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By DWAYNE YANCEY,
Cardinal News
Today we begin with a civics lesson.
This is required if you’re going to understand the action that will blow up in the General Assembly on Wednesday — and perhaps beyond.
The essential point here is that Richmond does not work the way Washington does. Most of the time, that’s a good thing. This may be a good thing, too, depending on your point of view.
Let’s go back to what we learned in school about how a bill becomes law. In Washington, Congress can pass a bill, and then the president has either two choices: to sign it into law, or to veto it, and then Congress has a chance to override that veto with a two-thirds votes in both chambers. Richmond works somewhat differently, because a Virginia governor has a third option — he (or maybe someday she) can send the measure back to the legislature with amendments. That’s what’s happened in the case of the budget, the skill game bill and lots of others.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By STACY PARKER,
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Windsor Woods resident Bob Jennings woke up in the middle of the night as Hurricane Matthew pummeled Virginia Beach in 2016. He saw water rising toward his house.
Jennings had lived there for 30 years, and it had never flooded. He started to put towels by the front door, but then water started coming through the walls.
“There was water all behind me,” Jennings said. “It got worse and worse.”
VaNews April 16, 2024
By KARRI PEIFER,
Axios
Richmond police are ramping up patrols in “hotspots” and activating an 11 p.m. curfew for teens in response to a spate of gun violence that killed four teenagers in the past two weeks.
Eight Richmond Public School students have been shot, and four of them killed since Easter. Elementary school students were among the youngest victims; a 14-year-old middle school student was the youngest killed.
In an emotional press conference Monday, Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards, Mayor Stoney and RPS superintendent Jason Kamras pleaded with the community to help them curb the sudden increase in violence.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By KATE ANDREWS,
Virginia Business
More details have rolled in about the five Petersburg casino contenders, all of whom presented their plans during a town hall Sunday at the Petersburg Public Library. Hosted by state Sen. Lashresce Aird, D-Petersburg, the town hall saw officials representing Bally’s, Cordish Cos., Penn Entertainment, Rush Street Gaming and The Warrenton Group reveal more details about their casino proposals, even though the city doesn’t yet have the state legislature’s go-ahead to include a casino referendum on this fall’s ballot.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By NICK BROADWAY AND MICHELLE WOLF,
WAVY-TV
A Virginia senator and local business owners are speaking out against amendments to a skill games bill which would affect businesses in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Richmond and Roanoke.
Republican state Sen. Bill DeSteph held a community discussion Monday afternoon at Scandal’s Bar and Lounge in Virginia Beach.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By SARAH HAMMOND,
WVEC-TV
If you’re looking for a lottery ticket in Virginia today (Monday), you might be out of luck. That’s because hundreds of convenience stores are protesting a move by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to regulate skill games in the state.
Nik Patel said skill games are a big part of their business at Border Station in Chesapeake. “We have big expenses like anybody else. Wages are going up. So those skill game machines would provide extra income to offset those costs,” he said.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Tragedy in Richmond — with eight people, including four juveniles, killed in shootings since Easter — but success in Hopewell, where efforts to break cycles of retaliation have produced a 72% drop in shootings, show Virginia cannot let up on gun violence prevention efforts, two Tri-Cities legislators say.
That’s why the $72.5 million the General Assembly put in the state budget for community violence intervention programs is so important, said state Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, and Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By STAFF REPORT,
Loudoun Times
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Twelve Democrats and four Republicans have qualified for the ballot for the June 18 10th Congressional District primary elections, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. Early voting for the primaries begins May 3. ... The winner of the November general election will take the seat held since 2019 by Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Leesburg), who is stepping down at the end of her term due to a serious health condition.
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 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
