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By JILL PALERMO,
Prince William Times
In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created a Civilian Conservation Corps, and about 2,000 of its members worked from 1935 to 1942 to build what is now Prince William Forest Park.
On Monday, President Joe Biden made an Earth Day stop at that park, one of Prince William County’s two national parks, to announce what he called “two major steps forward” in his proposals for fighting climate change — including that the new “American Climate Corps” is now open for applications for the first time.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
The Bedford County School Board filed a lawsuit seeking $600,000 in damages from the father of a special needs student, claiming the man’s abrasive communications with school staff about his son’s treatment over the last three years amounts to illegal intimidation and harassment.
In court filings, Bedford resident David Rife insists he’s the one being intimidated, noting that the county school board sued him shortly after he filed a complaint with the Virginia Department of Education saying local school officials weren’t following the individualized education program, or IEP, designed to accommodate his son’s learning disability and improve his reading skills. When he filed the complaint, Rife told state officials he feared he would face retaliation locally, according to court documents.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By MICHAEL J. PETRILLI,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
If Virginia’s school system were a person, we’d say it was born on third base and thought it hit a triple. Indeed, the commonwealth’s education officials have spent so many years patting themselves on the back that their arms must hurt.
It’s true that some national magazines have ranked Virginia’s schools highly in the past. But that’s not surprising, given that it’s also one of the wealthiest states in the nation.
Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Some Virginia state employees will pay more for health insurance beginning July 1, following the state’s latest review and projection of claims.
Overall, the state Department of Human Resource Management proposed a 6.3% increase in total premiums for the next fiscal year.
But full-time employee contributions — the sums taken out of paychecks — will rise by less than that. For some plans, there will be no increase at all.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By CHARLIE PAULLIN,
Virginia Mercury
President Joe Biden stopped by Prince William Forest Park in Triangle on Monday, as the country celebrated Earth Day, to tout two initiatives to combat climate change: expanding solar access and creating jobs to fuel America’s environmental efforts.
Called the Solar for All program, Biden told the crowd that families could save about $400 a year on their electric bills by tapping into the federal initiative that will provide grant funding to expand the development of solar projects nationwide.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By LUCA POWELL,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
A Richmond man associated with the white supremacist group Patriot Front is accused of striking a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building. Nathaniel Noyce of Richmond is charged with assaulting law enforcement officers, civil disorder, and violence and disorderly conduct at the Capitol.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By ERIC KOLENICH,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
For two years, the city of Richmond pitched a new minor-league baseball stadium as a project that would have no impact on the city’s taxpayers.
This month, however, city leaders made a significant pivot. Deciding the old plan had become too expensive, they announced a new financing structure. The city will issue general obligation bonds and, if the worst-case scenario unfolds, the city would have to delay programs or raise taxes to pay off the debt.
VaNews April 23, 2024
Virginian-Pilot
Editorial
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
By signing a bill last month that abolished child marriage, Gov. Glenn Youngkin made Virginia one of only a dozen states to prohibit the practice and the first Southern state to do so.
That’s a landmark for the commonwealth, one that should have earned unanimous support in the legislature. Those who voted against, including three Republicans from Hampton Roads, should account for their opposition.
VaNews April 23, 2024
ArlNow
Arlington’s Congressman split his votes on security funding bills for U.S. allies over the weekend.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) voted for bills to aid the defense of Ukraine, which is under Russian invasion, and Taiwan, which is under the threat of Chinese military action. He voted against defense aid for Israel, which is battling Hamas in a bloody conflict that has killed scores of civilians on both sides.
VaNews April 23, 2024
By TRENT ENGLAND,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia voters can have confidence in November that the election process will be simple and their votes will count. That’s because of the defeat of two radical election proposals pushed by well-financed lobbying groups. Each would have made voting less transparent and more confusing. Voters were spared the latest mess only by gubernatorial veto on April 8. That bill, Senate Bill 428, would have required the commonwealth to assist local implementation of an election system known as ranked choice voting, or RCV.
England is founder and executive director of Save Our States and co-chairman of the Stop Ranked-Choice Voting Coalition.
VaNews April 23, 2024
