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Lynchburg School Board rescinds public comment ban of advocate
The Lynchburg City School Board voted unanimously to rescind its previous motion to ban Danny McCain, a longtime LCS advocate, from speaking at future school board meetings after he agreed not to disrupt future meetings. The motion passed 8-0 at Tuesday’s school board work session; ... The school board previously voted to ban McCain at its June 3 meeting when he went over his allotted time, saying he would only sit down after the school board agreed to meet with him to discuss the achievement gap between Black and white students in Lynchburg.
Lynchburg City School Board lifts ban on outspoken advocate
The Lynchburg School Board has reversed its decision to ban Danny McCain from speaking at its meetings, following an incident on June 3 where McCain continued speaking past his allotted time, prompting board members to consider calling the police. The board had initially banned McCain for violating their rules, but a recent unanimous vote, on Tuesday, has overturned that decision. During Tuesday's meeting, McCain apologized for his actions, saying, "I'm sorry I stayed over the 5 minutes."
Isle of Wight School Board to outsource policy updates to School Board Member Alliance
Isle of Wight County’s School Board voted 4-1 on June 12 to outsource the periodic review of its more than 400 written policies to the School Board Member Alliance, which formed three years ago as a rival to the Virginia School Boards Association. The vote comes just under a year since Isle of Wight disaffiliated from the VSBA over objections to the association’s annual lobbying of the Virginia General Assembly.
Rebuilding one of the nation’s oldest Black churches to begin at Juneteenth ceremony
A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held Thursday for the rebuilding of one of the nation’s oldest Black churches, whose congregants first gathered outdoors in secret before constructing a wooden meetinghouse in Virginia. The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg officially established itself in 1776, although parishioners met before then in fields and under trees in defiance of laws that prevented African Americans from congregating. Free and enslaved members erected the original church house around 1805, laying the foundation with recycled bricks.
Completed Va. tickets testing battle lines for Nov. election
The races were tight, with the definitive results coming late — and closer than has been the pattern in Virginia primaries — but the two parties’ November tickets are now complete. State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, is the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor and former Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, will run for attorney general, on a ticket led by former Rep. Abigail Spanberger — all of them promising to run as a united team. So far, there’s been no word that that’s the plan for the GOP slate of Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears for governor, former radio host John Reid for lieutenant governor and Attorney General Jason Miyares, seeking re-election to that post.
Virginia Board of Education approves $83.4 million allocation for infrastructure grants
After a competitive application process, multiple school divisions and a regional technical center will receive $83.4 million in grants for school construction projects, a move the Virginia Board of Education approved on Wednesday. A total of $80 million from the fiscal year 2025 application process will be allocated to 10 school divisions, including Lunenburg County for Central High School, the city of Richmond for Woodville Elementary School, and Massanutten Technical Center in Harrisonburg. The Petersburg High School project, which received $13 million towards the project’s $91 million total, was the only project that did not receive full funding.Petersburg missed out on an additional $13 million.
Crypto group wades into Virginia special election
The special election in Virginia to replace the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) is getting $1 million worth of attention via broadcast TV ads, courtesy of the crypto PAC Protect Progress. Crypto funds had an outsized impact on congressional elections in the 2024 election and the groups have pushed on into each of the three special elections that have come up this year. Protect Progress will use its funds to support Democratic candidate James Walkinshaw, the former chief of staff for Connolly.
Clean Virginia tops Dominion in Democratic primaries
The clash between Clean Virginia and Dominion Energy was on full display in Tuesday night’s Democratic primaries — and Clean Virginia came out on top. Dominion Energy, the state’s largest public utility, is one of Virginia’s most prolific political donors, contributing to candidates in both parties. Clean Virginia, a rival donor group, says its mission is to promote clean government and clean energy — and backs only candidates who refuse contributions from Dominion.
Two Danville council members to face off for House of Delegates seat
It looks like two Danville City Council members will duke it out for the 49th District House of Delegates seat. Madison Whittle and Gary Miller won the Republican and Democratic nominations, respectively, during their parties’ primaries Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections. Miller prevailed against his opponent Jasmine Lipscomb while Whittle defeated Vanessa Scearce.
John Reid would vote ‘no, no, no’ on in-progress constitutional amendments
After Tuesday’s primary election cemented state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, her opponent Republican lieutenant governor candidate John Reid on Wednesday laid out his goals if elected to the state’s second-highest office. He also announced plans to assemble work groups to study key issues and pledged that if Democrat-led efforts to enshrine reproductive rights, voting rights and same-sex marriage rights into Virginia’s constitution met a tie in the Senate chamber, he would break it by voting them all down.