By WHITTNEY EVANS, WCVE
The conversation around demolishing Richmond’s majority black public housing projects has been reignited recently, and one big supporter of this idea is outgoing Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Herring. He’s resigning next month to become a partner at the law firm McGuireWoods. In an interview before his resignation, he said poverty, specifically in the big six courts is largely to blame for the city’s ongoing battle with crime.
VaNews June 19, 2019
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
It’s not a normal tax refund, but almost 350,000 Virginia taxpayers are running out of time to receive a one-time payment this fall as part of the state’s response to federal tax reform. Gov. Ralph Northam sounded the alarm on Tuesday for taxpayers to file their tax returns by July 1 to qualify for a one-time refund of $110 for individuals and $220 for married couples by mid-October.
VaNews June 19, 2019
By MARK ROBINSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Days before a deadline to divulge new information related to the $1.4 billion Richmond Coliseum redevelopment proposal, Mayor Levar Stoney’s administration has challenged a Richmond judge’s decision ordering the information’s release.
VaNews June 19, 2019
By HANNAH HALL, WHSV
One local senator is hoping his plans for an independent redistricting commission will help prevent federal courts from getting involved in redrawing district lines for Virginia in the future. Senator Emmett Hanger represents the 24th District in Virginia. He's proposed a constitutional amendment a few times in the past, that would create a different process for redrawing district lines. Currently it's done by the General Assembly, but Hanger said its time for a process that's a little less partisan.
VaNews June 19, 2019
By MARK SAGE, Richlands News-Press
Dominion Energy’s proposed hydroelectrical plant will find a home in Tazewell County, provided all the i’s can be dotted and the t’s crossed. The Richmond-based company is hoping to build an 800-megawatt pumped storage power station on 2,600 acres of land it owns on East River Mountain.
VaNews June 19, 2019
By DAVE RESS, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
As the Democratic governor and GOP legislators square off for a repeat of the usual gun legislation at next month’s post-Virginia Beach mass shooting special session, one Peninsula lawmaker wants to float an entirely new idea. Del. David Yancey, R-Newport News, says that when he talks to police and prosecutors about guns, they tell him they need more tools to crack down on gun-theft rings and the black market in stolen firearms.
VaNews June 19, 2019
By MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Charles City County is on the verge of becoming a natural gas-powered energy capital of Virginia. What’s debatable is whether two natural gas-fired electric power plants will be an economic boom or an ecological disaster for this rural county bounded by Henrico, New Kent and James City counties.
VaNews June 19, 2019
By AMY FRIEDENBERGER, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)
A roundtable in Southwest Virginia about gun policy on Tuesday started with an audience member’s recitation of the Second Amendment. From there, residents passionate about gun rights peppered Brian Moran, Virginia’s secretary of public safety, with concerns about an upcoming special session in which the General Assembly will take up gun control proposals.
VaNews June 19, 2019
By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Virginia House Republicans are floating the idea of using next month’s special session on guns to hold a hearing on the sexual assault allegations against Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. In a letter sent to Democrats on Monday, Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, said the July 9 session presents a “good opportunity” for a hearing on the Fairfax situation, or at least a conversation about scheduling a proceeding “later in the summer.”
VaNews June 19, 2019
By MAX SMITH, WTOP
A long-planned self-driving shuttle is set to launch in Fairfax County, Virginia, marking what could be the first autonomous shuttle for public use on public roads anywhere in Virginia. The low-speed shuttle will run in the middle of the day to provide additional Circulator-type service between the Dunn Loring Metro and the Mosaic District, Virginia’s head of transportation innovation Cathy McGhee said Tuesday afternoon.
VaNews June 19, 2019
