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Marshall and Pressley: Students hate it, teachers love it. Our research shows cellphone bans work
Over the past year, several states have moved to ban cellphones in school as part of an effort to eliminate distractions in the classroom, improve student mental health, and increase post-pandemic learning. Beginning Jan. 1, an executive order restricting student cellphone use in Virginia schools from bell to bell, including during lunch and in the hallways between classes, went into effect. Research on the effects of such bans is still emerging, so we partnered with a school division in Virginia to assess how the policy was working in practice.
Gretz: A brighter future for Virginia’s rural schools
As the current superintendent of the Fluvanna County Public Schools and now in my 35th year as a Virginia educator, I have had the responsibility and privilege of impacting the education of countless students. I constantly strive to find creative ways to maximize our community’s resources as efficiently as possible. This can be especially challenging for smaller, rural communities where resources are limited. I am proud of the bipartisan work our General Assembly has done to promote and make available a win-win solution to help address this resource challenge by reducing our energy costs 25%.
Kenner: Facts, not rhetoric, should drive menhaden decisions
In the debate over the future of the Atlantic menhaden fishery, working families are being pushed to the margins. The fishermen, plant workers and coastal community members who have sustained this industry for generations are too often falsely portrayed as obstacles to conservation. Meanwhile, environmental activist groups are assumed to speak for the public good. But regulators and members of the public should not accept the premise that these groups speak for the public interest simply because they say so on their websites.
Nelson: John Reid? Hypocrisy is what’s killing American democracy
I am a Christian and a political independent — socially moderate, fiscally conservative, grounded in traditional values. For over two decades, I was a loyal Republican. But when Donald Trump hijacked the party I once believed in, I walked away — and never looked back. My principles, though, haven’t changed. I don’t always agree with every Republican candidate, and I don’t share every conviction of John Reid, the openly gay Republican running for lieutenant governor of Virginia. But fairness is fairness, and right is right. What’s happening to Reid isn’t just wrong — it’s revealing.
Kish: Dominion’s gas addiction is proving costly for Virginians
If we’ve learned anything from recent weather events, it’s that extreme weather is here to stay. Cold snaps, heat waves and tropical storms are all part of what has become Virginia’s “new normal.” So when Dominion Energy cited high gas prices incurred during the January freeze in its recent proposal to raise rates, it was a sign — a bad sign for customers — of things to come. It was a sign that Dominion will make fuel-related rate hikes part of the “new normal,” too.
Rozell: Youngkin’s blunder clouds his political future
Glenn Youngkin cultivated a very successful brand as a thoughtful and likeable leader. During his successful campaign for governor four years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the first Trump presidency, it was exactly what Republicans and even many moderates were looking for. His fumbling responses and failure to think through last week’s salacious allegations against John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, is a miscalculation that haunts the lame-duck governor as he surveys what are quite likely diminished prospects for future elective office.
Virginia should move to purchase, preserve Monroe estate
What a shame it will be if Virginia squanders an opportunity to turn Oak Hill, the Loudoun County home of President James Monroe, into a state park. The Delashmutt family, which bought the historic house on 1,200 acres in Northern Virginia more than 70 years ago, wants to sell the estate for $20 million, well below market value, to the Conservation Fund, a nonprofit preservation group hoping to make Oak Hill a state park and museum.
City of Bristol, experts to review efforts to end odors from former landfill
City leaders plan to review its efforts to eliminate odors from the quarry landfill, according to a statement issued Friday. Contractors have installed a $10 million sidewall odor mitigation system and expanded the gas collection efforts in the now shuttered landfill and workers continue refining those operations, a city official previously said. Despite that, the city received about 400 odor complaints during the first four months of this year.
Hopewell commonwealth’s attorney finds legal fault with council’s firing of city manager
As dust continues to stir on last week’s firing of Hopewell’s city manager and city clerk, the city’s top prosecutor warned in a letter to City Council that the motion to terminate Dr. Concetta Manker may have been made improperly, and because it was, Manker should still be in office. Citing Rule 36 of Robert’s Rule of Order, Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Newman said the motion made at the May 1 meeting did not follow the direction about either the time frame for making the order or the authenticity of the motion made by Ward 4 Councilor Ronnie Ellis.
Manassas Officials Caught Off Guard as Bank Tenant Sidesteps Millions in Data Center Taxes
A bank tenant inside a newly completed data center in Manassas has triggered a sweeping local tax exemption, upending financial expectations and leaving city officials blindsided. At the April 30, 2025, Manassas City Council meeting, Commissioner of the Revenue Tim Demeria revealed that a tenant inside the new Brickyard data center, operated by Digital Realty Trust, had filed paperwork identifying itself as a bank. Under Virginia Code §58.1-1202, banks are exempt from local Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) taxes and the business personal property taxes that typically bring cities millions in revenue from data centers. The loss is significant.