By LAURA VOZZELLA,
Washington Post
(Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
A bill to bring slots-like gaming machines to neighborhood stores and restaurants across Virginia hangs in limbo, approved by the General Assembly but awaiting action from Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The Republican has been on a tear with vetoes since the legislature adjourned March 9 without authorizing his plan to build a $2 billion publicly financed sports arena in Alexandria for the Washington Capitals and Wizards. Youngkin hinted weeks ago that the “skill games” bill — championed by the legislature’s chief arena roadblock, Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) — could be a target. He ramped up the threat Friday ...
By KATHERINE HAFNER,
WHRO
A coalition of conservative groups is suing to halt Dominion Energy from constructing its planned wind farm off Virginia Beach, arguing federal officials have failed to adequately consider its potential impacts to endangered whales. The groups, which include the Heartland Institute and Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, filed suit in federal court Monday against agencies including the National Marine Fisheries Service and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The plaintiffs say the government “illegally approved Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project by ignoring glaring and obvious procedural errors that subjects the endangered North Atlantic right whale to further grave harm.”
By ANDREW CAIN,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
John Reid, a conservative morning talk show host on Richmond’s WRVA radio, told listeners on Monday that he is exploring a GOP run for lieutenant governor in 2025. “I’m thankful for WRVA and for the people who’ve supported me here and I pray that that’s going to continue,” he told listeners. “But now I look around and I think it may be time to step up, where I see a place that will need leadership in the future.”
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
A federal judge gave a greenlight Monday to a novel legal argument challenging Virginia’s longstanding felon disenfranchisement policy based on limits imposed on the state when the Civil War ended.
The lawsuit is focused on the 1870 Virginia Readmission Act, a federal law that allowed the former Confederate state to rejoin the U.S. Congress. As a condition for regaining elected representatives in the federal government, the law states that the Virginia Constitution cannot be used to deprive anyone of voting rights “except as a punishment for such crimes that are now felonies at common law.”
By ANNA BRYSON,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Black students in Powhatan County told the county School Board on Monday evening that they are sick of being called racial slurs at school and on their school bus.
“Something has to change. I can’t live like this,” one student said.
Hundreds of people attended an impassioned Powhatan School Board meeting amid allegations of racist incidents in the county’s school system. The board was not expected to take action at the meeting.
By SAMUEL B. PARKER,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Henrico County police announced Monday that officers would no longer be responding to several types of service calls, such as certain medical emergencies, animal-related incidents, abandoned vehicles, noise complaints and marijuana use. The changes, which are effective immediately, will help the division “reduce ... call volume to provide better, more efficient response times to community members in need,” said Henrico Police Chief Eric English.