Search
Senate Democrats sue to keep refused Youngkin appointees from boards
State Senate Democrats are seeking a court order to keep former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and seven other Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointees from participating on college and university boards. The senate’s Privileges and Elections Committee refused to confirm the appointees by a party-line 8-4 vote at a meeting earlier this month, but Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares have challenged the action, saying it is up to the full General Assembly to confirm or deny gubernatorial appointments to college boards.
Virginia slashes voter data costs ahead of 2025 elections
In a sweeping move aimed at promoting transparency and leveling the playing field in election access, the Virginia Department of Elections announced Monday that it will reduce the cost of purchasing voter lists by 90% starting next month. The change dramatically lowers the price of essential voter data — including lists of registered voters, new registrants, and past voters — for candidates, political parties, and political action committees legally entitled to access them under state law. For example, a statewide list that currently costs $6,000 will soon be available for $600.
ICE agents make arrests at Chesterfield courthouse
Cesar Diaz Lopez came to the Chesterfield County courthouse on a misdemeanor violation for his vehicle registration. “I’m here to pay my taxes,” Diaz said. He introduced himself to two employees for Chesterfield County in a hallway outside the court’s general district courtrooms. Diaz was directed into a witness chamber within one of the courtrooms by a sheriff’s deputy, where he met two plainclothes officers with no visible law enforcement identification. Then, he was escorted out the back entrance of the courthouse and into an unmarked car.
Democrats pour $400K into Virginia House races as key battlegrounds emerge
With control of the Virginia House of Delegates hanging in the balance, national Democrats are pumping another $400,000 into the fight — and putting their weight behind candidates they see as crucial to flipping Republican districts this November. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), an arm of the Democratic National Committee focused on state legislative races, announced the new funding Wednesday along with a fresh slate of endorsements for candidates running in competitive districts.
Phillips: Virginia tobacco farmers are footing the bill for foreign competitors. This needs to end.
Virginia was once considered the largest and richest of the original 13 colonies, in part thanks to its flourishing tobacco farms. But the double drawback tax loophole, which foreign tobacco companies exploit to receive U.S. tax refunds, puts the entire American tobacco industry at risk. And while President Trump tried to end this loophole, the courts determined it was Congress who must be the ones to close it for good. Now, with the House of Representatives doing the right thing, we need our Senators to follow suit and help Virginia’s tobacco farms, many of them small family businesses, survive and flourish.
Promising federal bill could help curb Chesapeake Bay pollution
Legislation introduced in Congress by a bipartisan group of Virginia lawmakers offers a promising approach to ridding the Chesapeake Bay of the pollutants that threaten its future. Republican Reps. Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman and Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott, all of the Hampton Roads region, have introduced the Chesapeake Bay Conservation Acceleration Act. Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Tim Kaine, both Democrats, are sponsoring a version of the bill in the Senate.
Rockingham County school board removes more books from libraries
The Rockingham County school board removed two books from school libraries and discussed scaling back technology used in elementary schools at Monday night’s school board meeting. ... Three books were up for a vote Monday night, and the school division’s content review committee recommended that all three be retained. Nevertheless, the board voted to remove two of them.
Louisa wins 2nd big data center project in a month
Louisa County is selling its 697-acre Shannon Hill Regional Business Park to a Colorado-based data center firm, the second major data center firm to say it’s coming to the rural county in less than a month. EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, which develops and operates data centers, bought the Shannon Hill land for $42 million. The site is 40 miles west of Richmond. Earlier this month, Amazon Web Services announced its plans for a $1 billion investment in a data center campus in Louisa ...
Henrico accepts Richmond mayor’s invitation to talk about water infrastructure
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula has invited the entire region to take part in a regional advisory group that will focus on righting concerns around their interconnected water utility system. He also asked the Henrico Board of Supervisors to meet with him, and Richmond City Council, for a joint meeting to talk about the utility. The Henrico Board of Supervisors released a statement Monday accepting the mayor’s invitation.
Audit finds ‘significant weaknesses’ with Richmond’s government purchasing cards
An internal audit of the city of Richmond’s purchasing card system found at least $5 million in “questionable expenses” and a lackadaisical approval and oversight system that made it difficult for the city to track and control what employees were buying with their city-issued cards. A report released Tuesday by Auditor Riad Ali said the “significant weaknesses” in city controls over the purchasing cards (known as P-cards for short) led the auditor’s office to refer millions in questionable spending to the city’s inspector general office, which has more power to investigate wrongdoing such as waste, fraud or abuse.