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Schapiro: Angling to offer something for everyone

By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginia Democrats are falling in line and falling in love. With Levar Stoney’s strategic retreat — rather than risk a pasting for the 2025 gubernatorial nomination, he’s risking a pasting for the 2025 lieutenant governor’s nomination — Democrats are forgoing a contest for their top spot to rally behind Abigail Spanberger, whose politics and posturing seem to give almost everyone in a party still whining over Glenn Youngkin’s squeaker victory in 2021 something to cheer about.

VaNews April 25, 2024


’Not a lot of daylight’ between 7th District Democratic candidates at forum

By TAFT COGHILL JR., Fredericksburg Free Press

There weren’t any tense exchanges during the forum for Democratic candidates seeking the 7th Congressional District seat Wednesday night at the Fredericksburg Convention Center. The seven candidates who took the stage at the event sponsored by the Fredericksburg Free Press largely expressed similar views when it came to issues such as supporting gun control, U.S. globalism, the federal legalization of marijuana and the potential banning of TikTok, among other concerns. So, when providing closing remarks, candidates made their pitch explaining how they are best equipped to defeat a Republican challenger in November, keep the ultra-competitive 7th District in the hands of a Democrat and potentially turn the U.S. House of Representatives blue.

VaNews April 25, 2024


Virginia sex offender registry displayed inaccurate data for months

By RYAN NADEAU, WRIC-TV

There are nearly 1,800 registered sex offenders who live, work or go to school in the City of Richmond — but it still isn’t the community with the most registered sex offenders per capita in Central Virginia, according to new data from Virginia State Police. Following a recent report stating that the City of Richmond has the highest rate of registered sex offenders per capita among over 430 total major cities surveyed, 8News investigated more local cities and counties to learn how many registered sex offenders are in the Richmond region and some surrounding localities. As the 8News team looked into this topic, multiple issues were discovered in how Virginia’s sex offender registry returns information to users.

VaNews April 25, 2024


VCU Health seeks to end $56 million payment to Richmond

By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Virginia Commonwealth University Health is seeking to terminate a deal that pays the city of Richmond $56 million, VCU president Michael Rao said Wednesday. The health system agreed to give the city a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, as part of a failed redevelopment project at the Public Safety Building downtown. State lawmakers have called for VCU Health to end the payments, but Mayor Levar Stoney objected, saying the health system should pay what it contractually owes.

VaNews April 25, 2024


Jury rejects claims that Fairfax schools mishandled teen’s rape claims

By SALVADOR RIZZO AND KARINA ELWOOD, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

A 24-year-old woman who sued school officials in Fairfax County, Va., for millions of dollars, saying they mishandled allegations more than a decade ago that she was raped, lost her case Wednesday when she was unable to convince a federal jury that the school system had failed her. The woman, identified in legal records only by the initials B.R., testified through tears at times in U.S. District Court in Alexandria that she was bullied and harassed in 2011 as a student at Rachel Carson Middle School in Herndon, a pattern of abuse that she said escalated to gang rape.

VaNews April 25, 2024


Karmo: Governor’s drug affordability board veto serves cancer patients

By MAIMAH KARMO, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

It’s been almost two decades since I heard the words “breast cancer” come out of my doctor’s mouth. I was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly hard-to-treat type with low survival rates and limited treatment options. During my second round of chemotherapy, I vowed that if I survived, I would start an organization to advocate for women like me. Today, my organization, Tigerlily Foundation, does just that. We envision a future in which cancer is no longer a death sentence for so many, but rather a treatable condition. Recently, Virginia legislators sought to pass a law that would have stifled that dream — all while exacerbating health inequities. Thankfully, Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed that bill with just hours to go before the deadline.

Karmo of Reston is a breast cancer survivor and is the founder and CEO of Tigerlily Foundation, a national women’s health and oncology organization.

VaNews April 25, 2024


Pulaski town councilman charged with ethics and conflict of interest law violations

By MARKUS SCHMIDT, Cardinal News

A member of the Pulaski Town Council was charged with three class 1 misdemeanors and one class 3 misdemeanor last week relating to alleged ethics and conflict of interest law violations in his role as a public official between January 2021 and April 2024. The charges against Michael Reis, an attorney from Pulaski who was first elected to the council in 2020, stem from his role in facilitating the appropriation of public funds to benefit the renovation of the Calfee Community & Cultural Center, a local institution that came to be known as the Calfee Training School when it first was a school for Black children in 1894, and Wide Angle Strategies LLC, a consulting firm with a vested interest in the center.

VaNews April 25, 2024


Petersburg doubles down on Cordish as its casino operator

By GRAHAM MOOMAW, Virginia Mercury

After a closed meeting that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Petersburg City Council abruptly voted Wednesday to pick Baltimore-based Cordish Companies as the developer that will have a chance to build a casino in the economically struggling city. There was nothing on the council’s meeting agenda indicating such a monumental decision could be happening on Wednesday afternoon, and council members quickly left the mostly empty auditorium without explaining the move to the handful of reporters in attendance. Several members said “no comment” when approached.

VaNews April 25, 2024


Warner speaks during Crooked Road anniversary celebration

By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

Now in its 20th year, The Crooked Road began as a dream for Todd Christensen and the late Joe Wilson, who met one wintry day in 2003 at the Carter Fold in Maces Springs. The fold was already established as a popular regional music attraction, started by the late Janette Carter in 1975 to promote the legacy of the Carter Family and the music of this region. ... Ultimately, the grassroots effort caught the attention of state lawmakers and then-Gov. Mark Warner, who signed legislation in 2004 dedicating the 333-mile route as Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.

VaNews April 25, 2024


Virginia Beach needs to improve building accessibility after settlement with DOJ

By STACY PARKER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

A U.S. Department of Justice evaluation of a dozen Virginia Beach facilities found that the city is not in compliance with the American Disabilities Act and will need to make changes to those buildings and others. It could cost millions of dollars and take several years for the city to reach compliance with its facilities, sidewalks, web-based services and emergency operation plans as part of a settlement agreement with the DOJ.

VaNews April 25, 2024