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Rotherham and Forte: Virginia students deserve better. Close the 'honesty gap'
Alarming data from multiple sources, most notably the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), underscores just how deeply every state was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic — the only difference is by how much. In Virginia, failure to adequately serve students resulted in the largest drops in learning on national assessments of any state, with average achievement in some cases reverting to 1990s levels. Students who were already struggling were impacted the most. This was, and remains, a genuine crisis for students, families and the commonwealth.
Saslaw is back and he has a new PAC
At the end of his 44-year tenure in the Virginia Senate, increasingly surrounded by a new generation of more liberal Democrats, Dick Saslaw remained a bulwark for the state’s business community. Now, two years after his retirement, Saslaw, 85, is putting himself back in the role of nudging Democrats toward the middle — with the help of an unexpected $450,000 windfall that he has rolled into a new political leadership committee.
Yancey: The politics over UVa send us to a place we’ve never been before
Some years ago, a former state college president, by then safe in retirement, told me how easy it was to bamboozle members of the college’s governing board. While members of the gubernatorially appointed board of visitors may have accomplished backgrounds as strong business leaders in their respective fields, they rarely applied those skills to their work on the college board, he said. They hardly ever asked detailed — and certainly not critical — questions of whatever proposals the administration put before them. . . . Those days may now be long gone.
State Democrats celebrate new maternal health care laws
Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling (D–Henrico) — and more than a dozen of her Democratic colleagues — took the stage Monday outside a Portsmouth preschool, with a tent shielding a crowd of about 100 people from the midday sun. “Tomorrow, July 1, moms, babies and families across the commonwealth will begin to feel the benefit of maternal health policies that fundamentally transform how Virginia supports mothers, babies, and families,” said LeVere Bolling. The crowd fanned their faces with handouts on the package legislation, which Democrats called “the momnibus.” . . . The bills are Democrats' answer to disparities in maternal mortality, a long waitlist for subsidized child care, and access to health care.
‘Blue economy’ gives Hampton Roads competitive advantage, leaders say
Hampton Roads waterways give the region and state an economic competitive advantage, local leaders say. “The blue economy is more than a connection of water-based industries,” Virginia Peninsula Chamber President and CEO Bob McKenna said. “It’s a forward-looking collaborative approach that blends science, infrastructure and commerce to unlock the potential of our coastal and marine resources.” The Virginia Peninsula Chamber explored the “blue economy” in a Friday event, ...
Jefferson warned about monarchs. UVA president’s ouster shows why.
Thomas Jefferson spent his many years in public life stridently opposed to monarchs. The Declaration of Independence he helped author stands as a scathing indictment of offenses endured by the colonies at the hands of King George III and a stirring call for liberty, which he viewed as the antidote to monarchical power. One wonders, then, what the Sage of Monticello would think about a president leveraging the immense resources of the federal government to oust the leader of a university Jefferson founded.
After UVA president’s exit, Dems say they want to prevent further politicization of higher education
University of Virginia president Jim Ryan’s abrupt resignation in the midst of federal pressure on the school to end its DEI initiatives set off a firestorm of controversy, with Virginia Democratic lawmakers now pledging that they will find ways to prevent further politicization of higher education. The lawmakers said they’re reconsidering legislation to support governing boards and reevaluating the gubernatorial appointments process.
Researchers look for reasons behind Osprey nest failures
It was early Tuesday morning when Keriann Spiewak lifted an 8-foot pole above one of Virginia Beach’s osprey nests on the Lynnhaven River. At the end of the pole, a mirror — about the size of a laptop screen — reflected a gathering of twigs, small branches and other nesting material. It did not reflect ospreys. “They’re gone,” she said over her shoulder. “We had three eggs in here that weren’t going to hatch, but now they’re gone, so we’re just checking if they were still there.”
Powhatan Board of Supervisors, School Board clash over demolition of Pocahontas Middle
Some Powhatan County residents are wanting to put a stop to parts of the former Pocahontas Middle School set to be demolished in the second week of July. The school is a symbol of desegregating Powhatan County Public Schools in 1969. This comes after a Powhatan County School Board vote on June 24. The board voted 4-1 for the partial demolition contract, but 8News is told the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors were hoping to take over the property to avoid this.
Judge voids VB City Council’s vote that implemented 10-1 voting system
A judge has ruled a 2023 vote taken by City Council to institute a 10-1 district election system is now void, but held off on dictating what system must be put into place to elect council and School Board members. Instead, state Circuit Court Judge Randall Smith, retired out of Chesapeake, stayed his ruling Monday until after a referendum on the voting system is held in November. Voters in the city will have the choice to either endorse continuing to use the 10-1 system that has been used in the 2022 and 2024 elections, or transition to a 7-3-1 system, spelled out in the City Charter.