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Former governors pay tribute to Brown v. Board but disagree on how to continue its legacy
It was more than 70 years ago when 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns and other students went on a strike to protest the poor conditions of their school – Robert Russa Moton High School – a segregated, tar paper shack high school located in Farmville. The walkout initiated a civil rights case – Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County – which later became one of the five cases consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education, where Supreme Court justices unanimously decided that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Saturday, seven Virginia governors gathered at Virginia Commonwealth University to commemorate the landmark ruling, discuss racial and educational progress and emphasize the need to do more work to address disparities in the state.
New mayor, same old City Hall? A little patience, RVA
Don’t give up on RVA — not yet. Granted, this new administration isn’t making things any easier. Mayor Danny Avula’s first budget was a bungled mess, and despite the managerial acumen, his political instincts are clearly lacking (seriously, who sends their highest-paid employees to argue for pay raises?). . . . Toss in the sudden dismissal of the very person hired to root out that fraud, waste and abuse — James Osuna, the now-former inspector general whom City Council dismissed Monday with no explanation — and it’s tempting to unfurl those little white flags. But not yet. Give this City Hall, and Avula, a little more time.
Logistics company laying off more than 50 people at Richmond warehouse
A logistics company is cutting dozens of jobs at one of its two local warehouses. Saddle Creek Logistics Services is planning to lay off 54 employees at its facility at 4701 Commerce Road, according to state records. The Florida-based firm, which offers fulfillment, warehousing and transportation services, operates two local sites – one is the 460,000-square-foot warehouse on Commerce Road in South Richmond and the other is a 43,000-square-foot facility at 540 HP Way in Chester.
Data Centers’ Hunger for Energy Could Raise All Electric Bills
Individuals and small business have been paying more for power in recent years, and their electricity rates may climb higher still. That’s because the cost of the power plants, transmission lines and other equipment that utilities need to serve data centers, factories and other large users of electricity is likely to be spread to everybody who uses electricity, according to a new report. The report by Wood MacKenzie, an energy research firm, examined 20 large power users. In almost all of those cases, the firm found, the money that large energy users paid to electric utilities would not be enough to cover the cost of the equipment needed to serve them. The rest of the costs would be borne by other utility customers or the utility itself.
Yancey: How Spain’s electrical blackout could factor into Virginia elections this fall
At 12:33 p.m. on April 28, something happened in Spain that you’ll likely hear about in Virginia this fall. The electric grid across Spain — and then Portugal and a small part of France — suddenly shut down. The details of what happened are not in dispute: Some strange oscillations in the power grid began at 12:03 p.m., went away, then came back, then went away again. At 12:32:57, to be precise, the power supply suddenly started dropping. Just 27 seconds later, at 12:33:24, the grid collapsed and two counties (and part of a third) were blacked out. It took until 4 p.m. before power was restored.
Williams: The J6 shame to fame tour – next stop, Monument Avenue?
Given historical precedent, it’s not beyond the realm that a monument to the Jan. 6 insurrectionists would be built near the White House in the former Black Lives Matter Plaza. The individuals who sought to overturn a presidential election are on a journey from ignominy to unearned redemption since President Donald Trump returned to power and gifted them with a mass pardon. The headline of a recent story in The Washington Post says it all: “They stormed the Capitol. Now they’re selling merch.”
Virginia Coal Country Courts New Business With Old Mining Money
When Clyde Stacy bought the Bristol Mall in 2018, both the mall and the surrounding coal country of Southwest Virginia were in trouble. The mall, once the marquee shopping destination in the region, had become vacant, weeds punching up through its parking lot. And the city of Bristol, the self-described birthplace of country music, was buckling under the weight of more than $100 million in debt, forcing budget cuts to its schools. Nearby, mining counties across Virginia’s slice of Appalachia were reeling after decades of job loss. Mr. Stacy and his friend Jim McGlothlin, both former coal magnates, seized on what they called a “moonshot” solution: turning the mall into a casino, in a state where gambling was not yet legal.
With Gaza facing starvation, Virginia Sens. Warner and Kaine press for U.S. action
With Gaza on the brink of famine, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, D-Va., are backing a renewed Senate push calling on President Donald Trump’s administration to take urgent diplomatic action to deliver food and emergency aid to civilians trapped in the war-torn enclave. The two lawmakers joined 27 of their Senate colleagues in introducing a resolution urging the administration to mobilize all available diplomatic tools to break the Israeli blockade that has prevented lifesaving assistance from reaching Palestinian civilians.
McClellan: GOP tax cuts would be on ‘backs of millions of Americans’
Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) warned during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” that the tax cuts that have been floated in GOP budget proposals would hurt “millions of Americans” who rely on Medicaid and food stamps. “This budget is going to make the tax cuts permanent on the backs of millions of Americans losing their health care and millions of Americans losing access to SNAP benefits,” McClellan told host Chris Stirewalt on Sunday.
Kelly: Safe kids equal strong families
May is Foster Care Awareness Month. Virginia is fortunate to have a vast community of advocates, child welfare workers, foster youth and families who keep foster care front of mind every day. Each year, 2,200 children enter foster care in Virginia, and around 5,400 kids are in foster care on any given day. Children who are removed from their homes, primarily due to abuse or neglect, often tell trusted adults about the confusion that occurs, waking up disoriented the next morning to deal with the mistakes and choices that others made.