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Va. attorney general says Loudoun County school system misused authority in locker room case
Virginia's attorney general found “disturbing misuse of authority” by a school district that investigated three boys regarding claims of sexual harassment of a transgender student in a boys’ locker room. Jason Miyares referred the Title IX investigation of the incident to the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice for further investigation. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked Miyares to investigate Loudoun County Public Schools over its handling of an alleged incident in which three boys at Stone Bridge High School expressed concern about a transgender boy in the locker room in March. The transgender student allegedly recorded cellphone video of their reactions.
Grants funded by your car insurance pay for surveillance tech in Virginia
More than 30 years ago, the General Assembly created a fund to reward tipsters who shared information leading to motor vehicle theft arrests. If there’s leftover money in the Help Eliminate Auto Theft — better known as HEAT — reward fund, the Virginia State Police can allocate it to educational programming to help drivers prevent auto theft or to support local law enforcement or judicial agencies in their efforts to reduce theft. Since 2022, the Virginia State Police has been using an increasing amount of money from the fund to help local law enforcement agencies buy equipment to help them prevent and solve vehicle theft and related crimes.
Shushok: In Virginia, private colleges are the new front line for access
This summer marks three years since I became president of Roanoke College. When I arrived in 2022 after 30 years serving at large research universities, including nearby Virginia Tech, I brought what some on campus jokingly (and not-so-subtly) called “big school energy.” I had a lot to learn about leading a small private college. ... Over the past two decades, many public land-grant universities in the U.S., including our own Virginia Tech, have boomed in popularity, prestige, resources and selectivity. At the same time, Virginia’s independent, nonprofit colleges and universities, like Roanoke College, have stepped up to become the front line for college access — a striking role reversal in the higher education ecosystem.
Winters: We must tax billionaires if we want to save Virginia
Our president has been bought by greedy billionaires and corporations. The proof? In 2024, the fossil fuel industry spent $450 million to influence Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress. This funding included direct donations, lobbying and advertising to support Republicans and their policies. And for many billionaire oil and gas CEOs, this investment is already paying off. It’s clear that billionaires, many of whom get rich off of water- and air-polluting industries, are using their exorbitant wealth to take over our democracy and advance policies that make them richer at the expense of our planet.
Krizek and Ebbin: As gaming explodes, lack of oversight puts Virginia at risk
Nearly a decade ago, Virginia became the first state to establish a framework that legalized and regulated fantasy sports. Since then, fantasy sports and other forms of gaming have proliferated amid a marketplace that has continually evolved. Virginia’s once-innovative regulatory model, unfortunately, is now outdated and fails to provide the clarity, fairness and accountability that Virginians deserve. The solution is simple. Virginia needs to establish and empower a single, self-funding agency to protect consumers and ensure operators comply with legal requirements for responsible play.
Who is running in the District 70 primary in Newport News?
... In Newport News, there are two Republican candidates running in the primaries to get on the November 2025 ballot, hoping to represent District 70 in the House of Delegates. ... Hailey Dollar is one of two candidates running in the Republican primary. Dollar is an army combat veteran who was born and raised in Hampton Roads, between York County and Newport News. ... Dollar's Republican primary opponent is Cynthia Scaturico. Scaturico was born in Illinois, then in 2014 she moved to York County for a few years where she worked at Smithfield Foods. During the pandemic, Scaturico moved to Iowa where she began her political career after being elected to the Board of Supervisors.
Where the hot spots are for immigration enforcement
Efforts to arrest and remove unauthorized immigrants appear most aggressive in five southern states with Democratic-leaning cities, while deeply red, rural states are seeing less activity, according to an Axios analysis. Our review of removal orders, pending deportation cases and agreements between immigration officials and local law enforcement agencies sheds light on where the Trump administration is dispatching resources to support its mass deportation plan. The analysis shows local law enforcement agencies in Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have been most cooperative with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in rounding up immigrants through deals known as 287 (g) agreements.
Yancey: Earle-Sears might benefit more from a big voter turnout than Spanberger. Here’s how.
We begin with one basic fact: Only about half of Virginia’s registered voters will bother to cast a ballot in this year’s election for governor. On the night of Nov. 4, we’ll know how that half of the electorate felt about who the next governor should be, Democrat Abigail Spanberger or Republican Winsome Earle-Sears. What, though, about the other half that won’t vote? Put another way, who would a larger turnout benefit — Democrats or Republicans?
Early childhood education programs deserve robust support
President Donald Trump’s ill-suited choice to lead the Department of Education, World Wrestling Entertainment founder Linda McMahon, got it exactly right in recent testimony before the House Appropriations Committee: “The earlier we can start education, the better it is for every child.” Yet the Trump administration and many state governments — including Virginia — follow spending plans and policies that continue to fall short of providing universal access to early childhood education.
Earle-Sears’ silence on Medicaid cuts ‘speaks volumes,’ Charlottesville Dems say
The Trump-endorsed One Big Beautiful Bill approved by House lawmakers late last month would slash $600 billion from Medicaid and threatens to strip health insurance from hundreds of thousands of Virginia’s poorest residents — and Winsome Earle-Sears isn’t talking. The Republican lieutenant governor running for governor has kept mum about the GOP budget bill which has moved to the Senate for consideration. Her Democratic opponent, Abigail Spanberger, has denounced the bill as a threat to rural hospitals, small businesses and working families. But Earle-Sears’ campaign has declined multiple interview requests on the subject from multiple news outlets, and the campaign did not immediately respond to a Daily Progress inquiry.