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Loudoun County sheriff slams Democratic lawmaker over ‘false’ claims about helping ICE
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman on Tuesday accused a Democratic county supervisor of making “false” claims about deputies helping federal immigration authorities round up illegal immigrants. “Supervisor [Juli] Briskman’s false reporting is a shameful attempt to divide our strong community and undermine law enforcement in one of the safest major counties in the nation,” Sheriff Chapman said. He was responding to Ms. Briskman’s claim that deputies had detained someone for Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the person called police for assistance following a car crash.
Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s race: Fatehi holds off strong challenge from Butler
Incumbent Ramin Fatehi held off a spirited and well-backed challenge from former federal prosecutor John Butler to win a second term as the city’s top prosecutor. Late Tuesday night, Fatehi had a decisive lead over Butler, with 52% of the vote in the Democratic Primary. Butler called Fatehi shortly before 10 p.m. to concede. Because there are no Republicans, Independents or other party members in the race, the winner of Tuesday’s primary became the city’s next commonwealth’s attorney.
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.
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.
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.”
In 2025 Virginia governor's race, Democrat Abigail Spanberger makes appeal based on her bio
Democrat Abigail Spanberger is emphasizing her life and career as she aims to become the next governor of Virginia at a time when her national party is searching for answers on how to win over voters after an election cycle filled with setbacks. The Spanberger campaign's new advertisement for the general election, first reported by CBS News, shows her reflecting on the various kinds of hallways she's walked through, starting with her education at Virginia's J.R. Tucker High School, before quickly pivoting to the CIA, where she was a case officer, and then to the Capitol, where she was a bipartisan-minded U.S. House representative.
Chesapeake City Council rejects data center proposal
Chesapeake’s City Council received a rare standing ovation from a packed chamber Tuesday night after it voted unanimously to reject a proposed data center. “It was like Christmas again,” said Helen Messer, who lives in one of the houses that sits a few hundred feet from where the data center would have been. “I’ll sleep better than I have in a month.” The proposal from long-time Chesapeake developer Doug Fuller would have been the region’s first major data center. He pitched a 350,000-square-foot facility at the corner of Ethridge Manor and Centerville Turnpike, where Chesapeake’s Great Bridge suburbs give way to farmland, arguing it could be a huge financial windfall for the city and capitalize on new internet infrastructure the city is spending tens of millions on.
Hashmi declares victory in Democratic primary for Virginia lieutenant governor
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi declared victory in the Democratic primary for Virginia lieutenant governor, leading the six-person race with 27.5% of the vote Tuesday night. The next closest candidates were former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who had 26.7% of the vote, and state Sen. Aaron Rouse, who had 26.2% of the vote, with 96% of the votes counted. The Associated Press has not called the race.
Jay Jones projected to win Va. Democratic nomination for attorney general
Former Norfolk delegate Jerrauld C. “Jay” Jones won the Democratic nomination for Virginia attorney general while the party’s choice for lieutenant governor was too close to call Tuesday night, according to election results projected by the Associated Press. The winners will join gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger in pivotal fall elections that will be watched as an off-year referendum on President Donald Trump and on Virginia’s own ambitious Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who is term-limited out of office.