Search
Coyner: Free college courses? In Virginia, it's the law
Two years ago, I carried a bill that passed with strong bipartisan support to open more doors for Virginia’s high school students. The law makes every course in the Virginia Passport and Uniform Certificate of General Studies programs free for high school students when taken through our community college system — whether in person at their local high school or online. Why? Because every student deserves a real pathway to college or a career that doesn’t come with crushing debt. Because families should have access to meaningful courses that count toward a degree without wondering if they can afford them.
Researchers look for reasons behind Osprey nest failures
It was early Tuesday morning when Keriann Spiewak lifted an 8-foot pole above one of Virginia Beach’s osprey nests on the Lynnhaven River. At the end of the pole, a mirror — about the size of a laptop screen — reflected a gathering of twigs, small branches and other nesting material. It did not reflect ospreys. “They’re gone,” she said over her shoulder. “We had three eggs in here that weren’t going to hatch, but now they’re gone, so we’re just checking if they were still there.”
Cousins and Oliver: Congress seems content to let Virginians go hungry
Food insecurity remains a harsh reality for too many Virginians. Now, we are facing federal funding cuts that threaten the progress we have made to ensure that no Virginian goes hungry. In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unceremoniously canceled a $21 million grant that makes it possible for Virginia farmers to supply schools and food banks with fresh produce. No reason for the cut was given, little time was provided to prepare, and Virginians who counted on this program were not offered any alternatives.
Yancey: The politics over UVa send us to a place we’ve never been before
Some years ago, a former state college president, by then safe in retirement, told me how easy it was to bamboozle members of the college’s governing board. While members of the gubernatorially appointed board of visitors may have accomplished backgrounds as strong business leaders in their respective fields, they rarely applied those skills to their work on the college board, he said. They hardly ever asked detailed — and certainly not critical — questions of whatever proposals the administration put before them. . . . Those days may now be long gone.
State Democrats celebrate new maternal health care laws
Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling (D–Henrico) — and more than a dozen of her Democratic colleagues — took the stage Monday outside a Portsmouth preschool, with a tent shielding a crowd of about 100 people from the midday sun. “Tomorrow, July 1, moms, babies and families across the commonwealth will begin to feel the benefit of maternal health policies that fundamentally transform how Virginia supports mothers, babies, and families,” said LeVere Bolling. The crowd fanned their faces with handouts on the package legislation, which Democrats called “the momnibus.” . . . The bills are Democrats' answer to disparities in maternal mortality, a long waitlist for subsidized child care, and access to health care.
Jefferson warned about monarchs. UVA president’s ouster shows why.
Thomas Jefferson spent his many years in public life stridently opposed to monarchs. The Declaration of Independence he helped author stands as a scathing indictment of offenses endured by the colonies at the hands of King George III and a stirring call for liberty, which he viewed as the antidote to monarchical power. One wonders, then, what the Sage of Monticello would think about a president leveraging the immense resources of the federal government to oust the leader of a university Jefferson founded.
James City, York counties latest localities to mull data centers
As more and more data centers continue to pop up across Virginia, localities such as James City and York counties are looking to implement policies amid concerns over size, utility usage and noise. Lessons are being learned from jurisdictions in Northern Virginia, where data centers have been built without regulations in place, giving them free rein over how they operate. ... In Hampton Roads, municipalities are starting to incorporate policies about data centers with regards to where they can be located, as well as how much power and water they can use.
Saslaw is back and he has a new PAC
At the end of his 44-year tenure in the Virginia Senate, increasingly surrounded by a new generation of more liberal Democrats, Dick Saslaw remained a bulwark for the state’s business community. Now, two years after his retirement, Saslaw, 85, is putting himself back in the role of nudging Democrats toward the middle — with the help of an unexpected $450,000 windfall that he has rolled into a new political leadership committee.
After UVA president’s exit, Dems say they want to prevent further politicization of higher education
University of Virginia president Jim Ryan’s abrupt resignation in the midst of federal pressure on the school to end its DEI initiatives set off a firestorm of controversy, with Virginia Democratic lawmakers now pledging that they will find ways to prevent further politicization of higher education. The lawmakers said they’re reconsidering legislation to support governing boards and reevaluating the gubernatorial appointments process.
Ranked-choice voting in Charlottesville 'didn't make a powerful difference'
After months of buildup, Charlottesville’s first experiment with ranked-choice voting was anticlimatic. Proponents of the voting model — which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference instead of simply voting for one candidate for one open seat — say ranked-choice voting diversifies the candidate pool, reduces the effects of spoilers on the race, produces more focused campaigning and increases turnout at the polls.