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Kaine listens to appeals regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine was at St. Thomas Episcopal Church Friday, where he met with members of the Appalachian Peace Education Center and heard their concerns regarding the ongoing violence in Gaza. Kaine heard from several speakers, who presented him with a call to action. “When we see the epidemic of violence, the genocide in Palestine, we don’t know all the solutions. But we do know that sending more bombs and more rockets is not the answer,” Buckey Boone, APEC chairman, said. “We want you to speak out against the mass killing and forced migration of people, the starvation of children, the total destruction of the medical system.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Youngkin vetoes skill games bill but signals openness to a compromise
Just hours from his midnight deadline to take action on the remaining legislation on his desk, Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday vetoed another 48 measures, including a bill to legalize skill games and create a regulatory framework for the electronic devices in Virginia. However, when speaking to reporters after an impromptu signing ceremony for the state’s bipartisan spending plan at the state Capitol earlier this week, Youngkin signaled a willingness to consider a new proposal on skill games that lawmakers hope to deliver to him in the coming weeks, “in the same spirit that we made a commitment to work on this budget.”
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.
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.