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Republicans worry DOGE cuts will sink them in Virginia governor’s race
Republicans are increasingly worried that budget cuts by Elon Musk's DOGE could cost them dearly in November's vote for Virginia governor — an early electoral test of President Trump's policies. Virginia has one of the highest percentages of federal employees in the country — more than 5% of the state's workforce by some estimates — and Republicans' internal polls are starting to show the damage from tens of thousands of federal layoffs. The University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center has projected that 32,000 jobs could be lost in the state this year, many of them federal positions.
Judge and lawmakers question Trump administration’s plan to gut Job Corps centers
Members of Congress and a federal judge are questioning the Trump administration’s plan to shut down Job Corps centers nationwide, including the Old Dominion Job Corps in Amherst County, and halt a residential career training program for low-income youth that was established more than 50 years ago. ... Lawmakers asked Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the decision when she appeared before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Thursday. “Job Corps, which you know has bipartisan support in Congress, trains young, low-income people, and helps them find good-paying jobs and provides housing for a population that might otherwise be without a home,” U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott said.
Spanberger announces plan to reduce housing costs in Va.
Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger announced a plan on Friday to lower housing costs in Virginia by eliminating arduous regulatory requirements that drive up production costs and incentivizing new housing construction for first-time homeowners and middle-class families. Spanberger announced her plan at Parkside Townes, a housing development under construction in eastern Henrico County that uses a land trust model to lower costs by separating ownership of the home from the land beneath it.
Earle-Sears pushes to end car tax, and so does Spanberger
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is trying to ride a familiar Republican campaign slogan to victory in the governor’s race: no car tax. Nearly 30 years after former Attorney General Jim Gilmore, a Republican, used the slogan to reach the Executive Mansion, Earle-Sears resurrected it in a brief speech to cheering volunteers before a campaign training session in Fairfax County on Tuesday. ... Spanberger, who stepped down from Congress after three terms to run for governor, said through a campaign spokesman on Thursday that she, too, would like to get rid of the car tax by finding a bipartisan way to get it done.
Federal policies could put a damper on regional summer tourism
Hampton Roads is fortunate to be a popular tourism destination each summer for visitors who flock to the beaches and enjoy the many historic attractions throughout our region. These guests fill our hotels, eat at our restaurants and represent a significant share of the region’s annual economic activity. Yet, as the summer season starts, many in the area are justifiably concerned that President Donald Trump’s hostility to foreign nations, including traditional allies, and his administration’s zealous and often ham-fisted deportation efforts will drive away tourists ...
Virginia Beach man awaits governor’s decision on absolute pardon: ‘It would make me whole’
The months following Darnell Phillips’ 2018 release from prison were a whirlwind. Most notably was the standing ovation Phillips received from Virginia lawmakers after he was introduced on the Senate floor several months after being set free. Afterward, senators shook his hand. Some even offered their apologies for the more than 27 years Phillips spent behind bars for the rape and beating of a 10-year-old girl that he’d always maintained he didn’t commit — and that now even the victim was saying he was innocent of.
Nelson officials raise major concerns with county social services leadership
Nelson County officials recently voiced major alarm in a letter to the county department of social services over an “inexcusable decline” in its level of collaboration and communication with key local partner agencies on several child protective services cases. The May 23 letter from the Nelson County Board of Supervisors sent to the Nelson County Department of Social Services Board states those agencies include members of a multi-disciplinary team, some of which expressed “these deep concerns and frustrations” at the DSS board’s April meeting.
A Virginia Democrat hunts for votes in rural pockets where MAGA has strengthened its grip
Democratic politics in rural Virginia are not of a bygone era, according to Abigail Spanberger. The former congressional representative, now the Democratic nominee in the race to be Virginia’s next governor, posts videos online of herself sitting in a car on an interstate highway that goes up and down the Appalachian Mountains. She has toured a small, family-owned oyster shucking and packaging operation along a quiet boat haven on the northern neck of Virginia. And last month, the nominee held a news conference at a small pharmacy in an agrarian hamlet outside of Richmond.
Local judge indicted on bribery charge in Spotsylvania
The chief general district court judge for the judicial circuit that includes the Fredericksburg area was indicted last week on a felony bribery charge, court records show. Richard Tyler McGrath, who sits primarily in Spotsylvania General Court in the 15th Judicial Circuit, is charged with bribery of a public official. A special grand jury brought the charge June 2 in Spotsylvania Circuit Court. McGrath had not been arrested as of Friday, and court records show he will be released on a $5,000 unsecured bond once a capias for his arrest is served.
Norfolk’s top FBI deputy ousted
The F.B.I. has targeted another round of employees who ran afoul of conservatives, forcing out two veteran agents in Virginia — one of whom is friends with a critic of President Trump — and punishing another in Las Vegas, according to several people familiar with the matter. Two of the men, Spencer Evans and Stanley Meador, are senior agents who ran F.B.I. field offices in Las Vegas and Richmond, Va. The third, Michael Feinberg, a top deputy in the Norfolk, Va., office, had ties to a former agent whom Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, identified in his book as part of the so-called deep state.