Today's Sponsor:
Virginia Retired Teachers Association
It has been said that teachers affect eternity. They never know where their influence stops. VRTA thanks teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week May 5-9.
Trump’s cuts to AmeriCorps end Virginia community service grants
President Donald Trump’s administration ended grants for at least 16 community service programs in Virginia as part of sweeping AmeriCorps funding cuts, abruptly shutting down projects and forcing layoffs. The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency — the Elon Musk-led team Trump tasked with slashing the federal government’s budget and workforce — recently ordered AmeriCorps, the federal agency for community service and volunteerism, to terminate nearly $400 million in grants. The move pulled back funding used to plan and operate community service programs throughout Virginia, mostly in education and health care. Grant money went to nonprofits, organizations, schools and the City of Richmond.
Youngkin keeps bar high for weight loss drugs under Medicaid
A year ago, after Gov. Glenn Youngkin persuaded the General Assembly to limit access to weight loss drugs for people in Virginia’s Medicaid program, Dr. Susan Wolver saw immediate consequences for her patients struggling with obesity. People who had lost 100 pounds with help from medication suddenly lost access to the drug because they had shed so much weight they fell beneath the state’s new threshold for body mass index. They regained weight and other medical conditions returned, such as high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. . . . The General Assembly tried to intervene this year, adopting a lower body mass index threshold to quality for the drugs under Medicaid, but Youngkin had the last word by vetoing the new provision of the revised budget that he signed on Friday.
Right-to-contraception bills highlight key reproductive health care debate in this year’s elections
Contraception access is an issue resonating loudly within Virginia’s public and political spheres this year and last week, it manifested through state lawmakers contrasting Virginia’s twice-failed attempt to protect access to birth control medications against a similar measure that recently sailed through neighboring Tennessee’s legislature. For the second year in a row, Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a right-to-contraception bill carried by Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, who took to social media over the weekend to highlight how, unlike in the commonwealth, Tennessee lawmakers were able to come together and pass a bipartisan bill on the issue.
Virginia sees spike in superintendent turnover
More than 40% of Virginia's K-12 public school districts had at least one new superintendent between 2019 and 2024, according to national data collected by Superintendent Lab and reviewed by Axios. The Trump administration wants to empower local schools by dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. Turnover among systems' leaders is evidence of school districts' instability, as they struggle with teacher shortages and falling test scores.
Most Virginia teachers are women, but most superintendents are men
Early in her administrative career, before she became the first female superintendent of Henrico County Public Schools in 2018, Amy Cashwell recalled being the only woman in a boardroom full of men. As they discussed a major project, one of the men asked if she would be hindered from giving a project her all. She looked at him with a puzzled expression. He said: “Well, you have kids.” She responded: “So do you.” It’s a moment many women in education leadership recognize — a quiet but persistent skepticism about whether they can lead and mother at the same time.
Virginia Tech preparing for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Metallica concert—and its economic impact
The lush grass of Worsham Field was stripped away. The sprinkler heads were removed. The field that is home to the Virginia Tech football team was barren and level. Part of the crew that sets up the stage for Metallica’s concerts spent the early parts of Friday afternoon beginning the process of laying down the flooring that signaled the transformation of a football stadium into a temporary concert venue. The group began the multi-day process that will culminate Wednesday with a long-awaited concert that features Metallica performing “Enter Sandman,” the song that has welcomed the Hokies onto the field for nearly a quarter of a century, in front of a sold-out crowd inside Lane Stadium.
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EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Energy storage bills among Youngkin’s vetoes
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed legislation that would have raised the targets for how much new energy storage the commonwealth’s two largest electric utilities must propose adding over the next two decades. Energy storage facilities store electricity during off-peak hours when it’s cheaper to generate and deploy it during high-demand periods when it would be more expensive to generate otherwise.
Youngkin signs bill to protect local pharmacies in Virginia
Governor Glenn Youngkin has signed into law a bill that creates a single pharmacy benefit manager for the state's Medicaid program. The legislation, part of the Save Local Pharmacies Act, will take effect on July 1, 2025. The move follows a broader effort to rein in the influence of PBMs, which are third-party companies that negotiate drug prices between manufacturers and insurers. Some of the largest PBMs, including Caremark (CVS Health), Express Scripts (Cigna), and OptumRx (UnitedHealth Group), also own pharmacies, a practice critics say creates a conflict of interest.
