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Senator pressures state to put history scores in school accountability system
Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, is putting pressure on the Virginia Board of Education to include social studies exam scores in the state’s new school accountability system, which is set to take effect this fall. The new system will publicly rank each Virginia school in one of four performance categories: distinguished, on track, off track and needs intensive support. The criteria for each ranking include test scores in reading, writing math and science – but not social studies.
In strangulation cases, assailants can leave DNA behind. It can later be used against them in court.
When someone is sexually assaulted and goes to a hospital for treatment, a forensic nurse examiner offers what’s called a “physical evidence recovery kit.” The nurse will attempt to collect any biological material left on the victim’s body. That can be tested for DNA and later used in court. Such testing programs have been utilized for more than 30 years in Virginia. But there’s a new kind of state evidence kit — to be used in strangulation cases. The Virginia Department of Forensic Science has purchased 1,000 such kits — designed to collect evidence from a victim’s neck and fingernails — to be sent to forensic nursing teams at hospitals across the state.
List of ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ removed from US government website following criticism
A widely anticipated list of “ sanctuary jurisdictions” no longer appears on the Department of Homeland Security’s website after receiving widespread criticism for including localities that have actively supported the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies. The department last week published the list of the jurisdictions. It said each one would receive formal notification the government deemed them uncooperative with federal immigration enforcement and whether they’re believed to be in violation of any federal criminal statutes.
Spanberger is poised to win big in Virginia. But national Democrats could drag her down.
Six months out from November, Virginia Democrats believe the governor’s race is Abigail Spanberger’s to lose. There’s a risk the former member of Congress could get bogged down by national malaise toward the Democratic Party, and her margins could end up being tight because of the negative Democratic brand. But Democrats are hopeful that Spanberger can overcome that national dynamic. She flipped a competitive district in 2018 that stretches into rural south central Virginia and she benefits from the unpopular actions of President Donald Trump. ... Spanberger enjoys strong name recognition and is far out-fundraising her opponent, a candidate who even some fellow Republicans are wincing about.
From VPAP Now Live: PACs’ Pre-Primary Campaign Finance Reports
VPAP has posted pre-primary disclosures from Virginia PACs. See which state PACs have raised the most money and have the most cash on hand for the covered time period. If you are interested in a specific committee, you can drill down for a sortable list of donations reported from April 1 to May 25.
An after-school program in Trump’s backyard struggles to survive DOGE cuts
It would have been hard to see much of a crisis brewing at the Arlington Mill Community Center, given the joyful stream of middle-schoolers bolting inside last month. But it was there in the way 11-year-old Mason Soto greeted his teacher, Andrew Gelsinger. “Mr. Andrew!” yelled Mason, running into the classroom. “You’re still here!” Less than a week had passed since Gelsinger abruptly lost his position at the free after-school program in Northern Virginia — one of tens of thousands of roles funded by AmeriCorps that were slashed in cuts to that federal agency. Gelsinger sat in the classroom with his students, some of them weeping, as they were told they would not be able to come back to Aspire Afterschool Learning to start their homework, grab a snack or play volleyball.
New plan to stop ABC store shoplifters in Richmond
Richmond prosecutors have a plan for tackling the city’s repeat liquor store shoplifters. The city has struggled with liquor thefts, and nowhere more so than at Virginia ABC’s location on West Broad Street in the city’s Scott’s Addition neighborhood. The store was the most looted in 2024 and is frequently hit multiple times a day by casual thieves wearing facemasks. Virginia ABC stores in the Richmond region lost around $170,000 to theft in 2024, according to a May report from The Richmonder.
Kaine, Warner condemn closure of Old Dominion Job Corps Center
Virginia’s two Democratic senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine released a joint statement Friday blasting the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to shut down contractor-run Job Corps centers across the country, including the Old Dominion Job Corps in Amherst County. The decision will “abruptly eliminate crucial job training for thousands of young Americans and cut nearly 13,000 jobs across the program’s 99 centers,” the senators’ news release condemning the measure said.
Subramanyam Relaunches Federal Agritourism Caucus
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA-10) and farmers from around the region celebrated the reformation of the Congressional Agritourism Caucus at Great Country Farms in Bluemont on Thursday afternoon. Subramanyam also discussed his introduction of the AGRITOURISM Act and addressed a variety of problems that farmers in Loudoun and surrounding counties said they are facing. ... “I basically want champions on Capitol Hill to come together for agritourism and evangelize it in Congress,” he said.
Rep. Subramanyam launches congressional Agritourism Caucus at Loudoun County event
Against the backdrop of a small pond, with geese fluttering and lawn mowers humming nearby, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.-10th District, held up a white paper packet. The document, a newly-minted agritourism resource manual from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is set to serve as a guiding reference for Subramanyam’s Agritourism Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, which he is set to co-chair alongside Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C.