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By SEAN JONES,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Several years after Petersburg joined the fight for the right to operate Virginia’s fifth and final casino, residents and city leaders watched Sunday as five developers bid to show that they had the best project for the city. Each proposal promised jobs, an economic spur for the financially stressed city and millions of dollars in tax revenue. The five companies in the running are Bally’s, Penn Entertainment, the Warrenton Group, Rush Street Gaming and The Cordish Companies, which has partnered with former NFL and Virginia Tech football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By MARKUS SCHMIDT,
Cardinal News
Aaron Rouse was just about to sit down for a sushi dinner with his family in the late afternoon of Friday, April 5, when he received a call from Jeff Goettman, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s chief of staff.
Goettman wanted to know if Rouse, a Democratic state senator from Virginia Beach, was available for a phone call the next day to discuss his SB 212 that was sitting on the governor’s desk, awaiting his action. The measure, which would establish a regulatory framework and tax structure for so-called skill games in Virginia, had passed in the Senate by a 32-8 bipartisan vote.
“When I got the call I was very surprised,” Rouse said in a phone interview. “In my mind I’m thinking, tomorrow is Saturday. OK, sure, I’m here. I was expecting they might want to discuss a couple of amendments, but it turns out they wanted a complete rewrite of the bill — and that’s when I was like, wait a minute, this isn’t how we do things.”
VaNews April 17, 2024
By HUNTER SAVERY,
Fauquier Times
Last week, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized strict new standards for “forever chemicals” in public drinking water, Fauquier County unveiled alarming new test results.
The new tests reveal that more than 15,000 Fauquier County residents use drinking water that would not meet the new national standards. Under the new EPA rules, Fauquier Water and Sanitation Authority, like other public waterworks, will have five years to address that problem.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By EMMA COLEMAN,
Roanoke Times
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
Roanoke’s Gun Violence Prevention Commission welcomed three new members and a new chairperson at its meeting Tuesday, day 54 since the last shooting with injuries was reported in the city. Since Jan. 1, Roanoke has recorded two homicides. At least one of those, which killed 27-year-old Uhura Willis Feb. 17, was gun-related. As of Tuesday, seven other people have been shot but not killed in aggravated assault incidents. In the same time frame in 2023, 20 people were shot but not killed.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By DWAYNE YANCEY,
Cardinal News
The primary challenge to Rep. Bob Good appears to be serious.
I realize that state Sen. John McGuire’s campaign to wrest the Republican nomination from the 5th District congressman — who also just happens to be chair of the House Freedom Caucus — has seemed serious for some time now. McGuire has pulled in some big-name national endorsements — namely former New York Mayor Rudy Guliani, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the latter of whom will campaign for him this week in Farmville, Lynchburg and Goochland — although it’s always been unclear whether those names move any voters on the ground.
McGuire has also racked up some noteworthy local endorsements ...
VaNews April 17, 2024
By NATALIE ANDERSON,
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
When she was 16, Sara Tasneem said she had been forced to marry her rapist while she was six months pregnant. “My abuser was 13 years older than me and he was able to marry me and continue abusing me for the following seven years under the protection of a marriage certificate,” Tasneem said. Tasneem said she faced legal barriers when trying to leave the marriage. ... She was one of several abuse victims who shared personal testimonies with Virginia lawmakers last month before the General Assembly ultimately voted to end the practice in the commonwealth. Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the bill, filed by Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra (D-Fairfax County), into law this month.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Virginia could put some $50 million of taxpayer funds to better use by tighter oversight of overtime payments and trying a new approach at behavioral health facilities, the Office of the Inspector General said. It found that Virginia state agencies’ overtime payments for the 11 months that ended May 31, 2023, had increased by 90% since the 2010 decision to leave overtime pay decisions with individual state agencies instead of the state’s central personnel management office. That increase is not adjusted for the pay increases state employees have received over those dozen years.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By JULIAN E. BARNES,
New York Times
(Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)
The threat against U.S. elections by Russia and other foreign powers is far greater today than it was in 2020, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Tuesday.
Senator Mark Warner, the Virginia Democrat who leads the committee, said the danger had grown for multiple reasons: Adversarial countries have become more adept at spreading disinformation, Americans are more vulnerable to propaganda, communication between the government and social media companies has become more difficult and artificial intelligence is giving foreign powers new abilities.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
The debate over how high taxes need to be to properly fund core government services is a more normal topic than many of the hyperpartisan culture war issues that now dominate politics. But the budget battle playing out between Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Democratic-led General Assembly is anything but routine.
One day before state lawmakers were set to return to Richmond to take up Youngkin’s amendments and vetoes, House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, posted a campaign-style video accusing Youngkin of standing in the way of a bipartisan budget that boosted funding for K-12 education.
VaNews April 17, 2024
By CHEYENNE PAGAN,
WRIC-TV
An oversight hearing was held Tuesday morning in Washington D.C. about the ongoing challenges the United States Postal Service has been facing across the country.
The hearing comes after metro Richmond residents have been expressing concerns about delays, missing mail and stolen mail over the last several months.
Lawmakers had a chance to question top leaders in the Postal Service and find out what’s been causing mail issues, not just in Richmond, but elsewhere as well.
VaNews April 17, 2024
