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Yancey: Jobless workers in Emporia are paying the price for nation’s inability to deal with high housing costs
Emporia took a hard blow last week when the Georgia-Pacific plywood mill announced it’s closing, leaving 550 people out of work. That follows another hard blow last year, when the Boar’s Head Provision Co. meat plant in nearby Jarratt in Greensville County closed. No community wants to lose a major employer; between them, Emporia and Greensville County have now lost two in less than a year’s time. These two plant closings are unrelated — Boar’s Head was linked to a listeria outbreak that led to 10 deaths across the country. That’s a tragedy, but it may not directly stem from a public policy choice. However, Georgia-Pacific cited national declines in homebuilding and homebuying, and those are very much connected to public policy.
Real estate developer cites Faraldi’s prediction in lawsuit against city council
The developer of a residential community on Wards Ferry Road, in a lawsuit filed against the Lynchburg City Council, is calling the council’s decision to deny the company a rezoning permit “invalid” and “devoid of any reasoned basis.” City council’s 4-3 vote to reject Timberlake Investments LLC’s application to build 18 townhouses and a duplex on Wards Ferry Road, near Timberlake Road, came on the same night in March that the council voted to approve a 750-unit housing development on Wiggington Road proposed by Langley Land and Jam 89. . . . At the March 11 council meeting, Ward IV Councilman Chris Faraldi criticized council’s decision to approve the Wiggington Road development but reject the Wards Ferry Road rezoning application to build the 18 townhouses and duplex.
Powers, Spanberger oppose state forcing solar projects on localities
Bedford County resident Joy Powers, who is running as a Democrat for Virginia’s House 51st district, in a news release Monday said she joins gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger to “firmly reject the idea that Virginia Democrats support mandating solar projects on unwilling localities.” The release said Powers, who is running against Del. Eric Zehr, R-Campbell, makes the comments in response to recent public debate over solar zoning, stating she calls for “facts over fear, and leadership over political drama.” The district includes portions of Bedford, Campbell and Pittsylvania counties.
New Richmond billboard attacks Stoney for water crisis
A new billboard along Interstate 195 in Richmond features an attack on former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney for the water crisis that left much of the city without drinking water for six days in January. The ad quotes the Virginia Department of Health, which described the Jan. 6 meltdown of Richmond’s water treatment plant during a winter storm-related power outage as “completely avoidable.” Stoney, who left office at the end of last year before the water crisis occurred, served in the position for two terms, or eight years. He is one of six Democrats seeking the party's nomination for lieutenant governor in a June 17 primary.
Loudoun County schools investigating student for asking why a female was using boys’ locker room
A pro-family, pro-faith legal group is representing a student who is being investigated by Loudoun County Public Schools for asking why a female student was in the boys’ locker room. The Founding Freedoms Law Center said Monday that its client, a high school sophomore, is facing a Title IX investigation for sexual harassment in Loudoun County. Title IX bars discrimination in education based on sex.
House Democrats Are Having a Public Fight About Their Oldest Lawmakers
When then-74-year-old Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly defeated 35-year-old progressive star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a top Democratic attack-dog role during President Trump’s second term, he was immediately confronted with questions about his age and health. “I think that’s a false narrative, frankly, propounded by the media,” Connolly said in December, when asked whether his colleagues were effectively rejecting younger voices in the party by electing him as the senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee. “We’re looking at capability; we’re not looking at age,” he said.
Marshall and Pressley: Students hate it, teachers love it. Our research shows cellphone bans work
Over the past year, several states have moved to ban cellphones in school as part of an effort to eliminate distractions in the classroom, improve student mental health, and increase post-pandemic learning. Beginning Jan. 1, an executive order restricting student cellphone use in Virginia schools from bell to bell, including during lunch and in the hallways between classes, went into effect. Research on the effects of such bans is still emerging, so we partnered with a school division in Virginia to assess how the policy was working in practice.
Gretz: A brighter future for Virginia’s rural schools
As the current superintendent of the Fluvanna County Public Schools and now in my 35th year as a Virginia educator, I have had the responsibility and privilege of impacting the education of countless students. I constantly strive to find creative ways to maximize our community’s resources as efficiently as possible. This can be especially challenging for smaller, rural communities where resources are limited. I am proud of the bipartisan work our General Assembly has done to promote and make available a win-win solution to help address this resource challenge by reducing our energy costs 25%.
Kenner: Facts, not rhetoric, should drive menhaden decisions
In the debate over the future of the Atlantic menhaden fishery, working families are being pushed to the margins. The fishermen, plant workers and coastal community members who have sustained this industry for generations are too often falsely portrayed as obstacles to conservation. Meanwhile, environmental activist groups are assumed to speak for the public good. But regulators and members of the public should not accept the premise that these groups speak for the public interest simply because they say so on their websites.
Nelson: John Reid? Hypocrisy is what’s killing American democracy
I am a Christian and a political independent — socially moderate, fiscally conservative, grounded in traditional values. For over two decades, I was a loyal Republican. But when Donald Trump hijacked the party I once believed in, I walked away — and never looked back. My principles, though, haven’t changed. I don’t always agree with every Republican candidate, and I don’t share every conviction of John Reid, the openly gay Republican running for lieutenant governor of Virginia. But fairness is fairness, and right is right. What’s happening to Reid isn’t just wrong — it’s revealing.