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By LUCA POWELL,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
This pistol spits like a rattlesnake. It’s wild and inaccurate, even in the hands of an expert officer from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It’s a handgun like any other, unless you count the plastic prop that has been used to modify it. The street name for this little addition is a “Glock switch” or “auto-sear.” Its official name is “machine-gun conversion device,” which gives a pretty clear picture of what this sliver of plastic does. ... It was only in the 2024 legislative session that switches became illegal to possess in Virginia.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By DAVE RESS AND MICHAEL MARTZ,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
With a potential budget deal at stake, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and General Assembly budget leaders will keep a close eye on taxes Virginians pay and refunds they claim as state income taxes come due by May 1. Tax collections so far are up dramatically, which could open a path to a budget compromise in a May special session that does not include a tax increase. But legislators want to be sure they will have enough money for K-12 schools and other priorities in the next two years.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By LAURA VOZZELLA AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER,
Washington Post
(Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
After pulling back from a risky game of chicken this week, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and leading Virginia Democrats are heading into the unknown territory of a state budget do-over. Youngkin and the Democratic-controlled legislature struck an 11th-hour truce on Wednesday to avert a standoff that could have triggered a state government shutdown and tarnished Virginia’s stellar bond rating. While most of the attention was on the budget they set aside that day, legislators also sent a host of bills back to Youngkin after stripping them of his amendments ...
VaNews April 22, 2024
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Both sides blinked. If you were looking for evidence neither Glenn Youngkin, the nascent lame-duck Republican governor, nor his Democratic tormentors in the legislature had the upper hand in their hissing match over taxes and spending, look no further than their announced do-over on a Virginia budget for the two-year cycle that begins in just over two months.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By THAD GREEN,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Topsoe, a Danish company that provides carbon emission reduction technologies worldwide, announced it will build a manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County. The facility is being aided by nearly $136 million in tax credits that Topsoe received as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides provisions and tax credits to incentivize clean energy investments. The project is expected to bring more than $400 million in investments and at least 150 new jobs to Virginia. The exact location of the facility has not yet been disclosed ...
VaNews April 22, 2024
By JEFF STURGEON,
Roanoke Times
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)
A retired judge, lawyer and nurse from Floyd plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, for the 9th District seat in Congress. Democrat Karen Baker will make her official announcement at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in downtown Floyd, her campaign said. The location is the public gathering place on the sidewalk in front of Warren G. Lineberry Community Park. The Federal Elections Commission website lists the 72-year-old Baker as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives on the November ballot. She is the only Democrat who registered for the race.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
He fought for his country when he served in the U.S. Army. Then, he became a counterterrorism agent in the FBI to help stop white supremacists from alleged plans to attack Black churches and synagogues.
Richmond resident James Rudisill’s latest battle was to use his earned GI Bill benefits to further his education and become a chaplain. That battle took him nearly a decade and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court — which ruled 7-2 this week in his favor.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By TREVOR METCALFE,
Virginian-Pilot
(Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
A longstanding Virginia law is changing later this summer, and now uninsured Hampton Roads drivers will need to have car insurance by July 1. For years, Virginia was one of just two states, along with New Hampshire, that did not require car owners to possess auto insurance, according to auto club AAA. Car owners were required to pay $500 every year to register an uninsured vehicle with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. A fee system has existed since the 1950s, former state Sen. Frank Ruff said in an email.
VaNews April 22, 2024
By JEREMY C. YOUNG AND SAM LAFRANCE,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education argue that dismantling DEI offices and initiatives on campus won’t negatively impact the academic freedom of faculty to teach relevant subject matter in their classes. So how do they explain what happened recently in Virginia? Early this semester, in an apparent effort to thwart new diversity requirements in general education curricula at Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration requested and received syllabi for 27 courses.
Young is the Freedom to Learn program director at PEN America. LaFrance is the editorial manager for free expression and education at PEN America.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ANNA BRYSON,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
A senior-level Virginia Department of Education official has left her post to serve as Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s special adviser to the CEO of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Although she has no experience with cannabis policy, the Youngkin administration says Elizabeth Schultz is uniquely positioned to serve under the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Terrance Cole.
VaNews April 19, 2024