Save Local Pharmacies Act signed by governor
It went down to the wire, so to speak, with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin not announcing his decision until minutes before the deadline. But in the end, Youngkin did respond on Friday, May 2, signing the Save Local Pharmacies Act into law. The goal of the new law is to streamline the Medicaid process for local pharmacies, especially independent ones. It will create one single, state-contracted Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) for Medicaid. Rather than seeing pharmacies deal with multiple departments or contacts in an attempt to get reimbursed for Medicaid patients, there will just be one central hub they work with.
After Youngkin veto of data center bill, Democratic state senator says governor is ‘misguided’
A measure that would have required developers to study proposed data centers’ impacts on their surroundings has died, at least for this year. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, after a back-and-forth with the General Assembly, vetoed the bill late last week. Youngkin wrote in his veto on Friday that data center decisions belong in the localities where they are proposed. Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, said Monday that his legislation would have benefited those localities by providing important information.
After another veto, Virginia Democrats vow to return next year with contraceptive protections
Governor Glenn Youngkin has again vetoed legislation Virginia Democrats say will protect abortion access from future U.S. Supreme Court action. Republicans feared it would open up doctors to legal liability, but the bill’s authors disagree. Senator Ghazala Hashmi told Radio IQ Monday that in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, states need to protect contraception in case federal protections are struck. But Governor Glenn Youngkin disagreed.
Va. higher education institutions weigh in on Youngkin’s budget cuts
Governor Youngkin signed off on the budget on Friday and cut $900 million. Youngkin is pushing pause on capital projects at 10 higher education facilities, to the tune of over $600 million. Some of that money would have gone to Central Virginia Community College to renovate their Amherst and Campbell buildings. They were expecting an estimated $50 million in funds.
Advocates celebrate Youngkin’s signature on ‘junk fees’ legislation
Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin and Democrats who run the General Assembly are working together to go after junk fees. Anyone who has ever ordered a meal online knows the initial price is not what you end up paying – not after the transaction fee and the convenience fee and all the other charges. That's why Jay Speer at the Virginia Poverty Law Center says it was so important for the General Assembly to take action.
Youngkin Takes Final Action on 2025 Legislation: How Loudoun Delegation Bills Fared
Friday marked the deadline for Gov. Glenn Youngkin to make final decisions on legislation passed by the General Assembly during the 2025 session. In March, the governor took action on the 916 bills, with 53 of those coming from Loudoun’s legislators. He signed 30, vetoed 11 and sent 12 back with proposed amendments. The General Assembly convened for a one-day session April 2, sending back six Loudoun bills for a final decision by the governor.
STATE ELECTIONS
Earle-Sears wants Va. to boost power with fossil fuels
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate for governor, said Virginia needs more energy— including from carbon-based fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas — during a Manassas fundraiser over the weekend that was partly funded by local data center developers. During her speech at the Prince William County Republican Committee’s annual Lincoln-Reagan dinner, Earle-Sears, 61, emphasized her desire for Virginia to look to more fossil fuels and nuclear power to generate electricity for businesses both large and small.
Republicans Hold Annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner Amid Record Attendance
Republicans from across Prince William County gathered at Fox Chase Manor for their annual black-tie Lincoln Reagan Dinner, drawing a record crowd and laying out their strategy ahead of the 2025 election cycle. County GOP Chairman Jacob Alderman said the party sold more than 300 tickets for the fundraiser, which brought in over $30,000 to support local political efforts. . . . Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts launched a direct attack on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, calling her voting record more extreme than that of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Bernie Sanders, despite her moderate branding. Roberts pledged that Heritage’s political action committee would invest heavily in the 2025 election to defeat Spanberger and promote conservative values across the state.
Democrats respond to note from Earle-Sears on an anti-discrimination marriage bill
Democrats are responding to the note left by Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears on legislation last year. The bill, which Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed into law, prohibits officials from denying marriage licenses based on sex, gender or race. While fulfilling her constitutional responsibility of signing legislation that passes the state Senate, Earle-Sears wrote that she is “morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly.”
Jay Jones is going on TV with the first ad of the attorney general race
Former Del. Jay Jones is launching the first television ad of the Democratic primary for attorney general on Tuesday. “As a lawmaker, I protected abortion rights, and as an Assistant Attorney General, I took on big corporations, and I sued Glenn Youngkin to defend voting rights,” Jones says in the ad. The spot highlights Jones’ work from 2023, when he represented the Virginia NAACP in a lawsuit seeking access to a database used by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to decide whether to restore voting rights to individuals with felony convictions.
FEDERAL ELECTIONS
Virginia saw 73% voter turnout in 2024
About 73% of voting-age Virginians cast a ballot last November, per new U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That's the fourth-highest voter turnout share in the nation — and a much higher percentage than the country at large, which saw 65% of voting-age Americans voting last year.
