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VPAP Visual Record Vetoes in 2024
With the final vetoes complete as of last Friday, Governor Glenn Youngkin has set a new record for bills vetoed in a single year, axing a total of 201 bills. This year alone, Youngkin has killed more legislation than any recent governor of Virginia has in their full four-year term.
Deaths, ill treatment at Riverside spark call for regional jail reform
Denise Gunn asked Chesterfield County prosecutors to go to court to revoke her son Kevin Wyatt’s probation last year, thinking he’d be safer in jail than on the street. He died in Riverside Regional Jail eight months later of an overdose of cocaine and fentanyl, she said. He was due to be released from the Prince George County facility in three weeks. When jail officials called Gunn, some 10 hours after her son’s death, they asked her if her son brought drugs into jail, she said. But he’d been there for months, she replied. How could he have?
‘We have to do something with Riverside’: Legislators, advocates want immediate improvements
Kevin Wyatt died earlier this year inside a cell at Riverside Regional Jail. The cause of death was an overdose of cocaine and fentanyl that his mother said came from within the walls of the Prince George County facility. “My son told me, ‘Mom, why do you have me locked up? There’s drugs in jail,’” Denise Gunn said. “’I get more drugs in jail and better drugs in jail than I can get on the street and at a cheaper price.’”
Dominion gets approval for battery pilots; Appalachian Power seeks bids for renewable projects
State regulators approved Dominion Energy’s long-term energy storage proposals last week, as Appalachian Power Company is seeking bids for a swath of renewable electricity sources, marking the advancement of renewable energy projects at Virginia’s two largest electric utilities. The approval for Dominion is seen as a critical next step in supplying electricity to the grid in the coming years, when renewable sources like solar and wind won’t be producing electricity, through storage technology that is more capable than the traditional technology more widely used today.
Sen. Mark Warner meets with students and educators to discuss FAFSA issues
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) hosted a discussion at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday with students, school districts and universities about the issues they have been having with the revamped Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA. Many of those who attended said the rollout of the new FAFSA has been very troublesome for students, families and schools for months. … Superintendent of Loudon County Public Schools Aaron Spence said some of the district’s students still do not know where they will be attending college in the fall, weeks after the typical May 1 deadline.
Kiggans blasts Veterans Affairs after missed deadline for Hampton VA Medical Center investigation
The Department of Veterans Affairs is under fire for missing the deadline to provide information on the Hampton VA Medical Center to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs following allegations of employee retaliation and substandard care. The House committee launched an investigation after lawmakers said they met with medical professionals and whistleblowers who work at the medical center in March to discuss the delivery of care after recent scrutiny. Led by U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, the House committee on April 9 requested documents related to disciplinary actions against employees, patient safety reports related to the medical center’s surgical department ...
Backed by rival GOP factions, veterans in Virginia’s 7th District primary look similar on paper
Save for the facial hair, it would have been hard to tell Derrick Anderson and Cameron Hamilton apart. Sitting side by side at a candidate forum here earlier this month, the front-runners in one of Virginia’s most competitive GOP primaries both highlighted their time serving in elite military units and then in the federal government. Both pledged to go hard on China and campus protesters while pitching themselves as Republicans’ best chance to flip this battleground seat.
U.S. Supreme Court denies appeal of Mountain Valley Pipeline case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to weigh in on the much-litigated question of whether the Mountain Valley Pipeline can take private land for its bitterly fought project. Without comment, the high court denied a request from six property owners that it hear their challenge of the company’s use of eminent domain to forcefully acquire easements through their land for the natural gas pipeline.
DOD contract fuels $41.2M expansion of Orange County rocket factory
Defense contractor L3Harris Technologies has entered into an agreement with Orange County to fund a $41.2 million expansion and modernization of the company’s Aerojet Rocketdyne facility there. The effort is intended to increase solid rocket motor production while growing the company’s presence in the commonwealth, according to a joint statement from Orange County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and L3Harris.
Youngkin’s plan to vacate James Monroe Building on hold
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s plan to move state employees out of the aging James Monroe Building and into various existing offices across the city has been put on hold. The state will consider erecting a new office building — which Youngkin’s administration has said is not needed, as downtown office space remains available and employees work hybrid schedules. But state lawmakers disagreed, and ultimately won, saying the state government should invest in the city of Richmond and study the situation more.