The Virginia Department of Transportation is eliminating two Augusta County rest stops, the Verona residency office and is making across the board service reductions in cuts approved Thursday by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

Government wastes like a fat man breathes, heavier and more frequently with each step. Few agencies are fatter than state departments of transportation, whose waste may be anything but voluntary. Feeding perpetually on taxpayer money, state DOTs are a traditional repository of raw gluttony, with parasitic legions swarming to nibble and sometimes chomp at bounties of billions of dollars. A query that percolates in the commonwealth: Is VDOT different?

Reading a book, drinking coffee, texting while driving.

Virginia Department of Transportation employees have seen that, and then some, from drivers while out on highway work zones.

Funding crunch means maintenance will be top priority

The Virginia Department of Transportation is getting the jump on winter weather in Augusta County with a strategy already in place.