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Jaffe: Return Virginia to RGGI, a program that works
[Last] week, Virginia’s State Air Pollution Control Board was in court asking the Virginia Court of Appeals to revive its ill-conceived plan to leave a pivotal climate change program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). A trial judge had earlier found the board’s withdrawal to be “unlawful.” With all due respect, the board should get out of the courtroom and back to a program that helps Virginians prepare for the extreme weather events we have witnessed in recent years.
Surovell: Virginia deserves leaders who will stand up for workers
As Senate majority leader, I wake up every morning thinking about how to create more opportunities for Virginia families — not how to defend policies that rip jobs away from our communities. Yet that’s exactly what we’re witnessing from Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares as they cheer on devastating job losses across our commonwealth. The numbers are staggering and heartbreaking. A new comprehensive analysis by the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center reveals that approximately 11,100 federal civilian jobs in Virginia have already been eliminated this year, with an additional 10,500 positions at risk in the coming months.
Williams: From Texas to Virginia, we’re drowning in climate denialism
Ed Maibach’s work recently followed him home from George Mason University’s Virginia Climate Center, whose mission is to enhance the state’s resiliency to climate change. When I emailed him about this season of flooding, from Texas to Petersburg, Maibach, the founding director of the Mason Center for Climate Change Communication, replied with this bit of context: “I’m doing this at my house right now because the recent heavy rains flooded my basement.” In case you hadn’t noticed — and it’s hard to miss amid piercing weather alerts — we are being flooded with powerful evidence of the Earth’s changing climate.
Youngkin must advocate for FEMA, Virginia as part of reform council
The Atlantic hurricane season was only days old when President Donald Trump announced in June that he plans to terminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency later this year. With Trump, it’s never certain if he will follow through on his promises, but even the threat of ending FEMA is chilling to communities across the country. For Hampton Roads, where the summer is spent with one eye on the tropics, dismantling FEMA would sever a vital lifeline for emergency preparation and recovery that has served this community well. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who was tapped by Trump for a FEMA Review Council, should be a forceful advocate for saving FEMA, knowing that the agency’s demise would be a danger to the commonwealth.
Rocky Mount mayor’s legal case concludes with sealed settlement
A sealed document has resolved a legal dispute that found Rocky Mount’s mayor facing sanctions based on his work as a private attorney. A substitute circuit judge filed an order earlier this month dismissing the case against Holland Perdue for alleged actions in the case of a contested will. Opposing counsel in that case claimed in court documents that Perdue had filed and signed off on manipulated information in Franklin County Circuit Court after missing a legal deadline.
New committee rakes in big dollars to influence Virginia Beach election referendum
A new political group backed by local business leaders and elected officials is raking in large donations in its bid to alter Virginia Beach’s election system. Every Vote Counts, a referendum committee, has raised more than $330,000 since forming June 9, according to finance reports filed with the Virginia Department of Elections. The committee is gearing up to launch a campaign to persuade Virginia Beach residents to vote “no” to a district-only election system in November.
Virginia man accused of stockpiling bombs, using Biden photo for target practice, pleads guilty
A Virginia man pleaded guilty Friday in a federal case that accused him of stockpiling the largest number of finished explosives in FBI history and of using then-President Joe Biden’s photo for target practice. Brad Spafford pleaded guilty in federal court in Norfolk to possession of an unregistered short barrel rifle and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to court documents. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for December.
Health Wagon, Mission of Mercy hosting free medical, dental clinics in Wise County
The blue sheet of paper in Martha Waddell’s hand contained a checklist of over a half-dozen medical procedures the Haysi resident was to undergo Friday at the Move Mountains medical mission. Waddell was among the first 200 people to be seen at The Health Wagon’s annual free health care event Friday morning, undergoing a biopsy for a suspicious lesion on her right arm, a bone density scan and an echo cardiogram for her heart.
Roanoke schools navigate federal funding freeze
The Trump administration has frozen $6 billion in Department of Education funding that affects a wide swath of programs. Roanoke's public school system will be especially hard hit because of its high rates of economically disadvantaged students and English learners. The city's school system is still figuring out the details, but based on last year's programs, could be facing roughly $3.8 million in frozen federal funding.
Off-on switch: How federal funding uncertainty is impacting one after school program in Arlington
These days, the federal funding spigot gets turned off and then on again with dizzying speed. The Education Department paused more than $6 billion in federal funds for after school and other enrichment programs earlier this month. But after an outcry from a group of Republican senators, a portion of that money dedicated to supporting after school programs has been unfrozen, according to the Associated Press. That’s a bright spot for one Arlington nonprofit reeling from federal cuts. But it also underscores how tenuous federal funding has become for community organizations.