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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.
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.
Martinsville’s ‘sanctuary’ status disputed
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defined Martinsville as a city that is “deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws endangering American communities.” Martinsville Police Chief Rob Fincher says DHS got it all wrong. “The Department of Homeland Security incorrectly reports that Martinsville, Virginia, is a sanctuary city. The City of Martinsville has never made such a declaration,” Fincher said in a release.
Williams: Asians beware. MAGA doesn’t care about racial justice
The prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology — a Northern Virginia magnet school not to be confused with Richmond’s TJ — has become yet another Trump administration battleground in its war on diversity, equity and inclusion. At issue is an admissions process, adopted by the Fairfax County School Board in 2020, that a parents group argued was biased against Asian applicants. A lower court agreed, but the Richmond-based U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in May 2023. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the matter.
Richmond slapped with ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’ label and familiar threat of funding cuts
Richmond and its surrounding counties have been dubbed “sanctuary jurisdictions” by the Department of Homeland Security. In a news release Thursday evening, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that city policies are “endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens.” The department published a list with hundreds of qualifying cities and counties nationwide. “Sanctuary” status is a catch-all for local governments whose policies shield undocumented immigrants from agencies like DHS and its enforcement agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The release said Richmond, Henrico, Hanover, Chesterfield and Dinwiddie obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Virginia localities puzzled by inclusion on federal ‘sanctuary cities’ list
The Department of Homeland Security is identifying 20 counties and 13 cities in Virginia they call “sanctuary jurisdictions.” To understand the list of 33 sanctuary cities in Virginia, perhaps it’s best to focus on one county that is NOT on the list: Loudoun County in Northern Virginia. Freddy Mejia at the Commonwealth Institute says this is the example used to strong-arm local law-enforcement officials to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. “Loudoun County saw a real large spike of car searches for Latino residents in that community," Mejia says. "And we know that that community, that sheriff is cooperating with ICE under a 287(g) agreement in Loudoun County.”
Funding cuts tearing holes in region’s health care safety net, officials say
Federal and state funding cuts, freezes and delayed payments are hammering Richmond’s free clinics, the region’s health care safety net, officials from the groups told a community town hall at Health Brigade’s clinic near Scott’s Addition. The cuts, some of which date back to last year, have been particularly deep for services for prevention and treatment of HIV, the virus than can cause AIDS. It also leaves people vulnerable to difficult-to-treat tuberculosis and other contagious disease.
Warner discusses affordable housing in Williamsburg
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said housing needs “more fresh ideas” during a Thursday community roundtable focused on affordable housing. More than 40 people, including Williamsburg and James City County civic, community and faith leaders, filled the Williamsburg Community Building to listen to Warner’s ideas on increasing the housing supply and helping homeowners. Among the initiatives he discussed was the historic tax credit, which provides state tax credit to property owners helping to rehabilitate historic buildings.
Newport News Shipbuilding to furlough 471 workers
Newport News Shipbuilding announced on Friday that it will furlough 471 shipbuilders for up to five months. All impacted employees, which include salaried engineers and other workers, were notified Friday. For those impacted, Friday is their last day of work for the time being, and the furlough will be effective starting Monday. Although it is not a job termination, furloughed employees will not be paid for the time they’re out of work.
Virginia businesses hope for clarity on tariffs after Trump’s court defeat
Anh Vu had repositioned her shipping company to bring goods from Vietnam into the United States instead of sending exports to the Southeast Asian country. Her business, SAM Cargo Express, planned to develop a warehouse in Northern Virginia to handle the imported handicrafts and other goods from Vietnam. ... The planned warehouse "has been put on hold because not a lot of companies want to do that because of tariffs," Vu said after a meeting between Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and small business owners in the Vietnamese community here on Wednesday.