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Congresswoman Speaks Candidly About Her Incurable Brain Disease: ‘I’m Too Young for This’
Jennifer Wexton was gearing up for her third term as a United States congresswoman in late 2022 when she received the difficult news that, even if she felt she had a lot left to give to the people of Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, her body didn’t. “Cognitively, I’m the person I’ve always been,” Wexton, 55, tells PEOPLE, her voice muffled and speech somersaulting. “But there are things that it takes me a lot longer to do.” Less than two years ago, the rising Democrat from Leesburg, Va., had a clear vision for her future. She entered Congress in 2018 with a few key bipartisan goals — including fighting childhood cancer in honor of a young girl in Wexton’s community who died of an inoperable brain tumor.
The Concern Over Arlington’s Empty Office Buildings
What do empty office buildings and over-leveraged commercial developers have to do with Arlington’s parks, libraries and schools? A lot, actually. There’s a storm brewing in the business landscape that has yet to unleash its full fury. In the worst case, fierce economic winds and rain could lash taxpayers and the county services they hold dear, from recreational programs and transit routes to emergency responders. The problem comes down to funding. Arlington has historically derived more of its tax base from the commercial sector than the average suburban municipality does, notes Terry Clower, director of regional analysis at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Doing so has allowed the county to offer high-level services and an enviable quality of life ...
Students confront UVa President Jim Ryan, demand answers after police crackdown on protesters
The meeting did not go as planned. When University of Virginia President Jim Ryan walked down the Lawn Thursday afternoon, he was expecting to sit down in Pavilion VI with a handful of students who want the school to sever financial ties with weapons manufacturers and other companies “complicit in Israeli human rights violations.” ... When Ryan entered Pavilion VI, accompanied by Chief Student Affairs Officer Kenyon Bonner and Dean of Students Cedric Rucker, he expected the meeting he and UVa Apartheid Divest had agreed to on April 11. What he encountered was five students who had but nine words for him.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators say Israeli drones use Virginia Tech hardware; evidence doesn’t support claim
A specific accusation arose during the student-led demonstrations on the Virginia Tech campus late last month. Protesters accused the university, through its drone program, of complicity in Israel’s war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “Virginia Tech is the drone capital of the world,” one student said in a video posted to X, the site formerly called Twitter. “Every single drone that is in Gaza, targeting civilians right now and killing them, has Virginia Tech engineering ware in it.”
Budget deal reached by Virginia governor and negotiators, chairman says
After an earlier breakdown in state budget negotiations, General Assembly budget negotiators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin reached a consensus on a two-year spending plan for Virginia that does not raise taxes. House Appropriations Committee Chair Luke Torian confirmed the budget conferees reached a deal Thursday, though he said the full details of the plan would not go public until this weekend. “It will not be released until Saturday; there are a lot of administrative things that need to be done,” Torian, D-Dumfries, said Thursday. “We just reached an agreement this afternoon.”
Senate passes air safety bill with more flights at Reagan National Airport
The Senate has passed a $105 billion bill designed to improve safety and customer service for air travelers, a day before the law governing the Federal Aviation Administration expires. The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports, aims to boost the number of air traffic controllers amid a shortage, improve safety standards and make it easier for customers to get refunds after flights are delayed or canceled, among other measures.
Commonwealth’s NIL rule for college sports should be national model
Nearly four years since the NCAA appropriately decided that student-athletes should be free to receive compensation for their names, images and likenesses (NIL), the landscape of college athletics has been profoundly transformed by the absence of clear, firm rules about those opportunities. Virginia recently has moved to bring order to the chaos with a law that should protect students and ensure stronger oversight in a previously untamed environment. Other states looking to do the same — and Congress, which has dithered on the issue — would do well to follow the commonwealth’s lead and adopt similar models.
Yancey: 37 years ago, one of the Republican Senate candidates tried to run in Roanoke. Here’s what happened.
None of the five candidates seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to run against Democrat Tim Kaine have ever held public office. In some quarters, that’s considered a plus. Some of them, though, have tried. One of them has tried more than any other. In 2010, Virginia Beach attorney Chuck Smith ran for the U.S. House of Representatives against Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, in the 3rd District but lost, as Republicans typically do in that strongly Democratic district. In 2012, Smith ran for the Kempsville district seat on the Virginia Beach City Council, but finished fourth out of a field of four candidates. In 2017, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for attorney general but failed to qualify for the ballot. In 2021, Smith did far, far better ...
Portsmouth casino exceeds projections in first year
Fourteen months after opening, the Rivers Casino Portsmouth has generated more than $86 million in state and local tax revenues and about $340 million in total revenues, a new report shows. Virginia’s first permanent casino reported $329 million in adjusted gaming revenues and $11.2 million in food and beverage revenues during the period from its opening in late January 2023 through March 31, 2024, according to a report filed with the Virginia Lottery Board.
The Buc-ee’s stops here? Stafford residents put off by potential gas giant
The mascot for Buc-ee’s may be the beaver, but many Stafford residents aren’t eager for the business to come to the county. Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based chain of large gas station/convenience stores, is seeking a permit to build what would be its third Virginia location near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Courthouse Road in Stafford. The initial public hearing on the proposal likely won’t be held until late fall or early winter at the earliest, but some Stafford residents who live near the proposed site have already begun voicing their opposition to it with county officials.