Ink-stained wretches in their purest form wear their skepticism the way they do their skin, which is to say close to the bone and all of the time. Their skin crawls when one of their own (ostensibly) ventures to the darkest of other sides: politics. R. Lee Ware Jr. shows why.

The raid on store shelves had an apocalyptic feel in advance of the approaching winter behemoth.

Few people are feeling the brunt of this weekend’s snowstorm like road crews.

Stepping gingerly to avoid the poison sting of dilemmas’ pricks, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell is taking the willowy shape of one opposed to taxes in a form rather than their entirety.

The hottest decade ever gets off to a chilly start, and Tim Tebow reveals the limits of the abortion lobby’s tolerance police.

Thumbs up to the U.S. Transportation Department for prohibiting texting by commercial drivers of interstate buses and trucks.

This week’s opinion marketplace

Check the Capitol Building to see whether President Barack Obama has concluded his State of the Union address. Well, yes, the stagehands have left the state House Chamber in Richmond, so it must all be over.

His political muscle sagging, President Barack Obama wobbled to the Capitol on Wednesday seeking strength from oratory.

His reassessment rebellion having collapsed with a thud, Augusta County Supervisor Tracy Pyles is pursuing a less revolutionary concept.

Gary McQuain is feeling what President Barack Obama prefers to ignore: a stimulus bill’s limits, and its bite.

The requested transfer of convicted killer Jens Soering to Germany was a political misstep for ex-Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Distant is the roiling aftermath of the massacre at Virginia Tech, in the wake of which the ruling class, starting with the governor, vowed to repair the creaking system through which Seung-Hui Cho slipped. Almost three years later, the state still gets middling grades for mental health care. Post-Cho pledges have been forgotten. And hidden dangers lurk.

This week’s opinion marketplace

Having encountered resistance at every turn, Waynesboro school officials surely did not expect to find more of it in King William County. But there stood Kate Brooks, third-grade teacher at Acquinton Elementary School, waving red flags.

Sweeping aside inaugural pomp, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell got on with the show Monday, promising during his State of the Commonwealth address to veto any budget bill that includes a tax increase, which his predecessor proposed to the tune of $2 billion in higher income levies as a way to close a budget gap twice as large.

Science fiction forever has fixated on the looming global takeover by machines, which, it goes, have determined that humans are dullards whose principal use lies in robotic slave labor.

State Sen. Robert Hurt is facing two new streams of criticism in his bid to win the GOP primary for the right to challenge Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, 5th District.

As makeovers go, Robert F. McDonnell’s was a dazzler. Considered by many observers to be a stiff campaigner who lacked the good-natured political skills of a deft glad-hander like Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, McDonnell answered the gubernatorial call with a brilliantly orchestrated run last fall that sent him sailing into Richmond.

This week’s opinion marketplace

Staring across an unprecedented, $4.2-billion budget divide, with jobs drained in their districts by massive manufacturing losses, local state delegates Dickie Bell and Steve Landes step to the fore hand in hand to propose bills limiting the public’s view of government.

His eyes cast longingly toward the exit, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine delivered his State of the Commonwealth message for a final time Wednesday with a straight face and crossed fingers. Robert F. McDonnell, meanwhile, waited with pasted smile, ready to assume command as waves passed over the rails.

Here is a thing that befuddles. Less than two months ago, Councilwoman Nancy Dowdy pointed to the West End and cried panic because her four colleagues decided to spend $1.2 million to finish stormwater work rather than leave the money sit in limbo awaiting other ducks to line up for a new fire station.

News that sexual abuse was reported by roughly 12 percent of youths at juvenile justice facilities was shocking enough.

Oscar Wilde observed famously, “Life is far too important a thing to ever talk seriously about.” Officialdom, which takes itself more seriously than anyone else, observes this maxim unawares, like someone who makes others laugh without getting the joke.

This week’s opinion marketplace

Masses huddled Thursday at James Madison University in Harrisonburg to wring hands before the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees, both of which are wading waist-deep in a $4.2-billion revenue deficit to be left behind by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Robert F. McDonnell, who stands 5 feet, 10 inches on tiptoes, will increase in stature if he can govern as he campaigned, with the same impeccable precision applied to his coiffure and dress. TV weathermen envy his ’do and fine tailoring, Democrats the turnout among his base and his appeal to independents.

It’s all in the numbers

Credit Terry Short with this: The Waynesboro man who has led calls to slow the process on the city schools’ proposed redistricting has crystallized from frayed ends the point on which the discussion now should center. The questions of the moment are, will Waynesboro school enrollment grow; if so, by how much; and is this enough to warrant action?

Responding to various RSVP’s while moonlighting as chairman of the DNC, the state’s periodic CEO likely could use a GPS to gauge whether he’s operating on PST, EST, CST or LSD.