Search
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
After a closed meeting that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Petersburg City Council abruptly voted Wednesday to pick Baltimore-based Cordish Companies as the developer that will have a chance to build a casino in the economically struggling city.
There was nothing on the council’s meeting agenda indicating such a monumental decision could be happening on Wednesday afternoon, and council members quickly left the mostly empty auditorium without explaining the move to the handful of reporters in attendance. Several members said “no comment” when approached.
VaNews April 25, 2024
By NATHANIEL CLINE,
Virginia Mercury
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday new rules that will put refunds quickly back into air travelers’ pockets for canceled or delayed flights.
The agency estimated that the new regulations will save consumers over a half billion dollars every year in airline fees.
Under the new rules, which will go into effect beginning in late October, airlines must issue full refunds including imposed taxes and fees within seven business days for credit card purchases, and within three weeks for other payment methods.
Virginia has nine major airports commonly used by consumers including Dulles International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Richmond International Airport.
VaNews April 25, 2024
By MARKUS SCHMIDT,
Cardinal News
A member of the Pulaski Town Council was charged with three class 1 misdemeanors and one class 3 misdemeanor last week relating to alleged ethics and conflict of interest law violations in his role as a public official between January 2021 and April 2024.
The charges against Michael Reis, an attorney from Pulaski who was first elected to the council in 2020, stem from his role in facilitating the appropriation of public funds to benefit the renovation of the Calfee Community & Cultural Center, a local institution that came to be known as the Calfee Training School when it first was a school for Black children in 1894, and Wide Angle Strategies LLC, a consulting firm with a vested interest in the center.
VaNews April 25, 2024
By CHARLIE PAULLIN,
Virginia Mercury
Another attempt to impose tighter regulations on the menhaden fishery in Virginia was defeated Tuesday and interested parties again called for the state to study the menhaden population.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted 5-3 to deny a petition from the Chesapeake Legal Alliance that sought to limit the catch of Omega Protein, the lone menhaden reduction fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.
Recreational fishing groups and other supporters of a cap have argued that overfishing menhaden, a tiny, yet nutrient rich fish, is causing the decline of the Bay’s striped bass population.
VaNews April 25, 2024
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia Democrats are falling in line and falling in love. With Levar Stoney’s strategic retreat — rather than risk a pasting for the 2025 gubernatorial nomination, he’s risking a pasting for the 2025 lieutenant governor’s nomination — Democrats are forgoing a contest for their top spot to rally behind Abigail Spanberger, whose politics and posturing seem to give almost everyone in a party still whining over Glenn Youngkin’s squeaker victory in 2021 something to cheer about.
VaNews April 25, 2024
By HAWES SPENCER,
Daily Progress
(Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
For the first time, a jury will get to consider one of the felony intimidation charges against a participant in the torch-bearing mob that marched across University of Virginia Grounds in 2017. The early June trial of Jacob Joseph Dix, who marched with at least 200 others the night before the violent Unite the Right rally-turned-riot in Charlottesville, will be a public test of the prosecutorial discretion of Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley, who has lodged the charges against Dix and his fellow marchers. However, Hingeley has been sidelined and replaced by Henrico County’s commonwealth’s attorney, Shannon L. Taylor.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By LISA ROWAN,
Cardinal News
The Bedford County School Board is suing a local parent for $600,000 for what it calls harassment of school division employees.
The suit follows a complaint the parent made to the state Department of Education in January, in which he claimed that the school had failed to provide services for his son’s learning disability. David Rife, the parent, also has a long history of trying to advocate for his son in the school division, as outlined in documents filed by both parties in the suit.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By STACY PARKER,
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Virginia State Sen. Aaron Rouse, a Virginia Beach Democrat, announced Tuesday he will run for lieutenant governor in 2025. Two other Democrats are also in the running for the seat, which is currently held by Republican Winsome Earle-Sears. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney also announced Tuesday that he’s dropping his campaign for governor to run for the lieutenant governor role instead. Babur Lateef, a Northern Virginia eye surgeon and chair of the Prince William County School Board, is a third candidate in the race.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By ANDREW CAIN,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
In dropping out of the contest for governor, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney entered another contest that is anything but a sure thing, according to Virginia political analysts. State Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, a former NFL football player and Virginia Beach City Council member, announced Tuesday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 2025.
VaNews April 24, 2024
By LAURA VOZZELLA,
Washington Post
(Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney announced Tuesday that he is dropping out of next year’s race for Virginia governor and running for lieutenant governor instead.
Stoney, who has faced a tough contest against U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (Va.) for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, had been calling donors, supporters and others in recent days to say he would bow out of that race. He made it official with an early-morning news release Tuesday.
VaNews April 24, 2024
