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Wood: Protect Virginia’s vulnerable coast from offshore drilling
Virginia banned offshore drilling in our state waters nearly four years ago, but we are still at risk from oil and gas extraction today. Oil and gas development is still allowed in most federal waters further off our coast, and its impacts can forever damage coastal communities, economies and businesses. Oil spills don’t respect state or federal boundaries, yet much of the Atlantic Coast is still open for drilling. President Joe Biden has an opportunity now to do something about this once and for all.
Youngkin vetoes bills on birth control, Confederate tax loopholes
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed bills meant to ensure access to contraceptives and close tax loopholes for Confederate heritage groups Friday night, continuing a record-breaking veto spree that also nixed measures to ban guns from psychiatric hospitals and remind parents to store weapons out of their children’s reach. Acting on bills that the General Assembly sent back to his desk in April without his proposed amendments, Youngkin signed seven and vetoed 48, taking his veto total for the year to 201 — more than the 120 that the previous record-holder, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, issued over four years as governor.
Schapiro: When business gave Byrd machine the business
At the Jefferson Hotel — an overstated example of Beaux Arts architecture — there was a comparatively understated side entrance through which politicians and plutocrats could discreetly slip into the Rotunda Club, one of the few places in Richmond they could dine and do what state law would discourage until 1968: order with a meal a highball or three. The Rotunda Club, now no more than a memory, was in December 1958 where Lindsay Almond, a conservative Democratic governor absolute on preserving racial segregation, was warned by 29 business and professional leaders that the state’s economy could be crippled by continued defiance to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education outlawing separate public schools for white and Black children. Friday was the 70th anniversary of the decision.
HCA Healthcare trying for third time to build facility in Hanover
For the third time, HCA Healthcare is trying to build a medical facility at a site on Sliding Hill Road in Hanover County. And for the third time, rival health system Bon Secours is pushing back. After failing to build a hospital and a freestanding emergency room last year, HCA has now applied for a Certificate of Public Need to erect a $21 million outpatient surgery center. The health system said the new facility would better distribute resources throughout the Richmond area and lower patients’ costs.
Youngkin calls out Biden for refusal of VSU presidential debate: ‘Huge snub’
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin called out President Biden for refusing to participate in a debate originally scheduled by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) for Oct. 1 at Virginia State University (VSU), which would have been the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to host a presidential debate.
Biden-Harris campaign responds to Youngkin’s veto of contraceptive rights measure
On Friday, May 17, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin took final action on a last set of bills from 2024’s regular legislative session; Youngkin signed seven of the measures and vetoed 48. The Biden-Harris campaign released a statement Saturday in response to Youngkin’s veto of a bill that would have protected contraceptive rights in the Commonwealth.
Republican candidates for Virginia U.S. Senate seat speak at public forum
In a divisive political atmosphere, and a divided Virginia government, the 2024 election is important in the Commonwealth. The presidential election is not Virginians’ only item on the ballot this year—the U.S. Senate spot held by Democratic incumbent Tim Kaine is up for election this year. Kaine plans to rerun for the spot, launching his campaign in Virginia. The Republican Party is looking to take control of the seat and take down the Democrat’s lead in the Senate.
Richmond suspends registrar’s city credit card after $70K in 2023 charges
City officials on Thursday suspended the purchasing card of Richmond General Registrar Keith Balmer — who is under investigation by the Richmond Inspector General’s Office for claims of nepotism and financial impropriety — after he spent nearly $70,000 on the card in 2023, according to records obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The charges included almost $15,000 for furniture, $8,903 at a local art supplier, about $6,500 on hotels and lodging, and over $6,000 on food and beverages, a transaction log for Balmer’s card shows.
Youngkin vetoes bills that would safeguard right to birth control, end tax exemptions for Confederate groups
Gov. Glenn Youngkin took action Friday on the last remaining legislation from the recent session, signing seven bills and vetoing 48 others, including high-profile measures related to birth control, skill games and tax exemptions for organizations with Confederate ties. “While I look forward to working with the General Assembly to see if we can reach agreement on language in the future, today I must act on the language before me, and there are several bills which are not ready to become law,” Youngkin said in a statement. Del. Cia Price and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, carried the birth control bill in their respective chambers. “This is such a popular issue,” said Price, D-Newport News. “It was the one thing that I was holding out hope for, but the governor has his allegiances to the most extreme part of his party.”
Democrats regroup on taxes, climate after budget compromise
Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, smiled ruefully after a meeting of the Senate Democratic Caucus on Monday as the General Assembly prepared to act on a state budget compromise that included all of the spending that Democrats had sought in a political showdown with Gov. Glenn Youngkin. "We gave up some good stuff," said Deeds, one of 12 legislators who negotiated the compromise with the Republican governor.