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Tangier Island’s shrinking landscape sparks action from officials
Federal, state and local officials met together on Tangier Island last Thursday to discuss possible solutions for the shrinking fishing village. Alongside Tangier community leaders and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), officials visited sites on the island where land is disappearing due to sea level rise and erosion, followed by a meeting to discuss challenges and solutions for the island.
Out-of-state money funds Virginia’s GOP Senate candidates
Out-of-state dollars are funding Virginia's U.S. Senate primary campaigns. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions are flowing into the five commonwealth candidate's coffers from all corners of the country. That includes at least $265,631 from Florida, $206,270 from Texas and $167,709 from California, to name a few of the states where contributors live.
Stephens City zoning board upholds decision denying permits to hemp dispensary owners
The Stephens City Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) voted Monday evening to uphold town Zoning Administrator David Griffin's decision to deny permits to the owners of a Winchester hemp dispensary who want to open businesses at 4919 Main St. The decision comes after nearly a month of protests by the permit applicants, Tiauntia Green and Marcus Shelton, who are the owners of Celebrity's Hemp Dispensary on Braddock Street in Winchester. They have accused Griffin of prejudice in dealing with their applications to open a takeaway hoagie stop and smoker's night lodge and have called for his removal, along with town Mayor Mike Diaz.
Lynchburg City School Board votes to adopt Gov. Youngkin’s transgender policy
The Lynchburg City School Board voted Tuesday evening to adopt Governor Glenn Youngkin’s transgender policy. According to the policy, Lynchburg City Schools will refer to each student using the name and pronouns associated with the appropriate sex appearing on the student’s official record — male pronouns for a student whose sex is male and female pronouns for a student whose sex is female.
Virginia primaries: Why this year’s races hold national implications
Washington’s neighbor to the south is preparing for federal primaries that could provide a window into how elections will shake out in November. Virginians will vote on June 18 to choose the primary candidates for the Commonwealth’s 11 House seats and one Senate seat. Democrat Tim Kaine, who has served in the Senate since 2013, faces a field of five Republicans hoping to be the state’s first GOP senator since John Warner retired in 2009. Kaine was tapped as Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential election and has held various important posts, including governor from 2006 to 2010.
With Trump’s support, Navy vet targets Tim Kaine in uphill battle for U.S. Senate seat
Political observers have already placed bets on Tim Kaine, predicting the Democrat will glide into a third term as the junior U.S. Senator of Virginia, a state that hasn’t elected a Republican to the upper chamber since 2002. But Republicans vying for a chance to unseat the former vice presidential candidate say they see an opening with President Joe Biden at the top of November’s ticket. While Biden won Virginia by 10 percentage points in 2020, GOP primary candidates say the calculus has changed with heightened food prices, illegal border crossings and crime in American cities.
East, West Join Forces in Loudoun Power Line Battle
Loudoun County has been grappling with impact of the growing demand for power for some time, but it has largely been limited to eastern Loudoun where the Lansdowne Conservancy has been leading the charge in mitigating the impacts of needed power infrastructure on local communities. Last December, the concerns expanded to western Loudoun as a proposal to build a 500-kilovolt line between Harpers Ferry and the Leesburg area were approved by PJM Interconnection, the regional power coordinator. Since then, the Piedmont Environmental Council and Loudoun Transmission Line Alliance have held community meetings in Purcellville, Hillsboro, Waterford and Lovettsville to raise awareness and garner community action on the lines.
Marjorie Taylor Greene and John McGuire plan 5th District event in Albemarle
Charlottesville’s city government was caught off guard Monday afternoon when it first learned that U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and fellow Republican and congressional candidate Virginia state Sen. John McGuire were planning to visit City Hall. So too was Albemarle County when, hours later, the McGuire campaign suddenly decided to move its planned “Early Vote Rally to Save America” from City Hall to a county polling location.
Va.’s first anti-hazing summit held at VCU, hosted by family of freshman who died after frat party
Eric Oakes’ voice cracked for a moment when he reflected on the Virginia Hazing Prevention Summit he’d helped host at Virginia Commonwealth University Tuesday. Three years after the death of his son, Adam Oakes, the pain lingers but so does inspiration. “It was great seeing everybody collaborate and come together,” Oakes told reporters following a day-long gathering on VCU’s campus June 4. “I know Adam’s was the extreme of hazing, but there’s so much physical and mental damage done by hazing. It needs to be eradicated.” Oakes was a college freshman when he died of alcohol poisoning after a fraternity party hazing event in 2021.
Education benefits for military families caught in political crossfire
Gov. Glenn Youngkin and General Assembly leaders agree that they need to take another hard look at changes that all of them had advocated to a program providing higher education benefits for the families of military veterans either killed or almost completely disabled while on active duty. The question is how and when. The Republican governor and Democratic legislative leaders don’t agree on whether the assembly needs to meet this month to repeal the budget provisions that it passed and he signed to narrow eligibility for free tuition and other benefits under the Virginia Military Survivors & Dependents Education Program.