Virginia governor engaged about a dozen veterans during the 90-minute talk that also covered the topics of veterans' unemployment and a special day of recognition. Father of a young Marine prep...Continue Reading

On his first visit to George Mason University’s Prince William Campus on Wednesday, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., led a roundtable discussion with George Mason President Ángel Cabrera and Prince William Campus Chief Executive Officer Annie Hunt Burriss. Sen. Kaine touted a new education bill he will co-sponsor next week on Capitol Hill. The media was on hand as the senator met with Mason staff, faculty, students and alumni from the College of Science, College of Education and Human Develop...Continue Reading

Legal scholars, political leaders and witnesses of the Jim Crow era painted a dark picture Wednesday of what life was like in racially segregated Richmond between the 1930s and early 1960s. “During those times, the blacks were treated as second-class citizens; there were two worlds in Richmond — black and white, and the two worlds never did meet,” said Dr. William Ferguson Reid, the first black member of the Virginia House of Delegates in the 20th Century. Reid, who is 89 and r...Continue Reading

While the climate change debate continues in some quarters in Washington, the impact of sea-level rise cut across political divides at the “Rising to the Challenge” conference in Norfolk, Virginia, earlier this week. Members of Congress and Virginia mayors from both political parties joined military and state and local officials to discuss the challenges sea level rise presents to the Hampton Roads area, as well as how to promote federal, state and local action. Democratic U.S. Senat...Continue Reading

In his first visit to Rivanna Station, Sen. Timothy M. Kaine said maintaining congressional and community support for Virginia’s military facilities is a legislative priority. Kaine spoke to reporters outside the Albemarle County base’s Col. James N. Rowe Building, which is home to the Defense Intelligence Agency, which employs about 800 civilian and military personnel locally. In addition to supporting national security interests, the base’s presence is “increasingly imp...Continue Reading

FISHERSVILLE -- Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine is a Harvard-trained lawyer who has served both as a U.S. senator and governor of Virginia. But as a young man growing up in the Midwest, he watched his father run a welding and ironworking shop in the stockyards of Kansas City. “I learned what artistry good welders perform,’’ said Kaine, D-Va., during a Tuesday visit to the Valley Career and Technical Center in Fishersville. Now, Kaine wants to be among those in the U.S. Senate championi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine Tuesday applauded the U.S. Navy for moving forward to begin work on the refueling and complex overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS  George Washington. Navy sources confirm that a 182 million contract could soon be awarded to Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding, according to Defense News.  The Navy had previously decided to decommission the George Washington, but decided against it following push back from con...Continue Reading

Last week, we examined North Carolina's efforts to plan for sea-level rise. A few weeks ago, we did the same in Norfolk, Va., where the tides are rising faster than anywhere on the East Coast. On Monday, we got a glimpse into how federal Washington is approaching the issue via a conference on climate change at Old Dominion University. Organizers said the event in Norfolk was probably the first in the nation to bring together Republican and Democratic members of Congress to discuss the topic, whi...Continue Reading

NORFOLK The often shrill political debate over climate change yielded Monday to consensus about the threat facing Hampton Roads – and its critical military installations – from rising sea levels on a sinking coastal plain. Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va., and three members of the state’s congressional delegation – two Republicans and a Democrat – joined local and regional officials in what Virginia Beach Mayor William D. Sessoms Jr. called a “call for action&rdqu...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine came away from his swing through Hampton Roads on his latest in-state working week with a shopping list of veterans issues to watch. After a 90 minute sit-down with two dozen Hampton Roads vets, Kaine said he's going to dig into concerns that private physicians may be loathe to accept TRICARE patients. It's a particular concern now, Kaine said, because proposed reforms meant to carve away at the Veterans Administration's huge waiting lists include allowing the VA to pay private ph...Continue Reading

Sometimes, senators come to town to campaign; sometimes, as with Sen. Tim Kaine’s stop Saturday at a healthcare forum at Hampton’s Zion Baptist Church, just to listen. One key thing he heard, he said later, was that folks in town, like those calling his D.C. office these days, are feeling more positive than not about the Affordable Care Act. But one other key thing he heard Saturday was that there may be a problem when people with insurance leave their jobs to start their own busines...Continue Reading

Roses and thorns Each week, the Daily Press Editorial Board offers a list of area citizens or institutions deserving of "roses" or "thorns." This week's roses go to: • U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine for his proposal to make this year's Veteran's Day — on Nov. 11 — a national "welcome home" event for all service men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the years since the 9/11 attacks. • The Mathews County Historical Society, for its plans to establish a museum dedicated to ...Continue Reading

Last week, both the Obama administration and certain members of Congress said that no congressional authorization is needed for U.S. military action in Iraq. I deeply disagree. The framers of the Constitution gave Congress the power to authorize war. As James Madison wrote, “The constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care vested the quest...Continue Reading

Yes, it's another forum on sea level rise. But, this time, the organizer is a U.S. senator. That could be a good sign for regional efforts to attract federal attention - and money - for solving what might be Hampton Roads' trickiest problem. A combination of rising water and sinking land make the region one of the most vulnerable areas in the country to sea level rise. The public forum, called Meeting the Challenge, is being put on by U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and other federal officials, Democrats an...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine wants Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to have an official welcome home. “The president has said combat operations [in Afghanistan] will end in 2014, and we can’t allow these kind of milestones to go unrecognized,” the Virginia Democrat said. “We need to have that moment. We need to mark the end of that chapter.” On Thursday, Kaine will introduce a resolution to mark this Veterans Day as an formal celebration for the youngest generation of war fighters. ...Continue Reading

The Mother of Presidents is hosting some of Africa’s next generations of leaders. The 25 men and women gathered at the University of Virginia on Monday are a part of the Young African Leaders Initiative, a larger national group of 500 Africans who are in a six-week leadership, academic and mentoring program. It is President Barack Obama’s “signature effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders,” according to the program’s main website, which also notes...Continue Reading

Senator Tim Kaine was in the Charlottesville area Monday to attend several events, including a meeting with the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. One issue was transportation. While Kaine says he’s more than familiar with the possibility of a Route 29 bypass, he says any plan won’t be on his plate until the localities decide how to address traffic on Route 29. Kaine says his job is to wait for the localities to come up with a consensus and then do his best to support that consensus. Ka...Continue Reading

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has co-sponsored a bill that will give students and families a better estimate of college costs before they apply to schools. The Net Price Improvement Act would improve the effectiveness of and access to net price calculators (NPCs) — tools that provide students estimates of higher education costs  – by requiring schools to put calculators on webpages where students and families are likely to look for cost and admissions information. ###