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Richmond spent $100K since 2023 on billboards boasting ‘safe, reliable’ drinking water
City officials since December 2023 spent nearly $100,000 on billboards proclaiming the safety of Richmond’s drinking water. But the billboard on display during the city’s second water crisis last month was an error, a city spokesperson told The Times-Dispatch. The six-month ad campaign included messaging on the controversial billboard located in a historic Black cemetery in Richmond’s North Side. Former Mayor Levar Stoney last year requested billboard giant Lamar take down the sign out of respect, but the company declined.
Stoney points to predecessor as Richmond water crisis seeps into lieutenant governor race
Richmond’s water crisis is trickling into the lieutenant governor’s race. Former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney says he wishes the city’s prior administration had fixed the city’s water plant issues that, among other things, led to the Jan. 6 breakdown that left much of the city without drinking water for six days. Referring to efforts to replace the water plant’s switchgear, a key piece of equipment in the breakdown, Stoney shifted some of the blame to his predecessor, Dwight Jones, who served as Richmond’s mayor from 2009 to 2016, before Stoney’s eight-year tenure.
Trump’s trade war impacting Va. port, reshoring hopes
As President Donald Trump’s tariff wars heat up, Virginia businesses and the industries that support them are feeling the burn. That’s according to the Virginia Advisory Committee on International Trade that met in Richmond Tuesday. When the committee last met in April, the word of the day was uncertainty. And according to Riverwind Advisors investment firm president Bob Feeser, not much has changed. “Most businesses can deal with almost any kind of trade policy regime and tariff, but there has to be some certainty that you can plan around,” he said at the meeting held at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership office.
Reports: Virginia Democrats outdoing Republicans in raising campaign contributions
Democratic House of Delegates hopeful Kimberly Pope Adams raised the second-highest amount in Virginia of contributions to House campaigns for the latest campaign reporting period, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Pope Adams, who has already locked up the Democratic nomination in the 82nd House District, reported a total of $262,048 in money raised for the April 1-June 5 window, based on data from the Virginia Department of Elections that was compiled by VPAP. That trailed only House Speaker Don Scott of Portsmouth, who raised just over $344,000 for the period.
Analytics company to add nearly 250 jobs in Crystal City
Amid concerning local economic trends, there’s some good news. Arlington-based Technomics is investing more than $5 million to add nearly 25,000 square feet of space and 250 employees to its Crystal City office. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, County Board Chair Takis Karantonis, state Sen. Adam Ebbin and Del. Adele McClure touted the new jobs in an announcement ... Tuesday morning.
Hashmi leads fundraising in Va. lieutenant governor race
Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, led all lieutenant governor candidates in fundraising during the final reporting period before Virginia’s June 17 primary, as six Democrats compete for the lieutenant governor nomination to face Republican John Reid. Hashmi raised $742,841 from April 1 to June 5, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Campaign finance reports published Tuesday show that former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney came in next at $702,234 followed by Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, who raised $660,180.
Virginia Senate Dems refuse to confirm Cuccinelli, other Youngkin board nominees
In a Monday evening vote, Democrats on a Virginia State Senate committee declined to confirm eight of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees for three university boards, including former Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli and former state commerce and trade secretary Caren Merrick. Rejected in an 8-4 vote of the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections were eight Youngkin appointees to the boards of George Mason University, the University of Virginia and Virginia Military Institute.
Virginia Breeze bus routes experienced 25% growth during March
The Virginia Breeze bus service established an all-time record for monthly ridership during March. The service reported a systemwide 25% increase in ridership compared to March 2024, with a total of 8,049 passengers, according to a written statement. March 2025 also marked the highest reported ridership ever for the Valley Flyer route with 4,385 passengers for the month, compared to 3,177 in March 2024, a 40.6% increase. The route is historically the busiest of four routes, linking Blacksburg and Washington, D.C.
VMI will soon have a new superintendent. What lies ahead for the military college?
A few days before graduation at Virginia Military Institute, Superintendent (Ret.) Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins spoke with the class of 2025 for the last time. “We’ve come in together and we will leave out together,” he told them. The class of 2025 was the first to matriculate at VMI under Wins’ leadership. In May, it was the last to graduate before his tenure ends this month. The state-run senior military college in Lexington has undergone many changes since Wins, its first black superintendent, first took on the role nearly five years ago.
Gov. Youngkin reacts to Trump’s actions amid ICE protests: ‘I fully support what he’s done’
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he "fully supports" President Donald Trump's actions amid protests in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. President Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Sunday, later deploying 700 Marines. The Los Angeles Police Department says protesters have thrown objects at officers near the federal courthouse, prompting the use of gas canisters and other munitions. "We can't have cars being burned overnight and people rioting in the streets, tearing down not just business infrastructure and people's personal property, but threatening federal facilities as well," Youngkin said at an event in Richmond on Tuesday.