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An after-school program in Trump’s backyard struggles to survive DOGE cuts
It would have been hard to see much of a crisis brewing at the Arlington Mill Community Center, given the joyful stream of middle-schoolers bolting inside last month. But it was there in the way 11-year-old Mason Soto greeted his teacher, Andrew Gelsinger. “Mr. Andrew!” yelled Mason, running into the classroom. “You’re still here!” Less than a week had passed since Gelsinger abruptly lost his position at the free after-school program in Northern Virginia — one of tens of thousands of roles funded by AmeriCorps that were slashed in cuts to that federal agency. Gelsinger sat in the classroom with his students, some of them weeping, as they were told they would not be able to come back to Aspire Afterschool Learning to start their homework, grab a snack or play volleyball.
Clean water advocates weigh data center growth in Chesapeake Bay region
Data centers are not just a Northern Virginia problem. The vast and growing presence of these warehouse-like buildings housing the world’s computing power has implications for quality of life, land, energy and water across the Chesapeake Bay region. This was the main message of a half-day workshop on May 19 hosted by the Choose Clean Water Coalition at the start of its annual conference held this year in Harrisonburg, VA. The “kickoff” event featured experts mostly from Virginia speaking about the environmental impacts of data centers, which they have seen firsthand — and which they say are imminent for every state in the region.
Jay Jones wants to take on the Trump administration as Virginia attorney general
Former Norfolk Del. Jay Jones, one of two Democratic candidates to become Virginia’s next attorney general, says he's running to protect Virginia families in the age of Donald Trump — something he says Virginia's current AG, Republican Jason Miyares, is not doing. VPM News reporter Jahd Khalil recently spoke with Jones, who faces Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor in a Democratic primary on June 17, about a potential general election showdown with Miyares and his stances on the key issues facing Virginians.
In strangulation cases, assailants can leave DNA behind. It can later be used against them in court.
When someone is sexually assaulted and goes to a hospital for treatment, a forensic nurse examiner offers what’s called a “physical evidence recovery kit.” The nurse will attempt to collect any biological material left on the victim’s body. That can be tested for DNA and later used in court. Such testing programs have been utilized for more than 30 years in Virginia. But there’s a new kind of state evidence kit — to be used in strangulation cases. The Virginia Department of Forensic Science has purchased 1,000 such kits — designed to collect evidence from a victim’s neck and fingernails — to be sent to forensic nursing teams at hospitals across the state.
DMV doesn’t rule out move but looks to renovate in Richmond
Is the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles on the move, or does the state agency plan instead to renovate its headquarters in Richmond for the first time since its construction in 1979 and rent out available space to other state agencies? The agency received permission in the revised state budget to spend $16 million that it raises in fees to renovate its headquarters on West Broad Street to consolidate its operations and lease unused space to other state agencies to generate revenue.
Leighty: How America drifted from shared power to centralized control
The government of the United States was never designed to be efficient. It was designed to be safe — from tyranny. Having just fought a war to escape centralized power, the founders intentionally created a government that divided authority in every possible direction. They built a system of pluralistic governance — one that splits power across three branches (executive, legislative, judicial) and three levels (federal, state and local). It was a system of friction by design, built to slow down decision-making so no one person — or branch — could dominate.
Jerrauld Jones, Norfolk judge and former state delegate, dies at 70
Jerrauld C. Jones, a Norfolk judge, former state delegate and father of Democratic attorney general hopeful Jay Jones, has died at 70. His family, including Jay Jones, who previously held his father’s former seat in the House of Delegates, announced his death Saturday evening.
Jerrauld Jones—civil rights pioneer, judge and state delegate—dies at 70
Jerrauld C. Jones, a longtime judge and state delegate, has died at 70. Jones became one of the first African-American students to integrate Ingleside Elementary School in 1961 and later the Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg in 1967. ... He became the first African American law clerk to the Supreme Court of Virginia, served as a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates for 14 years, represented Norfolk’s 89th District and served as the long-time chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.
Trailblazing civil rights leader, state delegate and longtime Norfolk judge Jerrauld Jones dies at 70
Jerrauld C. Jones, a longtime judge and state delegate who began making a name for himself when he was among the first Black students to integrate one of Norfolk’s elementary schools, died Saturday. He was 70. Jones’ son, Jay — also a former state delegate and a current Virginia attorney general candidate in this month’s Democratic primary — made the announcement on Facebook late Saturday. A cause of death wasn’t provided.
Va. House Republicans pick Del. Kilgore as new leader
Republicans in the House of Delegates on Sunday chose Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, as their new leader. The chamber's prior GOP leader, former Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, is a candidate to become the next U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.