Search
Yancey: Rural communities are keeping Va. from becoming an exporter of people. That’s where population growth is.
Virginia lies over top of an earthquake zone, something we’re occasionally reminded of. Some of us felt the 2011 earthquake near Mineral in Louisa County that shook even the Washington Monument and damaged two schools in Louisa so severely they were closed for the rest of the school year. Others felt the much smaller earthquake that originated near Dillwyn in Buckingham County. The strongest Virginia quake in recorded times was in 1897 near Narrows in Giles County; that tremor brought down chimneys as far away as Bedford County and damaged others from Lexington down into North Carolina. We are now living through another seismic event, except this one doesn’t involve geology; it involves demography.
Rep. Vindman, state lawmakers decry federal environmental rollbacks at Prince William Forest Park event
Elected leaders representing Prince William County and nearby areas joined U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman during a Friday news conference denouncing the Trump administration’s approach to environmental policy outside the Prince William Forest Park Visitor Center.
Virginia aims to boost progress in SOLs by making it part of students’ final grades
Starting in 2026-2027, the results of standardized testing will make up 10% of a student's final grade. The decision came as part of a bipartisan effort to increase test results across the Commonwealth. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Virginia students have barely progressed in test scores since sharply falling after the COVID-19 pandemic. While Democrats and Republicans have traded blame for the outcome, both agreed an overhaul was necessary.
GOP candidates for state House seat debate data centers
Data center sprawl — and their massive power demands and big-dollar political contributions — were the hot topic of a recent forum involving Republican candidates vying for their party’s nomination to run for the 21st District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. Gregory Lee Gorham, 65, of Sudley Springs, and Sahar Smith, 57, of Catharpin, took part in the event, which was sponsored by the Bull Run Republican Women’s Club and held at Giuseppe’s Ristorante in Haymarket. The third candidate, Xanthe Larsen, did not attend.
Richmond receives Notice of Alleged Violation from Virginia Department of Health for fluoride spike
The Virginia Department of Health has alleged that Richmond appears to have operated its Waterworks in violation of the Public Water Supplies law when the spike in fluoride levels occurred in April, which was caused by pump issues. According to an announcement by a city spokesperson, the city received a Notice of Alleged Violation from VDH on Monday, May 12, for an incident in April when a pump installation at the city’s water treatment plant caused fluoride levels to increase in city water temporarily.
Miyares talks first term and his reelection campaign
Attorney General Jason Miyares argues that Virginia is safer today than it was when he took office, pointing to declines in murder and overdose rates as the centerpiece of his reelection pitch to voters. In an interview with Virginia Scope, Miyares cited what he called a “remarkable turnaround” in public safety, touting the results of his office’s work on violent crime, fentanyl enforcement, and consumer protection. “There are more Virginians alive today than when I took office because of what we’ve done,” he said.
Youngkin vetoes measure to let African American history courses count toward graduation
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed a bill that would have allowed African American history courses to count toward high school graduation requirements. The measure, which was introduced in the House by Loudoun County Del. David Reid, would have allowed students and parents to choose African American History or AP African American Studies as substitutes for either World History I or World Geography that satisfy the history and social studies credit that students must complete.
The UVa shooter asked his mentor to tell his story. But that mentor isn’t talking.
"They not getting off this bus," the killer informed his mentor 100 minutes before unleashing the fusillade that claimed the lives of three fellow University of Virginia students and Cavalier football players, seriously injured two others and left a community searching for answers. ... Today, going on three years after those texts and that life-shattering blast of leaden horror inside a chartered bus returning to Charlottesville from a field trip to Washington, D.C., the full story remains untold. That's because the mentor, who sits on UVa's School of Education and Human Development Foundation, isn't speaking about what he did in those 100 minutes ...
Return of measles virus to Va. brings new risks for children
The first case of measles hit Virginia in April, raising risks for a troubling comeback 25 years after U.S. health officials declared the eradication of the virus. But the spread of the highly contagious virus and a growing anti-vaccine sentiment could leave one population increasingly at risk — kindergartners. Just half of Virginia’s public and private kindergarten classes reported a 95% vaccination rate — the key threshold for herd immunity — at the start of the 2024-25 school year, according to an analysis of state health data by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO. The average measles vaccination rates for kindergartners include a 92% rate in Hampton Roads, 94% in Richmond, and 96% in Northern Virginia.
Virginia Democrats seek more hard data on federal cuts while Republicans see more optimism
Democrats on a special committee charged with exploring the effects of federal shake-ups on Virginia expressed concern with a lack of solid information from presenters from Southwest Virginia. Meanwhile, Republicans struck a more cautious tone during a meeting in Wytheville on Monday. Republicans noted that a lot of the presentations focused on estimations and speculations of potential impacts of the federal cuts. “The main thing that struck me today was a little room for optimism,” Del. Ellen Campbell, R-Waynesboro, said during the meeting.