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Elections officials appoint new Richmond registrar to replace Keith Balmer
Richmond’s Board of Elections has appointed a permanent registrar to replace Keith Balmer, who led the city’s elections office until he resigned last year following allegations of nepotism and fraud. Electoral Board Chair Starlet Stevens said David Levine will start in the role on July 1, less than two weeks after Virginia’s June 17 primary elections. Levine formerly worked in Richmond’s elections office as a deputy registrar from 2012 to 2014, Stevens said.
Richmond mayor: ‘Not in the city’s best interest to burn bridges’ over VCU Health tax payments
As another year’s due date comes and goes, the City of Richmond is throwing in the towel in its fight with VCU Health over $56 million in real estate tax payments that were tied to a failed downtown development. June 5 was supposed to be the deadline for the annual payments that the health system agreed to make over 25 years when it signed on to anchor the ill-fated redevelopment of the city’s old Public Safety Building site. But the city is no longer looking to collect. Mayor Danny Avula, who took office in January, said Richmond will not continue to pursue the payments ... In an interview with BizSense, Avula said he also is not interested in pursuing litigation against the health system – an option his predecessor, Levar Stoney, had threatened before leaving office last year.
Adams, Brownlee and others: Under President James Ryan, UVA is flourishing
The Jefferson Council, a group that purports to be “protecting” the University of Virginia’s legacy and upholding its core principles, has decided instead to attack President James Ryan’s leadership in a newspaper ad. To be clear, The Jefferson Council has no official university association, and was, in fact, co-founded by Bert Ellis, who was recently removed from the university’s board of visitors by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The council is tragically out of touch and an embarrassment to today’s university, which continues to flourish, and remains a robust, forward-thinking institution ...
Youngkin: Virginia is turning the tide on fentanyl deaths
Virginia is seeing real progress in reducing overdose deaths. For the first time in years, data shows overdose deaths are declining nationwide — and here in the commonwealth, we’re helping drive that trend. Virginia reported a 44% decrease in overdose deaths over the past year and a 46% drop from its peak in 2021. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Virginia’s year-over-year decline in overdose deaths between November 2023 and November 2024 was among the largest in the country.
Youngkin and Pillion: United to stop fentanyl deaths
Since its inception in 2023, National Naloxone Awareness Day is a time to acknowledge the danger of the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, as well as the importance of the opioid overdose reversal drug, naloxone. On this day, Virginians are reminded that on average three Virginians lose their life to fentanyl every day. However, it is also a moment to celebrate Virginia’s recently achieved, 44% year-over-year drop in fentanyl-related overdose deaths — among the most significant declines nationally — and a 46% decrease from its peak in 2021.
Moran: Scammers are everywhere. Here’s how to stop them
Under two separate gubernatorial administrations, I was honored to serve as the secretary of public safety and homeland security. In that role, I was responsible for keeping Virginians safe and overseeing various layers of state law enforcement. With each passing year, the threats that we faced grew and evolved. Year after year, however, one threat became larger and larger — the alarming rise in sophisticated financial scams.
Lynchburg NAACP demands school board reverse ban of public schools advocate
The Lynchburg branch of the NAACP is demanding the school board reverse its decision to ban a longtime city schools advocate from speaking at future meetings after he went beyond his allotted time during the public comment period at Tuesday’s board meeting. When city resident Danny McCain said he would sit down only after the school board agreed to meet with him to discuss the achievement gap between Black and white students in Lynchburg, board Vice Chair Martin Day suggested he might need to call the police to have him removed from the meeting room.
Martinsville City Council member sues city manager and sheriff’s deputy
Martinsville Councilman Aaron Rawls is pursuing a civil rights lawsuit against City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides and Sheriff’s Deputy Reva Keen. Filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Danville, the lawsuit stems from a prior incident in which Rawls was escorted from a public meeting. The suit alleges that Rawls’ removal is a violation of his First, Fourth, and 14th Amendment rights.
Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office extends partnership with ICE
The Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office announced a new extended partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office, the partnership “establishes a secure and clearly defined process for ICE to transfer individuals who have been located and detained.” Sheriff Dave Rosado explained that prior to this new agreement, the holding period for undocumented immigrants was 48 hours. Now, ICE will have up to 72 hours to take custody of individuals originally detained by Chesapeake deputies.
Henrico educators union frustrated in push for collective bargaining
The Henrico educators union has been pushing for collective bargaining since shortly after the practice was legalized for public employees in 2021. ... The union said in early 2024 that it was confident the school board would vote in favor of collective bargaining by the end of the year. Nearly a year and a half later, no agreement has been signed between the school division and its workers.