STATE GOVERNMENT
State investigating potential cancer cluster in Scott County amid cases of pediatric cancer
After 14 rounds of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation and two major surgeries — including a jaw reconstruction — Oliver Hensley is finally in remission from an aggressive type of cancer. He was just 5 years old and in kindergarten when he was diagnosed. His treatments spanned the course of a year. “You would never think that you have to worry that your child is going to have cancer,” Kayla Hensley, Oliver’s mom, said during a phone interview.
Census figures show Virginia lags behind the rest of the country on public education spending
Spending on public education in Virginia is falling behind the rest of the country. $16,000. That's what Virginia spends per pupil, according to the Census Bureau. Relative to the rest of the South, that's pretty good. But it’s below average for the Midwest, and it's below average for the western states and it's way below average for the Northeast. Chad Stewart at the Virginia Education Association says the numbers show the Commonwealth is falling behind.
ECONOMY/BUSINESS
United Way of Central Virginia loses AmeriCorps grant, putting child care workforce plans in jeopardy
A well-planned and time-consuming initiative to ease the child care crisis in Central Virginia has hit an unexpected roadblock. The United Way of Central Virginia (UWCV) has lost a $283,000 AmeriCorps operational grant that was intended to support staffing for a new child care center and expand services across multiple early learning sites. The decision threatens to delay a project that could have impacted more than 500 children and their families.
EPA cancels $20 million grant for Southwest Va. projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has notified the University of Virginia that it is terminating a $19.9 million grant that would have funded eight Southwest Virginia projects. The grant would have helped pay for, among other things, energy-efficient workforce housing in Buchanan County, a community center in Dickenson County, energy-efficiency improvements for child-care centers in eight localities and research to identify locations for telehealth hubs that could double as safe places during natural disasters.
Rivers Casino Portsmouth to add $65M hotel
Rivers Casino Portsmouth and Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming are planning to break ground on a $65 million hotel in Portsmouth this summer, more than two years after the casino first opened. Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover revealed the plans for The Landing Hotel Portsmouth during his annual State of the City address Friday. The eight-story hotel will be located directly adjacent to the casino, overlooking the property’s water feature. It will have 106 guest rooms, including 32 suites ranging from roughly 400 to 800-plus square feet.
Bon Secours opens Harbour View hospital in Suffolk
Bon Secours on Tuesday will officially open its new $80 million, 100,000 square-foot Harbour View Medical Center in Suffolk. The three-story addition adjoins the existing Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View campus. Bon Secours broke ground on the hospital in October 2022, and construction wrapped up on March 31. On Monday, hospital leaders and Suffolk officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the center’s opening. . . . The new medical center includes 18 private inpatient rooms and four new operating rooms, a freestanding emergency department and on-site laboratory and imaging services including CT, MRI and X-ray capabilities. Spicknall noted that area patients would no longer have to travel long distances or travel to another city to receive care.
Bon Secours Harbour View Medical Center opens after 10 years in the making
Bon Secours Harbour View Medical Center held its ribbon-cutting ceremony on [Monday], May 5, where they welcomed members of the Bon Secours family as well as local and state officials to view the completed building. The first patient is expected on [Tuesday], May 6. Market President for Bon Secours Hampton Roads Pat Davis-Hagens said the vision for this building started 10 years ago.
TRANSPORTATION
Army pausing helicopter flights near Washington airport after close calls
The Army is pausing helicopter flights near a Washington airport after two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon. The commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion directed the unit to pause helicopter flight operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following Thursday’s close calls, two Army officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday. One official said the flights have been paused since Friday.
Army suspends helicopter flights to Pentagon after airliners abort landings
The Army said Monday that a Virginia-based helicopter unit was suspending flights to the Pentagon after an incident last week that led to two airliners being directed to abort landings at Reagan National Airport. Army spokeswoman Heather Chairez said the service’s 12th Aviation Battalion was pausing the operations until an internal inquiry is completed. The battalion operates a fleet of Black Hawk helicopters and was the unit involved in the Jan. 29 midair crash with an American Airlines flight that killed 67 people.
HIGHER EDUCATION
After ousting first Black superintendent, VMI appoints interim as search continues for new leader
The Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors named Brigadier General Dallas Clark acting superintendent Saturday afternoon, but didn’t set a firm date for when a new superintendent will be selected. It’s the first significant decision the school has made concerning its leadership since the board drew scrutiny for opting not to extend the contract of the institution’s first Black superintendent in February. Clark, a graduate of VMI, has been working with the institution intermittently as the institute planning officer and deputy superintendent for finance and support at VMI, overseeing several offices, including finance and budget, auxiliary services, and facilities management.
