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Hitachi Energy to add 120 jobs in Bland, Smyth counties
A manufacturer of electrical transformers will invest $22.5 million to expand its Bland County facility and add a warehouse in Smyth County, creating 120 new jobs, the governor’s office said Friday. Hitachi Energy currently employs 450 people in Bland County, where it produces medium-voltage transformers that help regulate the flow of electricity on the U.S. power grid as well as in specialized industries such as data centers and renewable energy, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a news release.
Lawmakers hope to use community college's aviation program as model for others
Lawmakers from the Virginia General Assembly’s Aviation Caucus, which works to craft new legislation to support the Commonwealth’s aviation industry, packed into a crowded hangar at Shenandoah Regional Airport on Friday to learn more about a trailblazing educational program. About 10 legislators from across the state came to learn about Blue Ridge Community College’s aviation maintenance technician program. The program, which hosts classes at the local airport, helps students learn how to perform maintenance on the airframes and engines of airplanes.
Charlottesville Dems wanted specifics on Earle-Sears’ education policy. She didn’t give them.
Clasping the sides of a lectern under a bright and beating sun, Charlottesville Mayor Juandiego Wade said that Virginians deserve to know where Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears stands on policy, namely education. “Especially now that she’s campaigning to be the governor of Virginia,” said Wade, standing in front of City Hall flanked by Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds and Carol Bauer, president of the Virginia Education Association teachers' union.
In first campaign appearance after Youngkin’s attempted ouster, Reid wins applause from Republicans in Abingdon
On John Reid’s first campaign stop since Gov. Glenn Youngkin called for him to step out of the lieutenant governor’s race over nude photos on a disputed social media site, the Republican candidate said he is “doubling down” on running and won applause from a crowd in Abingdon. “I figure if I can’t fight for myself publicly, loudly and boldly how are you ever going to believe that I will fight for you? So that’s my plan going forward,” he said.
Youngkin asks Richmond radio host John Reid to withdraw from lieutenant governor race
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has asked Richmond-area radio host John Reid to withdraw as the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor after GOP researchers found sexually explicit posts online that they believe are connected to Reid, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Youngkin called Reid, the former host of a conservative talk show on WRVA, on Friday morning to ask him to drop out, the sources said. In a statement to The Richmonder, Reid denied that the images are connected to him. He confirmed that the governor called him Friday and said “there were salacious pictures on the internet reposted by an account that uses my Instagram handle.”
Virginia GOP candidate for lieutenant governor says he won’t exit race despite governor’s push
Republican John Reid said Friday he will continue his campaign to be Virginia’s lieutenant governor and denied he had anything to do with a social media account containing sexually explicit photos that had prompted GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin to call for him to quit the race. Reid, the first openly gay man to run statewide in Virginia and a supporter of Youngkin, posted a video response to the governor’s attempt to stymie his candidacy after the governor learned of the photos on a Tumblr account with a username matching the candidate’s Instagram handle. Reid said the account was a fabrication that comes as he grapples with increasing pressure to exit the race by members of his party.
Richmond Council’s limits on public comment likely violate First Amendment, lawyers say
Speaking during City Council’s April 14 public comment period, Egon Shroud invoked J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. “When he who shall not be named walked through (Westover Hills Elementary School) earlier this year, he learned … our staff work hard to get kids reading,” said Shroud, a Richmond Public Schools teacher arguing for higher pay for herself and her colleagues. “What he doesn’t know is that we have teachers getting hit, kicked, spit on and cursed out daily.” By “he who must not be named” — the alias for Rowling’s infamous villain, Voldemort — Shroud meant Mayor Danny Avula. But she couldn’t say that due to City Council’s rules of procedure ...
Could lieutenant governor furor give Republicans a do-over on N.Va. candidate?
Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity knows that his decision to drop out of the Republican primary for lieutenant governor won’t help his party in elections this year in Northern Virginia, a region deep in voters and economic challenges under President Donald Trump. Herrity, a five-term supervisor whose father, Jack Herrity, once dominated Fairfax and regional politics, withdrew from the race on Monday because of the lingering effects of heart surgery. It was a tough decision that he said was made more difficult by some conservative Republicans’ concerns about the alternative — John Reid, a longtime Richmond radio host who is openly gay with a longtime male partner.
Almost all Va. school divisions agree to Trump DEI policy
Almost all of Virginia’s local school district superintendents signed a form certifying that their schools do not engage in any practices that the Trump administration believes illegally promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Three school divisions — in Loudoun County, Fairfax County and the city of Norfolk — turned in revised forms to the state, altering the certification form the federal government asked local school districts to sign and return. The U.S. Department of Education declined to comment on whether the three school districts meet compliance, citing pending litigation.
Marshall: Public education needs teachers, not more administrators
Since its inception in 1979, the U.S. Department of Education has not directly educated students. Mathematics and reading scores are down in public schools despite per-pupil spending having increased by more than 245% since the 1970s, indicating that more spending does not mean better education. The growth of administrative demands within public schools has significant implications for both teachers and students. The number of district administrators in U.S. public schools has grown 87.6% between 2000 and 2019 compared to student growth at 7.6% and teacher growth at 8.7%.