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By MICHAEL MARTZ AND DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
When the General Assembly comes back to town Wednesday, the big question is about compromise – whether one is possible on Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s proposal to reject the legislature’s $1 billion sales tax on digital services or whether his record 153 vetoes means finding accord on a state budget is out of reach.
Legislators are unlikely to overturn any vetoes – most were on legislation that passed on essentially partisan lines in a nearly evenly divided House of Delegates and state Senate. It takes a two-thirds vote to override a veto.
VaNews April 15, 2024
By DWAYNE YANCEY,
Cardinal News
When Gov. Glenn Youngkin sent the bill legalizing so-called electronic skill games back to the General Assembly with amendments, one of those amendments directed that 5% of the tax revenue from the games go toward improving Interstate 81 — a wonderful talking point on the western side of the state, where complaining about I-81 is more common than complaining about the weather.
However, other amendments that the governor added would effectively ban the games from almost everywhere in Virginia, rendering that dedicated I-81 revenue stream almost meaningless.
VaNews April 15, 2024
By CHARLIE PAULLIN,
Virginia Mercury
One of the 200-plus amendments Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed for the state budget would delay a ban on single use plastics beyond a timeframe set as part of a compromise the legislature made a few years ago.
Amendment 148 “shifts the effective date of the prohibition on use of polystyrene containers from 2025 to 2028” for retail food establishments with 20 or more locations around the state, and from “2026 to 2030 for smaller restaurants.”
VaNews April 15, 2024
By NATHANIEL CLINE,
Virginia Mercury
While Gov. Glenn Youngkin did not veto a measure to repeal two license plates connected to the controversial history of the Confederacy, he is staving off Democrats’ effort to do so by requiring lawmakers to vote again on the measure next year. The governor also amended the bill, which received bipartisan support from the General Assembly last month and would repeal the special Sons of Confederate Veterans and Gen. Robert E. Lee license plates, by directing the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles to study when special license plates should expire.
VaNews April 15, 2024
By ELIZABETH BEYER,
News Leader
(Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
Robert Landrum thought he was supporting Republicans in Virginia’s statehouse elections that year, when he donated $500 to a federal super PAC in April 2023. The super PAC, Unleash America, had one stated goal: To get Republicans elected during Virginia’s 2023 statehouse contests to support Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s agenda. “That’s how he represented the PAC. That’s what he said,” Landrum said in a phone interview with USA Today. He was referring to the PAC’s then “honorary chairman,” Hung Cao, a failed 2022 Congressional candidate from northern Virginia.
VaNews April 15, 2024
By EVAN VISCONTI,
Virginia Mercury
Throughout Virginia, scientists are documenting significant warming of water temperatures, from inland freshwater streams and rivers to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, which experts say has “huge cascading effects on ecosystems.”
“Even though it might not seem like a big deal, sustained higher temperatures can really damage the intricate balance of species that call those water bodies home,” said Jeremy Hoffman, director of Climate Justice and Impact at Groundwork USA and affiliate faculty in the Department of Geography, Environment and Sustainability at the University of Richmond.
VaNews April 15, 2024
By PATRICK HITE,
News Leader
(Metered Paywall - 3 to 4 articles a month)
A Waynesboro man was charged for his role in the breach of the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Darl McDorman, 53, was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers, for his participation in an attack on the Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, per a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia.
VaNews April 15, 2024
By JESS KIRBY,
Loudoun Times
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
For months, the western Loudoun subsidized fiber-optic broadband project has lagged behind its targeted “milestones,” but All Points Broadband has insisted the project would still finish on time. Now, officials say it won’t be complete until October 2025 — a delay of more than a year. Last week, the state approved a 15-month extension of the project, which aims to bring high-speed internet to more than 8,600 homes and businesses in rural Loudoun County using 620 miles of fiber-optic cable.
VaNews April 15, 2024
The Virginia Public Access Project
VPAP has posted first-quarter disclosures from candidates running in November for local office as well as PACs and party committees. Our overview page is a convenient place to jump to what interests you — city council, school board, or constitutional offices. We rank each group of committees by most raised and cash on hand. If you are interested in a specific committee, you can drill down for a sortable list of donors and expenditures reported during the first three months of the year.
VaNews April 16, 2024
By MICHAEL E. RUANE,
Washington Post
(Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Edna Lee Ward walked into a newspaper office in Portsmouth, Va., early in 1942 carrying a picture of her son, who was in the Navy. He had been declared missing in action after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
His name was David Walker. He was 19. He had dropped out of his African American high school to serve as a mess attendant in the segregated Navy. He had been on the battleship USS California when it was hit and sunk, and she had just learned that he was probably dead. She asked if the newspaper might print his picture. It did.
VaNews April 16, 2024
