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From VPAP New Episode: The Virginia Press Room Podcast
In the latest episode of the podcast from VaNews and VPM, Michael Pope is joined by Kate Seltzer of The Virginian-Pilot, Andrew Kerley of The Commonwealth Times, and Dean Mirshahi of VPM News. They discuss the week's top headlines: Youngkin says Homeland Security Task Force has removed 2,500 violent criminals, Senate Democrats clash with Youngkin over university board appointments, and Richmond City Council vote delayed again for civilian police review board. Tune in for insights and analysis on Virginia politics. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
How Hampton Roads sheriffs are working with ICE
As federal authorities ramp up immigration enforcement tactics across the country, data from local sheriffs’ offices shed light on how frequently Hampton Roads law enforcement have turned over inmates to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration detainers are a key tool used by ICE to take custody of people arrested by local law enforcement. Detainers are requests to local law enforcement to hold a person in custody for up to 48 hours past their scheduled release to give federal authorities time to pick them up them for possible deportation proceedings. Most sheriff’s offices in the Hampton Roads region have policies in place that not only outline how to question an inmate’s immigration status, but also allow for 48-hour detainer holds.
Senate Democrats consider blocking more Youngkin university board appointments as he exerts influence
Gov. Glenn Youngkin made his latest round of university board appointments on June 20, giving him complete control over the bodies that govern Virginia’s institutes of higher education. Democrats are making moves to block Youngkin — who ran on education issues and has focused on removing race and gender-related concepts from K-12 — as they fear he may try to further his legacy of reforming higher education during the last year of his term. The new appointments come as Senate Democrats wage a legal battle over the confirmation status of eight previous appointees they rejected in a Senate panel on June 9. Democratic lawmakers are considering blocking more appointees as they say Youngkin is wielding them like proxies and exerting more influence on universities than previous governors.
Va. governors make board appointments; legislators confirm them. How’s the process work?
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Democrats have brokered many deals during his soon-ending four-year term, but have also frequently been at odds on policy issues, reflected most recently in the legislature’s rejection of several of the governor’s appointments to Virginia’s governing boards and commissions. Virginia law gives governors the power to appoint and remove people to these groups. Like his predecessors, Youngkin has appointed hundreds of people to serve on roughly 300 public commissions and boards. Over the past year, Senate Democrats have rejected 30 of Youngkin’s appointments to boards and commissions . . .
Drinking OK, swimming not: Advisories issued after raw sewage spill at Hopewell water plant
The Virginia Department of Health says water in Hopewell appears safe to drink but not to swim or play in after a power failure at the city wastewater plant July 11 forced a spillage of 1.38 million gallons of sewage into the James River and a few of the city’s waterways. On July 12, VDH and the Crater Health District issued a recreational swimming advisory for Gravely Run Creek and the James River from City Point to Berkeley Plantation.
No-fish story: Milde afraid that lack of menhaden is dooming osprey
Del. Paul Milde is concerned that a lack of a small, oily fish could be causing the collapse of the osprey population in the Chesapeake Bay, and he says the Democratic majority in the House of Delegates isn’t helping matters. Milde (R-Stafford) continues to push legislative efforts to have a study of menhaden fishing done as new research suggests that declining numbers of the species, which osprey eat, could be leading to a drop in the population of the birds. The lawmaker issued a statement late last month saying inaction on scrutiny of the menhaden is a result of partisan politics.
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears visits Newport News
For the first time since Virginia's June primaries, Republican gubernatorial candidate and current lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears answered questions from local media in Hampton Roads following a campaign stop at Newport News Shipbuilding. The visit comes weeks after the first appearance of the entire GOP statewide ticket, in which Sears, lieutenant governor candidate John Reid and Attorney General Jason Miyares appeared together for the first time.
Virginia Democrat on possible shutdown: ‘It’s time to stand up for the American people’
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) said he supports Democrats’ threats to shut down the government if Republicans proceed with a planned rescissions package, saying his party should use all the leverage they can to prevent cuts to previously approved funding. “I say it’s time to stand up for the American people,” Subramanyam said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” when asked what he thinks about a potential shutdown. . . . Republicans are ramping up efforts to pass a rescissions package that President Trump requested last month, which includes more than $9 billion in funding cuts for foreign aid and public broadcasting programs.
UVa faculty deliver overwhelming vote of no confidence in board
After more than an hour of debate at an emergency meeting Friday, the University of Virginia Faculty Senate held a vote of no confidence in the school's governing Board of Visitors for “not protecting the University and its president from outside interference, and for not consulting with the Faculty Senate in a time of crisis." That crisis, referred to in the resolution the vote approved, refers to President Jim Ryan's resignation under pressure from the Trump administration Department of Justice.
University Of Virginia Faculty Vote No Confidence In Governing Board
The University of Virginia Faculty Senate has voted that it has no confidence in the school’s Board of Visitors. The resolution of no-confidence in the Board passed 46 to 6, with eight senators abstaining. The vote occurred on Friday, July 11, the same day that UVA President Jim Ryan officially stepped down from his post and released a video of farewell and gratitude to the campus community.