VMI’s Board of Visitors selects new leadership, as Wins’ tenure closes
After several days of meetings that began Friday, the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors selected new leadership. It also voted in an acting superintendent to replace Major General Cedric Wins whose contract was not renewed earlier this year after criticism of DEI initiatives he supported. The meetings were Wins’ last. Brigadier General Dallas Clark was selected to replace him on an interim basis as the board continues its search for a permanent superintendent. James Inman, a Younkin appointee, was also voted in as the new Board of Visitor's president.
UVa. students have federal internship offers rescinded due to hiring freeze
Several University students have had federal internship offers rescinded, leaving them scrambling last-minute to determine summer plans. This is a result of the hiring freeze of federal civilian employees which President Donald Trump ordered in a presidential memorandum Jan. 20. Another memorandum April 17 extended the freeze through July 15. Until July 15, no presently vacant federal civilian positions may be filled, and no new positions may be created. Because summer federal government interns are not currently employed, and some had received offers during the previous administration, some internship positions were affected.
VCU plans to demolish Grace Street buildings and downtown student center
Virginia Commonwealth University plans to demolish a pair of buildings on its Monroe Park Campus and a student center on its MCV Campus for health sciences to make way for two new projects. On the Monroe Park Campus, VCU intends to tear down an office building and the BookHolders.com building on West Grace Street, which will become the site of a 1,000-bed residential building. On the downtown health sciences campus, the university expects to remove the Larrick Student Center, where VCU will build a new school of dentistry building.
LOCAL
Prince William County supervisor’s new PAC gets $100K from data center developer
Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega has received a whopping $100,000 campaign donation—likely the largest single contribution to any supervisor from an individual in the county’s history—from the wife of a local data center developer. Vega, a Republican who represents the Coles District, received the contribution through a political action committee called “YES PAC,” which was set up in December. Vega is the founder and director of the organization. Her county-paid chief of staff, Chelsea Quintern, is listed as the PAC’s treasurer, according to its statement of organization.
Manassas Officials Caught Off Guard as Bank Tenant Sidesteps Millions in Data Center Taxes
A bank tenant inside a newly completed data center in Manassas has triggered a sweeping local tax exemption, upending financial expectations and leaving city officials blindsided. At the April 30, 2025, Manassas City Council meeting, Commissioner of the Revenue Tim Demeria revealed that a tenant inside the new Brickyard data center, operated by Digital Realty Trust, had filed paperwork identifying itself as a bank. Under Virginia Code §58.1-1202, banks are exempt from local Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) taxes and the business personal property taxes that typically bring cities millions in revenue from data centers. The loss is significant.
Hopewell commonwealth’s attorney finds legal fault with council’s firing of city manager
As dust continues to stir on last week’s firing of Hopewell’s city manager and city clerk, the city’s top prosecutor warned in a letter to City Council that the motion to terminate Dr. Concetta Manker may have been made improperly, and because it was, Manker should still be in office. Citing Rule 36 of Robert’s Rule of Order, Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Newman said the motion made at the May 1 meeting did not follow the direction about either the time frame for making the order or the authenticity of the motion made by Ward 4 Councilor Ronnie Ellis.
Real estate developer cites Faraldi’s prediction in lawsuit against city council
The developer of a residential community on Wards Ferry Road, in a lawsuit filed against the Lynchburg City Council, is calling the council’s decision to deny the company a rezoning permit “invalid” and “devoid of any reasoned basis.” City council’s 4-3 vote to reject Timberlake Investments LLC’s application to build 18 townhouses and a duplex on Wards Ferry Road, near Timberlake Road, came on the same night in March that the council voted to approve a 750-unit housing development on Wiggington Road proposed by Langley Land and Jam 89. . . . At the March 11 council meeting, Ward IV Councilman Chris Faraldi criticized council’s decision to approve the Wiggington Road development but reject the Wards Ferry Road rezoning application to build the 18 townhouses and duplex.
City of Bristol, experts to review efforts to end odors from former landfill
City leaders plan to review its efforts to eliminate odors from the quarry landfill, according to a statement issued Friday. Contractors have installed a $10 million sidewall odor mitigation system and expanded the gas collection efforts in the now shuttered landfill and workers continue refining those operations, a city official previously said. Despite that, the city received about 400 odor complaints during the first four months of this year.
