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By ANGELIA WILLIAMS GRAVES AND PHIL HERNANDEZ,
published in
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Right now on the governor’s desk sits landmark legislation that is essential for the safety of doctors, nurses, and other hospital workers. House Bill 861, which we passed through the General Assembly earlier this year, is known as the “Protecting Frontline Healthcare Workers Act.” We call on the governor to sign it into law. This bipartisan bill would finally make it illegal to knowingly bring a firearm, large-blade knife, explosive or other dangerous weapon into a hospital or emergency department. Believe it or not, there is no current state law that directly prohibits this conduct.
Del. Hernandez represents Norfolk’s 94th House District and sponsored HB861. Sen. Graves represents Norfolk’s 21st Senate District and sponsored SB515.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By TAD DICKENS,
Cardinal News
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that disputed a Virginia law governing internet service providers’ ability to string fiber across railroad lines.
The lawsuit, which the Association of American Railroads filed last year on behalf of Norfolk Southern and CSX, was a response to a new state law that reduced the approval process time and costs to ISPs, particularly the state’s electric cooperatives, that were trying to reach rural customers across railway tracks.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By PRESTON STEGER,
WVEC-TV
Virginia is once again gearing up for primary elections, as voters across the Commonwealth will pick who they want to represent them in the U.S. Congress later this year.
One of Virginia’s two seats in the Senate, and all 11 House of Representatives seats are on the ballot on Nov. 5, 2024. Primary elections for those seats will be held on June 18. Several races already have party nominees in place, since those candidates didn’t have anyone else running against them. The deadline to become a candidate in the Democratic or Republican primaries was April 4.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By JOEY LOMONACO,
Fredericksburg Free Press
Two of the five candidates who took the stage at the Fredericksburg Convention Center on Tuesday night are military veterans who spent time in the special forces. Two others immigrated to the United States, while yet another is an ordained minister who claimed his bishop told him 10 years ago that “the Lord was sending me to Washington.” However, seeing as voters and not providence will determine the Republican candidate for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, Derrick Anderson, Cameron Hamilton, Maria Martin, John Prabhudoss, and Terris Todd gathered for a wide-ranging candidate forum that covered issues from immigration to inflation, while also serving as a platform for the candidates to tout their credentials.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By MARKUS SCHMIDT,
Cardinal News
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney on Tuesday ended his gubernatorial bid, saying that he would run for lieutenant governor instead. Stoney’s decision puts Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Henrico County, who was the first candidate to jump into the 2025 race in November of last year, on a clear path to win the Democratic nomination to become the 75th governor of Virginia. … Less than two hours later, Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, who’s not even halfway through his first term in the state Senate, announced his own bid for lieutenant governor.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By HAWES SPENCER,
Daily Progress
(Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
For the first time, a jury will get to consider one of the felony intimidation charges against a participant in the torch-bearing mob that marched across University of Virginia Grounds in 2017. The early June trial of Jacob Joseph Dix, who marched with at least 200 others the night before the violent Unite the Right rally-turned-riot in Charlottesville, will be a public test of the prosecutorial discretion of Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley, who has lodged the charges against Dix and his fellow marchers. However, Hingeley has been sidelined and replaced by Henrico County’s commonwealth’s attorney, Shannon L. Taylor.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Not quite a week after the General Assembly brushed off his amendments to two bills ensuring the right to contraception and two more requiring insurance coverage, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he’s still thinking about what do. They’re among some 50 bills where legislators rejected his amendments or — as in the contraception rights bills — simply let the amendments die without a vote.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By LISA ROWAN,
Cardinal News
The Bedford County School Board is suing a local parent for $600,000 for what it calls harassment of school division employees.
The suit follows a complaint the parent made to the state Department of Education in January, in which he claimed that the school had failed to provide services for his son’s learning disability. David Rife, the parent, also has a long history of trying to advocate for his son in the school division, as outlined in documents filed by both parties in the suit.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By EMMA MARTIN,
News & Advance
(Metered Paywall - 18 articles a month)
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) made a stop in Lynchburg on Monday to talk with voters at La Vida Coffee and Market, between visits to Roanoke and Farmville. A former Virginia governor and mayor of Richmond, Kaine was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and is seeking a third term this November. “...[I]t’s just good to gather, tell people why I’m running again and how excited I am to keep representing Virginia but also take their questions and take their advice,” Kaine told reporters after the event.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Tuesday that he’s no longer seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025 and will instead run for lieutenant governor next year.
Stoney’s downshift appears to put Democratic congresswoman Abigail Spanberger on a clear path to become her party’s next pick for governor, making her the lone Democrat officially running for the seat.
VaNews April 24, 2024
