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Salaries for Portsmouth mayor, council members will nearly double in 2025
Portsmouth City Council members voted to go forward with pay raises. The boost will nearly double the salaries of the mayor and council members next year. Roughly a dozen residents shared their thoughts on the pay raise at a public hearing Tuesday night. The topic divided the people who took to the podium.
Prince William County supervisors mull hiring panhandlers to pick up roadside litter
Prince William County officials took a first look Tuesday at a plan to address panhandling through a part-time employment program and an effort to encourage residents to give to local nonprofits rather than directly to people asking for cash at busy intersections. The proposed program would pay panhandlers $13 an hour to pick up roadside litter. Participants could work two three-hour shifts a week, allowing them to earn up to $78 a week.
Fairfax County Public Schools workers vote to unionize
Fairfax County Public Schools teachers and other workers have elected a union to represent them in forthcoming labor contract negotiations. The Fairfax Education Unions (FEU), a team-up of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT) and the Fairfax Education Association (FEA), announced yesterday (Monday) that it will represent over 27,500 FCPS employees in their first collective bargaining effort since they secured that right in March 2023. The elections, which began on June 3 and involved separate votes by instructional and operational workers, resulted in the unionization of Virginia’s largest public school system and represented the largest successful public-sector collective bargaining campaign in the U.S. in 25 years, according to FEU.
Educators, staff in Fairfax County Schools back collective bargaining
Teachers and staff members in Fairfax County, home to Virginia’s largest school district, are a step closer to being able to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement for the first time in nearly 50 years. School employees overwhelmingly voted in favor of collective bargaining on Monday, with the Fairfax Education Association and the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers coming together under an alliance group, the Fairfax Education Unions, that will represent more than 27,000 school system employees in labor talks.
Educators union blames Petersburg School Board ‘interference’ for interim superintendent’s departure
The local educators’ union does not appear to buy claims by outgoing interim school superintendent Dr. John Farrelly that his upcoming departure is an “opportunity” for career growth. Instead, the Petersburg Education Association is blaming the School Board, saying it interferes too much with the day-to-day operations of Petersburg City Public Schools to the detriment of the futures of students and teachers.
Operations of the hotly contested East Coast natural gas pipeline can begin, regulators say
A hotly contested East Coast natural gas pipeline was given the go-ahead Tuesday to start operating, six years after construction began at more than double its original estimated cost. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the 303-mile (500-kilometer) Mountain Valley Pipeline project across rugged mountainsides in West Virginia and Virginia over longstanding objections from environmental groups, landowners and some elected officials. Project developers told regulators on Monday that the pipeline was complete.
Kaine: In vitro fertilization access must be protected
Judy and Roger Carr got married in 1973, hoping to have a big family. Over the following years, Judy suffered three ectopic pregnancies that left her unable to conceive the traditional way. This was 40 years ago — the earliest days of in vitro fertilization (IVF). At the end of 1980, only a handful of babies had been born via IVF worldwide, and none in the United States. The Carrs were destined to have the first in America.
Youngkin wants to discard another climate law without legislative consent
Three years ago, the General Assembly voted to adopt emissions standards for new vehicles purchased in the commonwealth, favoring the strict rules developed by California over those enforced by the federal government. Last week, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that his administration would abandon those standards, and one need not be enthusiastic about the rules to be troubled by the controversial way Virginia’s chief executive did so.
Virginia NAACP sues school board for reinstating Confederate names
The Virginia NAACP sued a county school board Tuesday over its reinstatement of Confederate military names to two schools, accusing it of embracing segregationist values and subjecting Black students to a racially discriminatory educational environment. The school board in Shenandoah County voted 5-1 last month to revert the name of Mountain View High School back to Stonewall Jackson High School, and that of Honey Run Elementary to Ashby Lee Elementary. The vote reversed a 2020 decision to remove the original names against a backdrop of nationwide protests over racial injustice.
Amazon adds $1.4 billion to affordable housing fund for regions where it has corporate offices, including Virginia
Amazon is adding $1.4 billion to a fund it established three years ago for preserving or building more affordable housing in regions where the company has major corporate offices, CEO Andy Jassy announced Tuesday. The Seattle-based company said the new sum would go on top of the $2.2 billion it had already invested to help create or preserve 21,000 affordable housing units in three areas: the Puget Sound in Washington state; Arlington, Virginia; and Nashville, Tennessee. When it launched its Housing Equity Fund in January 2021, Amazon said it aimed to fund 20,000 units over five years. The additional money will go to the same regions with a goal of building or maintaining 14,000 more homes through grants and below-market-rate loans.