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Youngkin heads to the land where tall corn grows - along with presidential bids
Many Virginians head for the beach or the Blue Ridge for a summer break, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin is bound for Iowa and South Carolina. And while Des Moines hosts the nation’s biggest skate park and Columbia, S.C. is proud of its Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, both states also happen to be early gatekeepers to the Republican Party's 2028 nomination for president. Not, Youngkin says, that that’s on his mind.
Elimination of DEI played out differently at VCU and UVa
When state and federal officials told Virginia Commonwealth University to scrub DEI from every corner of campus, the university's administrators went straight to work. They dissolved the university's central office for diversity, equity and inclusion and started reviewing the work of DEI employees. They even hired a consultant to check their work. At the University of Virginia, however, things played out much differently. Its board voted to eliminate the university's office for DEI, but what the school's administration did next is unclear. Weeks later, federal officials and conservative alumni accused UVa making change too slowly.
Over 734,000 Hampton Roads residents await impact of Medicaid funding changes
Over 734,000 Virginians in the Hampton Roads area currently rely on Medicaid and FAMIS (Family Access to Medical Insurance Security) for their healthcare needs. It's a number that could see significant shifts with federal funding cuts following the passage of President Trump's spending bill on Thursday.
Trump’s tax bill would send an iconic Smithsonian spacecraft to Texas
The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum could lose the iconic Discovery space shuttle to Houston if a pair of Texas senators get their way. President Donald Trump’s massive tax and immigration bill passed the Senate on Tuesday with language effectively ordering the shuttle’s move to Texas. It would set aside $85 million to transport Discovery and construct a home for it at Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center — which itself oversaw more than 100 shuttle launches over two decades. But the Smithsonian, which has housed the shuttle at its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Northern Virginia since 2012, estimated that the true cost would be north of $300 million.
Yancey: Attorney general opens criminal investigation into baby giraffes missing from the Natural Bridge Zoo
Attorney General Jason Miyares has opened a criminal investigation into the whereabouts of the two baby giraffes missing from the Natural Bridge Zoo, it was revealed in court Wednesday. That announcement came amid an all-day hearing on contempt of court charges against three people involved with the zoo: two members of the family that has run the Rockbridge County attraction and an animal property rights activist. They were charged with impeding court orders to cooperate with moving the four adult giraffes that had been awarded to the state after an animal cruelty trial.
Dempsey-Henofer: Charlottesville’s nervous system is telling us something
As a mental health therapist and small business owner in Charlottesville, I sit with people every day who are trying to make sense of the world — of their pasts, their relationships and the systems that shape how safe they feel in their own bodies. Many of my clients are LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent or navigating trauma rooted in institutions that demand they be quiet, compliant or “neutral.” And here’s something I’ve learned again and again: When neutrality is demanded in the face of harm, the body knows it is not safe. Charlottesville is feeling that now.
GMU's Innovation District in Prince William receives $2.6M from state
The Innovation District in Manassas is receiving a $2.6 million Growth and Opportunity for Virginia state grant in part to bolster George Mason University’s programming at its Science and Technology Campus. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the grant along with seven others June 27. . . . Specifically in Prince William, George Mason University is launching the Innovation District at its Science and Technology campus in Manassas to drive growth in life sciences, emerging technologies, aerospace and defense, cybersecurity and data infrastructure.
Dumfries data center proposal draws fervor at town hall
Residents of a Dumfries-area retirement community turned out in droves for a Tuesday town hall to discuss proposed data center development near their property, a relative novelty for eastern Prince William County compared with such projects on the county’s western end. Supervisor Andrea Bailey, a Democrat representing the Potomac District, hosted the town hall at her district office in Dumfries for residents of the Four Seasons at Historic Virginia 55-and-over community off Dumfries Road and west of Interstate 95. The project, dubbed “Lexora Park,” could include as many as five data centers, according to an April 9 concept plan.
The first Democrat to declare for a House seat from Virginia's fifth congressional district
A small crowd gathered in the shade of a picnic shelter at Crozet Park near Charlottesville to hear from a man who’d like to represent them in Congress – but from the moment he spoke it seemed people were not quite ready for that election. “Morning everybody!” the candidate called out. The crowd continued to chatter until someone finally insisted they quiet down. 58-year-old Paul Riley ran for a seat in the U.S. House two years ago but lost in the Democratic primary to Gloria Witt. Now he’s back, having learned an important political lesson.
Judge’s ruling means Charlottesville has no zoning laws whatsoever right now
Right now, Charlottesville has no zoning ordinance. During a 10-minute hearing for an ongoing lawsuit in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Monday, June 30, Judge Claude Worrell ruled that the city had to toss out its new zoning ordinance and revert back to the old rules. But there’s a catch, City Manager Sam Sanders told Charlottesville Tomorrow in an email Wednesday afternoon. “The old ordinance had to be repealed in order for the new one to be adopted,” Sanders wrote. “The void of the new one leaves us without one temporarily.”