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End to no-strings-attached free checking raises concerns among some advocates for low-income residents
The Roanoke-based credit union Freedom First has become the latest financial institution to stop offering no-strings-attached free checking accounts. The credit union switched about 20,000 of its more than 60,000 members from its basic “Freedom Checking” accounts to its new “Freedom Perks” accounts on May 1. The new accounts carry benefits such as credit monitoring and roadside assistance but, starting June 1, will charge a $7 monthly fee unless a customer maintains a $2,500 average daily account balance or is under age 21. As Freedom First and other financial institutions have enacted such requirements, they have raised concern among some who argue that people with low incomes struggle to meet the requirements or pay the fees.
Toxic sediment cleanup at Chesapeake’s Money Point finally entering last leg
The industrial area of Money Point in Chesapeake was once the most contaminated section of the Elizabeth River, and among the worst in the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed. Visitors could smell toxic creosote that covered the river bottom feet-thick, a tar-based substance used by industrial plants to preserve lumber coming from places like the Great Dismal Swamp. By the 1990s and early 2000s, the ecosystem was pretty much dead, said Marjorie Mayfield Jackson, executive director of the nonprofit Elizabeth River Project.
12,000 Virginians who died in combat honored at War Memorial ceremony
Charles T. Lewis went 80 years without recognition. But last month, that clerical mistake was corrected, and Lewis, a Norfolk soldier who died fighting in Normandy during World War II, finally had his name etched in the Virginia War Memorial’s glass Shrine of Memory. His legacy — and that of nearly 12,000 other Virginians who died in combat — was at the heart of the 68th Memorial Day Ceremony held by the Virginia War Memorial.
Fairfax Co. schools staff eligible for maternity, paternity leave benefits starting this summer
Fairfax County Public Schools teachers and staff will be eligible to get maternity or paternity leave starting July 1. School Board Member Melanie Meren said Virginia’s largest school district is expected to learn more details about the county’s program this summer. Information on human resources-related matters is usually shared in July, she said. … The maternity and paternity leave, Meren said, gives the district an added recruitment advantage.
How a simple fix could double the size of the U.S. electricity grid
There is one big thing holding the United States back from a pollution-free electricity grid running on wind, solar and battery power: not enough power lines. As developers rush to install wind farms and solar plants to power data centers, AI systems and electric vehicles, the nation’s sagging, out-of-date power lines are getting overwhelmed — slowing the transition to clean energy and the fight against climate change.
Youngkin joins veterans, families in commemorating Memorial Day at Virginia War Memorial
Hundreds of Virginians joined veterans, their families and Gov. Glenn Youngkin at the Virginia War Memorial on Monday for the Commonwealth’s 68th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony. “On Memorial Day, it is not the death of our service members, but it is how they lived their lives, that we must celebrate,” Youngkin said. Youngkin was joined by Major General James Wing, who served as the Adjutant General of Virginia.
Rozell: GOP House races expose the risks of far-right primary campaigns
Can a Republican primary campaign that is so ideologically extreme navigate back to the electable middle in time for the fall election? Two Virginia congressional races are testing the proposition and either could ultimately determine the balance of national power and profoundly shape U.S. policy for many years. One is the confusing and bitter nomination fight in the rural, strongly conservative 5th Congressional District that exposes deep fissures in the GOP.
New flights are coming to Reagan National Airport. Where will they go?
An aviation law signed by President Biden this month will add five new round-trip flights to Reagan National Airport. The move followed a year of political struggle, with backers citing the benefits of adding nonstop destinations and boosting competition and critics warning of new delays and safety risks on the airport’s already overused primary runway in Arlington, Va.
Tennessee gives this hospital monopoly, which operates in SW Va., an A grade — even when it reports failure
A Tennessee agency that is supposed to hold accountable and grade the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly awards full credit on dozens of quality-of-care measurements as long as it reports any value — regardless of how its hospitals actually perform. Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia, has received A grades and an annual stamp of approval from the Tennessee Department of Health. This has occurred as Ballad hospitals consistently fall short of performance targets established by the state, according to health department documents.
Bill and Hillary Clinton to headline Virginia fundraiser for Biden, hosted by McAuliffe
President Biden and former President Clinton will team up for a mega fundraiser inside the Beltway in late June, hosted by former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, Axios has learned. The event will be the third iteration of a successful fundraising formula that includes an evening with two (or three) Democratic presidents for the price of one. Scheduled for June 18, it follows the “three president” extravaganza in New York in April and a planned event with Biden, Clinton and former President Obama in mid-June in Los Angeles, hosted by George Clooney. The New York event brought in $26 million for Biden’s re-election effort.