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Youngkin signs law expanding school transportation options
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin was in Botetourt County Thursday, to sign a bill into law. The signing okays a pilot program allowing small school divisions to use forms of student transportation other than buses, such as passenger vans. This comes during a shortage of CDL-trained bus drivers.
Trump Justice Department Pressuring University of Virginia President to Resign
The Trump administration has privately demanded that the University of Virginia oust its president to help resolve a Justice Department investigation into the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to three people briefed on the matter. The extraordinary condition the Justice Department has put on the school demonstrates that President Trump’s bid to shift the ideological tilt of the higher education system, which he views as hostile to conservatives, is more far-reaching than previously understood.
Spanberger pushes back against Mamdani comparisons
Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee in Virginia’s gubernatorial race, pushed back against attacks from the state GOP linking her to Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s probable Democratic candidate for mayor. “That’s a pretty ridiculous linkage, but I’ll say that I don’t begin to pretend like I know anything about New York politics,” Spanberger told reporters after a full day stumping in northern Virginia on Thursday. “Because I’m a Virginian and I’m focused on Virginia, and so I’ve been traveling across the commonwealth talking to voters about the issues that matter.”
A guide to the Democratic primary in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District
If you were already tired of elections in Virginia, buckle up: There is a set of special primaries this week to replace the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D). Connolly’s death in May after his esophageal cancer returned has opened up a deep-blue seat representing much of Fairfax County — and unleashed a crowded, high-velocity set of primaries on both sides of the aisle, with 10 Democrats and seven Republicans seeking their respective party’s nomination in just a matter of weeks. The Democrats’ race will test voters’ appetite for breaking from the establishment at a time when their party is caught in a tailspin over questions of age and experience.
Same-sex marriage in Virginia would be banned without Obergefell
Virginia is one of 32 states where same-sex marriage would immediately be banned if the Supreme Court overturned the federal ruling that legalized it a decade ago. The state is in the middle of a multiyear process to repeal its own ban through a constitutional amendment. If passed, it would cement marriage equality in Virginia regardless of future Supreme Court decisions. Obergefell v. Hodges, the federal ruling that makes Virginia's constitutional ban unenforceable, marked its 10-year anniversary Thursday. But access to marriage equality faces increasing opposition.
Friday Read Hampton Roads citizen scientist makes ‘significant’ astronomical find
Most people might not seek out an empty soccer field in the dead of night, but that’s often where you can find Van Ruckman, a James City County resident who made a significant astronomical discovery earlier this year. Ruckman, 78, lives in Kingsmill on the James and contributes to a global network of citizen scientists who provide near-continuous monitoring of outer space. In January, Ruckman made a remarkable discovery on Kingsmill’s soccer field when he observed a distant asteroid and its moon, a feat that electrified the worldwide astronomical community.
Jumper: Funding cuts threaten a life-changing college grant program
For the last 25 years, GEAR UP Virginia has helped more than 20,000 students, mostly from low-income families, fulfill their academic and career goals. Unfortunately, discussions are underway in Washington, D.C., to cut funding for the program. GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally funded grant program that increases the number of students from low-income communities who successfully transition to and through postsecondary education. It is a coordinated effort between the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and local school divisions.
Schools in Hampton Roads region brace for potential federal cuts, explore block grants
As the federal government considers transitioning from using a funding formula to dole out money to public schools nationwide to providing block grants instead, the proposition is stirring debate among Virginia lawmakers and education leaders. A House of Delegates committee and school leaders convened last week to talk about the possible shift in education funding and the continued impacts of federal funding cuts statewide. Supporters of block grants, or large sums of federal funding, argue that they would give states more flexibility to address individual issues. Critics, meanwhile, are concerned about whether the block grants would be appropriately and equitably distributed, including to English learners and at-risk students from low-income families.
In first big federal relocation, HUD will move to Virginia
The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be the first major federal agency to relocate its headquarters outside of D.C., part of a larger plan to restructure the federal government’s real estate footprint. HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Michael Peters, commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, said at a news conference that the agency will move 2,700 workers from a building in such a state of disrepair that the ceiling appears to be crumbling to a more modern building in the city of Alexandria.
Appeals Court puts Missing Middle back on the books in Arlington
Arlington’s Missing Middle zoning ordinance is back on the books, at least for the time being, following a ruling in the Virginia Court of Appeals. In the latest development in the dramatic legal battle over the county’s Expanded Housing Options (EHO), three appeals court judges issued a ruling yesterday (Tuesday) that reverses a circuit court decision declaring the zoning change void. The move sends the case back to the lower court for further review, according to court documents reviewed by ARLnow. The disposition doesn’t touch on the legal arguments at the heart of the lawsuit, which seeks to overturn an ordinance allowing for the development of multi-unit buildings in previously single-family neighborhoods.