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Virginia District 7 Republican candidate for Congress pledges to join House Freedom Caucus
One of the top Republican candidates for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District has pledged his fealty to the House Freedom Caucus if elected to office in November. Cameron Hamilton made his pledge to join the U.S. House Republicans' far-right wing during a podcast interview and on X, formerly Twitter, in March.
Kaine wants to help immigrant health care workers in U.S.
In Uzbekistan, Dora was a well-respected oncologist with more than 25 years of experience taking care of cancer patients. In the United States, she was told that her medical license would not be accepted, that her English was too poor to work with patients. She was encouraged to get a job in a cafeteria or as a housekeeper. “That was a big humiliation for me because nobody had ever said those bad words to me. After that, I was depressed, I cried a lot,” Dora told The Daily Progress. Dora, who asked to use a different name to conceal her identity, found employment at a large-scale, chain grocery store in Charlottesville. Yet, as a former physician once in charge of an entire medical department, the job is “horrible for me.”
Report shows Va. teachers make less than national average
Educators have long called for higher salaries, and while efforts to achieve that were successful in some parts of the country in the last year, it isn’t enough to keep up with inflation, according to a new report. The National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the U.S., released its newest data on teacher salaries on Tuesday. On average, teachers in the U.S. are making $69,544.
Virginia offshore wind project hits whale trouble
A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to clarify its plans for protecting endangered whales during construction of one of the nation’s largest offshore wind farms. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has until Friday to file a report on whether NOAA Fisheries approved mitigation plans to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The order from Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia comes as Dominion Energy prepares to lay the foundation for wind turbines off Virginia’s coast.
Students, faculty arrested at Virginia Tech now face possibility of university discipline
Emon Green was one of 82 people arrested and charged with trespassing on Sunday night at a pro-Palestinian encampment as it was being broken up by Virginia Tech campus police. But dealing with the aftermath with the university could be worse than facing his misdemeanor charge. “I’m more concerned about what the school is going to do, than what the law is going to do,” Green said Wednesday while visiting the protest that had once again formed outside the student center, across the sidewalk from the Graduate Life Center where the encampment had convened for three days.
Hashmi cites record of wins in bid for lieutenant governor
Virginia state Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi will announce Thursday that she is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in her party’s June 2025 primary. A former literature professor and community college administrator, Hashmi (Chesterfield) became the first Muslim in the Virginia Senate and the first Muslim woman in either chamber after flipping a redrawn suburban Richmond district in 2019.
Virginia should raise its cap on film and TV tax incentives
The artists who make film and television often find themselves attracted to pursue their vision in Virginia, particularly when the subject matter springs from events that took place here. But too often the commonwealth misses out on these opportunities because other states offer more robust incentives to attract productions. Even a modest increase in those benefits would help boost Virginia’s competitiveness, and the return on investment, though not guaranteed in the fickle world of entertainment, can be substantial, making it an attractive area of opportunity that state officials should pursue.
Mayor defends accusations in Petersburg casino-choice resolution: ‘We told the truth’
Mayor Sam Parham vowed Wednesday that the city was moving forward with getting its casino referendum on the November ballot despite political “sideshows” from one of Petersburg's state legislators and a casino union who he says have tried to derail that progress. Parham’s comments came during an impromptu news conference after City Council amended and re-enacted, Wednesday night, a resolution picking The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise to build a multi-use casino-centric resort on 92 acres off Wagner Road. That resolution was originally adopted last week, but Wednesday's meeting was called to correct a clerical error.
Virginia Beach denies collective bargaining of city employees
The City Council denied collective bargaining of city employees in a 5-5 vote with one abstention Tuesday, and instead decided to establish employee relations committees for full-time city workers. Police officers, firefighters, emergency medical services and public works personnel wanted to negotiate better wages and enhanced employment conditions. But Mayor Bobby Dyer said the timing wasn’t right yet “given the budget constraints we have now.”
Virginia lawmakers want postmaster general to deliver on promises
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy may have bought time with an apology to a bipartisan Virginia congressional delegation that is irate over delays in mail deliveries — including essential medications — to people in the Richmond area. But U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Virginia Democrats, and Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, and Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-4th, say they will not relax scrutiny of the Postal Service and its regional mail distribution center in Richmond.