By HANNAH NATANSON AND LAURA VOZZELLA,
Washington Post
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The Virginia Department of Education painted a grim picture of student achievement in the state in a report released Thursday, asserting that children are performing poorly on national assessments in reading and math and falling behind peers in other states.
The 34-page report on students’ academic performance, requested as part of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s first executive order, says these trends are especially pronounced among Black, Hispanic and low-income students. The report further critiques what it calls school districts’ lack of transparency regarding declining student performance — and it laments parents’ “eroding” confidence in the state’s public schools.
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
A Republican lawyer who serves in the Virginia House of Delegates is pursing restraining orders that would make two books unavailable to minors after a retired judge acting on behalf of the Virginia Beach Circuit Court found the books could be considered obscene due to explicit sexual content.
In an interview Thursday, Del. Tim Anderson, R-Virginia Beach, said he and his client in the case, Republican congressional candidate Tommy Altman, are now seeking temporary restraining orders that would prevent distribution of the books to minors by libraries and bookstores.
By PATRICK WILSON,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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Attorney General Jason Miyares wants the Supreme Court of Virginia to grant him access to sealed records of a former chair of the Virginia Parole Board, which he’s now investigating.
Miyares filed the motion Wednesday asking the court to grant him access to the sealed records, which relate to a prior investigation of Judge Adrianne Bennett, a former parole board chair, by the state’s Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission (JIRC).
By MICHAEL MARTZ,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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State employees face a tight deadline on Friday for getting permission to work from their homes under a new telework policy that Gov. Glenn Youngkin has imposed, but some say their supervisors have shown little flexibility in carrying it out.
Two employees in separate divisions of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services say their supervisors have certified that they can perform their jobs remotely, but higher-level managers informed them that the agency will not approve more than one day of telework a week without "a business reason to do so" or accommodation for a disability under federal law.
By JEREMY COX,
Bay Journal
The blue crab, the Chesapeake Bay’s most valuable catch and a closely watched proxy for the health of its underwater ecosystem, is less abundant now than at any time since scientists began regularly tracking the species in 1990.
The new winter dredge survey conducted by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Virginia Institute of Marine Science and released May 19 found an estimated 227 million crabs in the Bay. The previous low was 270 million crabs in 2004.
By BEN PETERS,
Rappahannock News
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Members of the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors earn just $2,400 annually, making them tied with Craig County as the lowest paid elected officials in the role statewide, according to data from the Virginia Association of Counties.
While it appears intuitive that a small rural area like Rappahannock lacks the budget to more equitably compensate its officials, the Supervisors’ pay also reflects a deliberate effort on behalf of past and present members of the body to ensure it remains the lowest in Virginia.
By JOHN LELAND,
New York Times
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Look at that face, those pleading eyes, that nose that kept you company all through the pandemic. Now explain to Cooper why it is so, so important that you return to the office — leaving her alone all day, after two years of 24/7 togetherness.
Because … what? Company d’esprit? . . . More than 23 million American households added a cat or dog during the pandemic, according to the A.S.P.C.A., and many of those animals have never known what it is like to be left alone all day.