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She Made an Offer on a Condo. Then the Seller Learned She Was Black.
Perched on a hill with a view of the Atlantic Ocean, the condo in Virginia Beach was just what Dr. Raven Baxter wanted. It had a marble fireplace, a private foyer and details like crown molding and wainscoting in its three bedrooms and three bathrooms. At $749,000, it was within her budget, too. She offered the asking price, which was accepted, and sent over a down payment. And then when she was in escrow earlier this month, her broker called her late at night on May 17, a Friday, with some bad news. The seller wanted to pull out of the deal. Why? “You could hear the fear and disbelief in his voice,” Dr. Baxter said, recalling what her broker told her next. “He said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but she doesn’t want to sell the home to you, and it’s because you’re Black.’”
Another near collision at DCA reignites Warner, Kaine ire over new flights
For the second time this spring, two planes nearly collided at Reagan National Airport, prompting Virginia's two senators to again criticize plans to add more long-haul flights at DCA. Around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, air traffic control at DCA told American Airlines flight 2134 bound for Boston to abort its ongoing takeoff procedure as it was about to cross paths with a private plane — call sign 0-AA or zero-alpha-alpha — that had already landed on an intersecting runway.
Virginia GOP condemns Trump verdict; Dems say no one is above the law
Many Virginia Republicans reacted with fury Thursday to former President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in the New York hush money case. Some said it will only further their determination to elect Trump in November. Virginia’s Democratic officeholders asserted that no one is above the law. Meantime, two Virginia law professors — Ilya Somin of George Mason University and Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond — said Trump remains eligible to hold the presidency again.
How a Richmond woman became a target in Trump trial defense
Former President Donald Trump cast a wide net in his defense against felony charges that he falsified business records to cover up hush money payments to an adult film star with whom he allegedly had sex. Wide enough from reach from New York City to Richmond, where the daughter of the judge presiding over the trial lives. Long before a New York jury convicted Trump on 34 counts on Thursday, Loren Merchan became a target for Trump and his defense team, who tried for more than a year to force her father, Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, to recuse himself from the case in part because of her work as an executive for a Chicago-based digital marketing firm that has worked for high-profile Democratic politicians, including President Joe Biden.
Register and Huntington: Foam plastics ban helps Virginia, and restaurants
Next summer, Virginians will witness measurable improvements as they drive along Virginia’s roads, visit beaches, parks or waterways. The improvement? Less litter from polystyrene food and beverage containers. Thanks to a 2021 law passed by the Virginia General Assembly, restaurants are required to phase out their use of containers made of polystyrene. For larger restaurant chains, the change will begin on July 1, 2025. Small restaurants will have an additional year.
Prince William school system, local union reach updated bargaining agreement
Prince William County Public Schools and the Prince William Education Association announced Thursday the two sides had solidified negotiations for the 2024-2025 collective bargaining agreement, the school division announced in a news release. The two sides have agreed to the implementation of six weeks paid parental leave, coupled with a new short-term disability leave program that allows for up to 12 weeks of paid leave for the birthing parent. The new leave program will also guarantee the educator’s position remains available upon return to their school following the use of the leave options.
Friday Read Ancient Chesapeake site challenges timeline of humans in the Americas
With the Chesapeake Bay sloshing at his knee-high boots, Darrin Lowery stood back and squinted at a 10-foot-tall bluff rising above a narrow strip of beach. To the untrained eye, this wall of sandy sediment is the unremarkable edge of a modest island southeast of the Bay Bridge. To Lowery, a coastal geologist, its crumbling layers put the island at the center of one of the most contentious battles in archaeology: when and how humans first made their way into the Americas. The story of the first Americans has long been a matter of public and scientific fascination, undergirded at times by vicious disagreements.
Five Years After Virginia Beach Shooting, ’No One Is Getting Better’
The ceremony on Friday afternoon will begin with the naming of the 12 people who were killed on May 31, 2019, when an embittered city employee carried out a shooting spree at the building where he worked. At the end of the event, the site of a future memorial will be dedicated, where, eventually, the 12 names will be etched into the landscape of Virginia Beach. The children of Mary Louise Gayle, whose name will be among them, have no plans to be at the ceremony. Sarah Leonard, her daughter, is taking her children camping. Matthew Gayle, her son, is resuming a sailing trip he cut short exactly five years earlier when he learned of a shooting at his mother’s workplace. They could not bring themselves to join hands with a city that they, and members of some of other victims’ families, say let them down.
University of Lynchburg cuts 17 programs, eliminates 40 staff member positions
The University of Lynchburg announced Thursday they are taking dramatic steps at the school as they enter a new era. But for some prospective students and current staff, those changes could be detrimental; 17 programs at the school are being cut, and 40 staff members’ positions have been “reduced.” Over the next three years, the school said another 40 faculty will be headed out the door for good as well.
Yancey: A convicted felon once drew nearly a million votes for president. In Virginia, he did best in Clifton Forge.
Former President Donald Trump is now a convicted felon, 34 times over. Among the many questions that this raises is a very practical one: Will Americans vote for a convicted felon for president? They have before. Eugene Debs ran for president five times: in 1900 as a Social Democrat and in 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920 as the nominee of the Socialist Party of America. That last time he ran from a prison cell in Atlanta, having been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sedition after criticizing U.S. involvement in World War I. Despite his conviction and incarceration — or perhaps because of it — he received more votes in 1920 than he ever had before, just under one million nationwide. He also made it to the White House later, albeit as a guest of President Warren Harding.