By HANNAH NATANSON,
Washington Post
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Fairfax County Public Schools will award salary increases to teachers who took a graduate-level course on pandemic-era teaching with Idaho State University, after officials temporarily denied the raises.
Teachers in the school district of roughly 180,000 students had enrolled this semester in one of two “Covid-19 Professional Development Courses” offered by Idaho State University’s College of Education. The two courses were called “The ABC’s of a Covid Classroom” and “Modifying K-12 Education.”
By MARGARET BARTHEL,
DCist
Local budget season is over. Sort of. Northern Virginia localities and school systems have mostly approved their fiscal year 2023 budgets, which will kick in this summer. But a state budget impasse in Richmond, where lawmakers are trying to reconcile a multi-billion dollar gap in proposals from the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, makes the future of some local line items uncertain.
“I don’t know when we went from being a well-managed state to being one that can’t pass a budget,” says Jeff McKay, the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and a Democrat.
By CAITLYN BURCHETT,
Virginian-Pilot
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Miya Mitchell-Bray decided during the groundswell social justice movement of 2020 that it was time to be the change she wanted in her community. Donning a Chesapeake Police Department uniform and badge, Mitchell-Bray recently completed her first year patrolling the streets of the city she calls home.
By DANIEL BERTI,
Virginian-Pilot
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Norfolk City Council members clashed with the city’s housing authority last week over the authority’s little-known for-profit entity that has financed dozens of projects in low-income communities across the country but none in Norfolk in more than a decade.
Council members requested the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority publicly answer questions about the company, Hampton Roads Ventures, following recent reporting by The Virginia Mercury, a nonprofit online news organization.
By PETER DUJARDIN,
Daily Press
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Jenny Rolon bought a run-down mobile home at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport four years ago, quickly turning it into a nice place. She paid $5,000 for the trailer, but says she dished out another $25,000 on renovations over the years — a new kitchen and bathroom; all new floors, windows and lighting; and lots of bright white paint. “It’s not my trailer,” Rolon said. “It’s my home.” After moving from Puerto Rico in 2018, the 51-year-old is among the many residents who planned to stay for years at the Patrick Henry Mobile Home Park.
By TAFT COGHILL,
Free Lance-Star
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Fredericksburg has entered into an eight-state pilot project designed to help local governments and institutions save money by transitioning vehicle fleets to U.S. clean fuels and advanced vehicle technologies.
Fredericksburg is the latest jurisdiction to announce its participation in the Drive Clean Rural USA project.
The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Fredericksburg is now one of 24 localities across the nation participating.
By TAFT COGHILL JR.,
Free Lance-Star
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The Fredericksburg City Council and the King George County Board of Supervisors each have adopted an ordinance to create the Rappahannock Regional Industrial Facilities Authority.
The RIFA agreement could lead to the two localities partnering on economic development projects and facilities.
Other localities in the area could come aboard at a later date.
By GINNY BIXBY,
Daily Progress
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Whistling is fine, but it would be greatly appreciated if people did not walk on, roll over or play through their graves.
Charlottesville is looking at ways to ensure visitors to Pen Park and golfers at the Meadowcreek Golf Course don’t disrupt the unmarked graves of unidentified people, people who until recently were lost to history.
The city’s Historic Resources Committee decided Friday to install temporary signs at the site where the city and Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society believe there are at least 43 and as many as 50 unmarked graves of enslaved laborers.
By YANN RANAIVO,
Roanoke Times
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The Blacksburg High School girls lacrosse players did what they saw as their part in calling for an end to the war in Ukraine when they wore “Pray for Peace” T-shirts during warmups earlier in the spring.
But to the surprise of some in the community and even some Montgomery County School Board members, the players were barred from wearing the shirts again — even if the word pray had been replaced with play — due to a district policy on political displays in the schools.
By LAURENCE HAMMACK,
Roanoke Times
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A former Rocky Mount police officer who claimed he was forced to resign after supporting two female employees who said they were harassed by the police chief has settled his lawsuit against the town.
Justin Smith filed a motion in Roanoke’s federal court this week asking that his case be dismissed, at the agreement of both parties.