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Two GOP contenders seek Trump’s nod for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District primary

By ELIZABETH BEYER, News Leader (Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)

Republican Congressman Bob Good has faced a primary challenger in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District before, but June’s primary will be different than the contests he’s won in the past. That’s thanks to a state law that was patroned by Democratic Del. Dan Helmer and signed by former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam in March 2021. That law, which went into effect in January, had one unintended consequence: It all but outlawed conventions in any election, including party primaries, in Virginia.

VaNews May 23, 2024


Mapping Arlington’s History of Racially Restrictive Neighborhoods

By STEPHANIE KANOWITZ, Arlington Magazine

Northern Virginia’s fraught history of racial discrimination is well-documented. Now, three researchers have mapped out just how prevalent “whites-only” housing was in the early 20th century—and how those exclusionary policies shaped the communities we live in today. Their hope is that their work will inspire current residents to investigate and learn from their property’s past. Covenants preventing non-White people from owning or occupying land were once commonplace in this area. “[The practice] was pretty evenly spread across Arlington,” says Krystyn Moon, a researcher and a professor of history and American studies at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Fredericksburg.

VaNews May 23, 2024


Schapiro: VP talk an unnecessary distraction for Va. governor

By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Trump-a-canoe and Youngkin, too. Having passed on a national candidacy in 2024 — and having endorsed for restoration to the presidency, Donald Trump, the crass Republican disrupter for whom Glenn Youngkin apparently envisioned himself as a well-mannered, less menacing alternative — the Virginian now finds himself mentioned as one of Trump’s prospective vice presidential running mates.

VaNews May 23, 2024


Virginia Tech protesters offered community service in lieu of trial

By PAYTON WILLIAMS, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The 82 people arrested and charged with trespassing at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Virginia Tech will have the option not to go to trial, in exchange for 25 hours of community service. Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney Mary Pettitt said that a notice has been mailed to those who were charged offering a chance to enter a pre-trial diversion program. The program’s requirements are that, ahead of the person’s assigned court date, they must go in person to the county General District Court with a copy of the diversion letter, pay $99 for court fees, and complete their community service hours within six months.

VaNews May 23, 2024


Virginia scholarship aiding those impacted by Massive Resistance and their descendants gets record funding

By BRAD KUTNER, WVTF-FM

A scholarship to aid those impacted by the inequity of Virginia’s schools to Black students over 70 years ago is entering the summer with record funds and a record number of recipients. Before the U.S. The Supreme Court outlawed school segregation in May 1954, Virginia’s system of public education left Black kids and their schools far behind. Among them was Barbara Johns who went on to be a plaintiff in the historic Brown vs. the Board of Education case. A committee and scholarship designed to benefit those who were subject to that mistreatment and their descendants now bears the name of the suit.

VaNews May 23, 2024


Claims in lawsuit by UVa Jewish student evaluated by others

By EMILY HEMPHILL, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

A Jewish University of Virginia student from Israel has filed suit against the school in federal court, claiming he has been the victim of antisemitism on Grounds and that, further, UVa leaders knew and did nothing to stop it. ... Legal experts are skeptical about Goldstein’s claims and doubt the complaint, filed on May 17, will find much success in court. “This is an embarrassment to the legal profession. This isn’t a complaint,” attorney Jeff Fogel told The Daily Progress. “It makes claims which, frankly, I know to be lies, and on the other hand, it makes claims it can’t back up.”

VaNews May 23, 2024


State, federal aid help Brown v. Board of Education scholarship fund reach over $3.4 million

By NATHANIEL CLINE, Virginia Mercury

On the heels of the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which mandated public school desegregation nationwide, Virginia’s scholarship fund named after the landmark Supreme Court ruling has gained $2.5 million in federal and state aid. The state’s Brown V. Board of Education Scholarship fund now stands at more than $3.4 million, after $500,000 in federal funds were awarded in March and $2 million in state funds were confirmed in the commonwealth’s newly passed two-year spending plan, according to the scholarship committee.

VaNews May 23, 2024


Main: Will Virginia’s residential solar market survive the coming year?

By IVY MAIN, published in Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

When the Virginia Clean Economy Act became law in 2020, solar advocates celebrated. In addition to creating a framework for a transition to a zero-carbon electricity sector by 2050, the VCEA and sister legislation known as Solar Freedom swept away multiple barriers to installing solar in Virginia. Among the new provisions were some that strengthened net metering, the program that allows residents, businesses and local governments who install solar on site to be credited for excess electricity they feed back to the grid.

Main is a lawyer and a longtime volunteer with the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter.

VaNews May 23, 2024


Virginia distilleries generate over $275.9 million in revenue

By COLLEEN CURRAN, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginia’s distillery industry generated an economic impact of more than $1.1 billion and supported more than 3,000 jobs in 2022, according to a study by Economic Forensics and Analytics Inc., commissioned by the Virginia Spirits Board (VSB). There were approximately 81 licensed and revenue-generating distilleries in Virginia in 2022.

VaNews May 23, 2024


Lawmakers call for further inquiry into Virginia prison that had hypothermia hospitalizations

By SARAH RANKIN, Associated Press

A raft of hypothermia hospitalizations and other questionable conditions at a Virginia prison uncovered in a recent report deserve further scrutiny, leading Democratic state lawmakers said this week. Lawmakers pledged to press Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration for answers and called for a newly created prisons watchdog to look into the findings of an Associated Press report, which found at least 13 hospitalizations for hypothermia over three years at the Marion Correctional Treatment Center.

VaNews May 23, 2024