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Alternate universe Senate race, update on Unite the Right anniversary and Richmond’s attendance woes, among other headlines
A different result with ranked-choice voting? Could instant-runoff voting, also known as ranked-choice voting, have installed Nick Freitas as the GOP Senate candidate instead of Corey Stewart? Marla McKenna at The Culpeper Star-Exponent quotes Freitas as in favor of the method, calling it “a solid policy” and pledging to support legislation that would give Virginia voters that […]
FROM THE EDITOR: Judge us on our journalism
As Jim Bacon at Bacon’s Rebellion chronicles ably and fairly here, an email by David Poole, executive director of the Virginia Public Access Project, to the nonprofit’s board of directors that raised concerns about the source of our funding, leaked out to a wider audience this week. Poole had asked me for more information beyond […]
Chincoteague looking for new drinking water, mass transit in Pittsylvania and other Va. headlines
Chincoteague looking for new drinking-water wells Figuring out how widespread contamination at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility from dangerous industrial chemicals used in firefighting foams that made their way into drinking water at the nearby island town of Chincoteague will take years, Sarah Rankin from the AP reports. The Eastern Shore tourist town known for the […]
What a Corey Stewart staffer, a white nationalist Facebook discussion group and an alleged break-in have in common
Here’s a weird one that broke Thursday: Virginia GOP Senate candidate Corey Stewart says Stephanie Saul, a New York Times reporter seeking an interview with Brian Landrum, a Stewart staffer, entered Landrum’s Woodbridge apartment uninvited, the Washington Post reported. Landrum, who works part-time for Stewart’s campaign as well as for Prince William County, where Stewart […]
Fox-hunting pens shut down
Six fox-hunting pens have been shut down in Virginia following a two-year investigation by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s office. Nine people pleaded guilty to a range of charges, mostly misdemeanors but also a few felonies. “Fox penning can become unlawful when operators put illegal foxes and coyotes into a fenced-in area and allow dogs […]
Virginian-Pilot stonewalled on tax information
Virginian-Pilot reporter Ana Ley got an earful from Portsmouth’s elected commissioner of the revenue while she was trying to pry loose neighborhood-specific information on meal, beverage and retail tax revenues for a story published Wednesday. “You’ve taken up a lot of time – taxpayer dollars – trying to respond to your request because you want […]
Follow the money
The Virginia Public Access Project has the breakdown of mid-year campaign finance reports that were due in by midnight Monday. With a whole year to go before the 2019 state Senate and House elections, Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, a Republican from James City County, who has been in the Senate since 1992, had $843,596 […]
A long walk off a short bridge?
Dominion Energy, Virginia’s biggest utility with about 2.5 million customers, is banking big on natural gas, in the near future at least. The company has two big new combined cycle gas plants in Greensville and Brunswick counties, one already finished and the other scheduled to begin operation this year. Another eight smaller gas plants were […]
From the state government to the ‘shadow government’
Mega-lobbying firm McGuireWoods Consulting added a major player to their formidable bench Tuesday, signing up former GOP House Speaker Bill Howell. “Since it was founded 20 years ago, McGuireWoods Consulting has earned a well-deserved reputation for consistently delivering successful outcomes for clients. Many of my new colleagues there have been friends for years, and I […]