The last time that Virginia Military Institute was nearly destroyed was when Union troops set it ablaze during the Civil War. Today, a new threat to this storied college is coming from within the Old Dominion itself in the form of woke Democrat politicians.

Measures before the Virginia Legislature, in response to allegations of systemic racism at the institution, could not only strip the oldest state-run military college in the nation of its independence, but also cut off funding it needs to exist.

Last week, the Department of War, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, took to social media to back up VMI, writing that “the stability of this proven leadership pipeline is a matter of direct national security interest” and that the department “reserves the right to take extraordinary measures to protect the integrity of VMI.”

Having spent some time this week in Lexington, Virginia, the mountainous home of VMI, it is clear that not only is the college a national treasure, it is very much a local one as well.

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“VMI is the beating heart of Lexington,” Melinda, an educator who has lived in the town for decades, told me. “I can’t imagine the place without it.”

I met John, who graduated from VMI in the early 2000s and who said of the supposed racism and sexism, “The people who hate VMI just hate VMI because they think it represents the Confederacy.” He insisted that allegations are overblown because every cadet lives by the same code of conduct.

Even a group of anti-President Donald Trump protesters I ran into on a chilly Friday afternoon had little but glowing things to say about VMI.

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“We were disappointed by the firing of the superintendent,” Annette told me, referring to Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins, the first black head of the school, who was fired last year. “But we all love VMI.”

So, if basically everyone in Lexington thinks VMI is great, and if it has provided America with great military leadership, from Gen. George S. Patton to Gen. George C. Marshall, why is it on the chopping block?

Because of the insatiable appetite for destruction of wokism.

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VMI is integrally connected to the history of the Confederacy. Its most famous instructor was Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, whose preserved horse one can visit at the college museum. But over the course of the 20th century, the school came to terms with this, often bending over backwards to do so.

Take for example the historical marker for Benjamin West Clinedinst’s epic painting “Charge of the New Market Cadets.”

“Although ‘Charge of the New Market Cadets’ was completed during a time in American history when ‘lost cause’ ideology was pervasive in Virginia, today the painting serves the VMI community not as a commemoration of a Confederate victory or veneration of the Confederacy,” it says.

That is what political correctness looked like, sheepishly apologizing for your own culture when nobody asked you to. But wokeness is different. Wokeness cannot tolerate the existence of ties to the evil past.

Even my hotel, which for nearly a century stood as the Robert E. Lee, has a new name. The only reference to Lee left is a plaque indicating the elevator is an original Otis car installed in 1926.

The erasure of history lurks around every corner and is now coming for VMI.

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The Union army chief of artillery who shelled and destroyed much of VMI in 1864, over his personal objection, was a Delaware man named Henry A. Du Pont, who, in 1914, as a U.S. senator, passed legislation to reimburse the school for the damage he had wrought.

These are the kinds of stories that echo around the halls of the Institute, tales of imperfect men of an imperfect nation, working toward greater perfection. If you quiet yourself on the campus on a cold, crisp winter day, you can hear them.

Last week, the VMI Class of 2001 penned an open letter to Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, published in Lexington’s News Gazette. Two things are notable about this class: It was the first class to include women, and it graduated into war.

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“We integrated women into the Corps when the nation doubted it could be done,” the letter said. “We produced citizen soldiers of every race and background who trained, served, and bled together. We did not prove this through symbolism. We proved it in Fallujah, Kandahar, the Korengal, and in military funerals across the Commonwealth.”

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With Democrats in clear control of the political power in Virginia, the threat to VMI’s funding and future is very real, which is why it is so vital that Hegseth and the Department of War make clear that they are a backstop to keep this special place running.

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A nation and a people are its history, and few institutions hold so much of it as VMI. A town and a community are its institutions, the places that are old and storied, and in Lexington, that is VMI.

Long may Virginia Military Institute and its traditions endure.

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From dirty dining rooms to unwelcome pests, a viral ranking highlights where restaurant cleanliness complaints are piling up, and which states patrons say have the biggest problems.

The list comes from Chicago-based restaurant furniture company Affordable Seating, which analyzed more than 2.8 million TripAdvisor reviews across roughly 40,000 restaurants in 2024, according to reports. 

The company focused on low-rated restaurants that received 2.4 stars or fewer in major cities, flagging reviews that mentioned terms such as “dirty restaurant,” “hair in food,” “rats,” and “roaches.”

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The rankings are based on crowdsourced online reviews, not official restaurant inspection data, which is tracked by local and state health departments.

Here’s how the top 10 broke down — and what put each state on the list.

1. New Jersey

New Jersey topped the list by a wide margin, driven by an unusually high volume of complaints referencing dirty dining conditions. The Garden State had 320,520 mentions of “dirty restaurant,” 1,883 of “hair in food” and 810 of rats and cockroaches.

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The number of “dirty restaurant” mentions was more than eight times higher than the top 10 average, pushing the state far ahead of the rest, according to Food Safety News.

2. Florida

Florida’s ranking was fueled by thousands of cleanliness complaints in major tourist hubs. The analysis focused on Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and St. Petersburg, and excluded Broward and Palm Beach counties, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. 