Today's Sponsor:
Virginia Retired Teachers Association
It has been said that teachers affect eternity. They never know where their influence stops. VRTA thanks teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week May 5-9.
EDITORIALS
Virginia should move to purchase, preserve Monroe estate
What a shame it will be if Virginia squanders an opportunity to turn Oak Hill, the Loudoun County home of President James Monroe, into a state park. The Delashmutt family, which bought the historic house on 1,200 acres in Northern Virginia more than 70 years ago, wants to sell the estate for $20 million, well below market value, to the Conservation Fund, a nonprofit preservation group hoping to make Oak Hill a state park and museum.
COLUMNISTS
Yancey: Jobless workers in Emporia are paying the price for nation’s inability to deal with high housing costs
Emporia took a hard blow last week when the Georgia-Pacific plywood mill announced it’s closing, leaving 550 people out of work. That follows another hard blow last year, when the Boar’s Head Provision Co. meat plant in nearby Jarratt in Greensville County closed. No community wants to lose a major employer; between them, Emporia and Greensville County have now lost two in less than a year’s time. These two plant closings are unrelated — Boar’s Head was linked to a listeria outbreak that led to 10 deaths across the country. That’s a tragedy, but it may not directly stem from a public policy choice. However, Georgia-Pacific cited national declines in homebuilding and homebuying, and those are very much connected to public policy.
Yancey: Republican House primary in Danville draws more opening day voters than any other GOP races in the state
Republican voters in Danville are showing more interest in the House of Delegates primary in their area than voters in any of the other eight Republican primaries in the state. That’s based on the numbers from the first day totals on Friday. While just one day, those first-day totals are often a good indicator of overall interest in a race. There are 17 primaries — eight Republican, nine Democratic — to settle House of Delegates nominations this year.
OP-ED
Rozell: Youngkin’s blunder clouds his political future
Glenn Youngkin cultivated a very successful brand as a thoughtful and likeable leader. During his successful campaign for governor four years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the first Trump presidency, it was exactly what Republicans and even many moderates were looking for. His fumbling responses and failure to think through last week’s salacious allegations against John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, is a miscalculation that haunts the lame-duck governor as he surveys what are quite likely diminished prospects for future elective office.
Kish: Dominion’s gas addiction is proving costly for Virginians
If we’ve learned anything from recent weather events, it’s that extreme weather is here to stay. Cold snaps, heat waves and tropical storms are all part of what has become Virginia’s “new normal.” So when Dominion Energy cited high gas prices incurred during the January freeze in its recent proposal to raise rates, it was a sign — a bad sign for customers — of things to come. It was a sign that Dominion will make fuel-related rate hikes part of the “new normal,” too.
Nelson: John Reid? Hypocrisy is what’s killing American democracy
I am a Christian and a political independent — socially moderate, fiscally conservative, grounded in traditional values. For over two decades, I was a loyal Republican. But when Donald Trump hijacked the party I once believed in, I walked away — and never looked back. My principles, though, haven’t changed. I don’t always agree with every Republican candidate, and I don’t share every conviction of John Reid, the openly gay Republican running for lieutenant governor of Virginia. But fairness is fairness, and right is right. What’s happening to Reid isn’t just wrong — it’s revealing.
Kenner: Facts, not rhetoric, should drive menhaden decisions
In the debate over the future of the Atlantic menhaden fishery, working families are being pushed to the margins. The fishermen, plant workers and coastal community members who have sustained this industry for generations are too often falsely portrayed as obstacles to conservation. Meanwhile, environmental activist groups are assumed to speak for the public good. But regulators and members of the public should not accept the premise that these groups speak for the public interest simply because they say so on their websites.
Gretz: A brighter future for Virginia’s rural schools
As the current superintendent of the Fluvanna County Public Schools and now in my 35th year as a Virginia educator, I have had the responsibility and privilege of impacting the education of countless students. I constantly strive to find creative ways to maximize our community’s resources as efficiently as possible. This can be especially challenging for smaller, rural communities where resources are limited. I am proud of the bipartisan work our General Assembly has done to promote and make available a win-win solution to help address this resource challenge by reducing our energy costs 25%.
Marshall and Pressley: Students hate it, teachers love it. Our research shows cellphone bans work
Over the past year, several states have moved to ban cellphones in school as part of an effort to eliminate distractions in the classroom, improve student mental health, and increase post-pandemic learning. Beginning Jan. 1, an executive order restricting student cellphone use in Virginia schools from bell to bell, including during lunch and in the hallways between classes, went into effect. Research on the effects of such bans is still emerging, so we partnered with a school division in Virginia to assess how the policy was working in practice.