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Coakley: Election officials aren’t just vote counters. We’re part of the community
Election officials and our work can be a heated subject, particularly in a world of viral media where conflict and extreme views often get the most reach. It would be easy for any voter to imagine “election officials” as a far-off group of people in their state capital or in Washington, D.C., who don’t know them or understand their community. In reality that couldn’t be further from the truth — election officials are part of every single community in the nation, and we conduct elections according to the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
Locke: Youngkin administration actions undermine academic freedom
Back in the fall of 2021, while teaching a unit on the presidency in an American government class, I encountered a question from a student about why I would even address Donald Trump. My response was straightforward: “Because he was a president.” This simple exchange illustrates the essence of academic freedom — a principle that is currently under threat in Virginia. The question didn’t arise from mere curiosity; it stemmed from a broader political critique, suggesting a “thinly veiled attempt to incorporate the progressive left’s groupthink on our students.”
Election workers fear threats and political interference. Listen to them.
Six months before Americans cast their ballots for president, members of Congress and a host of local offices, election workers are deeply concerned about their safety and worried that unscrupulous officials will interfere with the vote. Those are among the findings of a recent survey conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice, which makes for grim reading. Virginia recently took an important step to protect poll workers, but they also need responsible leaders to build trust in the system rather than maligning it for political gain.
Chesapeake Bay cleanup far from 2025 goals, despite some progress
Virginia and the other states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are continuing to cut pollutants flowing into the bay but are still well short of targets for nitrogen and phosphorus that they have promised to hit by next year. Nitrogen and phosphorus feed the summertime algae blooms that starve the bay and its creatures of oxygen, which fish and shellfish alike need to stay alive.
Here’s how Hampton Roads colleges are responding to student-protest trend
As pro-Palestine protests have spread across U.S. campuses in the past few weeks, the response of college administrations has come under scrutiny. Protests began escalating when students at Columbia University in New York formed an encampment April 17, leading to the university president calling in police to clear the camp. ... In Hampton Roads, protests were held near Christopher Newport University and Old Dominion University campuses last week. Both remained peaceful with no arrests.
Tunnel-boring machine resumes digging at Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
Now that the anchor’s away, expansion work at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is back at full bore. Burrowing of a new tunnel to help carry more vehicles between Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore has resumed about 10 months after a gigantic boring machine struck an old ship anchor buried beneath a shipping channel. Tunneling was suspended so workers could investigate the obstruction, excavate the 10-foot-long anchor — which was in several pieces — and replace machine parts damaged by hitting the anchor.
Williams: Congressional bill is about curbing college speech, not antisemitism
Antisemitism was on the march on a college campus in August 2017 when torch-carrying Nazis and other white supremacists chanted “Jews will not replace us” during a rally at the University of Virginia. Antisemitism was on the hunt on Oct. 27, 2018, when a gunman open fired during the Shabbat morning services at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue ... But it was not until Wednesday that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act, as if suddenly cognizant of the lethal power of anti-Jewish hate.
Bids for SPSA landfill alternative arrive
Bids proposing alternatives to the Southeastern Public Service Authority’s near-capacity Suffolk landfill are in but staying secret for now. SPSA, which operates the regional landfill on behalf of Isle of Wight County and seven other Hampton Roads localities, solicited proposals due May 1 from companies looking to fill the void come June 30 when the WIN Waste, formerly Wheelabrator, waste-to-energy plant that had been diverting more than 70% of the region’s municipal waste from the landfill shutters.
Excavation of graves begins at University of Richmond
After gaining state approval, the University of Richmond has begun excavating graves on campus that might belong to enslaved workers who lived on a plantation there 180 years ago. The state’s Department of Historic Resources on Monday approved UR’s application to excavate, and work began immediately, said Joanna Wilson Green, an archaeologist who oversees cemetery preservation for the department.
VCU protesters arraigned as dozens appear in court to support them
Twelve people were arraigned in a packed courtroom at the John Marshall Courts Building on Friday morning on charges related to Monday’s violent clash between pro-Palestine protesters and police outside the James Branch Cabell Library on VCU’s Monroe Park campus. [They] have all been charged with participating in an unlawful assembly and trespassing on VCU property after a group of protesters established an encampment on the lawn outside the library and refused to disperse when ordered by officers dressed in riot gear and carrying guns and pepper spray.