Wittman, Kiggans back Trump bill, despite Medicaid cuts
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, and Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-2nd, may have crossed the line they drew for protecting Virginia's Medicaid program, voting on Thursday to pass the budget package that would make deeper cuts to the health care safety net than the bill that the House of Representatives had approved in late May. Wittman and Kiggans, facing reelection challenges in swing districts next year, had signed letters to Republican leaders that said they could not support legislation that would reduce Medicaid health coverage for vulnerable populations.
Elimination of DEI played out differently at VCU and UVa
When state and federal officials told Virginia Commonwealth University to scrub DEI from every corner of campus, the university's administrators went straight to work. They dissolved the university's central office for diversity, equity and inclusion and started reviewing the work of DEI employees. They even hired a consultant to check their work. At the University of Virginia, however, things played out much differently. Its board voted to eliminate the university's office for DEI, but what the school's administration did next is unclear. Weeks later, federal officials and conservative alumni accused UVa making change too slowly.
Ex-Richneck teacher’s lawsuit against former assistant principal can move forward, judge rules
The former teacher at Richneck Elementary School who was shot by a 6-year-old student in early 2023 can proceed with her lawsuit against the school’s former assistant principal, a judge ruled Thursday. But Newport News Circuit Court Judge Matthew W. Hoffman tossed the claims that Abby Zwerner filed against two other defendants — Richneck’s former principal and the former Newport News schools superintendent.
Jefferson letter goes on sale for $90,000
Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence alongside another leader of the time – Benjamin Harrison the Fifth. He was serving as governor of Virginia, and the two corresponded often about the important issues of the time. Shortly after the American Revolution, Jefferson wrote to Harrison about a subject that remains controversial today. . . . The Second Amendment did not yet exist, but Jefferson was adamant that people have the right to defend their country.
Friday Read Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Youngkin heads to the land where tall corn grows - along with presidential bids
Many Virginians head for the beach or the Blue Ridge for a summer break, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin is bound for Iowa and South Carolina. And while Des Moines hosts the nation’s biggest skate park and Columbia, S.C. is proud of its Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, both states also happen to be early gatekeepers to the Republican Party's 2028 nomination for president. Not, Youngkin says, that that’s on his mind.
CONGRESS
Here’s how Hampton Roads lawmakers voted on Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
Republican leaders in the House found enough votes Thursday to pass President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” after several Republicans flipped their votes overnight to support the massive bill. The bill extends Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax breaks to make them permanent and allows workers tax deductions on a portion of tips and overtime pay. Overall, the bill will raise the country’s debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
Over 734,000 Hampton Roads residents await impact of Medicaid funding changes
Over 734,000 Virginians in the Hampton Roads area currently rely on Medicaid and FAMIS (Family Access to Medical Insurance Security) for their healthcare needs. It's a number that could see significant shifts with federal funding cuts following the passage of President Trump's spending bill on Thursday.
Renewables face setback under sweeping federal spending bill
Congress on Thursday afternoon passed the sweeping spending package dubbed the “one big beautiful bill,” marking a major legislative win for President Donald Trump — but clean energy advocates say it could derail future renewable projects. The House approved the measure after the Senate significantly revised the original proposal. For a moment, the renewable energy industry was stunned by provisions that included a proposed tax on solar and wind power, along with an accelerated phase out of Biden-era tax credits. Although the final version of the bill dropped the proposed tax, it also eliminated the electric vehicle tax credit established under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
Smithsonian committed to keeping space shuttle in Chantilly despite relocation proposal
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has no intention right now of shipping off a centerpiece of its Chantilly facility to Texas. The federal budget bill that squeaked through the Republican-led U.S. Senate on Tuesday (July 1) includes a provision directing NASA to transfer the Discovery space shuttle from its longtime home at the Udvar-Hazy Center to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, allocating $85 million toward transportation and construction costs. However, the Smithsonian Institution asserts that it has full ownership of the shuttle, suggesting NASA would have no authority to relocate it even if the proposal makes it to the final budget package intact.
ECONOMY/BUSINESS
Report: South Korean car maker is interested in a former ethanol plant site in Hopewell
Hopewell is an apparent finalist to be the host city of an automobile-customization plant that could bring as many as 3,000 manufacturing jobs to town. South Korea-based Global Autotech Co. LLC is interested in the former Green Plains ethanol plant on South 6th Avenue, according to a report from the DBS Public Affairs Group, Hopewell’s legislative consulting firm.
Buc-ee’s just opened its first Va. location. It is truly a behemoth.
Want to microdose Texas this summer? Start in the roasting asphalt parking lot at Buc-ee’s. Wipe the sweat from your brow as you shovel down a bun stuffed with 13-hour-smoked and barbecued brisket, and sip the Styrofoam cup of cream soda on the hood of your car. Lock eyes with the red-capped, bucktoothed beaver, whose cartoon face appears on gas pump awnings, towering highway signs and just about everywhere else at the 74,000-square-foot country store. Virginia welcomed its first iteration of the Texas-based chain in Rockingham County, six miles south of James Madison University, with much fanfare on Monday.
