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New Virginia law will guarantee restroom access for some
Virginia will join more than 20 other states and Washington, D.C. on July 1 when a law goes into effect that will give some people legal access to restrooms in cases of emergency. When many people leave the house, all they have to consider is if they have their wallet, keys and cellphone. But when Carol Driskill heads out, something else is top of mind. “I have to know that there’s a bathroom close by,” Driskill explained.
No shortage of opinions on Youngkin’s EV decision
In the week following Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to scrap electric vehicle regulations designed by a California environmental board, there were no shortage of opinions on the topic. “It’s literally dangerous, we are going backward by doing that,” said Arif Sikder, an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. “If other states decided to do the same thing, it’s going to cause more danger for public health [and] global warming.” Youngkin unveiled the decision on June 6 at a Chester car dealership, just one day after the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board met. With it, he is reversing guidelines that the General Assembly adopted in 2021.
Dollar Tree, A Virginia Corporate Success, Faces New Pressures Over Its History Of Violations
A state inspector showed up at a Dollar Tree store in Manassas in July 2022 and found shipping boxes stacked more than 8 feet high, perilously dangling over workers’ heads in the back room. Mountains of other boxes, thrown into jumbled piles, blocked the rear exits, leaving no pathway out in case of a fire. The inspector for the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program reported roaches crawling on the floor and dead in traps in multiple spots in the store, according to his write-up from that July 28 visit. Behind a cash register, rodents had chewed Hershey’s chocolate bars and left trails of droppings.
DuVal: Leaving California EV mandate is best for Virginia’s business climate
Last week, following Attorney General Jason Miyares’ opinion, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that Virginia would no longer be subject to California’s onerous electric vehicle mandates when its current regulation expires at the end of 2024. If the second iteration of these costly and burdensome mandates passed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) were to have taken effect in Virginia, all new vehicle purchases by 2035 would have been required to be EVs and 35% of model year 2026 vehicle purchases would as well.
Virginia Hasn’t Backed a Republican for President in Two Decades. Is It About to Flip?
Whether Virginia backs Donald Trump or Joe Biden shouldn’t even be a discussion. The state hasn’t backed a Republican for president since George W. Bush in 2004. But early polls showing Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, cutting into the Democratic president’s lead have served as a wake-up call for Virginia Democrats, who acknowledge headwinds with voters dissatisfied with Biden’s leadership. Republicans say that if Virginia is even remotely on the table for Trump, Biden is in serious trouble in traditional battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Chesterfield County backs secrecy in police records case
“Undercover.” The meaning of the word strikes at the heart of a public records fight regarding public access to basic police payroll information: the names and salaries of law enforcement employees. To Freedom of Information Act lawyer Andrew Bodoh, the word pertains to the type of police work seen on prime-time TV: disguised officers with assumed identities, names and cover stories. To Chesterfield County Attorney Jeffrey Mincks, the word includes every lay officer on the Chesterfield Police Department’s payroll: from the most grizzled detectives down to newly sworn-in cadets.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin visits Suffolk, touts signing of 31 mental health-related bills
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin paid a visit to Hampton Roads Thursday, promoting 31 bills recently signed into law, all with the goal of improving mental health care. He touted the 31 bipartisan bills during a ceremony at the Western Tidewater Community Services Board facility in Suffolk. Among them is the newly-signed “Irvo’s Law,” named after Irvo Otieno, 28, who died in custody last March after a mental health crisis. Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko joined the ceremony Thursday, saying Gov. Youngkin “kept his promise” in establishing legislation after her son’s death.
Spotsylvania supervisors elect to opt out of Regional Transportation Authority
The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday night to approve a resolution allowing the county to opt out of a Regional Transportation Authority. The supervisors voted 5-1 to approve the resolution with only Battlefield District representative Chris Yakabouski voting against it. “I think we need to move something forward, and I would challenge my board in the most respectful way of, it not this, then what?” Yakabouski said. “How are we going to do these things?” An RTA would involve Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, and Stafford counties and the city of Fredericksburg.
Richmond registrar violated city policies on nepotism, internal investigation finds
Richmond Registrar Keith Balmer and Deputy Registrar Jerry Richardson violated city policies on ethics and employing family members, an internal investigation by the city’s Department of Human Resources has concluded. The violations require “immediate departmental restructuring” within the Richmond Office of Elections, investigators said in the probe’s findings, which were submitted Tuesday to the Richmond Electoral Board and the Virginia Department of Elections.
5th District GOP primary draws big names, big money
When the motorcoach wrapped in former President Donald Trump’s likeness and “Take America Back” campaign slogan turned the corner into the parking lot of the Louisa County Office of Elections last Wednesday afternoon, a crowd of about four dozen supporters of Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland County, erupted in cheers. For a brief moment, one could have imagined that Trump himself had come to pay a surprise visit to the county of 40,000 in the eastern part of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, which political observers consider to be ground zero in one of the most viciously fought GOP primary battles nationwide this year — pitting a Trump-endorsed candidate against the chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who orchestrated last year’s ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.