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Winters: We must tax billionaires if we want to save Virginia
Our president has been bought by greedy billionaires and corporations. The proof? In 2024, the fossil fuel industry spent $450 million to influence Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress. This funding included direct donations, lobbying and advertising to support Republicans and their policies. And for many billionaire oil and gas CEOs, this investment is already paying off. It’s clear that billionaires, many of whom get rich off of water- and air-polluting industries, are using their exorbitant wealth to take over our democracy and advance policies that make them richer at the expense of our planet.
In strangulation cases, assailants can leave DNA behind. It can later be used against them in court.
When someone is sexually assaulted and goes to a hospital for treatment, a forensic nurse examiner offers what’s called a “physical evidence recovery kit.” The nurse will attempt to collect any biological material left on the victim’s body. That can be tested for DNA and later used in court. Such testing programs have been utilized for more than 30 years in Virginia. But there’s a new kind of state evidence kit — to be used in strangulation cases. The Virginia Department of Forensic Science has purchased 1,000 such kits — designed to collect evidence from a victim’s neck and fingernails — to be sent to forensic nursing teams at hospitals across the state.
List of ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ removed from US government website following criticism
A widely anticipated list of “ sanctuary jurisdictions” no longer appears on the Department of Homeland Security’s website after receiving widespread criticism for including localities that have actively supported the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies. The department last week published the list of the jurisdictions. It said each one would receive formal notification the government deemed them uncooperative with federal immigration enforcement and whether they’re believed to be in violation of any federal criminal statutes.
FBI shows up at Charlottesville public defender’s home unannounced after ICE raid
It was before 7 a.m. on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend when the wife of Charlottesville public defender Donald Bellah, asleep inside the couple's rural Albemarle County residence, was awakened by two FBI agents. They told her they wanted to speak with her husband. Around that same time, other agents were arriving at other lawyers' homes. "There was no attempt to contact any one of us other than just showing up at our houses at the same time," Bellah told The Daily Progress. "I'm angry; it was intending to intimidate us."
Spanberger is poised to win big in Virginia. But national Democrats could drag her down.
Six months out from November, Virginia Democrats believe the governor’s race is Abigail Spanberger’s to lose. There’s a risk the former member of Congress could get bogged down by national malaise toward the Democratic Party, and her margins could end up being tight because of the negative Democratic brand. But Democrats are hopeful that Spanberger can overcome that national dynamic. She flipped a competitive district in 2018 that stretches into rural south central Virginia and she benefits from the unpopular actions of President Donald Trump. ... Spanberger enjoys strong name recognition and is far out-fundraising her opponent, a candidate who even some fellow Republicans are wincing about.
Virginia free health clinics strategize survival after state, federal funding cuts
Amid federal and state funding cuts, freezes and delayed payments, the outlook is grim for free clinics in Virginia that have had to trim or halt some services, but there is hope, Health Brigade executive director Karen Legato said Thursday evening. “Care is resistance,” she reiterated during a speech outside of the clinic’s Thompson Street location in Richmond. Having first opened in 1970 as the Fan Free Clinic, what is now known as Health Brigade was the first free clinic established in Virginia. It is one of about 70 free clinics currently in the state that provide care to uninsured or underinsured people.
Virginia probe into Black communities’ displacement surges forward with infusion of funds
As more states reckon with the history of Black land loss, the Virginia General Assembly has been taking a rare, state-sanctioned approach: formally examining how the creation or expansion of public university campuses has displaced Black communities. A 19-member legislative commission met last month, its first convening since a mandatory hiatus during the 2025 legislative session was lifted. Enacted last year, the commission received an additional $200,000 in the state budget signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in May, a major bump from the $28,760 it was initially allocated. As it prepares to enter its second year, the group is poised to deliver Virginia’s only known comprehensive statewide examination to date of how public universities displaced Black communities — and what forms of redress may be appropriate.
Warren County Sheriff Rejects DHS ‘Sanctuary’ Label
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sparked sharp criticism from local law enforcement after erroneously labeling Warren County, Virginia, as a “sanctuary jurisdiction”—a classification typically reserved for local governments that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Sheriff Crystal Cline is at the center of the response, demanding an immediate correction and public retraction of what she calls a “baseless mischaracterization” of her county and her office’s policies. ... Responding to Sheriff Cline’s objections, Russell Hott, Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, issued a written apology, clarifying that the local ICE field office was not responsible for the inaccurate designation.
Trump student visa halt could hurt regional economy
About 5% of the approximately 1.1 million international college students studying abroad in the U.S. are doing so in D.C., Maryland or Virginia. The Trump administration is halting student visa interviews and revoking visas for Chinese students amid a political pressure campaign against colleges and universities and a broader immigration crackdown. A big drop in international students could hurt college town economies, some of which are already struggling due to lower enrollment.
UVa students, faculty demand lawmakers deny Cuccinelli seat on board
History repeats itself. As occurred with his predecessor Bert Ellis, Ken Cuccinelli now faces vocal opposition to his appointment to the University of Virginia’s governing Board of Visitors. On Wednesday, 17 student-led organizations, along with the executive committee of the American Association of University Professors at UVa, signed a letter addressed to the entire Virginia General Assembly saying Cuccinelli should not sit on the board given his “track record of undermining the rights and safety of marginalized groups.”