Search
Bedford County School Board cuts damages sought in lawsuit against parent to $1
The Bedford County School Board has reduced the price tag on its lawsuit against a parent from $600,000 to just $1. The school board sued David Rife for damages of $600,000 in late March, alleging he used crude language and threatened police and legal action during repeated calls to the school district about his son. Rife’s son, who attends Staunton River High School, is on an individualized education program for a learning disability, but Rife has claimed repeatedly over the course of several years that his son wasn’t receiving the services outlined in his plan.
Three Democrats seeking 5th District nomination agree to agree in campaign forum
Three Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination in the June 18 primary elections in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District to take on Rep. Bob Good, R-Campbell County, the incumbent, who faces his own primary challenge by state Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland. The three Democratic candidates, Paul Riley, Gary Terry, and Gloria Witt, met at a candidate forum in Danville on Thursday evening to discuss their backgrounds and legislative priorities and generally agreed on the issues. They also talked about how they’d run in November against a GOP candidate in a heavily Republican district.
Youngkin announces formal relationship between Virginia National Guard, Finland
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who is currently traveling through Europe on an international trade mission, has announced a formal relationship between the Virginia National Guard (VNG) and Finland. According to Youngkin’s office, the Virginia National Guard was selected as the U.S. partner to Finland as part of the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program. Youngkin took part in an official state partnership signing ceremony at the Finnish Ministry of Defense in Helsinki to commemorate the relationship.
Hanover officials discuss major solar farm development
Hanover County is in the early stages of reviewing what would be the largest solar development to come to Hanover’s Beaverdam District since the county adopted a broadened solar policy. The project was submitted by North Carolina-based Strata Clean Energy LLC, who has constructed 12 solar projects in Virginia. To date, Hanover has only approved four solar projects in the county. Strata aims to rezone around 1,477 acres of privately-owned land adjacent to the North Anna River in order to build a solar farm capable of producing 72-megawatts worth of electricity; enough to power around 18,000 homes.
Police raze pro-Palestine encampment at VCU; students outraged
Pro-Palestine VCU students protested what they called the ongoing genocide in Gaza on Monday, April 29, by building an encampment on campus. The protest began with song and dance and ended with pepper spray, smoke bombs and 13 arrests by police. The incident comes amid a wave of pro-Palestinian protests and consequential arrests on college campuses across the country. In Virginia, at least 94 protesters in total have been arrested at Virginia Tech and the University of Mary Washington over the last week. Students started peaceful protests at the University of Virginia and Christopher Newport University on Tuesday, April 30, and at James Madison University on Wednesday, May 1, according to reports by multiple Virginia newspapers.
Lerch: Va. counties step up to meet solar energy demand
There’s been considerable discussion recently regarding county review and approval of utility-scale solar projects. We would like to provide some context to this important conversation on behalf of Virginia counties. Members of the Virginia Association of Counties are accommodating this emerging and intensive land use in a responsible and inclusive manner. Over the past decade, Virginia local governments have approved 260 projects totaling 11,640 megawatts in capacity generation. That’s 69 counties, eight cities and six towns that have said yes to utility-scale solar ...
These are the people who will decide Metro’s future
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) have created a task force charged with developing a unified vision for the region’s transportation system and coming up with a sustainable funding model for Metro that is palatable to political leaders in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The task force, dubbed DMV Moves, was unveiled in D.C. Wednesday at the first-ever joint board meeting of two organizations. The 20-person task force will be made up primarily of political leaders across D.C., Virginia and Maryland appointed by the Council of Governments as well as four representatives appointed by Metro.
Funding from the Virginia Lottery a drop in the bucket for school divisions
As funding troubles put some schools in our region on the chopping block, some may wonder why lottery funds aren’t coming to the rescue. After all, since the year 2000, all lottery profits have gone to education by law. The big jackpots bring in big money for the Virginia lottery, with dreamers hoping to cash in on prizes like April’s $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot.
Metro, Council of Governments create regional task force to begin discussions on funding solutions
Setting up Metro with dedicated funding has been discussed for decades in the region but still hasn’t come to fruition. Now, WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments hope a regional task force can finally bring about an agreeable plan of action. … According to COG, in addition to solutions for funding Metro, a new group will look at how all regional transportation agencies work together and are governed. DMV Moves is a 20-member task force that will be made up of local and state leaders from D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Virginia attorney general joins efforts to fight back against Title IX changes
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has joined a multi-state effort to stop new Title IX rules from going into effect. The list of new rules designed to protect victims of campus sexual assaults and the rights of LGBTQ+ students has come under attack by Republican attorneys general in several states. Miyares called the changes a “dangerous overhaul” of Title IX, and said the new rules would negatively impact students, families and schools in the commonwealth. The ruling also comes after Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration overhauled the commonwealth’s transgender student policies.