Search
Gerry Connolly backs former chief of staff to fill his Northern Virginia seat
A former aide to Rep. Gerry Connolly has quickly jumped into the race to replace the longtime member of Congress from Northern Virginia — with the blessing of his former boss. James Walkinshaw, a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors who served as Connolly’s chief of staff for more than a decade, cast himself as a fierce opponent of President Donald Trump’s agenda as he announced his candidacy Tuesday for the seat in the heavily Democratic suburb of Washington.
Va. higher education institutions weigh in on Youngkin’s budget cuts
Governor Youngkin signed off on the budget on Friday and cut $900 million. Youngkin is pushing pause on capital projects at 10 higher education facilities, to the tune of over $600 million. Some of that money would have gone to Central Virginia Community College to renovate their Amherst and Campbell buildings. They were expecting an estimated $50 million in funds.
Right-to-contraception bills highlight key reproductive health care debate in this year’s elections
Contraception access is an issue resonating loudly within Virginia’s public and political spheres this year and last week, it manifested through state lawmakers contrasting Virginia’s twice-failed attempt to protect access to birth control medications against a similar measure that recently sailed through neighboring Tennessee’s legislature. For the second year in a row, Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a right-to-contraception bill carried by Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, who took to social media over the weekend to highlight how, unlike in the commonwealth, Tennessee lawmakers were able to come together and pass a bipartisan bill on the issue.
Real estate developer cites Faraldi’s prediction in lawsuit against city council
The developer of a residential community on Wards Ferry Road, in a lawsuit filed against the Lynchburg City Council, is calling the council’s decision to deny the company a rezoning permit “invalid” and “devoid of any reasoned basis.” City council’s 4-3 vote to reject Timberlake Investments LLC’s application to build 18 townhouses and a duplex on Wards Ferry Road, near Timberlake Road, came on the same night in March that the council voted to approve a 750-unit housing development on Wiggington Road proposed by Langley Land and Jam 89. . . . At the March 11 council meeting, Ward IV Councilman Chris Faraldi criticized council’s decision to approve the Wiggington Road development but reject the Wards Ferry Road rezoning application to build the 18 townhouses and duplex.
VMI’s Board of Visitors selects new leadership, as Wins’ tenure closes
After several days of meetings that began Friday, the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors selected new leadership. It also voted in an acting superintendent to replace Major General Cedric Wins whose contract was not renewed earlier this year after criticism of DEI initiatives he supported. The meetings were Wins’ last. Brigadier General Dallas Clark was selected to replace him on an interim basis as the board continues its search for a permanent superintendent. James Inman, a Younkin appointee, was also voted in as the new Board of Visitor's president.
State investigating potential cancer cluster in Scott County amid cases of pediatric cancer
After 14 rounds of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation and two major surgeries — including a jaw reconstruction — Oliver Hensley is finally in remission from an aggressive type of cancer. He was just 5 years old and in kindergarten when he was diagnosed. His treatments spanned the course of a year. “You would never think that you have to worry that your child is going to have cancer,” Kayla Hensley, Oliver’s mom, said during a phone interview.
Youngkin keeps bar high for weight loss drugs under Medicaid
A year ago, after Gov. Glenn Youngkin persuaded the General Assembly to limit access to weight loss drugs for people in Virginia’s Medicaid program, Dr. Susan Wolver saw immediate consequences for her patients struggling with obesity. People who had lost 100 pounds with help from medication suddenly lost access to the drug because they had shed so much weight they fell beneath the state’s new threshold for body mass index. They regained weight and other medical conditions returned, such as high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. . . . The General Assembly tried to intervene this year, adopting a lower body mass index threshold to quality for the drugs under Medicaid, but Youngkin had the last word by vetoing the new provision of the revised budget that he signed on Friday.
Yancey: Jobless workers in Emporia are paying the price for nation’s inability to deal with high housing costs
Emporia took a hard blow last week when the Georgia-Pacific plywood mill announced it’s closing, leaving 550 people out of work. That follows another hard blow last year, when the Boar’s Head Provision Co. meat plant in nearby Jarratt in Greensville County closed. No community wants to lose a major employer; between them, Emporia and Greensville County have now lost two in less than a year’s time. These two plant closings are unrelated — Boar’s Head was linked to a listeria outbreak that led to 10 deaths across the country. That’s a tragedy, but it may not directly stem from a public policy choice. However, Georgia-Pacific cited national declines in homebuilding and homebuying, and those are very much connected to public policy.
The future of Metro is the bus—and Virginia is on board
The D.C. public transportation system is set to expand dramatically over the next 20 years. But aside from the long-delayed Purple Line, new train tracks aren’t part of the plan. Leaders in and around the Metro system are putting their energy behind the less-loved side of transit: the bus. In June, Metro rolls out its new “Better Bus Network,” remaking the existing system with fewer stops and promises of faster service. Northern Virginia leaders just proposed 28 new bus routes, five of which are already in the works.
Max: Medicine tariffs would put Virginia patients in jeopardy
The Trump administration recently imposed a new round of tariffs targeting imported goods from the European Union, China and dozens of other countries in its ongoing effort to boost domestic manufacturing. The White House announced that tariffs on pharmaceutical products will be next. That means millions of Virginians, many of whom are already struggling to afford their health care costs, may soon face higher drug prices.