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Youngkin calls Arlington County Board’s ICE policy a ‘dereliction of duty’
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) condemned the Arlington County Board’s recent move prohibiting local police from cooperating with ICE, calling it a “betrayal.” On Tuesday, the board unanimously voted to take language out of its “Trust Policy,” meaning county law enforcement cannot proactively contact federal immigration authorities about any issue involving undocumented immigrants.
Reforms to VCU Health must wait following Youngkin veto
The effort to restructure the leadership of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System will have to wait another year, after Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the measure earlier this month. Following the failure of the Clay Street real estate project, in which VCU Health paid $73 million to exit, the governor, legislators and health system leaders all agreed to restructure VCU Health’s board of directors, which requires rewriting state law. . . . But the legislation will not become law, because Youngkin vetoed it, saying it would have unnecessarily shifted power from the governor’s mansion to legislators.
Former Richmond employee spent $840,000 at company registered to his house, records show
A former Richmond Fire Department employee spent at least $839,357.15 at a company registered to his own home between 2017 and 2024, according to records obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Reginald Thomas, a former management analyst for RFD, used his city credit card, purchase orders and invoices to spend the funds at RPM Supply Co., LLC, which is registered to a house on Stevens Street in Henrico County, State Corporation Commission documents show. Henrico property records show Thomas and his wife are the owners of that home.
Chesley: Va. GOP congressman’s scrutiny on federal cuts, job losses needs company from other Republicans
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?
After Virginia clerk says Youngkin vetoes aren’t valid, a defiant governor digs in
Gov. Glenn Youngkin insisted Thursday that he properly stripped three items from the state budget despite a finding by the clerk of the House of Delegates that his “purported vetoes” violate the state constitution. The Republican governor, up against a General Assembly fully but narrowly under Democratic control since the midpoint of his four-year term, has racked up more than 400 vetoes — more than any of his predecessors. Democrats have never mustered the supermajority needed to override any of them.
Ramadan: Spanberger displays a rare trait in politics – intellectual honesty
Last week, former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, now the Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, made headlines by announcing she would not sign legislation that fully repeals Virginia’s right-to-work law if elected. Her decision may have removed a wedge issue from the campaign trail, but more importantly, it revealed something increasingly rare in politics: intellectual honesty.
Virginia education department violated procurement rules in extending $83M contract
The former leadership at the Virginia Department of Education failed to follow state procurement rules when it extended a major student assessment contract worth nearly $83 million, according to a finding by the Office of the State Inspector General. The state’s contract with the education company Pearson is one of the biggest and most politically sensitive in state government. It includes work to develop, administer, score and report statewide students’ assessments, including the Standards of Learning tests.
Va. will allow some criminal records to be sealed next year
Next summer, certain people with past convictions will be eligible to apply for their criminal records to be sealed — meaning long-past convictions won’t show up on background checks. This can help people who have been formerly incarcerated and rehabilitated get a fresh start when applying for jobs, loans or apartments. The process stems from a 2021 law that underwent several years of workshopping before its delayed implementation. ... Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, virtually joined a panel of criminal justice experts Wednesday in Richmond to discuss the law’s evolution and the journey for beneficiaries that lies ahead.
Youngkin signs bipartisan child welfare reforms and sets new goals for foster care
Katie Jones was 11 the last time she saw her childhood home, where her father, an alcoholic, stayed between jail stints and her mother struggled with heroin addiction. One day after school, just moments after she had settled in with a bag of chips and her homework, police and social services workers pulled up outside. Within minutes, Jones and her five siblings were loaded into vehicles, separated from each other, and plunged into the foster care system — an experience that would shuffle her through five homes, three schools, and years of uncertainty before she aged out at 18, never adopted.
Professor, civil rights icon Owen Cardwell, who desegregated E.C. Glass, dies
Owen Cardwell Jr., who joined Lynda Woodruff as the first two Black students to attend previously all-white E.C. Glass High School in 1962, died Monday at the age of 78. The son of a top official with the local chapter of the NAACP, Cardwell, at the age of 14, was one of the students picked when a call went out for Dunbar High School students interested in participating in a desegregation lawsuit in Lynchburg.