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Youngkin signs Flock surveillance bill into law, creating new regulations on police
Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday signed into law a bill to regulate an increasing form of mass surveillance — Flock Safety cameras and other license plate readers. The new law sets the stage for another battle in the 2026 legislative session over whether the Flock cameras should be expanded to interstates, bridge-tunnels and other state-maintained roads. The measure, set to go into effect July 1, limits to 21 days how long police and sheriff’s offices can store Flock surveillance data before purging it from their systems.
Governor vetoes bill that would have removed tax exempt status for J.E.B. Stuart site in Patrick County
A bill that would have removed the tax exempt status to the J.E.B. Stuart Preservation Inc. site in Patrick County was vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday. House Bill 1699 was introduced by Del. Alex Askew, D-Virginia Beach, and was among the bills on the governor’s desk for final action Friday.
Army suspends helicopter flights to Pentagon after airliners abort landings
The Army said Monday that a Virginia-based helicopter unit was suspending flights to the Pentagon after an incident last week that led to two airliners being directed to abort landings at Reagan National Airport. Army spokeswoman Heather Chairez said the service’s 12th Aviation Battalion was pausing the operations until an internal inquiry is completed. The battalion operates a fleet of Black Hawk helicopters and was the unit involved in the Jan. 29 midair crash with an American Airlines flight that killed 67 people.
Army pausing helicopter flights near Washington airport after close calls
The Army is pausing helicopter flights near a Washington airport after two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon. The commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion directed the unit to pause helicopter flight operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following Thursday’s close calls, two Army officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday. One official said the flights have been paused since Friday.
Marshall and Pressley: Students hate it, teachers love it. Our research shows cellphone bans work
Over the past year, several states have moved to ban cellphones in school as part of an effort to eliminate distractions in the classroom, improve student mental health, and increase post-pandemic learning. Beginning Jan. 1, an executive order restricting student cellphone use in Virginia schools from bell to bell, including during lunch and in the hallways between classes, went into effect. Research on the effects of such bans is still emerging, so we partnered with a school division in Virginia to assess how the policy was working in practice.
Rozell: Youngkin’s blunder clouds his political future
Glenn Youngkin cultivated a very successful brand as a thoughtful and likeable leader. During his successful campaign for governor four years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the first Trump presidency, it was exactly what Republicans and even many moderates were looking for. His fumbling responses and failure to think through last week’s salacious allegations against John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, is a miscalculation that haunts the lame-duck governor as he surveys what are quite likely diminished prospects for future elective office.
Kish: Dominion’s gas addiction is proving costly for Virginians
If we’ve learned anything from recent weather events, it’s that extreme weather is here to stay. Cold snaps, heat waves and tropical storms are all part of what has become Virginia’s “new normal.” So when Dominion Energy cited high gas prices incurred during the January freeze in its recent proposal to raise rates, it was a sign — a bad sign for customers — of things to come. It was a sign that Dominion will make fuel-related rate hikes part of the “new normal,” too.
Hopewell commonwealth’s attorney finds legal fault with council’s firing of city manager
As dust continues to stir on last week’s firing of Hopewell’s city manager and city clerk, the city’s top prosecutor warned in a letter to City Council that the motion to terminate Dr. Concetta Manker may have been made improperly, and because it was, Manker should still be in office. Citing Rule 36 of Robert’s Rule of Order, Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Newman said the motion made at the May 1 meeting did not follow the direction about either the time frame for making the order or the authenticity of the motion made by Ward 4 Councilor Ronnie Ellis.
EPA cancels $20 million grant for Southwest Va. projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has notified the University of Virginia that it is terminating a $19.9 million grant that would have funded eight Southwest Virginia projects. The grant would have helped pay for, among other things, energy-efficient workforce housing in Buchanan County, a community center in Dickenson County, energy-efficiency improvements for child-care centers in eight localities and research to identify locations for telehealth hubs that could double as safe places during natural disasters.
United Way of Central Virginia loses AmeriCorps grant, putting child care workforce plans in jeopardy
A well-planned and time-consuming initiative to ease the child care crisis in Central Virginia has hit an unexpected roadblock. The United Way of Central Virginia (UWCV) has lost a $283,000 AmeriCorps operational grant that was intended to support staffing for a new child care center and expand services across multiple early learning sites. The decision threatens to delay a project that could have impacted more than 500 children and their families.