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Va. Beach rejects collective bargaining for city employees
Virginia Beach’s City Council voted 5-5 on a measure to allow employees to negotiate their wages and working conditions, ultimately defeating the proposal. Five council members — Sabrina Wooten, David Hutcheson, Jennifer Rouse, Worth Remick and Joash Schulman — voted in favor of the request from the city’s firefighter’s union. Councilmember Amelia Ross-Hammond abstained from the vote. Council measures need a majority vote to pass. Mayor Bobby Dyer and others suggested an ‘enhanced meet-and-confer,’ which would create a formal committee for the city manager to hear employee concerns instead of granting collective bargaining rights.
Former EDA director contests $5 million fine sought by U.S.
Former Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Jennifer McDonald says the government can’t make her forfeit $5.2 million as punishment for her crimes related to her former employer. A federal grand jury indicted McDonald in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in late August 2021 on 34 counts including money laundering, wire and bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. A federal jury found McDonald guilty of all 34 counts against her at the end of a weeks-long trial on Nov. 1.
Williams: Police crackdown of VCU protest is sad déjà vu
“Four years later and we’re still writing the same headlines about protesters,” read Monday night’s text message from a friend. “History always has a way of repeating itself.” Virginia Commonwealth University responded to a pro-Palestinian encampment by summoning shield-bearing riot police who sprayed students with a chemical irritant. The college showed remarkably little forbearance for what had been a peaceful protest before a busload of police, in an act of provocation and intimidation, rolled up to the Cabell Library to forcefully evict students from the “Liberation Zone for Gaza.”
Yancey: Universities, like some local governments, get pulled into issues beyond their reach
The students and others at Virginia Tech who were protesting Israeli actions in Gaza had multiple demands. Some were beyond the power of anyone in Blacksburg: “Ceasefire now!” Others were more specific to the university, such as wanting a meeting with Tech President Tim Sands. I’m struck, though, by one sign that I saw on what appeared to be a bedsheet. “Our demands,” it announced in red. Below there were three of them.
Disagree with student protesters, but don’t silence their voices
As student protests grow on college and university campuses in Virginia, as they have across the nation, presidents of these commonwealth schools have lost sight of their mission. Quelling peaceful protests with excessive force — calling in law enforcement to arrest, manhandle and use tear gas against their own students — unnecessarily inflamed situations that needed a more measured, thoughtful response. This is an opportunity for education — for lectures, discussion, study and everything else the academic heft of a school can bring to bear on a subject — and these young people should be heard, not silenced.
Petersburg’s financial adviser informally recommended Cordish
Did City Council choose to ignore the advice of its longstanding financial adviser in picking The Cordish Companies as its preferred casino vendor? According to language in a report Davenport & Co. sent the city on the same day council chose Cordish, the adviser informally said Cordish appeared to be the most financially viable of the five bidders. However, Davenport recommended a list of questions the city ask of all the vendors before it would make “a firm and final recommendation.”
Petersburg mayor says gaming union is threatening to sue ‘with no regard’ for citizens
Mayor Sam Parham drew a line in the sand with a hospitality union over its threat to sue the city, calling its claims “baseless” and adding that if the suit is filed, the city would see the union in court with the tables turned. In an exclusive statement to The Progress-Index Tuesday afternoon, the mayor said Petersburg “did everything by the book” in agreeing April 24 to accept The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise’s $1.4 billion to build a casino-anchored mixed-use community on 92 acres of land off Wagner Road. The 7-0 vote that followed a 90-minute closed session last week sparked intense criticism over the legitimacy of the vote, especially from the sponsor of the legislation that is bringing a November casino referendum to Petersburg.
State funding for Norfolk’s flood wall could fall short
Norfolk’s plan to build a flood wall downtown to block damage from catastrophic storms could fall short by $48.8 million in state funds in the next fiscal year, according to changes to the proposed city budget. The city’s fiscal 2025 budget plan includes $25 million allocated to the Coastal Storm Risk Management project, less than anticipated because of a likely reduction in state funding. City officials said that will not affect the immediate next phase of the project, but it could change how the city allocates money to the flood mitigation project later on.
Officials identify 13 people arrested on VCU campus at pro-Palestine protest
VCU officials on Tuesday identified the 13 people who were arrested Monday night on the lawn outside the James Branch Cabell Library after hundreds of protesters pitched a makeshift encampment in the park to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian protesters at UMW take break after arrests
A group of local college students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians and against the Israeli government have temporarily suspended activities following a weekend in which nine of them were arrested, a group organizer said. Amirah Ahmed, a student at the University of Mary Washington and the president of the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine, said Monday that her group has suspended protest-related activities for the rest of the semester, which is nearly over.