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Court rules in favor of Martinsville in sewer contract dispute with Henry County Public Service Authority
A Martinsville Circuit Court judge has ruled in favor of the City of Martinsville in its long-running contract dispute with the Henry County Public Service Authority (PSA), awarding the city more than $7.4 million in damages and declaring the PSA liable for additional future costs. The ruling, issued June 6 by Judge G. Carter Greer, states that the city is entitled to $7,403,434 in compensatory damages — representing 47 percent of the cost to rehabilitate the Smith River Interceptor (SRI), a major sewer line. The court also found that the PSA will be responsible for its share of the cost to rehabilitate the Jones Creek Interceptor (JCI), based on the volume of its sewage that flows through that line. Work on the JCI has not yet been completed.
Thousands attend Williamsburg’s ‘No Kings’ protest against the Trump administration
Car horns, chants and cheers filled the air around the Williamsburg-James City Courthouse on Saturday night as thousands of people participated in the largest “No Kings” rally in the region. Organized by Williamsburg JCC Indivisible, the event was one of roughly 2,000 held across the country to protest the actions and policies of the Trump administration. The event was the largest of the five held in Hampton Roads on Saturday ...
Yancey: 10 questions that Tuesday’s primaries will answer
I don’t know who’s going to win Tuesday’s Democratic primaries for lieutenant governor and attorney general but I can sure tell you who’s going to lose: Donald Trump. If all you knew was what you saw from the television ads of the six lieutenant governor candidates and two attorney general candidates, you’d think Trump is their opponent, not the others on the ballot. That’s likely good politics in a Democratic primary, but it also highlights just how few policy differences there appear to be between the respective candidates. Some primaries are a battle royale for “the soul of the party.” This year’s Democratic primaries for two of the three statewide offices — Abigail Spanberger is already the party’s nominee for governor — does not appear to be one of those.
Fredericksburg participates in worldwide ‘No Kings’ protest
The chants of “No Kings here” and “This is what Democracy looks like” rang out from protestors gathered at the corner of William and Blue & Grey Parkway on Saturday morning. Hundreds of people lined the corner from the Route 1/ Falmouth off-ramp all the way past St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church to protest the actions of President Donald Trump and his cabinet since his return to the White House in January 2025. Throughout the two hours when the protest was held, from 10 a.m. to noon, protesters chanted and made noise, gathering support from passing commuters. The event’s organizers offered bottled water to those participating, and the only notable disruption was a pickup truck whose driver purposely spewed exhaust fumes while driving by.
What’s ahead for Virginia colleges if Trump targets international students?
Virginia had over 21,000 international students in its colleges in universities last year, but recent actions from President Donald Trump may see that number change. The fight over international students in U.S. colleges started last month when Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his office would move to revoke Chinese student visas from Harvard University over national security concerns. Then, Rubio announced increased vetting of all foreign students' social media accounts. And this week the president's new travel bans from 12 countries went into effect and also applies to would-be students. Some of these issues are winding through the courts, but immigration visa attorney Keith Pabian said it will disrupt US colleges.
10 Va. House of Delegates contests to watch Tuesday
With early voting already underway and primary day set for Tuesday, Virginia’s House of Delegates races are shaping up to be a revealing test of party identity, grassroots energy, and electoral ambition. For the first time in many years, Democrats have fielded candidates in all 100 House districts — a feat that underscores just how determined the party is to hold the majority it won back two years ago, and how fired up its base has become heading into another high-stakes election year. Many of the most compelling primaries are playing out in safely blue districts, where challengers are confronting Democratic incumbents from the left and prompting broader questions about the party’s ideological trajectory.
New documents show Averett’s finances in dire straits in 2024, but optimism in 2025
Averett University’s financial situation last summer raised serious concerns about its ability to operate, according to a draft audit prepared for the university. But the private university in Danville has had recent fundraising successes that may help pave its path forward. ... The Danville school started cutting costs a year ago, at the tail end of fiscal 2024, in response to its discovery of a budget shortfall caused by what Averett officials have said were unauthorized withdrawals from its endowment. Averett has laid off staff, eliminated academic programs and begun selling property to keep the university afloat.
Spencer: Despite Medicaid pledges, Wittman and Kiggans folded
“We cannot and will not support a final reconciliation bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.” That is what U.S. Reps. Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans, along with 10 other Republican House members, wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on April 14. On May 22, Wittman and Kiggans voted for a House budget reconciliation bill that the Congressional Budget Office says could leave 16 million people without health insurance over the next decade. Millions of those people will lose coverage because of $803 billion in cuts to Medicaid ...
Appeals for federal relief funds for Va. schools uncertain
After the U.S. education secretary set a March deadline to use unspent pandemic relief funds, Virginia school officials are still awaiting a decision on their appeal whether the federal government will rescind the cutoff allowing them to use $33 million. Across the commonwealth, 14 school divisions, including Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Symth County, and the Department of Juvenile Justice have appealed to use $25 million. The Virginia Department of Education wants to use nearly $8 million.
2020 red flag laws rarely used by most Va. localities
In 2018, police arrested Brandon Lee Rhodes in Chesterfield and charged him with assault and battery of a family member. In April 2023, he was charged again, this time after lighting the house on fire and assaulting his mother, according to a police report. That report said the attack left fingermarks on her neck. His mother explained that Rhodes suffers from mental illness. He was placed under court-ordered probation in lieu of a jail sentence. This January, Chesterfield police again rushed to the family’s home in Matoaca, where Rhodes was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder. Family said that Rhodes, during a mental health episode, took his brother’s gun from an unlocked gun cabinet and shot his mother’s best friend.