HIGHER EDUCATION
‘This is not the Virginia way’: U.Va. alumni respond to President Ryan’s resignation
After seven years serving in the position, University President Jim Ryan publicly announced his resignation Friday following demands from the Department of Justice for him to step down from the role. The Cavalier Daily invited University alumni to share their thoughts on the situation via email, and many who responded expressed negative feelings about the news. In their responses, many alums criticized the Trump administration for overstepping its boundaries and abusing its power for political gains. Many also criticized the Board of Visitors for accepting Ryan’s resignation and for failing to uphold the values of the University.
‘This is our university’: UVA faculty, lawmakers push back against Jim Ryan’s forced exit
University of Virginia’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer “J.J.” Wagner Davis will act as president while the board works on finding a replacement for outgoing President Jim Ryan, the UVA Board of Visitors announced on June 30. But some UVA faculty members say the board’s statement is premature. It’s too early to discuss replacements, they say. They plan to contest Ryan’s ouster — and hopefully reverse it.
VIRGINIA OTHER
A year before declaring independence, colonists offered ‘Olive Branch’ petition to King George III
Alarmed by the policies of President Donald Trump, millions turned out last month for protests around the United States and overseas. Mindful of next year’s 250th anniversary of American independence, organizers called the movement “No Kings.” Had the same kind of rallies been called for in the summer of 1775, the response likely would have been more cautious. “It (‘No Kings’) was probably a minority opinion in July 1775,” says H.W. Brands, a prize-winning scholar and chair of the history department at the University of Texas at Austin.
ICE increasingly targets undocumented migrants with no criminal record
The Trump administration is increasingly targeting unauthorized immigrants with no criminal record as it ramps up arrests, a Washington Post analysis of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data shows. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem often touts that ICE officers are arresting the “worst of the worst.” But more than half of those removed from the country since Jan. 20 do not have a criminal conviction. . . . Texas, Florida and California registered the highest number of arrests, but many other states saw substantial increases. In Virginia, ICE officers arrested four times as many people in the first months of the Trump administration as they did over that same period in 2024. That is the biggest percentage increase of any state.
LOCAL
Loudoun Supervisors Support Dominion Plans for Transmission Line in Existing Rights-of-Way
County supervisors this week affirmed support for plans by Dominion Energy to build a transmission line up through south Loudoun using existing rights-of-way. The Morrisville to Wishing Star line is planned to span three counties and will be 36.5 miles long. Of those, 4.8 miles are planned in Loudoun from the Mosby substation, which is south of Braddock Road and just north of the county line, to the planned Wishing Star substation, which will be built north of Rt. 50 along Northstar Boulevard.
Despite residents' objections, Four Seasons board backs data center plan
Over the loud objections of several residents, the Four Seasons homeowners’ association board of directors voted unanimously Wednesday to endorse a plan to allow up to five data centers on undeveloped land between their over-55 community and Interstate 95. The vote came after a packed town hall meeting in the Four Seasons community room, where several residents pleaded with the board not to endorse a move to open the densely forested area behind their community to data centers. One person spoke in support of the project.
Ex-Virginia Beach prosecutor avoids jail time after pleading guilty to stealing crime victim funds
A former Virginia Beach prosecutor who pleaded guilty in March to embezzling money from crime victims to fund his gambling addiction will not serve jail time. James Spero Panagis Jr., 46, was sentenced last week to three years supervised probation along with a five-year suspended sentence. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of embezzlement of greater than $500, two felony counts of uttering a forged check and two felony counts of embezzlement by a public officer.
Virginia county says April ransomware attack exposed employee SSNs
Government employees working for the county of Gloucester in Virginia had Social Security numbers and other sensitive data stolen during a ransomware attack in April. The county sent 3,527 current and former employees notices this week warning that their personal information was accessed by hackers who breached county systems on April 22. In addition to Social Security numbers, names, driver’s license numbers, bank account information, health insurance numbers and medical information was also stolen during the incident.
OP-ED
Ramadan: Losing pandemic-era tax credits would devastate Virginia
Across Virginia, too many families still gather around the kitchen table facing impossible choices — what to pay now, what to delay, what to go without. But in recent years, one essential need has been made a little easier: health insurance. For over 350,000 Virginians, expanded access to affordable coverage through the federal marketplace has been a lifeline. That relief is thanks to the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits (EPTCs) — a bipartisan response to the pandemic that helped lower premiums and stabilize working families. But this progress is now at risk. These tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts. If they’re allowed to lapse, premiums will skyrocket — and the consequences will be felt immediately.
Harned: Embrace transportation energy independence this July 4
It’s an American tradition: hit the highways for the beach or other fun destinations during the July 4 holiday. Recently AAA released its annual July 4 travel projection, and it’s going to be another record year for American travelers — 72.2 million on the highways, which is a 1.7 million increase from last year. AAA also shares great opportunities for information on technology and efficiency that can make for a better traveling holiday for Virginians.