Javascript is required to run this page
VaNews

Search


Virginia NAACP sues Youngkin over alleged FOIA violation, concerns about equity in state government

By RYAN NADEAU, WRIC-TV

The Virginia NAACP has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) for allegedly failing to produce records in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in 2023. According to a press release from the organization, the lawsuit alleges that Youngkin’s administration failed to produce records regarding its Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The records sought reportedly relate to the administration’s “active subversion” of its responsibilities under the 2020 law relating to that office.

VaNews April 16, 2024


Courage needed in gun debate, 17 years after Virginia Tech shooting

Virginian-Pilot Editorial (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

Solemn ceremonies scheduled for Tuesday will mark the 17th anniversary of the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech that claimed the lives of 32 students and faculty members. As time passes and memory fades, it’s important to remember those lives, young and old, cruelly stolen from the commonwealth by a troubled young man with access to firearms and a determination to use them. Gun violence remains a crisis in Virginia and the nation, one that demands every tool available and the courage to use them. We should not accept that the thousands of gun deaths each year are required for the preservation of liberty, recognizing that inaction allows the bloodshed to continue.

VaNews April 16, 2024


Bristol Casino shatters single month revenue record at $16.2M

By DAVID MCGEE, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 15 articles a month)

The Bristol Casino, future home of Hard Rock, reported more than $16.2 million in adjusted gaming revenues in March, its most successful month to date. The Virginia Lottery, which oversees casino gaming in the state, on Monday reported a combined $65 million in gaming revenues from the state’s three casinos, the temporary Bristol Casino, temporary Caesar’s Virginia in Danville and the permanent Rivers Casino in Portsmouth.

VaNews April 16, 2024


16 candidates qualify for congressional primaries

By STAFF REPORT, Loudoun Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Twelve Democrats and four Republicans have qualified for the ballot for the June 18 10th Congressional District primary elections, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. Early voting for the primaries begins May 3. ... The winner of the November general election will take the seat held since 2019 by Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Leesburg), who is stepping down at the end of her term due to a serious health condition.

VaNews April 16, 2024


Virginia budget includes funds to tackle gun violence prevention

By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)

Tragedy in Richmond — with eight people, including four juveniles, killed in shootings since Easter — but success in Hopewell, where efforts to break cycles of retaliation have produced a 72% drop in shootings, show Virginia cannot let up on gun violence prevention efforts, two Tri-Cities legislators say. That’s why the $72.5 million the General Assembly put in the state budget for community violence intervention programs is so important, said state Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, and Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield.

VaNews April 16, 2024


UVa had ‘urgent’ meeting with commonwealth’s attorney before withholding shooting report

By JASON ARMESTO, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)

Days before the University of Virginia announced its controversial decision to withhold an independent review of the deadly 2022 mass shooting on Grounds, UVa’s police chief sent an urgent email to the Albemarle County commonwealth’s attorney. “I apologize for the last minute and fairly urgent request,” Police Chief Tim Longo wrote to Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley. ... “Fairly urgent and at President Ryan’s respectful request,” he wrote, referring to the school’s President Jim Ryan. The messages sent on Nov. 14 of last year were obtained by The Daily Progress via a Freedom of Information Act request.

VaNews April 16, 2024


Hundreds of Virginia convenience stores protest Gov. Youngkin’s skill games amendments

By SARAH HAMMOND, WVEC-TV

If you’re looking for a lottery ticket in Virginia today (Monday), you might be out of luck. That’s because hundreds of convenience stores are protesting a move by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to regulate skill games in the state. Nik Patel said skill games are a big part of their business at Border Station in Chesapeake. “We have big expenses like anybody else. Wages are going up. So those skill game machines would provide extra income to offset those costs,” he said.

VaNews April 16, 2024


Republican senator, local business owners speak out against governor’s skill games changes

By NICK BROADWAY AND MICHELLE WOLF, WAVY-TV

A Virginia senator and local business owners are speaking out against amendments to a skill games bill which would affect businesses in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Richmond and Roanoke. Republican state Sen. Bill DeSteph held a community discussion Monday afternoon at Scandal’s Bar and Lounge in Virginia Beach.

VaNews April 16, 2024


Petersburg casino competitors roll out details

By KATE ANDREWS, Virginia Business

More details have rolled in about the five Petersburg casino contenders, all of whom presented their plans during a town hall Sunday at the Petersburg Public Library. Hosted by state Sen. Lashresce Aird, D-Petersburg, the town hall saw officials representing Bally’s, Cordish Cos., Penn Entertainment, Rush Street Gaming and The Warrenton Group reveal more details about their casino proposals, even though the city doesn’t yet have the state legislature’s go-ahead to include a casino referendum on this fall’s ballot.

VaNews April 16, 2024


Debate Continues Over Best Approach to Farmland Preservation in Loudoun

By NORMAN K. STYER, Loudoun Now

The four-year effort to increase opportunities for agricultural operations even as western Loudoun properties are carved up into new subdivisions is nearing a final Board of Supervisors vote, but debate continues over whether the new policies would hamper broader countryside conservation efforts. Following a public hearing that stretched to nearly 3 a.m. April 11, county supervisors have scheduled a June vote on the proposed zoning regulations for rural cluster subdivisions aimed at limiting development on the best spaces for farming, defined as having prime agricultural soils.

VaNews April 16, 2024