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Preliminary plan unveiled for Norfolk schools to be closed, repurposed, rebuilt
Ten Norfolk schools are set to consolidate, and after a series of meetings, a preliminary plan — that still needs to be voted on by the school board — has been provided to the committee spearheading the effort. In March, Norfolk City Council tasked the school district with developing a plan to consolidate and close 10 schools, while opting to renovate or repurpose others. The resolution, passed unanimously by the city council, asks the school board to come up with a plan by Aug. 1. The district would then close two schools a year starting before the 2026-2027 school year.
Yancey: Earle-Sears and Spanberger ditch a Virginia tradition. Will they even debate at all?
Virginia, like the seasons, once had four great political traditions. All now seem to be discarded, trampled over by changing times. The great springtime rite of passage once was the Shad Planking, a fish roast (shad cooked on wooden planks over an open fire) in Sussex County that was more remembered for the political speeches than the cuisine.
Williams: Trump’s phony Confederate name game is child’s play
In 1964, singer-songwriter Shirley Ellis penned a hit song of nonsensical rhymes called “The Name Game,” whose second verse went like this: Lincoln! Lincoln, Lincoln, bo-bin-coln Bo-na-na fanna, fo-fin-coln ... Her song came to mind as the Trump administration does its bit to restore Confederate surnames to Army bases, with a puerile twist. In the process, it’s reversing changes made several years ago through an act of Congress.
Wagner: Stop the PREVAIL Act from raising drug prices
Recently, the Virginia General Assembly took a big step in lowering prescription drug prices. A bipartisan bill passed both the House and the Senate that would create a board to oversee prescription drug prices, identify excessively priced medications, and recommend strategies to lower costs, including potential price caps. This bill represented a long-overdue recognition that the status quo is unsustainable and unfair to working families.
Hashmi to receive $1M from Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association
Virginia’s Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, will receive a $1 million donation from the national Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association — the largest donation ever received by a lieutenant governor nominee in the state, the group says. The DLGA is a national organization that works each year to elect Democratic lieutenant governors and candidates across the U.S.
Tysons Casino Backer Donates $105K To Earle-Sears
The Republican candidate running to be Virginia's next governor received $105,000 from the company seeking to build a casino in Tysons, according to the latest state financial filings. Building a Remarkable Virginia, one of two political action committees funded by casino developer Comstock Holding Companies, made the donations to Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears' campaign in two installments — $55,000 on June 2 and $50,000 on June 3, according to state financial filings reported by the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project. The company's other PAC is Comstock Hospitality Holdings.
Federal cuts hit coastal flooding, dam projects in Virginia
As Virginia’s various government agencies wait to hear how the federal budget will affect their funding, some departments have already seen significant cuts that are putting a hold on important hazard mitigation projects and emergency management support. In an effort to understand the full scope of federal cuts on the commonwealth, state House members have been hosting committee meetings in communities across Virginia. In a Friday meeting in Norfolk, which increasingly faces rising sea levels and coastal land loss, officials shared projects and goals that will not move forward.
Yancey: Why Google’s data center project in Botetourt gets applause while others don’t
When Prince William County approved three rezonings for the Prince William Digital Gateway complex of data centers, neighbors went to court. When a developer proposed a data center complex near Chatham, it sparked six months of controversy before the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors voted down the project. When Botetourt County announced Tuesday that Google — yes, that Google — has bought 312 acres in the county’s business park for what was described as the first hyperscale data center project in the western part of the state, a room full of people cheered.
Virginia Democrats ask judge to bar some Youngkin picks from college boards
A group of Virginia Senate Democrats sued the leaders of the governing boards at three public universities, an unusual step that escalated their effort to remove several of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s board appointees amid a fight over how to govern the state’s colleges. The lawsuit alleges that the Youngkin administration — namely Youngkin, Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares and Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera — are trying to usurp legislators’ authority by ignoring a recent vote by a Senate committee to reject some appointees to the boards of the University of Virginia, George Mason University and Virginia Military Institute.
State Senate Democrats sue Youngkin officials in latest institutional push
Nine Virginia Senate Democrats are suing three university rectors over the gubernatorial appointment of board members, they announced Tuesday, opening a new field of contention between Virginia’s Democrat-controlled Legislature and Republican executive. On June 5, the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee voted against confirming eight of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees to the Board of Visitors at George Mason University, University of Virginia and Virginia Military Institute.