By ANDREW CAIN,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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Virginia Democrats are criticizing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointment of Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega to the State Board of Health. Vega, who lost a close 2022 congressional contest to Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the 7th District, drew fire on abortion early in her campaign for celebrating the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and for appearing to suggest that impregnation might be less likely as a result of rape.
By ANNA BRYSON,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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Gov. Glenn Youngkin is concerned that several Virginia school divisions — including three of the state's largest — are using a Chinese-owned tutoring platform associated with TikTok's parent company.
The online service tutor.com is controlled by Primavera Holdings Limited, a firm owned by Chinese nationals with a principal place of business in Hong Kong, China, according to its website.
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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More than 400 bishops, clergy and religious leaders from across the state are asking Gov. Glenn Youngkin to accept legislation that would raise the minimum wage.
Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and House Bill 1, sponsored by Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, would increase the minimum wage from the current $12 an hour to $13.50 on Jan. 1 and $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2026.
The hikes would mean a pay increase for 611,000 Virginians, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy said.
By NATHANIEL CLINE,
Virginia Mercury
The Virginia General Assembly passed a measure three years ago allowing local governments to decrease roadway speed limits in their localities to as low as 15 mph. But recently, lawmakers found that the Virginia Department of Transportation denied seven of eight speed limit decrease requests, because, by state law, only the Commissioner of Highways can authorize changes on state-maintained roads.
Earlier this month, legislation advanced that would expand a locality’s speed-reducing authority to roadways within a business or residence district, including state-owned highways.
By CATHY DYSON,
Free Lance-Star
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When Gov. Glenn Youngkin gathered with local officials last week to celebrate data center development in the Fredericksburg region, one locality was missing from the party. King George County was the first in the immediate Fredericksburg area to approve the rezonings needed for Amazon Web Services to set up shop. However, no one from King George stood with Board of Supervisors’ members from Caroline, Louisa, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties at the governor’s gathering at Germanna Community College to tout all the jobs and tax dollars the data centers would bring to local coffers. That’s because a change in membership on the King George Board of Supervisors, as a result of November elections, brought a different majority and mindset to the board.
By LUKE WEIR,
Roanoke Times
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Apologies are difficult. Especially while Roanoke is drafting a city apology to families uprooted by racist policies of years past, every word matters. So too matters every vote of current elected leaders. Recent city council decisions have left some citizen members of the Roanoke Equity and Empowerment Advisory Board questioning the timing of apologizing. Now decades removed from city policies enacted between 1955 and 1980, the generational pain caused to Black residents by urban renewal remains acute in Roanoke.
By LUCA POWELL,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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The roach poison was as fine as flour, and it looked like it, too. Dale Gilbert would come home caked in the stuff. So would Thurman Dykes, Frank Arrigo and the other 135 workers who baked up Kepone for Life Science Products, beginning in March 1974. Many had been lured to Hopewell by the promise of a good paycheck. But in 1975, they sat before a hearing of Congress. Gilbert’s hands shook as he said he never knew that Kepone, a neurotoxin, could be harmful. Not even the bosses took precautions.