>> The United States Postal Service increased postage rates today. First class letters now cost $0.41 (first ounce) and $0.17 for each additional ounce. New rates and fees for all classes of mail went up today except Periodicals, which is delayed until July 15. You can apparently find a handy chart of all the new rates in a pdf here, though we’re having a little trouble downloading it in Firefox. One more reason to…

The Washington Redskins kick off their regular season tonight against the Minnesota Vikings at FedEx Field. Last week, the Richmond Times-Dispatch took a look at what the Redskins organization — including players, coaches, and staff members — wolfed down during the squad’s three-week training camp in August: That group of 140 or so people, 88 of whom are players, chewed through 1,200 pounds of sliced deli meats, 1,500 pounds of chicken breasts, 1,200 pounds of…

Does it seem like there have been a lot of student protests recently at area universities? Fear not, tells us the Richmond Times-Dispatch, college students aren’t about to march on Washington and demand the president’s head. Sayeth the paper in an article published earlier this week: Students marched at Virginia Tech, chanted at Radford University and camped in a building at the University of Virginia last month. They also protested at the College of William…

It’s never been much of a secret that Northern Virginia is heavily populated with Latin American immigrants, primarily of the Central American variety. But now it seems that immigration flows have started pushing further and further into Virginia’s heartland — so much so that the media has reacted. Richmond’s newspaper of record, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, announced yesterday that they are kicking off a weekly Spanish-language version of the paper on May 12. To be called…

While Washington is embroiled in scandal over lobbyist-funded junkets and gifts for members of Congress, Virginia doesn’t much bat an eyelid at similar practices. WJLA is reporting that Virginia lawmakers took in some $315,000 worth of trips, gifts, meals, and transportation last year from lobbyists and wealthy hosts, up from $284,000 in 2004. Among that lavish spending — which is neither illegal nor unusual in our southern neighbor — was an $18,000 Caribbean getaway for…

We did a double take upon hearing that members of the Virginia General Assembly objected to the prayer that opened the session this past Friday. Then we learned about the content of the prayer. We were less surprised. During her invocation, Rev. Deborah Peevey was heard to say, “Holy One, convict those who are using their power not to lead or to guide but to harm the gay and lesbian citizens, a small minority in…