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Many Hampton Roads families are struggling to get students back in class.
One day, Judith Burkett of Portsmouth received a call from her grandson’s school: Did she know where Jakob was? He hadn’t attended in months. Months before, the boy — his mother, her partner and three younger brothers — had been living with Burkett. But Burkett’s daughter and her partner had a drug problem and the family suddenly left in fall 2022, a couple of months into Jakob’s third grade year. Burkett started asking friends and family to help look. She found out where they were living and alerted the school. The school attendance liaison became “a godsend.” “She was like a pit bull until she got him back in school.”
Rep. Good brings ‘Freedom Fighters’ tour to Amherst, addresses Ukraine funding bill
At a campaign event in Amherst County on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-5th District, described his intra-Republican Party battle with a state legislator challenging his allegiance to former President Donald Trump as “the highest-profile primary race in the country.” Good, chair of the House Freedom Caucus who was among the group in Congress who engineered the historic ouster of former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last fall, is trying to secure a third term in the June 18 primary against newly elected state Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland.
Yancey: Here’s what readers recommended visitors see on the way to Southwest Virginia
Y’all sure know how to make someone feel welcome. Not me. I’m already here. I’m talking about the Arlington reader who contacted me recently, said he’d never been west of Roanoke and hoped soon to rectify that. He was writing in response to my column in defense of Southwest Virginia which, in turn, was a response to a story in Axios Richmond that made dismissive reference to “whatever the hell is west of Roanoke.” I told our prospective visitor that I’d give him some recommendations on what to see and do and then promptly turned to the best source for that — you.
Warner meets with first responders to discuss mental health issues
It was about a year and a half ago, right before Christmas, when a Fredericksburg police officer had a life-changing moment. He was responding to a call for service at an apartment complex, and he was first on the scene. An 8-year-old boy had been walking back from a playground with a family member when he saw that his parents had just gotten back home. The boy ran over to see his mother and father, but he was struck by a car coming through the parking lot.
As Colleges Weigh Crackdowns on Protests, Questions About Outsiders Linger
Amid a dizzying array of standoffs involving pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments at colleges, schools that cracked down on protesters over the weekend have given varying justifications for their actions, while others sent mixed signals with their inaction. Behind it all was a central question confronting university leaders across the country: When does a demonstration cross the line? Colleges have cited property damage, outside provocateurs, antisemitic expressions or just failures to heed warnings as reasons to clear encampments and arrest students. Student groups have strongly denied or questioned many of those claims.
Henrico considering ‘transformational’ fix to housing affordability crisis
Henrico County leaders are considering a plan to make roughly 100 to 150 new homes more affordable each year. There’s a national home affordability crisis that’s showing its effects locally with average homebuyers being priced out of the market. Staple jobs — police officers, teachers, dental assistants and paralegals — often make less than half the yearly salary needed to afford the median home price in the county.
Spanberger endorses Leslie Mehta in 1st District congressional race
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, now with a clear path to the Democratic nomination for governor next year, jumped into the party’s primary in the 1st Congressional District on Friday by endorsing political newcomer Leslie Mehta for the nomination. Mehta, 47, a former civil rights attorney in Chesterfield County, is running against former New Kent County Treasurer Herb Jones for the Democratic nomination to challenge Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, who defeated Jones two years ago.
Virginia Tech orders pro-Gaza protesters to disperse; dozens reported arrested
Virginia Tech ordered the students protesting the Israeli military action in Gaza to disperse Sunday night or risk arrest. Freelance journalist Justin Fleenor said he saw “more than two dozen” people arrested, including one professor. Virginia Tech did not have a number available for how many people were arrested. One video that Fleenor posted showed a woman in a Tech graduation robe being arrested; another showed police carrying a protestor from the site. Others were seen walking with police. Fleenor also posted a video showing a large group of students chanting “let them go!” Videos from others at the scene showed a crowd jeering police as they led handcuffed protestors to waiting vans.
UVa students, faculty named in blacklist, accused of antisemitism without evidence
An anonymous University of Virginia parent has accused two professors and one student of antisemitism for organizing an Israel-Palestine film series. Organizers, however, say the series was specifically designed to show balanced perspectives. It alternated between screening movies from Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers. The accusation is one of many listed in a document compiled by multiple UVa parents, which outlines a wide range of reported antisemitic incidents they say have occurred on UVa Grounds since Israel’s war against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas began in October of last year.
Casey: Why are congressmen from Western Virginia mostly soft on Ukraine?
There’s a popular saying about the war in Ukraine that goes something like this: “If the Russians stop fighting, the war ends. If the Ukrainians stop fighting, Ukraine ends.” More than anything else, that simple aphorism highlights the nature of the most damaging conflict in Europe since World War II: Unprovoked military aggression by the authoritarian Russian Federation against a European democracy.