Author

Ned, a Lexington native, has been a fulltime journalist since 2008, beginning at The News-Gazette in Lexington, and including stints at the Berkshire Eagle, in Berkshire County, Mass., and the Times-Dispatch and Style Weekly in Richmond. He is a graduate of Bard College at Simon’s Rock, in Great Barrington, Mass. He was named Virginia's outstanding journalist for 2020 by the Virginia Press Association.
Cops: Law against naming victims is a hindrance; DACA kids remain in limbo; Lee County’s bid to arm teachers denied; Two-headed snake seeks forever home and more
By: Ned Oliver - September 24, 2018
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. The number of women jailed in Virginia is surging, according to a new ACLU of Virginia report, which blames substance abuse, zealous prosecution of minor crimes and mental health issues. – The Virginian-Pilot A law passed this year that prevents police from naming juvenile […]
Senate Republicans fume over Medicaid work requirement time frame
By: Katie O'Connor and Ned Oliver - September 20, 2018
Virginia’s Department of Medical Assistance Services has completed a draft of the state’s Medicaid work requirement proposal, which is now open for public comment before it goes to the federal government for approval. But when they were briefed on the work requirement during a meeting Thursday, Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee gnashed their […]
Port’s cranes won’t be hit with tariffs; Norfolk federal office ‘rife’ with racist behavior; Henry County has the meats; and more headlines
By: Ned Oliver - September 20, 2018
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. Massive cranes the Port of Virginia is planning to import from China were removed from the list of goods the Trump administration plans to hit with stiff new tariffs, saving the port about $10 million. – The Virginian-Pilot A federal investigation into the Department […]
Environmental groups sue over ‘rushed permits’ that allowed Atlantic Coast Pipeline construction to resume
By: Ned Oliver - September 19, 2018
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the suit on behalf of the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Virginia Wilderness Committee. Construction of the 600-mile pipeline ground to a halt the beginning of August when the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled permits issued by the National Park Service allowing the pipeline to […]
Calls to ban Confederate imagery in Albemarle schools; conforming the tax code; coal jobs bottom out and other news
By: Ned Oliver - September 19, 2018
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. The National Weather Service said more than five tornadoes touched down in Richmond on Monday. – WVTF A Louisa County man died when his truck was swept into flash flooding Tuesday brought by the remnants of Hurricane Florence. It’s the second weather related death in the state in […]
House Republicans release redistricting plan that would maintain political status quo
By: Mechelle Hankerson and Ned Oliver - September 18, 2018
As promised last week, Republicans in the House of Delegates put forward a redistricting plan Tuesday that protects incumbents by slightly tilting competitive districts in favor of the party that currently holds the seat. Republicans said in a release that the new districts were drawn without racial data and described them as a politically neutral […]
Deadly tornadoes rip through Richmond area; Corey Stewart gonna Corey Stewart; college students can’t find stamps and other news
By: Ned Oliver - September 18, 2018
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. A man was killed in Chesterfield County when a series of tornadoes ripped through the Richmond area. The weather service issued 19 tornado warnings over the course of the afternoon, delaying school dismissals and prompting thousands to seek shelter in basements, stairwells and […]
Mandatory evacuation order drove state storm prep costs to $60 million; Virginia sheriffs sued for not heeding it
By: Ned Oliver and Mechelle Hankerson - September 17, 2018
The state estimates that the cost of preparing for Hurricane Florence will total nearly $60 million, Virginia Secretary of Finance Aubrey Lane said Monday. He said that’s more than the most the state has ever spent up front on a storm response, a result of the decision to issue a mandatory evacuation order for about 240,000 […]
Flooding in Danville; the Macker tests the waters in Iowa; moving graves for a tech park; judges won’t take over redistricting now; and other news
By: Ned Oliver - September 17, 2018
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. Officials in Danville are nervously watching the Dan River, which could surpass its major flood stage threshold this afternoon as a result of rain from Florence. — Danville Register & Bee Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe is planning a trip to Iowa this week to […]
Death by a thousand cuts: Newsroom staffing at Virginia’s biggest papers cut nearly in half since 2010
By: Ned Oliver - September 17, 2018
The Richmond Times-Dispatch quietly laid off another eight employees at the beginning of September, the paper’s second round of layoffs this year and just the latest in a string of reductions that have nearly cut newsroom staffing in half since 2010. The move comes less than two months after the Times-Dispatch’s owner, Warren Buffett’s BH […]
Florence hits North Carolina; Albemarle jail will continue notifying ICE; State retirement system hands out bonuses and other news
By: Ned Oliver - September 14, 2018
NEWS TO KNOW Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere. As storm hits N.C., prep winds down in Va As Florence makes landfall in North Carolina, storm preparations were winding down in Virginia, where forecasters now expect the storm to bring only three to six inches of rain. Officials in Hampton Roads began shutting down storm […]
NYT poll gives Brat slight edge over Spanberger, illustrates difficulty of polling
By: Ned Oliver - September 13, 2018
A New York Times-Siena College poll of the state’s 7th Congressional District says Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Brat has a slight edge over his Democratic challenger, former CIA operative Abigail Spanberger. The poll of 501 people puts Brat’s likely share of the vote at 47 percent and Spanberger’s at 43 percent. Of the respondents, 9 […]