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By JULIAN E. BARNES,
New York Times
(Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)
The threat against U.S. elections by Russia and other foreign powers is far greater today than it was in 2020, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Tuesday.
Senator Mark Warner, the Virginia Democrat who leads the committee, said the danger had grown for multiple reasons: Adversarial countries have become more adept at spreading disinformation, Americans are more vulnerable to propaganda, communication between the government and social media companies has become more difficult and artificial intelligence is giving foreign powers new abilities.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By HANNAH ALLAM AND RAZZAN NAKHLAWI,
Washington Post
(Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
A court appearance Monday solved one part of the mystery surrounding a Virginia man whose alleged talk of explosives landed him in a federal investigation: Russell Vane IV is alive.
Vane, 42, who uses the nickname “Duke,” had gone silent early this month after an anti-government militia he belonged to publicly disavowed him over concerns about his repeated references to bombmaking. An obituary for Vane popped up online in early April, saying that he’d died in mid-March, but the notice disappeared after a couple days. A man who answered Vane’s phone last week told The Washington Post that “Duke killed himself.”
But Vane appeared, very much alive, in federal custody Monday ...
VaNews April 17, 2024
By SHANTEL DAVIS,
WWBT-TV
There was another packed house in the Powhatan school board meeting room Tuesday night as nearly 200 hundred people urged the board for two things.
“Two months after a racist death threat was made, we have seen almost no movement forward,” said Chiara Hoyt, secretary of the Powhatan chapter of NAACP. … On the table, the school board approved the 2023 Transgender Model Policy with a 4-1 vote. This means teachers are now required to only call students by their name and pronoun associated with their official school record.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By NATHANIEL CLINE,
Virginia Mercury
In a state budget amendments, Gov. Glenn Youngkin pledged to support Metro with an additional $133.7 million amid a projected shortfall for the transit agency. The pledge came with a caveat: It would strip funding from a transit investment fund used by Northern Virginia jurisdictions.
Leaders from the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the regional body of jurisdictions responsible for funding Metro, urged lawmakers to reject the amendment.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By DWAYNE YANCEY,
Cardinal News
The primary challenge to Rep. Bob Good appears to be serious.
I realize that state Sen. John McGuire’s campaign to wrest the Republican nomination from the 5th District congressman — who also just happens to be chair of the House Freedom Caucus — has seemed serious for some time now. McGuire has pulled in some big-name national endorsements — namely former New York Mayor Rudy Guliani, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the latter of whom will campaign for him this week in Farmville, Lynchburg and Goochland — although it’s always been unclear whether those names move any voters on the ground.
McGuire has also racked up some noteworthy local endorsements ...
VaNews April 17, 2024
By MICHAEL MARTZ,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has plenty of money and time as the field of Republican challengers narrows two months before the GOP Senate primary on June 18.
Kaine, seeking his third Senate term, has raised more than $13 million for his re-election campaign, including $2.5 million in the quarter that ended on March 31, and had nearly $8.8 million in the bank, according to reports filed this week at the Federal Election Commission.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By JESSICA BLAKE,
Inside Higher Ed
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill last week that would have allowed the governing board of each public college or university to hire its own legal counsel, underscoring his stance on who should be in charge of the state’s higher education institutions.
The legislation, introduced by a Democrat in January, appeared designed to counter an opinion submitted by state attorney general Jason Miyares last year that said that higher education boards have “a primary duty” to prioritize serving the state over their individual institutions.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By EMMA COLEMAN,
Roanoke Times
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Roanoke’s Gun Violence Prevention Commission welcomed three new members and a new chairperson at its meeting Tuesday, day 54 since the last shooting with injuries was reported in the city. Since Jan. 1, Roanoke has recorded two homicides. At least one of those, which killed 27-year-old Uhura Willis Feb. 17, was gun-related. As of Tuesday, seven other people have been shot but not killed in aggravated assault incidents. In the same time frame in 2023, 20 people were shot but not killed.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By NATALIE ANDERSON,
Virginian-Pilot
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When she was 16, Sara Tasneem said she had been forced to marry her rapist while she was six months pregnant. “My abuser was 13 years older than me and he was able to marry me and continue abusing me for the following seven years under the protection of a marriage certificate,” Tasneem said. Tasneem said she faced legal barriers when trying to leave the marriage. ... She was one of several abuse victims who shared personal testimonies with Virginia lawmakers last month before the General Assembly ultimately voted to end the practice in the commonwealth. Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the bill, filed by Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra (D-Fairfax County), into law this month.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By JOEY LOMONACO,
Fredericksburg Free Press
The General Assembly is likely headed for a special session before adopting its budget ahead of a statutory July 1 deadline, an outcome that could leave school districts — including Fredericksburg’s — in limbo as they look to finalize their own funding.
“Because of the conversation happening around Richmond… there is not agreement on the budget and the governor’s amendments on the budget,” Del. Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg) told the Free Press in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.
Cole’s comments come on the eve of a pivotal veto session where legislators will also address more than 200 of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments to the budget.
VaNews April 17, 2024
