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Friday Read Fearing deportation, a beloved Virginia music teacher gives a final lesson
On the day before spring break at Forest Grove Elementary School in Northern Virginia, students bounded through the halls with backpacks swinging behind them. They wiggled in their seats, eager for vacation. But in Jesús Rodríguez’s music classroom, the mood was somber. “Don’t leave us!” one student shouted to Rodríguez after the class sang a medley. Other fourth- and fifth-graders wrapped their arms around one another, wiping tears from their eyes. Rodríguez, a Venezuelan national, was legally living and working in this D.C. suburb under a humanitarian parole program that the Trump administration announced would end early. Without a clear path to stay legally, he decided to leave the United States, worried he could end up inside a Salvadoran prison — separated from his wife and 6-year-old daughter — if he didn’t.
Virginia congressmen dispute future cuts to Medicaid
Two members of Virginia’s congressional delegation discussed future Medicaid cuts this week. As rumors of over $800 million in cuts swirl, Republican Morgan Griffith downplayed concerns, while Democrat Don Beyer warned of people losing their health care. Virginia’s 9th District Republican Congressman Griffith said rumors of big cuts to Medicaid were overblown. Instead, he told a crowd in Abingdon recently that upcoming changes to the program that serves nearly two million Virginians would target “increases on growth,” remove the undocumented from the rolls and block what he said was an expected $1.4 billion in future spending on “transgender surgeries for minors.”
Patrick Co. Board of Supervisors votes to censure member
In a majority vote on Monday, the Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted to censure Steve Marshall, Blue Ridge District representative. . . . Overby read the resolution, which stated in part that the board “expresses their displeasure with the consistent display of unprofessional behavior of Board of Supervisors member Steve Marshall by his repeated attempts to silence, harass, intimidate, bully, threaten and defame other members of the Board of Supervisors as well as appointed members of the board’s committees, commissions, and authorities and citizens of Patrick County.
National ranking shows despite hike, Virginia teachers’ pay is stagnant compared to other states
From last year to now, Virginia raised teacher pay by an average of $3,000. Still, the commonwealth’s average pay rate for educators remains stagnant compared to other states, according to the latest salary report published by the National Education Association. The commonwealth dropped by one spot to 26th, paying teachers an average of $66,327, an increase from a year ago. Virginia’s average teacher pay is $5,703 below the national average of $72,030, the NEA report states. Education leaders and lawmakers in the commonwealth said inflation and investments are some of the factors contributing to mixed results in the national salary report.
Reid rallies supporters amid controversy, calls for GOP unity
In a scene reminiscent of Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 gubernatorial campaign, Republican lieutenant governor nominee John Reid addressed hundreds of supporters in Western Henrico on Wednesday night, delivering a defiant, high-energy speech as he faces a swirl of controversy. Reid, the first openly gay statewide candidate in Virginia history, stood before a cheering crowd at Atlas 42 just days after being accused of operating a Tumblr account that shared nude images of men — an allegation that has roiled Republican politics across the commonwealth.
Alexandria City Council approves changes to Policing Review Board, auditor
Alexandria City Council voted 5-2 to give the Independent Policing Auditor limited subpoena power and grant Council authority in case of an impasse between the auditor and the Independent Community Policing Review Board at Saturday’s public hearing. Councilors Jacinta Greene and Abdel Elnoubi, who favored granting full subpoena authority, voted in opposition. . . . The Policing Review Board has been unable to fully operate without the final changes made by Council.
Loudoun Community Effort Launches to Mitigate Dulles Noise Concerns
Efforts to mitigate the impact of airplane noise on homes near Dulles International Airport are making headway after years of work to get the project started. A community-led process is beginning to find ways to disperse some of the concentrated noise coming from planes departing from Runway 30, the airport’s western most runway. The initiative follows the 2023 adoption by the Board of Supervisors of an updated Airport Impact Overlay District, which lays out noise contours based on plane flight paths.
Virginia Beach, a planned offshore wind energy hub, hosts international conference
Offshore wind professionals from across the world have gathered in Virginia Beach to discuss the current status of the renewable power industry. As part of the 2025 International Partnering Forum, or IPF, the conference brings together developers, elected leaders, public utility officials and others in the offshore wind supply chain for a week of panel discussions. On Tuesday, Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer welcomed guests to the city, which hosts the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project about 27 miles away from the beach.
Recent immigration arrests at courthouses around the country have advocates worried
Inside a Virginia courthouse, three immigration agents in plainclothes — one masked — detained a man who had just had misdemeanor assault charges dismissed. They declined to show identification or a warrant to the man, and one threatened to prosecute horrified witnesses who tried to intervene, cellphone video shows. . . . The flurry of immigration enforcement at courthouses around the country in the past month — already heavily criticized by judicial officials and lawyers — has renewed a legal battle from President Donald Trump’s first term as advocates fear people might avoid coming to court.
‘Forever chemicals’ in sludge fertilizer resisted in Va., Md.
The glass of water that Jennifer Campagne draws from her kitchen faucet looks clear and clean. But ever since she had her household well tested and found “forever chemicals” in it, she’s leery of using it, even to make coffee. Campagne lives in a small cinderblock cottage in Hague, Va., on the overwhelmingly rural Northern Neck between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. There are no nearby military bases, fire houses, factories or other likely sources of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, detected in her well. There is, though, a farm field about 30 yards from her home where “biosolids,” or treated sewage sludge, has been spread as fertilizer for corn and soybeans.