Search
Moran: Scammers are everywhere. Here’s how to stop them
Under two separate gubernatorial administrations, I was honored to serve as the secretary of public safety and homeland security. In that role, I was responsible for keeping Virginians safe and overseeing various layers of state law enforcement. With each passing year, the threats that we faced grew and evolved. Year after year, however, one threat became larger and larger — the alarming rise in sophisticated financial scams.
Youngkin and Pillion: United to stop fentanyl deaths
Since its inception in 2023, National Naloxone Awareness Day is a time to acknowledge the danger of the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, as well as the importance of the opioid overdose reversal drug, naloxone. On this day, Virginians are reminded that on average three Virginians lose their life to fentanyl every day. However, it is also a moment to celebrate Virginia’s recently achieved, 44% year-over-year drop in fentanyl-related overdose deaths — among the most significant declines nationally — and a 46% decrease from its peak in 2021.
Youngkin: Virginia is turning the tide on fentanyl deaths
Virginia is seeing real progress in reducing overdose deaths. For the first time in years, data shows overdose deaths are declining nationwide — and here in the commonwealth, we’re helping drive that trend. Virginia reported a 44% decrease in overdose deaths over the past year and a 46% drop from its peak in 2021. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Virginia’s year-over-year decline in overdose deaths between November 2023 and November 2024 was among the largest in the country.
Richmond mayor: ‘Not in the city’s best interest to burn bridges’ over VCU Health tax payments
As another year’s due date comes and goes, the City of Richmond is throwing in the towel in its fight with VCU Health over $56 million in real estate tax payments that were tied to a failed downtown development. June 5 was supposed to be the deadline for the annual payments that the health system agreed to make over 25 years when it signed on to anchor the ill-fated redevelopment of the city’s old Public Safety Building site. But the city is no longer looking to collect. Mayor Danny Avula, who took office in January, said Richmond will not continue to pursue the payments ... In an interview with BizSense, Avula said he also is not interested in pursuing litigation against the health system – an option his predecessor, Levar Stoney, had threatened before leaving office last year.
Democratic lieutenant governor candidates discuss taking on Trump, federal cuts
A field of six candidates is competing to be the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Virginia’s June 17 primary election. It’s a job that, at first blush, doesn’t appear to have as many responsibilities as other elected offices. The lieutenant governor is first in the line of succession for the governor, and shall assume the position if the governor is not able to complete his or her job duties, according to the Constitution of Virginia.
Study recommends no change in oversight of Virginia’s juvenile justice agency
Who should oversee Virginia's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), which is responsible for serving more than 3,000 court-involved youth every day? That was the question at the center of the latest study from the General Assembly's research arm, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). Currently, DJJ falls under the purview of the public safety secretary, but advocates have argued that transferring DJJ to the health and human resources secretariat would improve access to services since behavioral health is a big focus of the rehabilitative process.
Ahead of schedule, Kalahari welcomes a beaming Youngkin
Gov. Glenn Youngkin was technically the keynote speaker for the Kalahari Resorts’ ceremonial “steel beam signing” event Wednesday afternoon, but it was founder and CEO Todd Nelson who delivered an answer to the question many are wondering. When is the $900 million Thornburg indoor waterpark going to open? The answer: Nov. 12, 2026. “We’re ahead of schedule,” Nelson said. “Everything is going really, really quite well.” More than 150 people attended the ceremony held on the 1.38 million-square-foot resort’s future grounds, which will also include a 150,000-square-foot convention center and 900 guest rooms.
Youngkin boasts 150,000-square-foot Kalahari Resort waterpark in Spotsylvania County
Signing a steel beam at the unfinished site of a $900 million indoor waterpark, hotel and convention center in Spotsylvania County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin boasted the upcoming Kalahari Resort as an example of capital investment in Virginia. "I do humbly want to suggest that they did choose the very best state in America to do business," Youngkin said. "... It is tangible proof that when businesses survey, they continue to time and time again choose the commonwealth of Virginia."
Virginia’s federal lawmakers want to make childbirth free
Childbirth can cost thousands of dollars, with certain conditions also posing extra costs for parents-to-be who have private health insurance. New legislation proposed by Virginia’s Capitol Hill lawmakers and their colleagues could prevent cost-sharing for prenatal, childbirth, neonatal, perinatal and postpartum care, keeping families from being saddled with big bills after birth. U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, remembers the stress and fear of dealing with placenta previa, a life-threatening maternal condition, when carrying her second child, Samantha.
Lansdowne Conservancy to appeal Loudoun power line decision
The Lansdowne Conservancy plans to file an appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia over Dominion Energy’s Aspen to Golden 500-230 kV Electric Transmission Project, according to the organization's attorney. Attorney Bryan S. Turner made the announcement during the June 3 meeting of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.