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Youngkin, 19 Republican governors sign letter supporting bill that would cut billions from Medicaid
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed onto a joint letter with other Republican governors in support of a “big beautiful bill” backed by President Donald Trump that is currently advancing through Congress and would cut $625 billion from Medicaid over the next decade if passed. The federal program helps states provide health care coverage to low-income people and those with disabilities. Democratic lawmakers, advocacy groups, Medicaid beneficiaries and some Republicans have cautioned against the proposal for months.
Gerry Connolly, Democratic congressman and fixture of Virginia politics, dies at 75
U.S. Rep. Gerald “Gerry” Connolly, an outspoken Democrat who sought key reforms in the federal government while bringing transformational development to his populous Virginia district, died Wednesday. He was 75. Connolly, who most recently held a prominent position as the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, served in Congress for more than 16 years. He died at home in the company of family members, his family said in a statement. Connolly announced in 2024 that he had esophageal cancer and said a few months later that he planned to retire from Congress. His death leaves House Republicans with a 220-212 majority.
Corporations pull sponsorships from Virginia's largest Pride event
Two corporate sponsors have pulled out of Pridefest, the largest LGBTQ+ celebration in Virginia, organizers tell Axios. It's part of a nationwide pivot for corporate America in which many companies that previously embraced Pride are walking back support following President Trump's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. "We're at a point now, if more pulled out, it's going to make a big difference," James Millner, the director of Virginia Pride, tells Axios. "This is the first time — and this is my 11th year doing this — where I really had this feeling of constant uncertainty about what was going to happen."
DOJ opens civil rights probe into Virginia high school’s admissions policies following Miyares referral
The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia over the use of race in admissions to its top-ranked Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Last year, the US Supreme Court declined to hear arguments over the same allegations, but this investigation signals that the Trump administration will use the civil rights division to challenge affirmative action policies – a longtime hot-button issue for conservatives who claim that such admissions policies focus more on race than they do academic achievement. The investigation follows a referral from the state attorney general who announced Wednesday that his office had found reasonable cause to believe the district and the school discriminated against Asian American students on the basis of race.
Youngkin, Bondi announce Virginia task force surpasses 1,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday that the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force has surpassed 1,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants accused of violent crimes. Speaking from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bondi praised the task force’s efforts, attributing the operation’s success to the Trump administration’s renewed focus on immigration enforcement.
Spanberger faces opposition, open minds while pitching healthcare cost plans
Near the Hanover County line sits the locally owned Mechanicsville Drug Store. It’s the kind of place that still has a breakfast counter alongside greeting cards, a pharmacy and other odds-and-ends. And Wednesday morning, in between its narrow aisles, it hosted Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger. The former congresswoman was there to talk about her plans to address healthcare costs. But she touched on why she first ran for Congress back in 2017, specifically when then-Congressman Dave Brat, who she later unseated, voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Spotsylvania data center project milestone hit, opening nears
Spotsylvania County’s first data center facility is set to go online soon, and progress on the work was celebrated Wednesday morning. Hundreds of workers filled several aisles of tables in the large lunch facility on the Cosner Tech Campus data center complex around 10:30 on the rainy morning. There was catered food and a band to mark a milestone for the tech-giant Amazon project.
Yancey: Natural Bridge Zoo legal saga escalates as two baby giraffes missing, state alleges threats, harassment
On the afternoon of April 7, three people showed up at the Natural Bridge Zoo to conduct a random inspection of the giraffes that the state had seized last year, but which remained at the zoo until they could be moved. There are many complications to moving a giraffe, but two of these three giraffes had a special one: They were pregnant, and moving a pregnant giraffe was deemed too dangerous. Even though a jury had ruled that the state could seize 71 animals from the zoo after it found the animals had been neglected and abused, it was agreed that pregnant giraffes should stay at the zoo until it was safe to move them. In the meantime, the court order directed the zoo to cooperate with the state and allow random inspections.
Fisher: Connolly built the trail to post-Trump progress. Who will hike it?
The largest structure in downtown Washington is a huge government building named for Ronald Reagan, which would be a heck of a joke except that it’s true: The man who won the presidency by crusading against government bloat is memorialized with a hulking symbol of public largesse, a nearly billion-dollar pile of limestone housing a slew of government agencies. Gerry Connolly, the congressman from Northern Virginia who died Wednesday, lived long enough to see his name attached to a public project, too. It’s a hiking trail, more than 40 miles across Fairfax County, through rural, suburban and urban patches, and it’s as beloved as the Reagan Building is derided. The Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail couldn’t be a more apt recognition of its namesake.
Local PBS, NPR stations may endure Trump’s cuts. Others won’t be as lucky.
As the Trump administration pursues a policy of selective federal austerity, defunding public media represents a drop in a very large bucket. But that drop makes a big difference in the health of our democracy, the early development of our children and the civic awareness of the public. According to recent reporting, Hampton Roads’ National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service stations are confident they can endure a loss of federal support, even if they shouldn’t have to. Other communities, including many in Virginia, won’t be as lucky as these actions needlessly rob them of public media programming that challenges, entertains, informs and educates.