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Chesapeake Bay is on a rebound, but Trump’s proposed budget could set it back
The sun is barely up when Bill Scerbo unties the lines on his aging crabber and turns its bow toward open water. He and his deckhand are heading out to check crab traps in the shallows where the Rhode and West rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay. It's something that Scerbo, who is 65, has been doing since the 1980s. It was then, just out of high school and attending community college, that he had an epiphany about his future. "It was a beautiful day and I was sitting in an economics class and I just said, 'To hell with this. I'm done.'"
Loudoun County supervisor says 25 people have been taken from Sterling Immigration Court in past month
Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman sharply criticized the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office for working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a press release as tensions rise nationwide. While 10 people were detained and arrested at Sterling Immigration Court last week, Briskman alleged that ICE agents confronted two more people who were watching. One person was "manhandled" outside of the building by plain clothes officers, according to a press release. The officers also pushed away the other person's phone, she wrote.
Richmond voters do not want Stoney to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor
The majority of Richmond voters do not want their former mayor to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor, according to unofficial primary election results from the Virginia Department of Elections. On Tuesday, June 17, Virginia held primary elections to select the nominees for several consequential races. While the Republican nominees for the Commonwealth’s top three officials had already been chosen, the Democratic nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general had not.
These centrist women on a group chat are leading Democrats in 2025
They jumped into politics in President Donald Trump’s first term. They ascended to Congress with similar resumes. They text all the time in a group chat. Now Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill and Elissa Slotkin are all playing leading roles for the Democratic Party — a trio of centrist women with national security backgrounds who helped retake the House in 2018 and this year hope to steer their beleaguered party back toward winning. Spanberger, 45, had already clinched the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia heading into Tuesday’s primaries. She and 53-year-old Sherrill, the nominee in New Jersey, will lead Democrats on the ballot in the marquee races of 2025, testing the party’s ability to rebuild in Trump’s second term.
VPAP Visual Statewide Democratic Primary Turnout
Preliminary turnout numbers from the June 17 Democratic primary show the highest turnout since the 1990s for a Democratic primary without a gubernatorial nomination. This excludes presidential primaries, which are held separately in March and generally have a much higher turnout than state primaries.
Virginia will consider regulation to protect turtles from getting caught in crab pots
When diamondback terrapins spy bait sitting in a crab pot, they often push their way inside to feast, only to get stuck. Terrapins, a small and vulnerable species, use lungs to breathe and can drown while trapped in cages underwater. Conservation groups are asking Virginia regulators to require a solution: adding small gadgets to crab traps that keep terrapins out while still allowing crabs to enter.
Library Supporters Win Key Warren County GOP Primary Races
Two candidates who have openly supported Samuels Public Library scored victories in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Warren County, setting the stage for potential changes in the county’s leadership. ... Both races have drawn close attention from voters and local leaders, as the future of Samuels Public Library has become a defining issue in county politics. While neither race will be finalized until the general election in November, Tuesday’s results send a strong message from Republican voters.
Hashmi claims victory in Democratic primary
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, is claiming victory in the tight Democratic contest for lieutenant governor, but former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney says he wants to wait until all the votes are tallied. Hashmi, Stoney and state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, were locked in a close three-way primary battle throughout Tuesday night. Three other Democrats trailed the field. With all 133 counties and cities reporting, Hashmi had 27.5% of the vote to 26.7% for Stoney and 26.2% for Rouse according to the State Department of Elections.
HRBT to break through on latest tunnel, route vehicles onto new bridge this fall
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project will pass a pair of milestones this fall. Mary, a nickname for the 430-foot-long machine boring the two new eastbound tunnels, is on track to make its second breakthrough in September. The machine completed boring the first tunnel last April and took more than five months to get turned around. The Virginia Department of Transportation also plans to route eastbound traffic onto a new section of the bridge. Drivers exiting the tunnel to Norfolk will be directed onto the structure by early September. The traffic shift will mark the end of the old eastbound roadway nearby, which will be torn down next, and what’s expected to be the final 18 months of the project.
Key panel endorses ban on secluding Virginia Beach students
Following allegations about the mistreatment of an 11-year-old autistic student, a special education advisory panel is recommending Virginia Beach public schools ban the controversial practice of seclusion. The Virginia Beach Special Education Advisory Committee, which includes parents of children with special needs, is scheduled to formally request the change during a June 24 school board meeting. “We do make recommendations, but none as consequential as this one, none as big as this one,” Meghan Ashburn, the committee chairperson, told VCIJ at WHRO, “and none that has the potential to make such a big impact as this one.”