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Virginian-Pilot
Editorial
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Solemn ceremonies scheduled for Tuesday will mark the 17th anniversary of the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech that claimed the lives of 32 students and faculty members. As time passes and memory fades, it’s important to remember those lives, young and old, cruelly stolen from the commonwealth by a troubled young man with access to firearms and a determination to use them.
Gun violence remains a crisis in Virginia and the nation, one that demands every tool available and the courage to use them. We should not accept that the thousands of gun deaths each year are required for the preservation of liberty, recognizing that inaction allows the bloodshed to continue.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By SAMANTHA WILLIS,
published in
Daily Progress
(Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently took action on a flurry of Virginia legislators’ measures related to reproductive health, mostly blocking bills designed to preserve the public’s access to abortions and birth control as these same issues roil national debates and as other states pass laws that restrict women’s bodily autonomy and roll back decades of abortion protections.
First, a surprising signoff: Youngkin, a Republican, signed a bill from Democratic Del. Vivian Watts of Fairfax that prevents electronic menstrual data — often collected in period-tracking digital apps — from being subject to search warrants, subpoenas or court orders.
Willis, a writer and journalist whose experience in digital, print and broadcast media spans 12 years, is editor-in-chief of the Virginia Mercury.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By BEN PETERS,
Inside NOVA
Election season is getting underway in Prince William County and across the region, with two crowded and competitive races to replace outgoing members of Congress in both the 7th and 10th districts.
In the 7th District, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, is stepping down to run for Virginia governor in 2025. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, also a Democrat, is stepping down in the 10th District due to health issues. Those are considered the two most competitive congressional races in Virginia in 2024, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By RYAN NADEAU,
WRIC-TV
The Virginia NAACP has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) for allegedly failing to produce records in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in 2023.
According to a press release from the organization, the lawsuit alleges that Youngkin’s administration failed to produce records regarding its Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
The records sought reportedly relate to the administration’s “active subversion” of its responsibilities under the 2020 law relating to that office.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
At Krunal Patel’s convenience store outside Richmond, a row of Queen of Virginia skill games has been powered off and turned around against a wall. On Monday, in response to what he sees as unfair treatment in a state that’s embraced legalized gambling, Patel also turned off the Virginia Lottery machines in his store.
He posted signs on his front doors and above the checkout counter explaining the one-day shutdown of lottery sales was a protest against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed changes to a pending Virginia bill that would legalize, tax and regulate skill games instead of leaving them banned as a type of illegal gambling.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By DANIEL EGITTO,
ArlNow
In the wake of a recent veto of a Virginia recreational marijuana bill, proponents are still holding out hope for future change — but not for at least a couple years.
At an Arlington Committee of 100 meeting last week, State Sens. Adam Ebbin and Aaron Rouse said the chances of the Virginia General Assembly overriding Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision earlier this month are slim to none.
Legislation to legalize retail sale of cannabis passed the state House and Senate on thin margins before getting the ax from the governor, who cited public health concerns.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The ship Dominion Energy needs to install 176 giant wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean, 27 miles off the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, has been launched, as the utility has won its 11th and final federal permit for the $9 billion project. The ship, called Charybdis, is a U.S. flag vessel. That means Dominion can stage all of the components for the more than 800-foot-tall turbines in Virginia port facilities ... The 472-foot Charybdis’ home port will be Hampton Roads, and it will have an American crew.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia’s chapter of the NAACP plans to take Gov. Glenn Youngkin to court over an alleged failure to respond to public records requests. The chapter’s president, the Rev. Cozy Bailey, said at a news conference outside the state Capitol on Monday that Youngkin was being served legal action that day. The pending legal back-and-forth stems from an initial August public records request by the NAACP to determine if the administration has been complying with state law regarding DEI work.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By JASON ARMESTO,
Daily Progress
(Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
Days before the University of Virginia announced its controversial decision to withhold an independent review of the deadly 2022 mass shooting on Grounds, UVa’s police chief sent an urgent email to the Albemarle County commonwealth’s attorney. “I apologize for the last minute and fairly urgent request,” Police Chief Tim Longo wrote to Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley. ... “Fairly urgent and at President Ryan’s respectful request,” he wrote, referring to the school’s President Jim Ryan. The messages sent on Nov. 14 of last year were obtained by The Daily Progress via a Freedom of Information Act request.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By PATRICK LARSEN,
VPM
The General Assembly will take another look at legislation that would allow the state’s two biggest electric utility companies to request ratepayer funds to cover costs of early development for small modular nuclear reactors.
SMRs are well-described by their name. They’re smaller than a traditional reactor — those are often rated at about 1,000 MW. An SMR would produce about one-third of that. They’re modular — meaning they can be built off-site and used in an array of one or more reactors.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office made some changes to the bills that supporters say would protect electric ratepayers against major bill impacts — opponents of the measures maintain the bills have ratepayers fronting the risk of an unproven technology.
VaNews April 16, 2024
