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One year in, Va. corrections ombudsman office on track to investigate misconduct allegations
As the state grapples with public concerns about conditions inside prisons and the complaint reporting process, prisoners’ grievances are on track to being heard and, when possible, investigated, Virginia Corrections Ombudsman Andrea Sapone shared in a meeting Tuesday. The volume of recent complaints are a big challenge. Some aren’t under her office’s purview (like those stemming from local or regional jails) while others are duplicate or near-duplicate mass emails the office has to ensure aren’t all separate issues. Of the over 500 complaints her team is exploring, 269 of those stem from Red Onion State Prison, Sapone said.
Yancey: University of Virginia faculty want more say in picking the next president. Here’s why that won’t happen.
Over the weekend, the faculty senate at the University of Virginia passed a resolution of “no confidence” in the school’s governing body, a consequence of the tumultuous resignation of President James Ryan under pressure from the Trump administration. This is what they call “a teaching moment.” Unfortunately for members of the faculty senate, they are the ones about to get schooled — not by me, but by the state’s political system. Faculty members are understandably upset by Ryan’s departure, or at least the way it happened. In theory, everyone should be unhappy about the latter: He was forced out by two midlevel Justice Department lawyers, and the members of the board of visitors were made to look like bystanders.
Owner of former Virginia Intermont campus pays $605,000 in back taxes day after Bristol sought to take over property
Bristol City Manager Randy Eads said Tuesday that he’s tired of playing games with U.S. Magis, the company based in China that owns the blighted and burned-out property that was once Virginia Intermont College. One day after the city filed a lawsuit July 10 in circuit court to gain control of the 37-acre downtown property — trying to take advantage of a new law Eads successfully sought from the General Assembly — a lawyer for Magis paid off all the current and back taxes owed to the city. Eads then requested that the court nonsuit the lawsuit, which dismisses the action, he said.
Petersburg asks for state-of-emergency declaration after flash floods wreak havoc on city
As Petersburg braces for the possibility of more rain adding to what has been an historic amount of flash-flooding, city officials are hoping that the high-water issues that have been plaguing the city for decades will rekindle discussions about dredging the Appomattox River shoreline. A combination of silt build-up and poor drainage from an already aged water infrastructure is to blame for flooding from storms that have pummeled Petersburg and surrounding areas for the past week or so. Storms that came through the overnight hours of July 15 were the worst of them to date, dumping as much as 5 inches of rain and creating pools in low-lying areas as deep as 18-24 inches.
Petersburg issues state of emergency following flooding
Petersburg officials have declared a local state of emergency after several days of heavy rain led to severe flooding across the city. The relentless rain led to flooding that hit across the entire city Monday evening and early Tuesday. With more rain in the forecast, a flood watch has been extended through midnight across the area. Officials called a press conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday to announce the state of emergency and address how it will fix those problems moving forward.
Petersburg officials: Flooding spurred by intense rain, aging water system, lack of river dredging
On Tuesday outside city hall, Petersburg officials said yet another night of intense, dangerous rainfall led to major flooding for the third time in a week in the city. While providing updates on the safety concerns and the additional storms rolling in, city leaders explained how the Appomattox River is playing a role in the ongoing overflows. Meanwhile, legislators are touting state-level solutions to manage the recurrent flooding. ... Petersburg Mayor Samuel Parham placed blame not only on the heavy rains, but also on aged water systems that can’t keep up with demand, and lack of dredging in the Appomattox River that allows water to pool in portions of the city.
Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across 10 states, including Virginia, union says
Seventeen immigration court judges have been fired in recent days, according to the union that represents them, as the Trump administration pushes forward with its mass deportations of immigrants in the country. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents immigration court judges as well as other professionals, said in a news release that 15 judges were fired “without cause” on Friday and another two on Monday. The union said they were working in courts in 10 different states across the country — California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
ICE arrests surge in Northern Virginia, prompting emergency planning among immigrant families
Northern Virginia has become a focal point in the federal government’s aggressive immigration enforcement strategy. ICE arrests have skyrocketed 350% over the past year across the Commonwealth, according to The New York Times, with the vast majority of them taking place in the suburbs of D.C. Fairfax County alone has seen twice as many arrests compared to any other county in Virginia. Rohmah Javed, the legal director of the Immigrant Justice Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center, says her office is inundated with calls from families trying to piece together what happened to loved ones who never made it home from work.
Sen. Tim Kaine speaks to U.Va. students, discusses Ryan resignation and more
Sen. Tim Kaine held a conversation with a group of graduate University students and faculty members Friday at the Central Library of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library system. In an informal Q&A session, audience members asked about threats to federal research, the future of diversity, equity and inclusion at the University, potential shifts in the Democratic Party and more. According to Alexia Childress, event co-organizer and School of Medicine student, event co-organizer and Medicine student, the event was organized by several medical students in the wake of former University President Jim Ryan’s resignation.
Virginia hospitals face big income cuts from Trump’s bill
Virginia hospitals and doctors face big cuts in income under President Donald Trump’s tax and budget bill while Virginians with Obamacare coverage could see big premium increases if a Biden-era tax credit goes away, state officials say. The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Trump signed into law July 4 calls for state Medicaid agencies to cap payments to hospitals and doctors to the rates the federal Medicare program for older Americans pays.