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Va. House Republicans pick Del. Kilgore as new leader
Republicans in the House of Delegates on Sunday chose Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, as their new leader. The chamber's prior GOP leader, former Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, is a candidate to become the next U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.
Martinsville’s ‘sanctuary’ status disputed
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defined Martinsville as a city that is “deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws endangering American communities.” Martinsville Police Chief Rob Fincher says DHS got it all wrong. “The Department of Homeland Security incorrectly reports that Martinsville, Virginia, is a sanctuary city. The City of Martinsville has never made such a declaration,” Fincher said in a release.
Richmond slapped with ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’ label and familiar threat of funding cuts
Richmond and its surrounding counties have been dubbed “sanctuary jurisdictions” by the Department of Homeland Security. In a news release Thursday evening, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that city policies are “endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens.” The department published a list with hundreds of qualifying cities and counties nationwide. “Sanctuary” status is a catch-all for local governments whose policies shield undocumented immigrants from agencies like DHS and its enforcement agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The release said Richmond, Henrico, Hanover, Chesterfield and Dinwiddie obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Legislators suggest Virginia needs to take more active role in food safety
Virginia may need to enact more food safety requirements at the state level in response to cutbacks and deregulation efforts by the Trump administration, two legislators and several advocates said at a recent forum. “We have historically, in my opinion, not done the kind of oversight we need to do. We’ve let the federal government do most of it,” Del. Mark Sickles (D-17) said during the press event on May 28. Sickles, who chairs the Virginia General Assembly’s House Committee on Health and Human Services and represents the Franconia and Huntington areas in Fairfax County, was joined by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-15), chair of the Senate Committee on Education and Health.
Virginia businesses hope for clarity on tariffs after Trump’s court defeat
Anh Vu had repositioned her shipping company to bring goods from Vietnam into the United States instead of sending exports to the Southeast Asian country. Her business, SAM Cargo Express, planned to develop a warehouse in Northern Virginia to handle the imported handicrafts and other goods from Vietnam. ... The planned warehouse "has been put on hold because not a lot of companies want to do that because of tariffs," Vu said after a meeting between Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and small business owners in the Vietnamese community here on Wednesday.
Funding cuts tearing holes in region’s health care safety net, officials say
Federal and state funding cuts, freezes and delayed payments are hammering Richmond’s free clinics, the region’s health care safety net, officials from the groups told a community town hall at Health Brigade’s clinic near Scott’s Addition. The cuts, some of which date back to last year, have been particularly deep for services for prevention and treatment of HIV, the virus than can cause AIDS. It also leaves people vulnerable to difficult-to-treat tuberculosis and other contagious disease.
Youngkin signs Dem-backed school cellphone ban
Governor Glenn Youngkin spent Friday in Hopewell where he ceremonially signed a bill authored by state Democrats that will ban cellphones in the state’s public schools. ... Youngkin started pushing cellphone-free schools years ago, but only after an effort was approved by Democrats in the legislature earlier this year did it become a reality. “We know that a cell phone free classroom is good for instruction, it's good for classroom dynamics and it's good for the overall school day and school environment,” Henrico Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg, one of the authors of the bill signed by Youngkin Friday, told Radio IQ.
Newport News Shipbuilding furloughs 471 salaried employees
Newport News Shipbuilding has furloughed more than 400 employees. In a Friday statement provided to The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press by Todd Corillo, a Huntington Ingalls Industries spokesperson, the company said that after careful review of its salaried workforce and business needs, it furloughed 471 salaried shipbuilders across HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. ... The unpaid furloughs are not expected to last longer than five months, Corillo said, but the company will reevaluate during that time. The furloughs are temporary and don’t terminate the workers’ employment.
Virginia localities puzzled by inclusion on federal ‘sanctuary cities’ list
The Department of Homeland Security is identifying 20 counties and 13 cities in Virginia they call “sanctuary jurisdictions.” To understand the list of 33 sanctuary cities in Virginia, perhaps it’s best to focus on one county that is NOT on the list: Loudoun County in Northern Virginia. Freddy Mejia at the Commonwealth Institute says this is the example used to strong-arm local law-enforcement officials to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. “Loudoun County saw a real large spike of car searches for Latino residents in that community," Mejia says. "And we know that that community, that sheriff is cooperating with ICE under a 287(g) agreement in Loudoun County.”
Newport News Shipbuilding to furlough 471 workers
Newport News Shipbuilding announced on Friday that it will furlough 471 shipbuilders for up to five months. All impacted employees, which include salaried engineers and other workers, were notified Friday. For those impacted, Friday is their last day of work for the time being, and the furlough will be effective starting Monday. Although it is not a job termination, furloughed employees will not be paid for the time they’re out of work.