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Hopewell city attorney on assault claim: Not his job to ‘get crossways’ with councilors

By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 10 articles a month)

Hopewell’s city attorney says it is not his place “to get crossways” with anyone on City Council because they are all his clients, but he added that he plans to answer a charge of assault being brought against him by a councilor following a brief confrontation at a contentious meeting [last] week. In a telephone interview May 16 with The Progress-Index, Anthony Bessette said it was “on video and in clear view of the public” what transpired at the May 13 meeting between him and Ward 7 Councilor Dominic Holloway.

VaNews May 19, 2025


Logistics firm to lay off 54 in Richmond as shipping slows

By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)

A Florida-based trucking and logistics company plans to lay off 54 employees at its facility in South Richmond, as freight shipping worldwide slows down because of uncertainty over tariffs and the economy. Saddle Creek Logistics Services notified Virginia workforce officials this week that it will lay off employees at its facility on Commerce Road in July, with no plans to bring them back.

VaNews May 19, 2025


Democrats fight for nominations in five Richmond-area House primaries

By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)

A June 17 primary will decide which Democrats run in five Richmond-area contests for the House of Delegates. Around the state there are five more Democratic House contests and eight Republican House primaries. The nomination contests set up the fall elections in which all 100 House seats are up for election. Democrats currently hold a 51-49 edge in the chamber. In the Richmond area, nine of the 11 hopefuls running in the five primary contests are seeking the chance to take on Republican incumbents.

VaNews May 19, 2025


Earle-Sears calls for more school ‘options’ at Fishburne Military School graduation

By BOB STUART, News Virginian

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears' admiration for her father is evident. Speaking with the News Virginian after delivering the commencement speech to the Fishburne Military School class of 2025 on Saturday, the Republican candidate for governor reflected on her father's journey from Jamaica to America and his journey, once stateside, to see his children educated. ... Earle-Sears said she wants to offer Virginia parents as many options as possible when it comes to their own children's education. That includes more charter schools.

VaNews May 19, 2025


Ramadan: Spanberger displays a rare trait in politics – intellectual honesty

By DAVID RAMADAN, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)

Last week, former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, now the Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, made headlines by announcing she would not sign legislation that fully repeals Virginia’s right-to-work law if elected. Her decision may have removed a wedge issue from the campaign trail, but more importantly, it revealed something increasingly rare in politics: intellectual honesty.

Ramadan served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2012 to 2016. He is a professor of practice at the Schar School at George Mason University and a scholar at the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Kroger building $40 million store on Mechanicsville Turnpike

By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)

Grocery store chain Kroger broke ground Thursday on a long-planned, $40 million store on Mechanicsville Turnpike. The 123,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace will sell clothing and feature a Starbucks, pharmacy, 18-pump gas station and more than 500 parking spots. It will also feature almost 10,000 square feet for retail shops adjacent to the grocery store. The new location, at Mechanicsville Turnpike and Compass Point Lane, will replace a smaller store just up the road in the Creighton Crossing shopping center. . . . The new location will have 300 employees, about twice as many as the closing store.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Va. will allow some criminal records to be sealed next year

By CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS, Virginia Mercury

Next summer, certain people with past convictions will be eligible to apply for their criminal records to be sealed — meaning long-past convictions won’t show up on background checks. This can help people who have been formerly incarcerated and rehabilitated get a fresh start when applying for jobs, loans or apartments. The process stems from a 2021 law that underwent several years of workshopping before its delayed implementation. ... Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, virtually joined a panel of criminal justice experts Wednesday in Richmond to discuss the law’s evolution and the journey for beneficiaries that lies ahead.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Yancey: Federal judge in Roanoke has a new side hustle: Author of a young adult novel.

By DWAYNE YANCEY, Cardinal News

Like many writers, the author of a new novel that’s set in Virginia has a day job to support his writing habit. In the case of “Charlie-Man,” a young adult novel coming out this summer, the author’s day job is one of the hardest gigs in the country to land: Thomas Cullen is a federal judge. Virginia is no stranger to judges who are also authors. J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who sits on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, has written six books, three of those after he ascended to the bench from the law school faculty at the University of Virginia.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Virginia gubernatorial hopefuls share their housing ideas as commonwealth struggles with supply

By BRAD KUTNER, WVTF-FM

Virginia’s housing problems, like the nation’s, date back to the 2008 financial crisis. The influx of homes created a bubble that burst and saw foreclosures at record rates. Developers have been reluctant to ramp up home construction ever since. Only now is the U.S. starting to reach pre-2008 levels of new construction for privately owned housing. Virginia is smack dab in the middle of the national average for such new construction, according to real estate industry trackers Construction Coverage. Their lead data analyst Michael Stromberg said incentives to build lean towards new luxury homes.

VaNews May 16, 2025


Reforms to VCU Health must wait following Youngkin veto

By ERIC KOLENICH, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)

The effort to restructure the leadership of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System will have to wait another year, after Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the measure earlier this month. Following the failure of the Clay Street real estate project, in which VCU Health paid $73 million to exit, the governor, legislators and health system leaders all agreed to restructure VCU Health’s board of directors, which requires rewriting state law. . . . But the legislation will not become law, because Youngkin vetoed it, saying it would have unnecessarily shifted power from the governor’s mansion to legislators.

VaNews May 16, 2025