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Chesley: Va. GOP congressman’s scrutiny on federal cuts, job losses needs company from other Republicans

By ROGER CHESLEY, Virginia Mercury

U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, you wrote an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch this week pushing back against the madness emanating from Washington regarding budget cuts and federal job layoffs. It was welcome, given the chaos in D.C., but what took you so long? Are you, a Republican representing Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, really bucking a president from your own party – or is this just PR?

VaNews May 16, 2025


Salem to implement AI weapons detection system at high school

By LILY KINCAID, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Salem City Schools will soon begin piloting a security system at Salem High School that uses artificial intelligence to detect weapons. The system works by using AI to monitor the school’s existing camera feeds for any sign of weapons. If a threat is detected, the system notifies a designated group of staff and administrators, as well as members of the Salem Police Department. Anyone who receives the alert can review the footage on their phone and assess the situation.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Chesapeake’s Planning Commission says no to data center proposal

By RYAN MURPHY, WHRO

The Chesapeake Planning Commission recommended the City Council deny a rezoning request for a major data center project. Citing a lack of information on key questions like water usage and noise, the commission voted 6-1 against the project. The lone vote against denying approval was commissioner Michael Malone, who instead put a motion forward to delay the vote for 120 days to get answers to those questions.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Richmond mayor has ‘no appetite’ to pursue $56M from failed VCU Health deal

By DEAN MIRSHAHI, VPM

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula has “no appetite” to sue over nearly $56 million the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System agreed to pay the city for a failed development project. But that’s where things stand now, and a lawsuit isn’t entirely off the table, Avula spokeswoman Mira Signer told VPM News. “He has no appetite pursuing a lawsuit at this point. It’s not dead," Signer said about Avula’s intentions during a phone call last week. “At this point, he is interested in finding places where they can co-invest.”

VaNews May 16, 2025


Reaser: Va.’s children are safer, but we still have work to do

By DEL. ATOOSA REASER, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Virginia’s legislative season is over, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin has sifted through dozens of bills and issued a record number of vetoes. While the governor vetoed most bills increasing gun safety, he also signed two gun safety measures into law that have flown under the radar: House Bill 2055 and House Bill 2679. I, along with my chief co-patrons Dels. Michael Feggans and Laura Jane Cohen, championed these bills with one goal in mind: protecting Virginia’s children from needless gun violence. And that’s exactly what these bills do.

Del. Reaser represents House District 27, encompassing the easternmost section of Loudoun County.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Arlington County leaders express regret for treatment of displaced Queen City residents

By SCOTT MCCAFFREY, ArlNow

Arlington leaders on Tuesday (May 13) honored the legacy of a once-vibrant community wiped off the map to make way for construction around the Pentagon. Board members also expressed regret at how those residents were treated by county leaders eight decades ago. County Board members used the meeting to celebrate Queen City, which had been established in the early 1890s but in 1942 was acquired through eminent domain by the federal government. The 900-plus residents of the community were displaced, many of them moving to other historically African-American communities in Arlington and across the region.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Youngkin calls for transformation of child welfare system

By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)

Until she was 18, Katie Jones got to see her mom only once a week, for a one-hour session with her five brothers and sisters, monitored by a social worker. “Every week I used to say ‘when do I get to see my mom,’” she said Thursday at an event where Gov. Glenn Youngkin launched a push to transform the state's foster care system. Those hours were always filled with tears, and they always ended the same way: “I’d have to say ‘Bye mom,’ and go back to my foster family,” said Jones, who grew up in Chesapeake. “I love my mom unconditionally and she loves me unconditionally.”

VaNews May 16, 2025


Denied for dissent?

Richmond Free Press Editorial

Several Virginia Commonwealth University students who did everything they needed to do to graduate were denied their degree for sitting on the wrong patch of grass on April 29. The students were part of an event, which VCU officials said was unauthorized, that marked the one-year anniversary of a prior pro-Palestinian protest on the campus. The 2024 pro-Palestinian protest at VCU led to a clash between student demonstrators and law enforcement. It wasn’t a good look for a university that prides itself on promoting free expression and diversity of thought.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Virginia’s retention of recent college graduates needs improvement

Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Every May, university campuses across the commonwealth are filled with shouts of joy and raucous applause as thousands of young people receive their degrees. Graduating college is a laudable achievement — the product of hard work, persistence, curiosity and determination — which should make the heart swell with pride. Yet studies show that in a matter of years, a good many of these graduates will leave Virginia, taking their skills and talent to other states. It’s a persistent problem here and one that officials, policymakers and university officials must work together to address.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Del. Hope touts experience for 1st District House seat, but challenger says that’s not enough

By SCOTT MCCAFFREY, ArlNow

The familiar political conflict of experience and new blood dominated a debate between Democratic contenders for the 1st District House of Delegates seat. Incumbent Del. Patrick Hope worked to fend off criticisms by challenger Arjoon Srikanth in the Tuesday (May 13) forum, sponsored by the Arlington County Civic Federation. The third contender in the June 17 Democratic primary, Sean Epstein, was unable to attend, federation president John Ford said.

VaNews May 16, 2025