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Virginia House speaker confirms special session on military tuition program
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott said state lawmakers will return to Richmond this month to address recent changes to a state program that covers higher education costs for some military families. They will discuss the Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, which provides a tuition waiver and an annual stipend to spouses and children of veterans who are killed, missing in action, taken prisoner or at least 90% permanently disabled as a result of military service or combat. But through the budget process this year, the program was scaled back to rein in ballooning tuition waiver costs, which universities have had to cover.
Friday Read Three Colonial-era newspapers in Williamsburg called themselves The Virginia Gazette—at the same time
William Parks learned how to operate a press as a print-shop apprentice in England. After immigrating to the American colonies in 1726, he started a publishing business, including a newspaper, in Maryland. But it wasn’t as lucrative as he had hoped. So Parks cast his gaze south to a more populous colony — Virginia. At the time, Virginia’s government had banned publishing as a threat to its autocratic leadership. Consequently, and inconveniently, all of the colony’s laws and other documents had to be sent to England for printing.
General Assembly to return to fix veterans education benefit
The General Assembly will come back on June 28 to reconsider changes to a higher education benefit for families of military veterans either killed or almost completely disabled while on active duty. Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, confirmed on Thursday that leaders of both chambers had agreed to return that day to address the issue in the budget that the assembly passed and Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed on May 13.
Mistrial declared for man who participated in 2017 torch march at UVa
In the first test of a Virginia law crafted to prohibit Ku Klux Klan cross-burnings, the jury failed to reach a verdict. The seven-man, five-woman jury announced in Albemarle County court Thursday they were deadlocked over the fate of 29-year-old Jacob Dix of Clarksville, Ohio, charged with using fire to racially intimidate under Virginia's so-called cross-burning statute. Dix was one of hundreds of White supremacists who participated in the torch-wielding mob that marched across University of Virginia Grounds in 2017, the night before the deadly Unite the Right rally-turned-riot in Charlottesville. Judge H. Thomas Padrick declared a mistrial Thursday evening.
UVa researchers accused of animal neglect lose privileges
Two researchers at the University of Virginia had their animal-handling privileges suspended after reports showed they regularly neglected their own protocols and harmed multiple animals on federally funded projects. The pair had their animal-handling privileges suspended for 30 days after the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee found that they repeatedly violated a number of standard operating procedures during their experiments.
Erosion Continues To Concern Mountain Valley Pipeline Neighbors
Some Virginia landowners have reported problems with erosion control on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and they’re looking to West Virginia for a solution. On May 15, a heavy rainfall washed out a section of slope that had been restored on the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s path through Brush Mountain, in Montgomery County, Virginia. There have been similar problems before: Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality has issued fines to MVP for its failure to control erosion on the project.
Holland and Rafia: Alleviate the oral health workforce crisis in Virginia
Good oral health is crucial for overall well-being, yet access to high-quality care remains a persistent challenge for many Virginians. Virginia’s Medicaid program offers comprehensive dental coverage to all members, for example, but slightly more than half of enrolled children saw a dentist last year — and even fewer adults received care. Access issues are multifaceted ... The gap assessment offers actionable recommendations for policy changes to address the workforce crisis; during the recent General Assembly session, legislators and the governor took steps in support of these goals ...
Charges of defamation, fraud fly in GOP primary race in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District
A Republican running for Congress in Virginia’s 7th District is trying to get one of his primary opponents’ attack ads taken down because he says it falsely accuses him of being investigated for fraud. At issue is an accusation in a 2023 article by The Daily Beast that candidate Derrick Anderson may not live in the district he’s running in, which Mr. Anderson has refuted. Cameron Hamilton, his chief primary rival, paid for an ad running on YouTube TV that attacks his opponent as “DC Derrick Anderson” and revives the residency allegation with a line that the Anderson campaign considers defamatory.
Virginia House speaker OK with special session to restore military tuition program
Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said he’s not opposed to reconvening the General Assembly to address a public outcry over recent changes to a state program that covers higher education costs for some military families. “There is shared ownership over this issue that we can all work together on to correct,” Scott said in an interview Tuesday evening. “Nobody has to use politics to try to take advantage of veterans.”
Mountain Valley Pipeline contractor cited for workplace injury
A contractor for the Mountain Valley Pipeline is cited for an accident during which a large rock rolled down a steep mountainside and struck an employee in November. Precision Pipeline violated a state law requiring it to keep its workplace safe from hazards likely to cause serious injury or death, an investigation by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry recently found. The Wisconsin-based company, which is handling much of the construction of the natural gas pipeline, was fined $15,375, according to documents released by the department Thursday in response to an open records request.