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Protesters clash with Marjorie Taylor Greene, McGuire at campaign rally in Albemarle

By MARKUS SCHMIDT, Cardinal News

Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland County, Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and their supporters faced an unruly crowd of protesters at a campaign event in deep-blue Albemarle County on Wednesday that left the congresswoman saying she feared for her life. “The crowd was … I’d call them insane. They were just out of control, screaming, shouting, coming extremely close to me,” Greene said in a phone interview after the event’s conclusion. “One woman actually came around back and grabbed me, I had to push her off. These people were very aggressive.”

VaNews June 6, 2024


Virginia man’s brothers died in WWII, but French admirers keep their memory alive

By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Donald Stevens couldn’t make it to Normandy this year for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday, but he considers his spirit to be there anyway. It’s there with his brother Paul, killed two weeks after landing at Omaha Beach in the Allied invasion. And it’s there with another brother, Bill, killed nearly a year later in Germany as the war neared its end. Donald Stevens, now 97, was the youngest of the three. When he became the sole survivor on active duty, the military told the teenage seaman second class to go home to prevent more deaths in one family. He refused and wound up relegated to a dead-end assignment in Philadelphia, angry and bereft.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Marjorie Taylor Greene, John McGuire shouted down by protesters, cut short Albemarle County campaign rally

By JASON ARMESTO, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s visit to Albemarle County started late and ended early Wednesday afternoon, after loud chants from protesters overwhelmed her megaphone and cut short her campaign rally for fellow Republican John McGuire. The Georgia congresswoman dropped into Virginia’s 5th Congressional District Wednesday, where McGuire, a state senator, is challenging incumbent Rep. Bob Good in the upcoming GOP primary. While the 5th is a deep-red district in the heart of Virginia, Albemarle County is a longtime Democratic stronghold — and that much was clear Wednesday.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Dominion customers to get cheaper electric bills after state’s exit from Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

A surcharge on Dominion Energy bills to cover costs incurred from Virginia’s now-abandoned participation in a multi-state greenhouse gas reduction program is going away next month, the State Corporation Commission decided. The decision, requested by Dominion, translates to a $4.43 savings on a benchmark monthly bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours – a bill that now costs $138. The electric monopoly said that Virginia’s withdrawal at the end of last year from what’s now the 11-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative means it no longer has to pay the body for the carbon gas it emits.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol pushes back grand opening to later in year

By FAITH LITTLE, WJHL-TV

Leaders with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Bristol announced on Wednesday that the grand opening of the permanent casino and resort space, initially intended for July, has been pushed back to later this year. A news release from the casino said a new timeline for the permanent casino and resort’s completion was rolled out, which involves a late-year grand opening.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Chesapeake-based Dollar Tree looking at options for Family Dollar, including possible sale of segment

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, Associated Press

Discount retailer Dollar Tree says it’s looking at strategic options for the Family Dollar stores that it owns, including a possible sale of the segment. Dollar Tree said Wednesday that alternatives also include a spinoff or other disposition of the business. Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar nearly a decade ago for more than $8 billion after a bidding war with rival Dollar General. But the company has had difficulty incorporating Family Dollar into its business and recently announced that it would close nearly 1,000 stores, with most of them being Family Dollar locations.

VaNews June 6, 2024


After botched real estate deal, state watchdog recommends changes to VCU Health’s board

By BRAD KUTNER, WVTF-FM

Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, or JLARC, recommended changes to Virginia Commonwealth University’s hospital system leadership Wednesday. The review came after a botched real estate deal between the city of Richmond and the hospital’s board. The more than $600 million plan seemed like a good idea back in early 2021. It would’ve brought a large office park, retail space and parking to downtown Richmond. But after the pandemic hit, the idea was scrapped – leaving VCU Health owing about $80 million dollars to the city and another $2.5 million annually as a “payment in lieu of taxes”

VaNews June 6, 2024


Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Bob Good a ‘liar’ and John McGuire a ‘loyalist’ at rally

By CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS, Virginia Mercury

Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland, and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stepped off a bus emblazoned with former President Donald Trump’s name and image in Louisa County on Wednesday, smiling like longtime friends. The state and federal politicians have only interacted in recent months, but Greene said she trusts McGuire and hopes he’ll become her future colleague in the U.S. House of Representatives. McGuire, a state senator and former state delegate, is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-Campbell, in a Republican primary for Virginia’s 5th congressional district.

VaNews June 6, 2024


State review of failed Richmond development calls for changes at VCU Health

By JONATHAN SPIERS, Richmond BizSense

A year after a Richmond BizSense report revealed that backing out of an ill-fated downtown development cost VCU Health $80 million and counting, a state review is calling for significant changes to the health system’s leadership structure. At a meeting Wednesday of the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission, the oversight agency of the Virginia General Assembly, JLARC staff presented the findings and recommendations from a monthslong study of VCU Health aimed at improving the health system’s governance and process for reviewing and approving capital projects.

VaNews June 6, 2024


Youngkin moves to lift Virginia’s strict auto emissions standards

By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said Wednesday that he will withdraw the state from participation in California’s tough auto emissions standards at the end of this year, citing an opinion from Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) as justification for undoing an action taken by the General Assembly but causing Democrats to accuse him of overreach.

VaNews June 6, 2024