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Youngkin vetoed bill to make Black history classes count toward graduation. What’s next?
A Northern Virginia faith leader and parent said she will continue asking state lawmakers to make two African-American history courses count toward the state’s graduation requirements for history, after the governor — who vetoed the measure and whose four-year term is sunsetting — leaves office. Pastor Michelle Thomas, president of the NAACP Loudoun Branch, and Robin Reaves Burke of the Loudoun Freedom Center proposed the concept to state Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun, shortly after the commonwealth added African American History and AP African American Studies to the list of courses permitted to be taught in public high schools.
Yancey: 2 Virginians helped cover up how incapacitated the president was. This wasn’t Biden, though.
A Democratic president is in such poor health that he can no longer run the country. A small circle of advisers keeps even his own cabinet secretaries in the dark about his true condition. Republicans start to publicly question the president’s fitness, and eventually, even the president decides it’s best not to run for another term. The scenario describes very recent events, as documented in the new book “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” by Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios. However, this scenario also describes the situation more than a century ago involving Woodrow Wilson — a cover-up of a health condition that involved a president born in Staunton, a first lady born in Wytheville and a doctor born in Culpeper County.
VPAP Visual 2025 Conflict of Interest Disclosures
Each year, General Assembly members are required to disclose personal financial holdings that could create a potential conflict of interest with their public duties. Reports filed in 2025 cover the 2024 calendar year.
Student shadow shines with Senate bill
18-year-old Alyssa Manthey had a unique, hands-on experience with state government that allowed her to get up close and personal with the law-making process. Because of her online schooling, Mathey’s schedule was flexible enough that she was able to work with Senator Emily Jordan (R) multiple times during the life of Senate Bill 1289, which bans the use of color additives in public school food.
New approach to cleaning Chesapeake Bay rewards success
The biggest challenge to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay is figuring out where the nutrients that fuel summertime dead zones come from — and a new approach to pollution control is stressing better targeting. For the past few years, environmentalists and marine scientists have been talking about such targeting with what they call an outcomes-based approach to cutting nonpoint source flows of nitrogen and phosphorus. These are the pollutants that rain — flowing off farm fields, parking lots, streets and suburban lawns — carries into the hundreds of streams and rivers that eventually feed the bay. Now, some of the first efforts are emerging.
American shad: Once a James River staple, it could soon be an afterthought
Over the past four decades, the American shad population in Virginia — specifically the James River — collapsed. Humans are largely to blame. Dams, pollution, commercial fishing bycatch, water withdrawals and invasive species either impede habitat access, hinder spawning, consume living shad or all of the above. Climate change also complicates things. A once-beloved and cherished species in the James River and Chesapeake Bay watershed, the population has steadily declined since the 1970s. In recent years, scientists who attempt to net American shad for the purpose of estimating the population in the James River haven’t caught any.
6 Democrats want to be Va.’s lieutenant governor. Here’s what to know.
They all promise to “fight” or “stand up” to President Donald Trump. All want to spend more on education, protect abortion access, increase the minimum wage and restore voting rights for people who have completed felony sentences. The six candidates vying to become the Democratic nominee for Virginia lieutenant governor in a June 17 primary agree on so many top-line issues that voters might wonder: Why are so many running, and what are the differences that could help decide the race? First off, running for lieutenant governor is always enticing to Virginia politicians who imagine becoming governor one day.
Federal spending cuts cause a labor market riptide in D.C. area, data shows
Federal spending cuts are beginning to have a more pronounced impact on the Washington region’s job market, new data suggests, with fewer white-collar jobs available while thousands of residents who’ve lost theirs are looking for work. Job postings in the District this month are down 17 percent since January, according to a report by the jobs site Indeed, driven by steep drops in listings for administrative assistants, human resources specialists and accountants — positions that are common inside federal agencies or companies with federal government contracts. The broader metro area is showing similar signs of contraction, with overall postings down more than 10 percent — far outpacing the national average.
Youngkin: ‘Sail 250’ event will bring 60 international ships to Norfolk for America’s birthday
A parade of tall ships from across the world will traverse the Hampton Roads waterfront next summer to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States. “America was really founded by Virginians. This story is one that we have to remind ourselves is part of not just our national narrative, but Virginia's,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in Norfolk Friday. “Therefore, could it be any more appropriate for us to come together this time next year and welcome 60 vessels from 20 countries that will sail into this mighty harbor and once again help us remember that America is a lot more than just a declaration.” The governor and city leaders gathered at the American Rover ship docked at the Waterside marina to formally launch Virginia’s preparations for the celebration, called Sail 250.
Trump’s pick to lead mine safety agency advances amid Democratic concerns
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (or HELP) Committee voted to approve seven of President Trump’s nominees to lead federal agencies. This includes the nomination of Wayne Palmer to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA. All 12 Republicans on the HELP committee voted to approve the nominees at a meeting on Thursday May 22, and all 11 Democrats voted no, including Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who said he opposed how the votes were rushed, without hearings. “I just feel like you shouldn’t be afraid to make your case to your committee, at a hearing, and especially make it in view of the public,” Kaine said on a press call just before the committee vote. “So the public can also understand what’s going on.”