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25 arrested at UVa. after clashes with police
Authorities arrested 25 pro-Palestinian demonstrators during a sustained confrontation at the University of Virginia on Saturday, university officials said, after dozens of law enforcement officers in riot gear surrounded a student encampment and used pepper spray to disperse people from the area. The clash, which U-Va. President James E. Ryan described in a letter to the school community Saturday evening as “upsetting, frightening and sad,” marked the latest escalation during the past several weeks of protests on campuses over the Israel-Gaza war.
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.”
VCU should embrace peaceful dissent, not send in the riot police
No matter one’s religious or political beliefs, there is no denying the anger and passion fueling the recent nationwide surge in student protests over the Israel-Hamas war. In the city, after a violent clash between police and demonstrators at Virginia Commonwealth University on Monday night, the streets are once again littered with proverbial eggshells. To this point, Richmond is but a snippet. The pro-Palestinian movement has been slowly building in RVA for months, but so far most of the violent imagery flashing across our screens is from elsewhere.
Good and McGuire clash in 5th District GOP primary; loyalty to Trump a factor
Not far from where Rep. Bob Good, R-5th defeated his previous Republican challenger in a 2022 convention at Hampden-Sydney College, he recently spoke to a crowd of about 50 in an event room at Charley’s Waterfront Cafe. “I was ‘too conservative’ and now I’m ‘not conservative enough,’ ” Good said, speaking of how his opponents in both parties have classified him over the years. The two-term congressman now faces a challenge from state Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland, in a June 18 primary in which the degree of loyalty to former President Donald Trump has become a litmus test.
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.
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.
Virginia repackages past incentives for Micron expansion in Manassas
Virginia is repackaging a five-year-old economic development incentive package for Micron Technology Inc. to bring a new line of semiconductor chip manufacturing from Taiwan to its production plant in Manassas. The package, which a General Assembly oversight commission approved last month, includes about $46 million in unspent financial incentives from an agreement with the Idaho-based semiconductor chip company in 2018. It included $70 million in state money for a $3 billion expansion of the plant and creation of 1,106 jobs.
General Assembly budget leaders might back off expanded sales tax
General Assembly budget leaders say they will back off expansion of Virginia’s sales tax if state revenues continue to be high enough to pay for legislative priorities. Those priorities include expanded state funding for public education and health care, as well as toll relief in Hampton Roads and additional money for the Washington Metro public transit system. Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian, D-Prince William, confirmed on Friday that state tax collections appear to be high enough to support spending priorities in the next two-year budget without expanding the sales tax to digital services ...
Schapiro: Budget deal is work in progress
In their fight with short-timer Gov. Glenn Youngkin over Virginia’s new $188 billion budget, Democratic legislators appear to be going long, betting that they can get what they want — higher taxes and more spending — after the Republican drifts into history in 19 months. Ahead of their scheduled — but unannounced — meeting with Youngkin this coming Tuesday, General Assembly budget writers are floating a possible deal under which both sides, over the approaching two-year fiscal cycle, retreat on taxes: Democrats backing off on expanding the sales tax to digital services; Youngkin surrendering on income tax cuts.
Clean-energy funding in limbo in governor–assembly standoff
Virginia could be about to leave on the table $300 million of low-cost federal financing to tackle climate change because Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the General Assembly take different views on a proposal for how to access the money. At issue is a proposal from Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, to set up a Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank. He’s proposing the new entity to tap the Department of Energy’s offer of low-interest-rate loans to finance clean energy projects, investments in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and similar efforts. The governor wanted to amend the measure, to require a second vote by the General Assembly next year.