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VCU student arrested: Event organizer details confusion on campus
A Virginia Commonwealth University student was arrested April 29 during what campus police called an "unauthorized event" outside VCU's Cabell Library. Oscar Ferguson-Osborne, 22, was arrested while holding a sign denouncing campus police for pepper-spraying protestors the year before when a pro-Palestinian encampment was broken up. Ferguson-Osborne was one of 13 people arrested last year. . . . Sereen Haddad, a member of the university's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter who helped organize the event, told The Progress-Index that the gathering was not a demonstration. Instead, students met at the lawn at 2 p.m. to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the encampment being torn down and study for finals.
Kaine says Democrats to force vote on resolution for transparency on deportations
Senate Democrats plan to force a vote in the coming weeks on a resolution to require more transparency from President Donald Trump’s administration about deportations to El Salvador. The resolution announced by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine on Thursday comes after two votes on Democratic resolutions challenging Trump’s tariffs. It is part of a larger strategy by Democrats to continue using mechanisms under the law to take floor time from majority Republicans and vote on reversing parts of Trump’s agenda.
Patrick County supervisor responds to censure
Blue Ridge District representative Steve Marshall has responded to a vote to censure him. The Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a resolution to censure Marshall at a regular meeting Monday night. The resolution alleges that Marshall has exhibited a "consistent display of unprofessional behavior … by his repeated attempts to silence, harass, intimidate, bully, threaten and defame other members of the Board." The Bulletin reached out to Marshall for his side of the story and he responded by email on Wednesday.
Virginia Democrats Think They Have a New Rallying Cry: Government Job Cuts
Democrats in Virginia are counting on cuts to the federal workforce playing a key role in helping them win them back the governor’s seat. As President Donald Trump’s administration takes steps to reduce the federal workforce, Virginia, which neighbors Washington and has among the highest number of federal workers of any state in the country, is poised to be hit especially hard. And its off-year gubernatorial race is set to be an early indicator of how much the cuts resonate with voters.
Yancey: Early voting in the primaries starts today. Here are 10 things to know.
Yes, I know, I find it hard to believe, too, but we have another election already underway. Early voting begins Friday for the June 17 primaries. For those of you who aren’t up at dawn to read what’s in our daily newsletter, that means by the time you read this some votes have already been cast — which means somebody’s already ahead and somebody’s already behind. This year’s primaries involve two statewide nominations (the Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general), some House of Delegates nominations (eight Republican primaries, nine Democratic ones) and some local offices (nine Democratic ones, 15 Republican ones).
Only one Republican incumbent in the House of Delegates will face a primary: Del. Terry Austin
The singular Republican incumbent to see a primary challenger in this year’s House of Delegates races is an unexpected one, according to one lawmaker. Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, said that Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County, was the last person that he and other members of the General Assembly expected to see a primary challenge in June. Pillion added that, regardless of the incumbent, the primary challenge is evidence that General Assembly seats don’t belong to the lawmakers: they belong to the people that the lawmakers represent.
Earle-Sears wrote of ‘moral opposition’ to marriage equality when signing 2024 bill
Republican candidate for governor and current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said that she was “morally opposed” to marriage equality legislation Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) signed into law in 2024, as written in a note on the bill itself. During the 2024 General Assembly session, legislators considered House Bill 174, a piece of legislation that made it illegal to deny a couple a marriage license based on sex, gender or race. The bill was ultimately passed, signed by Youngkin and became law on July 1, 2024.
Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears opposed anti-discrimination marriage bill in handwritten note
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears took the unusual step last year of including a note of personal objection to a bill she was constitutionally required to sign — a symbolic gesture that underscores her deeply held views on LGBTQ+ rights as she campaigns for governor. “I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly,” Earle-Sears wrote on the legislation, which prohibits officials from denying marriage licenses based on sex, gender or race. A copy of the signed bill was obtained by Virginia Scope through a public records request filed with the House Clerk’s Office.
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.
Early voting starts Friday for June 17 primary election
Early voting starts Friday for the June 17 primary, with the Democratic Party nominations for lieutenant governor and attorney general at stake. Ballots across the state will show six Democrats seeking the nomination for lieutenant governor: union official Alex Bastani; state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield; Prince William County School Board chair Babur Lateef; state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach; former federal prosecutor Victor Salgado; and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney. The GOP candidate is longtime Richmond radio broadcaster John Reid.