It turned up 4,560 mentions of “dirty restaurant,” 1,691 of “hair in food” and 636 of bugs and rodents, according to reports.

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3. California

California’s high ranking was driven largely by pest-related complaints rather than general cleanliness issues. While diners flagged “dirty restaurant” concerns 3,332 times and mentioned hair in food in 1,731 reviews, the state led all others in the top 10 for reports of rats and roaches, with 960 complaints — the most on the list.

4. Arizona

Arizona landed in the top 5 due to steady complaints across all tracked categories, particularly in its most populated metro areas. Reviewers cited “dirty restaurant” issues 1,759 times, along with 639 mentions of hair in food and 443 complaints involving critters.

5. Texas

Texas’ ranking reflected consistent — though lower — complaint totals spread across its large urban markets. The Lone Star State logged 1,068 “dirty restaurant” mentions, 471 references to hair in food and 232 pest-related complaints, a volume likely influenced by its size and number of restaurants.

6. Louisiana

Louisiana’s placement was driven by a relatively high number of pest-related complaints compared to its overall cleanliness mentions. Reviews included 951 references to dirty restaurants, 412 mentions of hair in food and 399 complaints involving rats and roaches.

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7. Alabama

Alabama saw notable complaints about cleanliness and food handling, though fewer pest reports than many other states on the list. Diners cited dirty restaurants 918 times, hair in food in 404 reviews and pest sightings in 141 cases.

8. Maryland

Maryland’s ranking reflected balanced complaint levels across all tracked categories, rather than a spike in any single issue. The state recorded 884 mentions of dirty restaurants, 436 references to hair in food and 201 vermin-related complaints.

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9. Nevada

Nevada’s position was influenced by a high number of pest complaints relative to its total review count, particularly in tourism-heavy areas. Reviews included 881 mentions of dirty restaurants, 579 references to hair in food and 414 complaints involving rats and roaches.

10. Georgia

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Georgia rounded out the top 10 with moderate but consistent complaint volumes tied to both cleanliness and pests. Reviewers flagged dirty restaurants 856 times, cited hair in food in 375 reviews and mentioned rats or roaches in 216 cases.

More than 5,000 invasive green iguanas in Florida were removed during the state’s two-day exemption that allowed residents and visitors to capture the cold-stunned reptiles without a permit, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The state wildlife agency announced this week that 5,195 cold-stunned iguanas were collected and brought to four designated FWC offices on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2 during South Florida’s period of record-setting cold temperatures.

“The removal of over 5,000 of these nonnative lizards in such a short time span was only possible thanks to the coordinated efforts of many staff members in multiple FWC divisions and offices, our partners and, of course, the many residents that took the time to collect and turn in cold-stunned iguanas from their properties,” Roger Young, FWC’s executive director, said at a Feb. 4 meeting in Tallahassee.

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Special regulations under an executive order allowed people to remove live, cold-stunned iguanas from the wild without a permit for two days only, the FWC said in a news release.

Of the 5,195 iguanas collected, 3,882 of them were amassed at the FWC’s office in Sunrise, about 13 miles west of Fort Lauderdale, the FWC said.

Another 1,075 were collected at the FWC’s location in Tequesta, some 24 miles north of West Palm Beach.

There were 215 iguanas collected at the drop-off location in the Florida Keys and 23 nabbed in Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast.

FWC staff worked to coordinate the transfer of iguanas collected to permit holders, including for sale outside the state. Any of the reptiles that couldn’t be transferred to permit holders were humanely killed by trained staff, according to the FWC.

Green iguanas are a prohibited species in the Sunshine State because of their “negative impacts on Florida’s environment and economy,” Young said.

Because they’re an invasive species in Florida, iguanas can be humanely killed on a person’s property and are not protected except by the state’s anti-cruelty laws.

“If you encounter a cold-stunned green iguana, you should never bring it into your home or building to warm up,” according to the FWC’s news release.

When temperatures dip, iguanas lose the ability to move their muscles. 

“Iguanas can recover from cold-stunning more quickly than you may expect — and, once recovered, can act defensively, with long tails that whip and sharp teeth and claws.”

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Low temperatures in Miami reached 35 degrees on Feb. 1, while lows in West Palm Beach hit 30 degrees — breaking records for that date, set in 1909, according to National Weather Service data.

Green iguanas were first reported in South Florida in the 1960s, according to the FWC.

When temperatures dip, they lose the ability to move their muscles and have been known to fall from trees, appearing dead. But they’re very much alive and in a state of paralysis, or torpor.

Many Floridians took advantage of the region’s rare winter freeze to round up the pesky reptiles that can damage people’s properties and “leave droppings on docks, moored boats, seawalls, porches, decks, pool platforms and inside swimming pools.”

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“In cleared habitats such as canal banks and vacant lots, green iguanas reside in burrows, culverts, drainage pipes and rock or debris piles,” according to the FWC. 

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“South Florida’s extensive man-made canals serve as ideal dispersal corridors to further allow iguanas to colonize new areas.”

The FWC is no longer accepting live iguanas from the public, the organization said.