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New Virginia law will guarantee restroom access for some

By CAMERON THOMPSON, WTVR-TV

Virginia will join more than 20 other states and Washington, D.C. on July 1 when a law goes into effect that will give some people legal access to restrooms in cases of emergency. When many people leave the house, all they have to consider is if they have their wallet, keys and cellphone. But when Carol Driskill heads out, something else is top of mind. “I have to know that there’s a bathroom close by,” Driskill explained.

VaNews June 14, 2024


Glenn Youngkin Hears the Clock Ticking

By AUDREY FAHLBERG, National Review

Interested in hearing about Glenn Youngkin’s political ambitions beyond Virginia? Good luck getting him to talk. “My future is going to be defined,” he told me here recently, “by continuing to stay focused on being the best governor I could possibly be.” After last fall’s state legislative elections ended in a whimper for Virginia Republicans, Youngkin has faded somewhat from a national media conversation that now revolves almost exclusively around the presidential race. Virginia bars governors from serving consecutive terms. Youngkin’s ends in January 2026, and he hears the clock ticking. “We just have a tremendous sense of urgency on everything that we’re working on,” Youngkin says … For now, Youngkin says, he’s keeping the focus on his day job, helping Donald Trump and other Republicans win in 2024 and continuing to sell conservatism with a smile, all while staying true to his brand.

VaNews June 14, 2024


Godfrey: Decarbonizing Virginia’s economy is feasible and affordable

By LYNN GODFREY, published in Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Reducing the Earth’s atmospheric temperature caused by fossil fuel production is crucial to combat the climate crisis. The U.N. World Meteorological Organization issued a red alert in March, citing alarming increases in greenhouse gasses, land and water temperatures, and the rapid melting of glaciers and sea ice. It emphatically warned that the world’s efforts to reverse the trend have been insufficient. … Currently in Virginia, there are seven active fossil fuel infrastructure projects in development ...

Godfrey is the Just Transition Program manager for the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter.

VaNews June 14, 2024


5th District GOP primary draws big names, big money

By MARKUS SCHMIDT, Cardinal News

When the motorcoach wrapped in former President Donald Trump’s likeness and “Take America Back” campaign slogan turned the corner into the parking lot of the Louisa County Office of Elections last Wednesday afternoon, a crowd of about four dozen supporters of Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland County, erupted in cheers. For a brief moment, one could have imagined that Trump himself had come to pay a surprise visit to the county of 40,000 in the eastern part of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, which political observers consider to be ground zero in one of the most viciously fought GOP primary battles nationwide this year — pitting a Trump-endorsed candidate against the chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who orchestrated last year’s ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

VaNews June 14, 2024


No shortage of opinions on Youngkin’s EV decision

By BILLY SHIELDS, VPM

In the week following Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to scrap electric vehicle regulations designed by a California environmental board, there were no shortage of opinions on the topic. “It’s literally dangerous, we are going backward by doing that,” said Arif Sikder, an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. “If other states decided to do the same thing, it’s going to cause more danger for public health [and] global warming.” Youngkin unveiled the decision on June 6 at a Chester car dealership, just one day after the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board met. With it, he is reversing guidelines that the General Assembly adopted in 2021.

VaNews June 14, 2024


Trump, Youngkin meet for first time as GOP eyes winning Virginia in November

By EMMA COLTON, PAUL STEINHAUSER AND MATTHEW REIDY, Fox News

Former President Donald Trump and Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin met this week. They discussed efforts to flip Virginia red in the 2024 presidential election, Fox News Digital has learned. Two sources with knowledge of the meeting told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Trump and Youngkin had discussed recent polling showing Trump neck-and-neck with President Biden in the Old Dominion State, after Biden won the state by 10 points in 2020. The meeting included discussions on how Trump can pull ahead of Biden as the election cycle further intensifies.

VaNews June 14, 2024


Decision to ditch the Virginia School Boards Association sparks public protest

By SANDY HAUSMAN, WVTF-FM

On May 20th, the Orange County Board of Education met, and without notifying the public or allowing the community to comment, voted to leave the Virginia School Boards Association. Member Darlene Dawson said she had attended a VSBA event and was not happy. “They lobby for many things that I, on principle, stand against,” she explains. “If you try to disagree with them they will shut you down. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve listened to recordings where they mock our governor and anyone who holds a conservative viewpoint, which I’ve been very clear that I do.”

VaNews June 14, 2024


Dollar Tree, A Virginia Corporate Success, Faces New Pressures Over Its History Of Violations

By CAROLYN SHAPIRO, Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism

A state inspector showed up at a Dollar Tree store in Manassas in July 2022 and found shipping boxes stacked more than 8 feet high, perilously dangling over workers’ heads in the back room. Mountains of other boxes, thrown into jumbled piles, blocked the rear exits, leaving no pathway out in case of a fire. The inspector for the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Program reported roaches crawling on the floor and dead in traps in multiple spots in the store, according to his write-up from that July 28 visit. Behind a cash register, rodents had chewed Hershey’s chocolate bars and left trails of droppings.

VaNews June 14, 2024


DuVal: Leaving California EV mandate is best for Virginia’s business climate

By BARRY DUVAL, published in Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Last week, following Attorney General Jason Miyares’ opinion, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that Virginia would no longer be subject to California’s onerous electric vehicle mandates when its current regulation expires at the end of 2024. If the second iteration of these costly and burdensome mandates passed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) were to have taken effect in Virginia, all new vehicle purchases by 2035 would have been required to be EVs and 35% of model year 2026 vehicle purchases would as well.

DuVal is president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

VaNews June 14, 2024


Friday Read Potomac River catfish are no match for Ernie the Hog Snatcher

By MAURA JUDKIS, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

In a secret spot on the banks of the Potomac River, just past Georgetown, a fishing rod has begun to twitch. Then it arcs with the weight of what has become Ernest Robinson’s catchphrase: “Big takedown!” “Oh. Oh my God,” says Robinson, an urban fisherman, as the catch puts up a fight. “This joker is not ready to come.” Everything about Robinson, 34, is big. There’s his social media following: Around half a million people watch him fish on both Instagram and TikTok. … Then there are his big takedowns: big blue catfish, which he pursues year-round in these waters because “catfish is the biggest fish that we’ve got in the Potomac,” he says.

VaNews June 14, 2024