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Under Glenn Youngkin, Parole in Virginia Has Nearly Vanished
In early April, Sarah Moore got the news she was dreading: Her husband, Dennis Jackson Moore, had been denied parole again. It was his fourth rejection in as many years. Dennis, who goes by Vega, is 45. He has spent more than half his life in prison in Virginia for a murder and armed robbery he committed as a teenager. At the time, his defense argued that he did not fully understand the charges against him and had been misled by a detective when he gave a recorded confession. Vega was tried in adult court.
Fox News floats VSU as host for vice presidential debate
Is a debate still in the cards for Virginia State University? Fox News hopes so. In a letter Friday to both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, Fox News has offered to moderate a debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and the yet-to-be determined running mate of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. Trump immediately accepted the invitation, even calling out VSU by name, but President Joe Biden’s camp does not appear to be as intrigued.
How the Shenandoah County School Board Decided to Restore Confederate School Names
Proud and satisfied, or sad and embarrassed. However citizens of the commonwealth view Shenandoah County School Board’s recent decision, Virginia appears to be the first in the nation to restore Confederate school names, after years of vigorous community engagement, a controversial renaming process, and a change in board priorities related to race, diversity and inclusion.
Yancey: Rural Virginia sees same population growth rate as Nashville. That growth just isn’t evenly distributed.
Nashville has grown so fast it’s no longer just Nashville. It’s now sometimes jokingly called Nashvegas. Far from being just a country music city, Nashville is now a corporate center, a health care center, home to teams in the National Football League, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. It’s considered on the short list of cities to get a Major League Baseball team once the next round of expansion comes. Nashville is one of the hot cities in the country right now, economically speaking. The latest Census Bureau figures show that since 2000, the Nashville metro area has seen 50,532 more people move in than move out. That’s the equivalent of Nashville adding a county about the size of Virginia’s Henry County. It also works out to a net-migration growth rate of 3% since the last census headcount in 2000.
State budget includes money to study tapping into natural gas pipeline in Tazewell and Russell counties
Studies that will explore the economic development benefits of extending natural gas from a major pipeline in Southwest Virginia to Tazewell and Russell counties were funded in the state budget approved last week. Each county will receive $100,000 from the general fund for fiscal year 2025 for its own study. Originally, the budget amendment filed by state Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, asked for a total of $250,000 just for Tazewell County, where officials have been working for more than a decade to tap into a pipeline that runs through the county. Tazewell County is the third largest producer of natural gas in the state, but businesses and residents there have little access to it.
Prince William supervisors mull eliminating data center overlay district
A proposal to eliminate Prince William County’s data center overlay district, a 10,000-acre zone south of Manassas where numerous data centers have been built in recent years because they are largely allowed by right, is being debated by the Board of Supervisors. Gainesville Supervisor Bob Weir, whose district includes much of the county’s data centers, introduced a zoning text amendment to undo the district due to the intensity of development in recent years.
Oakes family, VCU to host state’s first ever anti-hazing summit
The family of Adam Oakes will host a statewide hazing prevention summit at Virginia Commonwealth University next month, a first-of-its-kind event that brings together educators and anti-hazing foundations aimed at stopping the dangerous behavior. The event will be June 4 at the VCU Student Commons. About 30 groups have signed up so far, including 19 colleges, one K-12 school district, fraternity representatives and foundations, said Courtney White, Oakes' cousin.
Youngkin Vetoes Measures to Remove Tax Breaks for Confederate Heritage Group
Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia vetoed on Friday two bills that would have revoked tax exemptions for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a century-old organization that has often been at the center of debates over the state’s Confederate past and its racial history. In doing so, Mr. Youngkin sided with fellow Republicans in the legislature who almost unanimously opposed the bills and the efforts by the state’s Democrats to curtail the Commonwealth’s relationship with Confederate heritage organizations.
‘How do you get hypothermia in a prison?’ Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates
The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: “unbearable” conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia. “How do you get hypothermia in a prison?” the investigator asked. “You shouldn’t.” The exchange, captured on video obtained by The Associated Press, took place during an investigation into the death of Charles Givens, a developmentally disabled inmate at the Marion Correctional Treatment Center, who records show was among those repeatedly hospitalized for hypothermia.
Youngkin vetoes bills on birth control, Confederate tax loopholes
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed bills meant to ensure access to contraceptives and close tax loopholes for Confederate heritage groups Friday night, continuing a record-breaking veto spree that also nixed measures to ban guns from psychiatric hospitals and remind parents to store weapons out of their children’s reach. Acting on bills that the General Assembly sent back to his desk in April without his proposed amendments, Youngkin signed seven and vetoed 48, taking his veto total for the year to 201 — more than the 120 that the previous record-holder, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, issued over four years as governor.