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Otieno’s mother to Department of Justice: ‘Where are you?’
The family of Irvo Otieno pleaded for the intervention of the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday afternoon, minutes after a judge approved the dismissal of five charges of second-degree murder in Otieno’s death in March 2023. The request comes despite the possibility that charges may still be refiled by Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amanda Mann, who has suggested to the family that the cases are only being dropped as part of her legal strategy to reorder the cases.
Congresswoman battling brain disorder delivers House speech using a text-to-voice app
Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) stepped to the microphone on the House floor Monday to speak about one of her latest pieces of legislation, as she has done many times before during her five years in Congress. But the voice that gave the speech wasn’t hers — it was from a text-to-voice application, an assistive device she uses to help her navigate a degenerative brain condition with which she was diagnosed last year. Wexton’s disorder — progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) — has largely affected her ability to speak, hear and move. With the help of the assistive app, the congresswoman on Monday spoke about legislation she introduced to rename a post office in Purcellville, Va., after former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who lived in nearby Hillsboro, Va.
‘Virginia is not New York’: Attorney general says arrests at U.Va. necessary, as protesters express outrage
The state’s attorney general said the move to arrest and remove pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Virginia campus was necessary after weeks of lawless acts that some students dispute. Twenty-five people were arrested Saturday at the Charlottesville campus after police clashed with protesters. On Sunday morning, Attorney General Jason Miyares spoke in support of the state police action, calling student claims that the police response was disproportionate as “good PR spin by those on the other side.”
Study: Opioid use disorders are undertreated among formerly incarcerated Virginians on Medicaid
A new Virginia Commonwealth University study shows that opioid use disorders are underdiagnosed and undertreated among formerly incarcerated Virginians enrolled in Medicaid. Among the 4,652 adults released from state prisons in 2022, the study shows 85% were enrolled in Medicaid within one month of their release. While 13%, or 514 of these adults had a diagnosis of opioid use disorder, only a quarter received medication treatment through Medicaid. By comparison, 78% of all Medicaid members with an opioid use disorder in state fiscal year 2021 received treatment.
Dominion Energy says preliminary injunction request not delaying offshore wind construction
The legal battle between Dominion Energy and three organizations opposed to its offshore wind project is heating up. In March, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), the Heartland Institute, and the National Legal and Policy Center sued Dominion Energy, alleging it hadn’t taken the necessary steps to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale and other marine life during construction. Dominion Energy called the lawsuit “meritless.” In the latest development, the three organizations requested a preliminary injunction, asking a judge to stop offshore construction before it starts.
Chesapeake Bay watershed not likely to meet some pollution reduction goals by 2025
Virginia did not reach its 2023 pollution reduction targets for nitrogen and phosphorus, according to modeling tools from the Chesapeake Bay Program, but the state is on track for reducing sediment in the bay. Too much nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay contribute to poor quality of the water. Nitrogen and phosphorus fuel the growth of algae blooms, and sediment can block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses, suffocating shellfish. Between 2022 and 2023, pollution loads for nitrogen fell 3.3%, phosphorus fell 4.5% and overall sediment levels decreased by 1% across six states and DC. Those seven entities are part of the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint.
Energy Developers Want Reforms to Va.’s Process for Connecting Renewables to Grid
As Virginia solar developers and Dominion Energy continue to clash over requirements for tying new small and mid-sized renewables into the electric grid, some environmental groups and grid experts say changing how the state approaches interconnection costs could ease long-standing issues. “It’s a solution to a big problem that’s been stifling a lot of solar projects,” said Josephus Allmond, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. Virginia, like other states that have adopted ambitious renewables goals, has seen increasing tension in recent years over interconnection, the process of connecting new power sources to the electric grid.
No one will take credit for calling state police on UVa campus protesters
On Saturday, a decision was made by someone at the University of Virginia to have state police break up a small anti-war encampment on Grounds. Exactly who made that decision remains unclear. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is not taking credit. Various statements from the school indicate it was President Jim Ryan or university police that determined state troopers were needed to remove the two dozen rain-soaked protesters, what remained of a four-day demonstration on a patch of grass near the University Chapel.
Can’t install your own solar panels? Some areas let you join a community project.
For four generations, Steve Wine’s family has tended a 600-acre farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, raising steers and growing corn, soybeans and alfalfa. The farm has struggled in recent years with rising costs and slumping crop markets, leaving Wine to question the operation’s viability. In a bid to sustain the farm, Wine will begin in the coming months to harvest a new crop: solar energy. He’s leased 34 acres to a solar electricity developer, which has installed panels that will generate about 5 megawatts of power at peak capacity. The project is funded by subscriptions from about 1,000 households in the region, who will receive credits on their electricity bills based on the power it generates.
Youngkin and Vance: Fentanyl is a community threat. It’s time for the community to respond
Fentanyl has played a role in more than 75% of all drug overdose deaths in Virginia. In the last three years alone, some 6,000 people in our commonwealth have been killed by fentanyl. More than 300 of them lived in the Roanoke area. An estimated five Virginians will die from a fentanyl overdose every day this year: mothers, fathers, children, friends and coworkers. Each and every one of these losses is a tragedy. There’s no such thing as “not our problem” with fentanyl. It’s a Roanoke problem, a Virginia problem — an everyone problem.