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Lynchburg School Board rescinds public comment ban of advocate
The Lynchburg City School Board voted unanimously to rescind its previous motion to ban Danny McCain, a longtime LCS advocate, from speaking at future school board meetings after he agreed not to disrupt future meetings. The motion passed 8-0 at Tuesday’s school board work session; ... The school board previously voted to ban McCain at its June 3 meeting when he went over his allotted time, saying he would only sit down after the school board agreed to meet with him to discuss the achievement gap between Black and white students in Lynchburg.
Lynchburg City School Board lifts ban on outspoken advocate
The Lynchburg School Board has reversed its decision to ban Danny McCain from speaking at its meetings, following an incident on June 3 where McCain continued speaking past his allotted time, prompting board members to consider calling the police. The board had initially banned McCain for violating their rules, but a recent unanimous vote, on Tuesday, has overturned that decision. During Tuesday's meeting, McCain apologized for his actions, saying, "I'm sorry I stayed over the 5 minutes."
Isle of Wight School Board to outsource policy updates to School Board Member Alliance
Isle of Wight County’s School Board voted 4-1 on June 12 to outsource the periodic review of its more than 400 written policies to the School Board Member Alliance, which formed three years ago as a rival to the Virginia School Boards Association. The vote comes just under a year since Isle of Wight disaffiliated from the VSBA over objections to the association’s annual lobbying of the Virginia General Assembly.
Rebuilding one of the nation’s oldest Black churches to begin at Juneteenth ceremony
A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held Thursday for the rebuilding of one of the nation’s oldest Black churches, whose congregants first gathered outdoors in secret before constructing a wooden meetinghouse in Virginia. The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg officially established itself in 1776, although parishioners met before then in fields and under trees in defiance of laws that prevented African Americans from congregating. Free and enslaved members erected the original church house around 1805, laying the foundation with recycled bricks.
Completed Va. tickets testing battle lines for Nov. election
The races were tight, with the definitive results coming late — and closer than has been the pattern in Virginia primaries — but the two parties’ November tickets are now complete. State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, is the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor and former Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, will run for attorney general, on a ticket led by former Rep. Abigail Spanberger — all of them promising to run as a united team. So far, there’s been no word that that’s the plan for the GOP slate of Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears for governor, former radio host John Reid for lieutenant governor and Attorney General Jason Miyares, seeking re-election to that post.
Virginia advocates, officials push for worker protections from heat
With summer officially kicking off on Friday, elected officials and worker advocates are pushing for more state legislation aimed to support people who have to work outside in the hot temperatures. ... “This is an urgent issue because this affects mainly low wage workers who often don’t have a choice but to go to work … under these extreme heat conditions to be able to make a living,” said Ramón Zepeda Ramos, Economic Justice Organizer of Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.
Virginia Rep. Griffith on deportations: ‘I’m fine with people who want to share the American dream’
Debate has been tense about which undocumented immigrants should be prioritized for deportation, even within Republican circles. News Channel 11 spoke with Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith in Bristol on Wednesday, and while the discussion centered around the federal spending bill, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the Ninth District Republican said he believes broad-based raids on farms, clothing factories and hotels could take a back seat, at least for now. After a directive to back off raids on farms and hotels late last week, Homeland Security is reported to have reverted to the previous order early this week.
Lieutenant governor candidates clash over the future of education in Virginia
With the statewide tickets for both the Democrats and Republicans set, the candidates for each party are wasting no time in pivoting to what they're focused on in the November general election. On the Democratic side, gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger leads the ticket and is joined by Tuesday's primary winners Ghazala Hashmi for lieutenant governor, and Jay Jones for attorney general. There was no need for a primary on the Republican side whose ticket consists of Winsome Earle-Sears for governor, John Reid for lieutenant governor, and Attorney General Jason Miyares running for re-election. Reid spoke to the media Wednesday outside Falling Creek Middle School in Chesterfield where he said he wanted to highlight education on day one as it was a concern he'd been hearing from parents around the state.
Democrats to launch ‘Worst of Winsome’ tour in Charlottesville
If being behind in the polls and fundraising weren't bad enough for Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears' campaign for governor, a new "Worst of Winsome" tour launches this Friday and will be criss-crossing the commonwealth for days. The Virginia Democratic Party will be launching the tour Friday in Charlottesville. A coinciding website, www.worstofwinsome.com, has already gone live. ... The tour is not directly connected to the campaign of Earle-Sears' Democratic opponent, former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th. Amjad said the project is a product of the state Democratic Party.
Youngkin administration touts Virginia economy as Senate Democrats, GOP spar over ‘Big, Beautiful’ budget cuts
Members of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration offered an optimistic view of the commonwealth’s finances Wednesday morning, but senators from both parties disputed what future cuts could lead to next year. Youngkin’s Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings told the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday [that] Virginia collected over $1.5 billion in additional revenues last month, a sign that the Commonwealth’s economy remains healthy. ... But Democratic Senator Barbara Favola expressed concerns about how state revenues could be impacted once President Donald Trump’s budget bill gets passed and cuts to assistance programs kick in.