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By TRENT ENGLAND,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia voters can have confidence in November that the election process will be simple and their votes will count. That’s because of the defeat of two radical election proposals pushed by well-financed lobbying groups. Each would have made voting less transparent and more confusing. Voters were spared the latest mess only by gubernatorial veto on April 8. That bill, Senate Bill 428, would have required the commonwealth to assist local implementation of an election system known as ranked choice voting, or RCV.
England is founder and executive director of Save Our States and co-chairman of the Stop Ranked-Choice Voting Coalition.
VaNews April 23, 2024
ArlNow
Arlington’s Congressman split his votes on security funding bills for U.S. allies over the weekend.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) voted for bills to aid the defense of Ukraine, which is under Russian invasion, and Taiwan, which is under the threat of Chinese military action. He voted against defense aid for Israel, which is battling Hamas in a bloody conflict that has killed scores of civilians on both sides.
VaNews April 23, 2024
Virginian-Pilot
Editorial
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
By signing a bill last month that abolished child marriage, Gov. Glenn Youngkin made Virginia one of only a dozen states to prohibit the practice and the first Southern state to do so.
That’s a landmark for the commonwealth, one that should have earned unanimous support in the legislature. Those who voted against, including three Republicans from Hampton Roads, should account for their opposition.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By LUCA POWELL,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
A Richmond man associated with the white supremacist group Patriot Front is accused of striking a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building. Nathaniel Noyce of Richmond is charged with assaulting law enforcement officers, civil disorder, and violence and disorderly conduct at the Capitol.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By CHARLIE PAULLIN,
Virginia Mercury
President Joe Biden stopped by Prince William Forest Park in Triangle on Monday, as the country celebrated Earth Day, to tout two initiatives to combat climate change: expanding solar access and creating jobs to fuel America’s environmental efforts.
Called the Solar for All program, Biden told the crowd that families could save about $400 a year on their electric bills by tapping into the federal initiative that will provide grant funding to expand the development of solar projects nationwide.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Some Virginia state employees will pay more for health insurance beginning July 1, following the state’s latest review and projection of claims.
Overall, the state Department of Human Resource Management proposed a 6.3% increase in total premiums for the next fiscal year.
But full-time employee contributions — the sums taken out of paychecks — will rise by less than that. For some plans, there will be no increase at all.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By MICHAEL J. PETRILLI,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
If Virginia’s school system were a person, we’d say it was born on third base and thought it hit a triple. Indeed, the commonwealth’s education officials have spent so many years patting themselves on the back that their arms must hurt.
It’s true that some national magazines have ranked Virginia’s schools highly in the past. But that’s not surprising, given that it’s also one of the wealthiest states in the nation.
Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By CORMAC DODD,
Winchester Star
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Citing the national debt, U.S. Rep. Ben Cline (R-6th) voted against legislation that could send Ukraine $60 billion in foreign aid that passed the House over the weekend with bipartisan support. But Cline backed three other measures contained in the $95 billion package the House approved on Saturday, which included $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region to deter China; about $26 billion for supporting Israel and providing humanitarian relief for people in Gaza, and a measure that could force TikTok to sever ties with its parent company, Bytedance, or face a nationwide ban.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By ROSLYN RYAN,
Powhatan Today
After previously voting it down, the Powhatan County School Board voted 4-1 on April 16 in favor of adopting a controversial policy related to the division’s treatment of students who identify as transgender or nonbinary.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s “Model Policies on Ensuring Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools,” had been opposed 3-2 by the Powhatan School Board last December, during the last meeting of the previously-elected board.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By STAFF REPORT,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The CoStar Group, which announced in February plans to move its headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Rosslyn, announced that it will acquire California 3D technology company Matterport for $1.6 billion. Matterport offers 3-D capture technology which delivers “dimensionally accurate, photorealistic virtual tours” for any type of property and is widely used in real estate. ... CoStar said last year it expected to hire 2,000 more people in Richmond, putting its workforce here at about 3,500.
VaNews April 23, 2024