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5 Virginia prison guards are injured by inmates accused of being MS-13 members
An attack by inmates at a Virginia prison injured five guards, according to state corrections officials who said most of the assailants were MS-13 gang members who entered the U.S. illegally. Three guards were stabbed and were transported for medical treatment along with two others hurt Friday at Wallens Ridge State Prison in western Virginia, the state Department of Corrections said.
Yancey: Spanberger wants state to take stronger role in helping local governments with solar decisions
Abigail Spanberger says the state shouldn’t force localities to accept solar projects or data centers that they don’t want, but that the state could do a better job of offering localities technical information so they can make better-informed decisions. She supports nuclear energy and says that the small modular reactor proposed for Dominion Energy’s North Anna power station in Louisa County is a good way to test the commercial viability of that technology. She also says that Virginia is headed toward an energy crisis and the next governor needs to address it, but that any solution must be done in coordination with neighboring states that are on the same electric grid.
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.
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.
Georgia-Pacific closes Emporia plywood plant; ‘very sad day’ sees 550 workers lose jobs
Hundreds of employees at the Georgia-Pacific plywood plant in Emporia, Virginia, are losing their jobs after the facility ceased operations immediately on Friday. The company delivered the news to the plant's just over 550 employees during a series of meetings Friday morning and through a letter distributed to workers, according to Rick Kimble, Georgia-Pacific's director of public affairs. ... Officials blamed a combination of factors, including high home prices and a 30-year low in existing home sales, for the closure.
Racial tensions, community outrage rises over firing of Hopewell city manager and clerk
There was an uproar in Hopewell’s city council chambers Thursday night. Some city leaders sat sobbing at the bench, and some stormed out. Mayor Johnny Partin lost control of the meeting. “Step down, Johnny Partin, step down!” Shouted community members from the crowd, after the decision to terminate City Manager Dr. Concetta Manker and City Clerk Brittani Williams without cause. The community now wants to know if the vote was legal because it concerns a conflict of interest.
ACPS ‘censorship’ of Alexandria City High School’s student newspaper Theogony ignites firestorm of criticism
After a firestorm of criticism from city leaders and student journalists over proposed oversight changes to Alexandria City High School’s student newspaper, Theogony, this morning (May 2), the Alexandria School Board’s Governance Committee returned to the drawing board. ... With City Council members warning of potential “censorship” and “authoritarian” behavior from the school system, student journalists are alleging a concerted effort from the administration of Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt to suppress touchy or controversial stories from appearing in the monthly publication.
Virginia Beach charter change referendum may have enough council votes to advance
Mayor Bobby Dyer and other members of City Council who want to place a charter change referendum question on the November ballot likely have enough support for it to move forward. The referendum question would ask voters whether they want to keep the current single-member district system or if they support a voting system with some at-large seats on council.
Jam-packed GMU board meeting becomes battleground in national school diversity fight
George Mason University Board of Visitors meetings aren’t typically jam-packed, but a battle over diversity programs among the school’s leadership has stirred up the university’s student body. At a meeting yesterday (Thursday), board members questioned university staff on whether the school is complying with the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in education.
VCU plans to demolish Grace Street buildings and downtown student center
Virginia Commonwealth University plans to demolish a pair of buildings on its Monroe Park Campus and a student center on its MCV Campus for health sciences to make way for two new projects. On the Monroe Park Campus, VCU intends to tear down an office building and the BookHolders.com building on West Grace Street, which will become the site of a 1,000-bed residential building. On the downtown health sciences campus, the university expects to remove the Larrick Student Center, where VCU will build a new school of dentistry building.