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York County cuts ties with right-wing school board group over alleged threat of member before vote
York County has prohibited any future business ties with a right-wing school board organization after the group threatened a school board member ahead of a major recent vote, according to a letter obtained by WAVY News 10. The letter, which is posted online, is addressed to School Board Member Alliance (SBMA) Chairwoman Sherri Story. York County Purchasing Agent Jan Dudley wrote the letter. In it, she said the SBMA “demonstrated a lack of moral and business integrity” when the “leadership of the SBMA” pressed now Board Chair Kimberly Goodwin to vote to keep former Chair Lynda Fairman in that position.
Mountain Valley Pipeline approved for operation
Federal regulators on Tuesday gave the Mountain Valley Pipeline the green light to begin operating, a decade after the controversial natural gas project was first announced. In a letter to the pipeline’s joint venture company, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission official said the authorization was based on recent construction status reports, a staff inspection last month and communication with the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Bob Good’s brother accused of berating primary opponent McGuire at church
The brother of a congressional candidate allegedly verbally assaulted his brother’s opponent in a church on Sunday. John McGuire is running for Virginia’s Fifth District Congressional seat against incumbent Bob Good. McGuire was attending Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg over the weekend, where he said Good’s brother, Steve Good, came up to him following the early service.
Russell board rejects landfill host agreement
The Russell County Board of Supervisors emerged from a closed session Monday night and unanimously rejected a proposed agreement that could have led to a landfill being established on a former coal site. Board members voted 7-0 to approve a resolution to terminate negotiations with NOVA, Inc., on its plans to establish a private landfill on the Moss 3 site. ... The 7-0 vote prompted loud cheering from a large crowd gathered inside the county Government Center, a video recording of the meeting shows. The proposed landfill has faced stiff public opposition for many months.
Manassas City Council hikes data center tax rate 72% in new budget
Both property owners and data centers in the City of Manassas will pay higher tax bills under the $333 million budget for fiscal year 2025 the city council approved Monday. … The budget hikes the tax rate paid by data centers in Manassas by 72%. Data centers will pay $2.15 per $100 in the assessed value on their computer servers and other computer equipment. The new $2.15 rate is a 90-cent increase over the city’s current “computer and peripherals tax rate” of $1.25. The new rate applies to all businesses in the city, but data centers and other tech companies such as Micron pay the bulk of the tax revenue.
Yancey: A charity or a front for Hamas? Attorney General Miyares wants access to a Muslim nonprofit’s books
A curious court case will play out Thursday in Richmond that might have international ramifications. On one level, this involves a relatively innocuous question: Why hasn’t a particular charity filed its proper paperwork with the state? On another, this becomes much more serious: Is a Virginia-based charity funneling money to terrorists? Or, framed another way, is Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares making “defamatory” and “dangerous” allegations against a Muslim group out of Islamophobia? The group in question here is the Falls Church-based American Muslims for Palestine, which says “our sole purpose is to educate the American public and media about issues related to Palestine and its rich cultural and historical heritage.”
Shenandoah County School Board sued after reinstating Confederate school names
The Virginia NAACP and five students are suing a school board that voted last month to restore the names of two schools previously named for Confederate leaders, saying the decision creates a discriminatory educational environment for Black students. The federal complaint filed Tuesday says the reversal denies Black students an equal opportunity to education by forcing them to attend a school named after Confederate leaders. “It just feels like a huge step in the wrong direction,” said Briana Brown, one of the student plaintiffs, and a rising senior in a program housed in Mountain View High School. “And if we let them get away with this, what’s next?”
Chesapeake City Council rejects referendum on possible voting changes
Chesapeake City Council rejected a resolution [Tuesday] night to poll voters on whether the city’s voting system should change. In a 3-6 vote, city council members decided against asking residents about shifting from an at-large system, where all registered voters can cast ballots on all city council members and the mayor. In its place could have been a ward voting system, where constituents vote for a representative in their district and the mayor.
City of Lynchburg accuses council member of witness intimidation 6 weeks before federal lawsuit trial
The city of Lynchburg has sought a restraining order against a member of its own city council following a social media post it claims constitutes a “threatening and sinister” case of witness tampering leveled against the deputy superintendent of Lynchburg City Schools. Filed in U.S. District Court on Friday, the city’s motions call into question the conduct of at-large council member Marty Misjuns leading up to the scheduled July trial for a free speech lawsuit he filed against the city in 2021. At the time, he was a captain with the Lynchburg Fire Department. He had posted cartoons on his Facebook page that some considered transphobic. The city disciplined him, he filed suit, and the city later fired him. It’s that suit that is now coming to trial.
Virginia joins request to American Bar Association to drop its DEI standards
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares signed a letter with 20 of his Republican counterparts asking the American Bar Association to drop its diversity and inclusion standards for law schools. DEI efforts implemented in the schools directs their administrators to violate both the Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which “prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin,” the states argued.